Wang Xizhi was from the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Wang Xizhi (321-379), courtesy name Yi Shao, was known as Wang Youjun in the world. He was a native of Langye (now Linyi, Shandong), and later moved to Shanyin, Kuaiji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang). He was the son of Wang Kuang, the prefect of Huainan. Calligrapher and writer of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Born in the Wang family of Langya, he learned calligraphy at the age of 7 and read commentaries written by his predecessors at the age of 12. When he was young, he studied under Wei Shuo. Later he crossed the Yangtze River and traveled to famous mountains. He saw the calligraphy of Li Si, Cao Xi and other famous writers. In Luoyang, he also saw Cai Yong's three-body script of the Stone Classic and Zhang Chang's "Huayue Stele". He began to realize that insufficient. As a result, he received many monuments from scholars and made great progress in calligraphy. He created a new style of beautiful Liuben and pushed cursive script to a whole new realm.
Wang Xizhi became an official at the age of 23, first as Secretary Lang, and subsequently as Chang Shi, General Ningyuan, and Governor of Jiangzhou. He also served as General of the Right Army and Internal History of Kuaiji. In the eleventh year of Yonghe (355), he resigned from his post in Kuaiji County due to illness. Later, he indulged himself in the mountains and rivers, fishing for entertainment. In the fifth year of the reign of Emperor Mu of the Jin Dynasty (361), Wang Xizhi died of illness at the age of 58.
The main influence of Wang Xizhi
Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Collection" is admired by calligraphers of all ages. This post is a draft, 28 lines, 324 words. The author used the right time, place, and people to achieve the best possible effect, and it is said that he could no longer write it later. There are more than twenty characters "Zhi" written in different ways. Mi Fu in the Song Dynasty called it "the best running script in the world".
Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu and Cai Xiang in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu in the Yuan Dynasty, Dong Qichang in the Ming Dynasty, these famous calligraphers of all dynasties all converted to Wang Xizhi, so he enjoyed the reputation of "Sage of Calligraphy". Although the study of stele in the Qing Dynasty broke the scope of the study of calligraphy, Wang Xizhi's status as a calligrapher remained unshaken. Although the "Sage of Calligraphy" and "Emperor Mo" are suspected of "sacralizing", generations of famous scholars and giants, through comparison and speculation, are all convinced and highly respected.