Preface to Lanting, the first running script in the world
Show Wang Xizhi's portrait and the copy of Preface to Lanting, and explain to the students that Wang Xizhi was born in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (now Linyi, Shandong Province). Later, he moved to Shanyin, Huiji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang). He was a general of the right army in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and was called "Wang Youjun". He is a master of calligraphy and an original one. His regular script further got rid of the official script and reached an independent and perfect position. He is also a versatile calligrapher, especially good at writing running script and cursive script. People praised his words "floating like a cloud, agile as a dragon". We appreciate his calligraphy, which is a kind of beautiful enjoyment, amazing and intoxicating. Because of his profound attainments in calligraphy, later generations respectfully called him "the sage of calligraphy". Wang Xizhi's masterpiece is Preface to Lanting. Preface to Lanting was written in 353 AD. This sequence is ***324 words, with open and handsome strokes and very strict structure. The word "Zhi" is the most in the full text, including 2 words, all of which are unique and identical. Wang Xizhi himself thinks this is the most proud work in his life. Calligraphers of all ages also thought it was a masterpiece of running script. Wang Xizhi's wife and seven sons all like calligraphy. In particular, the youngest son Wang Xianzhi, who can inherit his calligraphy art, is also a pen flying ink dance. People respectfully call him "Little Saint" and call his father and son "Two Kings".
2. Gu Kaizhi, the "Three Musts"
showed a picture of women's history and explained: Gu Kaizhi, a great painter in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was born in Wuxi, Jinling (now Wuxi, Jiangsu). He is good at figure painting. The so-called figure painting refers to the painting with characters as the theme. It is very difficult to draw characters. Gu Kaizhi's figure painting is characterized by "vividness" and "air", that is, it depicts people's material character and inner world, mainly in the eyes. As long as he nods his eyes, the person in the painting seems to be dying. He is so meticulous about art that he is crazy about it. Moreover, he is also a painting theorist, critic and writer. Therefore, people praised him for having three unique skills, namely, talent, painting and infatuation. This master painter has a wide range of painting themes, including Buddhist stories, historical stories, figures, landscapes, birds and animals, etc. It's a pity that only a few copies have been handed down, such as "Zhen Tu of Female History" and "Fu Tu of Luoshen". These two paintings accurately depict the identities and characteristics of various characters in terms of painting skills, with beautiful lines and lifelike characters. At the same time, from the painting, we can know some aspects of the life and feelings of aristocratic women at that time. These two scrolls are extremely valuable heritages in China's art treasure house. However, when Eight-Nation Alliance occupied Beijing in 19, the copy of "Zhen Tu of Women's History" was plundered by Britain and is now in the British Museum in London. Only copies of this map can be seen in China.