Wang Xizhi was a famous calligrapher during the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Wang Xizhi (303-361, 321-379), courtesy name Yishao, Han nationality, was a famous calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and was known as the "Sage of Calligraphy". A native of Langya (now Linyi, Shandong), he later moved to Shanyin, Huiji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang), and lived in seclusion in Jinting, Shan County in his later years.
Wang Xizhi successively served as secretary Ying, general Ningyuan, and governor of Jiangzhou. Later, he was the internal history of Kuaiji and the general on the right. His calligraphy is good at Li, Cao, Kai, Xing and other styles. He studies the styles carefully, imitates them with his heart and hands, draws on the strengths of others, prepares various styles, and cultivates them in one furnace. He breaks away from the writing style of Han and Wei Dynasties and becomes his own style with far-reaching influence. The style is peaceful and natural, the writing style is euphemistic and subtle, and it is beautiful and graceful.
Wang Xizhi's masterpiece "Lanting Preface" is known as "the best running script in the world". In the history of calligraphy, he and his son Wang Xianzhi are collectively known as the "Two Kings".
Character's biography:
1. Early life experience
Wang Xizhi's authentic works Wang Xizhi was born in the Langya Wang family, a famous family in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. He was good at calligraphy at the age of seven. Legend has it that Emperor Jin was going to the northern suburbs to offer sacrifices, and asked Wang Xizhi to write his congratulations on a wooden board, and then sent workers to carve them. The engraver chipped away at the wooden board layer by layer and found that Wang Xizhi's calligraphy ink had been printed all the way into the wooden board. He cut three-thirds of the way down before reaching the bottom. The carpenter marveled at Wang Xizhi's powerful brushwork, his superb calligraphy skills, and the strength of his brushstrokes that could penetrate three-thirds of the wood.
At the age of 16, Wang Xizhi was selected by Xi Jian as his son-in-law. Xi Jian had a daughter who was twenty-eight years old, good-looking, and not yet married. Xi Jian loved his daughter, so he wanted to choose a son-in-law for her. She had a close friendship with Prime Minister Wang Dao, and they were officials in the same court. I heard that her family had many children. All of them are talented and beautiful.
One morning after court, Xi Jian told Prime Minister Wang his idea of ??choosing a son-in-law. Prime Minister Wang said: "Well, I have many children in my family, so you can choose them at home. No matter who you choose, I will agree."
Xi Jian ordered his confidant butler , brought heavy gifts to Prime Minister Wang's house. When the prince's children heard that Taiwei Xi had sent someone to look for his son-in-law, they all dressed up carefully and came out to meet him. I searched here and there, but one person was missing from my count. The housekeeper of the palace led the housekeeper of Xi's house to the study room in the east cross courtyard. They saw a young man lying on his back on the bed against the east wall. He was indifferent to the Taiwei's search for a son-in-law. The housekeeper of the Xi Mansion returned to the mansion and said to Taiwei Xi: "There are more than twenty young men in the palace. When they heard that the Xi Mansion was looking for a son-in-law, they all rushed to be the first. There was only one young man on the east bed, lying with his belly exposed as if nothing had happened." Xi Jian He said, "This is the kind of person I want to choose. Come on, take me to see him." Xi Jian came to the palace and saw that this man was open-minded, elegant, talented and handsome, so he gave a betrothal gift on the spot and chose him as his quick son-in-law. This is how the saying "a quick son-in-law in the east bed" comes from.
2. Gathering at Lanting Pavilion
On the third day of the third lunar month in the ninth year of Yonghe reign of Emperor Mu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 353), Wang Xizhi, Xie An, Sun Chuo and other 41 people built a building in Lanting Pavilion, Shaoxing. During the Qing Dynasty (an activity to ward off diseases and bad luck), everyone drank wine and wrote poems, which were compiled into a collection. Xizhi improvised a preface to the collection of poems, which is the famous "Lanting Preface". This post is a draft, 28 lines, 324 words. It describes the gathering of literati at that time. The author used the right time, place and people to maximize the 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".
3. He said he was ill and abandoned his official position
In March of the eleventh year of Yonghe (AD 355), Wang Xizhi said he was ill and abandoned his official position. "I moved to Jinting from Wuxi with my son Cao Zhi. I built a library, planted mulberry fruits, taught my children, wrote poems, made calligraphy and paintings, and let geese go fishing for entertainment." He, Xu Xun, Zhi Dun and others began to Travel around the mountains and rivers of Shan. After settling in Jinting, calligraphy flourished. Most of his descendants were good at calligraphy and painting, and their works were hung all over the halls and study rooms, and they were known as the "Huayuan Painting Hall". Later generations named the village "Huatang" and it is still known as this.
4. An An Died in Kuaiji
Wang Xizhi died in Jinting of Kuaiji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang) in the fifth year of Dongsheng Dynasty (AD 361) and was buried in Jinting Waterfall Mountain (also known as Wisteria Hill), the residence of Sun Heng, the fifth generation, is the Jintingguan, and the ruins still exist. During the Datong period of Liang Dynasty (535-546), his descendants built the Youjun Shrine of Dried Tofu in front of the tomb.
Calligraphy style:
Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Collection" is admired by calligraphers of all ages and is known as "the best running script in the world". Wang was also good at Li, Cao, Kai, Xing and other styles. He studied the styles carefully, imitated them with his heart and hands, picked up the strengths of others, prepared all kinds of styles, and cultivated them in one furnace. He broke away from the writing style of Han and Wei Dynasties and became his own style with far-reaching influence. His calligraphy is gentle and natural, his writing style is euphemistic and implicit, and he is beautiful and vigorous. People often use Cao Zhi's "Luo Shen Fu": "As graceful as a startling giant, as graceful as a wandering dragon, with glorious autumn chrysanthemums, and luxuriant spring pines. As if covered by light clouds. "The moon is fluttering like snow in the flowing wind." is a sentence to praise the beauty of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy. Legend has it that Wang Xizhi practiced calligraphy so hard when he was young that over time, the water in the pond used to clean his brushes turned into ink. Later generations commented: "Floating like wandering clouds, powerful like a frightening dragon", "Dragon leaping over the Tianmen, tiger lying in the Phoenix Pavilion", "Nature is natural, and the gods are abundant." There are idioms about him such as penetrating wood three points, east bed quick son-in-law, etc. The most obvious feature of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy style is his delicate brushwork and changeable structure.
Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy has influenced generations of calligraphers. Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Zhu Suiliang, Xue Ji, Heyan Zhenqing, and Liu Gongquan in the Tang Dynasty, Yang Ningshi in the Five Dynasties, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu in the Yuan Dynasty, and Dong Qichang in the Ming Dynasty. These famous calligraphers in the past dynasties were sincerely convinced by Wang Xizhi. , so he enjoys the reputation of "Sage of Calligraphy".