■ Song Zhijian
Wang Xizhi died at the age of 59 and lived for 58 years. This is clearly recorded in the history books and there is no dispute. There are different opinions about the year of Wang Xizhi's birth and death. One thinks that he was born in 303 AD and died in 36 1 year; One thinks that he was born in 32 1 and died in 379, and the other thinks that he was born in 307 and died in 365.
When Wang Xizhi was born and died, we can find the answer by comparing with his contemporaries.
In 355 AD, in the eleventh year of Yonghe, Wang Xizhi resigned from the post of Huiji Literature and History because he was ashamed of living under Wang Shu. Wang Xizhi is as famous as Wang Shu. Earlier, he said to his sons, "I don't want to lose the memory of my ancestors, but I am in danger now, so you can't wait to tell the truth!" " The "Huai Zu" mentioned here is Wang Shu, and "Tan Zhi" is Wang Shu's son. Why Wang Xizhi made such a statement is unknown, but it can be seen that his son Ning Zhihui's persistence in Cao Cao is the same generation as Wang Shu's son Wang Tanzhi.
In 373 AD, when he died, Huan Wen "Chen Biqian was a Jinshi", because Xie An and Wang were both important officials in the Jinshi, and Huan Wen "visited An He Wang, hoping to harm them". Faced with this crisis, he was "very scared" and asked about Ann's situation. Ann saw the same ",and then met Huan Wen," Tan was sweating with clothes on his back, holding a calligraphy board upside down ",and Xie An took his time. Historians then said, "Tan is as famous as An Chu, and only then can we know Tan's evil." Wang is as famous as Xie An, so it can be seen that Xie An is also a peer with him.
In these two cases, Wang is a frame of reference that can be used as an intermediary: he is contemporary with Xie An. Of course, this does not mean that there is no big difference between Xie An and Wang, and between Xie An and Wang. According to the Book of Jin, "Thank you for tasting his brother's emblem. The second brother talked too much about ordinary things, but he offered it unexpectedly. " . When going out, the guests asked how the Wangs were, and Ann said,' The youngest is the best.' When the guest asked him the reason, Ann said, "Ji people talk less, so I know because they talk less." "According to this analysis, Xie An is older than these sons of Wang Xizhi. But since Wang Xizhi is as famous as Wang Shu, and Xie An is as famous as Wang Tan Zhi, Wang Shu's son, there should be no problem that Wang Xizhi is older than Xie An. If you were born in 32 1 year, you are one year younger than Xie An. He is as famous as Wang Shu, and Xie An, who is one year older than him, is as famous as his son's contemporary Wang. I'm afraid it doesn't make sense.
There are two historical facts that can prove that Wang Xizhi could not have been born in 32 1 year:
1. Legend of Wang Xizhi in the Book of Jin: Wang Xizhi's brilliant writing in his later years was based on "The Book of Xihe failed to catch his wings at first". Later, Xihe "wanted to answer Yu Liang, and his wings sighed deeply" and wrote to Wang Xizhi: "I used to cross the river everywhere with ten pieces of Cao." Suddenly I saw the first step to reply to my brother's letter, and I was radiant and returned to my previous views. "Visible, at least when Geng Liang and Geng Yi were still alive, Wang Xizhi's calligraphy had already made Geng Yi" deeply sigh ". But Geng Liang lived to 340 AD, and Geng Yi lived to 345 AD. If Wang Xizhi was born in 32 1 year, even though his letter Answer My Brother (namely Geng Liang) was written in the year when Geng Liang died, that is, in 340 AD, he was only 19 years old. In the ninth year of Yonghe (AD 353), when the Lanting Elegant Society was held, Wang Xizhi wrote the Preface to Lanting Collection, which was known as the best running script in the world. After calculation, he is only 32 years old. Can this be said to be "wonderful in the twilight"?
Secondly, what Wang Xizhi said to his sons when he resigned in Yonghe in the eleventh year blamed them for not being as successful as Wang Tanzhi in their official career. He has seven sons, five of whom are famous. The boss Xuanzhi has long passed away, and the rest are devoted to the operation of the Ning emblem. The youngest is Wang Xianzhi, who was 12 years old that year. If Wang Xizhi was born in 32 1 year, he was only 34 when he resigned, which means that Wang Xizhi had seven sons at the age of 22. Needless to say, is it possible that even if he gave birth to a child at the age of 16 and gave birth to one every year, by the year he resigned, Xuanzhi's life span would only be 18.
To sum up, the theory that Wang Xizhi was born in 32 1 year and died in 379 cannot be established.
The other two statements are similar: Wang Xizhi was born in 303 AD, older than Xie An 17 years, and older than Zhifu and Sun Chu 1 1 years. In this way, Wang Xizhi was just 50 years old when the Lanting Ya Society was held in 353 AD. He was 52 when he resigned in 355 AD. Born in 307 AD, he is older than Xie An 13, and 7 years older than Zhi Dun and Sun Chuo. In this way, Wang Xizhi was 46 years old when the Lanting Yahui was held in 353 AD. He was 48 when he resigned in 355 AD. But because the distance is closer, it is more difficult to tell.
It is said that Zhang Xiaorong, an enthusiast of Shaoxing cultural relics, has a tombstone of Jessica Hester Hsuan, the wife of Wang Xizhi (the tombstone records that Jessica Hester Hsuan, the owner of the tomb, "guarded the tomb on the seventh day of Jiayin in April of the second year of Shengping", when Wang Xizhi was 56 years old). Relevant cultural experts have made textual research on this, and think that the year of birth and death of Wang Xizhi should be 303-3665438+. If this is true, it is in line with my reasoning. Wang Xizhi can't be born at 32 1, and the contradiction between being born at 303 and 307 is solved.
Finally, of course, it is a problem. The ancients usually got married within three years after coronation (16 years old) ... so it can only be estimated as 3 16-3 19!