When it comes to calligraphy, I can't help but say Wang Xizhi; Speaking of Wang Xizhi, he is almost a household name, and maybe he can tell a few stories about him. This is a unique phenomenon in China calligraphy culture.
Wang Xizhi (303-36 1, 32 1-379), a calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, has few words. Originally from Langya (now Linyi, Shandong), I now live in Yinshan Huiji (Shaoxing, Zhejiang). The officers of the right army generals will review the internal history and be called "Wang Youjun". He came from a noble family in the Jin Dynasty. When Wang Xizhi was twelve years old, his father taught him the theory of brushwork. "If you use an outline, you will realize something." When I was a child, I studied calligraphy with the famous female calligrapher Mrs. Wei. Later, he visited the famous mountains in You Jiang, where he learned from foreigners, learned from foreigners, and learned from Zhong You. Observing and learning "how to combine multiple methods to prepare a family" has reached the height of "more expensive than others, the best in ancient and modern times".
Compared with Han Dynasty and Western Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi's calligraphy style is characterized by exquisite brushwork and changeable structure. Wang Xizhi's greatest achievement is to increase and destroy the ancient law and turn the simple calligraphy style of Han and Wei dynasties into exquisite and beautiful calligraphy style. In a word, the introduction of Chinese character writing from practicality to the realm of paying attention to techniques and tastes is the awakening of calligraphy art, which indicates that calligraphers not only discover the beauty of calligraphy, but also can show it. Few later calligraphers have not copied Wang Xizhi's calligraphy posts, so they have the reputation of "book saints". His regular script, such as Le Yi Lun, Huang Ting Jing and Dong Fangshuo Hua Zan, was quite famous in the Southern Dynasties, leaving various legends, and some even became painting themes. His cursive script is honored as "the sage of grass" by the world. There is no original trace in the world, and there are many books of calligraphy, such as Seventeen Sticks, Le Li Yi in Small Letters, Huang Tingjing and so on. Copy the outline of ink, there is a hole in the middle post, Lanting [Feng Chengsu Copy] sequence, clear post in the snow, diligent funeral post, funeral post, far official post, aunt post, safety post and line post.
Wang Xizhi's calligraphy influenced his descendants. His son is mysterious and good at cursive writing; Coagulation, as a grass official; Emblem, good cursive script; Fuck it, be good at writing; Huanzhi, good cursive script; Sacrifice is called "little sage". Huang's "On the East View and Xu Lun" says: "Wang Sizi's books, Ning, Cao, Hui and Huan, have been handed down from generation to generation, each with its own style but different body. Condense its rhyme, practice its body, emblem its potential, rejuvenate its appearance and offer its source. " Later, descendants continued, and one of Wang's calligraphy was handed down. Wu Zetian tried Wang Xizhi's book, and Wang Fangqing, the ninth great-grandson of Wang Xizhi, presented ten volumes of The Travels of Twenty-eight People to his great-grandfather and compiled Long Live the Tian Tong Post. After Wang Sengqian, Wang Ci and Zhiwang were kings in the Southern Dynasties, regular script was created. Shi Zhiyong, the seventh grandson of Xihe, was a famous calligrapher in Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Wang Xizhi's calligraphy has influenced bookstores from generation to generation. The establishment of Wang Xizhi's calligrapher status has its evolution process. Calligraphers in Taishigong period of Southern Song Dynasty said in the book list: "Han, Wei, Zhong (Yi) and Zhang (Zhi) were good at beauty, and the two kings were called English at the end of Jin Dynasty." The title of the Right Army was unparalleled at that time, and Wang Xianzhi was the highest-ranking person in calligraphy during the Song and Qi Dynasties. Concentrated on learning books from his father, he was very talented and sensitive to innovation. He transferred to Zhang Zhi and created a cursive script that runs from top to bottom. He even surpassed his father and became a saint, and he was called "two kings" with his father. Tao Hongjing in the Southern Dynasties said in On Books that "everyone in the world respects books" and that "the sea is nothing more than Mongolian Yuan and Yu Ye". What changed this situation was Liang Wudi Xiao Yan's admiration for Wang Xizhi. He changed the book degree from "Wang Xianzhi-Wang Xizhi-Zhong You" to "Zhong You-Wang Xizhi-Wang Xianzhi". In Twelve Essays on Zhong You's Calligraphy, Yanyun Jr. said, "I don't respect my son, but I don't care much about my leisure." "unsuccessful" or "not caught" is not as good as meaning. Xiao Yan's position makes his comments particularly attractive, so the public opinion is firm.
The climax of studying Wang Xizhi for the first time in history was in Nanliang, and the second time was in Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong highly praised Wang Xizhi, not only widely collecting Wang Shu, but also personally writing praises for the biography of Wang Xizhi in the Book of Jin. When commenting on Zhong You, he said that he was "either full of goodness or suspicious", while at the time of offering, he belittled his "calligraphy disease". As for other calligraphers, such as Ziyun, Wang Meng and Yan Xu, he said that he was "over praised". Comparatively speaking, Emperor Taizong thought that the right army was "perfect" and "eager to pursue, this man is just the rest. What can I say?" Since then, Wang Xizhi's supreme position in the history of calligraphy has been established and consolidated. Literati in Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties all stayed away from the "two kings" of Jin Zong. Ou Yangxun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, Xue Qi, Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan in the Tang Dynasty, Yang Ningshi in the Five Dynasties, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Midi and Cai Xiang in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu in the Yuan Dynasty and Dong Qichang in the Ming Dynasty all converted to Wang Xizhi. Although the study of steles broke the scope of calligraphy research in Qing Dynasty, Wang Xizhi's position as a calligrapher remained unshakable. Although the "Book Sage" and "Ink Emperor" are suspected of being "sanctified", the famous scholars and masters from generation to generation are convinced and admired through comparison and speculation.
In the history of China's calligraphy, although Wang Xizhi is known as the "sage of calligraphy", he is not regarded as a solidified icon, but only a perfect symbol of the creation of calligraphy in China culture. Things are always developing and progressing. Wang Xizhi reached the pinnacle of perfection in his time, and this "icon" will surely summon the later generations to climb the new height of calligraphy in their respective times.