The best running script in the world - Lanting Preface Lanting Preface, also known as "Lanting Banquet Collection Preface", "Lanting Collection Preface", "Linhe Preface", "Wan Preface", "Wan Tie". It is one of the three major calligraphy calligraphy calligraphy styles and one of the ten most famous hand-written calligraphy works in China. On March 3rd in the ninth year of Yonghe (AD 353) of Emperor Mu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi, Xie An, Sun Chuo and other 41 people went to "repair evil spirits" at Lanting Pavilion in Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang). Everyone wrote poems at the meeting. Wang Xizhi's manuscript preface to their poems. The preface describes the beauty of the mountains and rivers around Lanting and the joy of the party, expressing the author's feeling that good times do not last long and life and death are impermanent. The original copy of the Dharma calligraphy passed down from generation to generation has twenty-eight lines and three hundred and twenty-four words. It is perfect in composition, structure and writing style. It was his proud work when he was thirty-three years old. Later generations commented that "Youjun's font is a change from the ancient method. Its majestic and elegant style comes from nature, so it is regarded as a follower in ancient and modern times." Therefore, calligraphers of all ages have praised "Lanting" as "the best running script in the world". Among the extant Tang Dynasty ink imitations, the "Shenlong Edition" is the best. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Feng Chengsu had a gold seal, so it is called "Lanting Shenlong Edition". This edition is a fine copy, with brushwork, ink style, style, and charm all reflected, and is recognized as such. It is considered to be the best copy; among the stone carvings, the "Dingwu version" is preferred. After Guo Moruo's research, he believed that the second half of the "Lanting Preface" that was passed down was gratuitous and had no similarities with Wang Xizhi's thoughts. The style of the calligraphy was also different from the epitaphs of the Wang family in the Eastern Jin Dynasty that had been unearthed in recent years, and he was suspected to have been forged by the Sui and Tang Dynasties. But there are also those who disagree with it. "Lanting Preface" expresses the highest state of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy art. The author's magnanimity, phoenix spirit, broadmindedness, and emotion are fully expressed in this work. The ancients said that Wang Xizhi's writing style was like "the breeze comes out of the sleeves and the bright moon enters the arms", which is a wonderful metaphor. Whose representative work is the Lanting Preface? Does the Lanting Preface still exist? Where was Wang Xizhi’s Lanting Preface? Is there really a Lanting Preface found in Wu Zetian’s tomb? A comparison of the Lanting Preface and the Nephew Memorial Manuscript is the second largest running script in the world - the Lanting Preface. The full name of the manuscript "Memorial to Nephew Ji Ming Manuscript" is one of the three major running script calligraphy manuscripts and one of the ten most famous calligraphy handed down from generation to generation in China. It was written in the first year of Qianyuan of Tang Dynasty (758 AD). Hemp paper, running script, length 28.2 cm x 75.5 cm, twenty-three lines, each line has eleven to twelve characters, totaling 234 characters. The bell has seals such as "Zhao's son, the Subaru family", "Daya", "Xianyu", "Shu", "Xianyu Shu's uncle and father", and "Xianyu". It was once collected by Xuanhe Neifu of the Song Dynasty, Zhang Yan of the Yuan Dynasty, Xian Yushu of the Yuan Dynasty, Wu Ting of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Qianxue of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Hongxu, and the Neifu of the Qing Dynasty. It is now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. In the twelfth year of Emperor Xuanzong's Tianbao reign (753 AD), Yan Zhenqing was squeezed out by Yang Guozhong and became the prefect of Pingyuan (now Dezhou, Shandong). In the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755 AD), An Lushan and Shi Siming raised troops in Fanyang (now south of Beijing), and the famous Anshi Rebellion began. For a time, the counties in Hebei collapsed rapidly, but Yan Zhenqing's Pingyuan County raised the banner of rebellion, raised troops to fight against the rebellion, and was promoted as the leader of the rebel army. At that time, Yan Gaoqing, the prefect of Changshan (now Zhengding, Hebei), Yan Zhenqing's elder brother, sent his third son Yan Jiming to contact Zhenqing and join forces to rebel. Yan Gaoqing and Chief Shi Yuan Luqian designed to kill Li Qincuo, a member of the Anlushan Party and guarding the Tumen (now Jingjing, Hebei) fortress, and recapture Tumen. The situation improved for a while. Yan Gaoqing sent his eldest son Yan Quanming to escort the prisoners to Chang'an to report victory to the group to request reinforcements. Unexpectedly, when passing through Taiyuan, he was intercepted by Taiyuan Jiedushi Wang Chengye. The king wanted to take advantage of the situation and backed up his troops but refused to save him. An Lushan heard that there were changes in Hebei and sent Shi Siming back to Changshan. Yan Gaoqing fought alone and fought hard for three days. He ran out of food and arrows, and the city was broken and captured. Yan Jiming and others were beheaded, and more than thirty members of the Yan family died. Yan Gaoqing was escorted to Luoyang. He was brave and unyielding. He had one of his legs cut off and was executed in Lingchi. It was not until May of the first year of Qianyuan (AD 758) that Yan Gaoqing was posthumously awarded the title of Taibao to the Crown Prince by the imperial court, with the title of "loyalty and integrity". Yan Zhenqing was the prefect of Puzhou at the time. After hearing the news, he sent Gaoqing chief Yu Yan Quanming to Changshan and Luoyang to search for the remains of Ji Ming and Gaoqing. Only Ji Ming's head and some bones of Gao Qing were obtained. In order to temporarily bury these bones, Yan Zhenqing wrote a draft of this memorial poem for his nephew. Because this manuscript was written in a state of extreme grief and indignation, regardless of the clumsiness of the pen and ink, the words fluctuated with the calligrapher's mood, purely a natural expression of the calligrapher's spirit and daily workmanship. This is rare in the entire history of calligraphy.
It can be said that "Manuscript of Memorial to My Nephew" is one of the original ink works of great historical and artistic value, and is extremely precious. As one of Yan Shu's famous "Three Drafts" (the other two drafts are "Fighting for a Seat" and "Manuscript of Reporting to Uncle"), it has been included in the engravings of the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, and has been imitated by many in the past dynasties. , praises continue. Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy is also known as the second best running script in the world. The calligraphy achievement of Yan Zhenqing's memorial manuscript is the third greatest running script in the world - "Han Shi Tie" has been highly praised by connoisseurs of all ages, praising it as "Han Shi Tie". In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhang Hao's great-nephew Zhang Yan wrote in a postscript on a piece of paper after the poem: "The old immortal (referring to Su Shi) has a superb writing style, as bright as the sky, and the clouds are as beautiful as the mountains (referring to Huang Tingjian). He also carried forward Dan Li, which can be said to be an unparalleled treasure." Since then, the poem manuscript "Two Poems about Cold Food in Huangzhou" has been called "Tie". Dong Qichang, a great calligrapher and painter of the Ming Dynasty, wrote after the post: "I will see the East for the rest of my life." There are no less than thirty volumes of Mr. Poe's authentic works, and this must be regarded as the first chapter." In the Qing Dynasty, "Hanshi Tie" was taken back to the inner palace and included in "Sanxitang Tie". On the eighth day of April in the 13th year of Qianlong's reign (1748) , Emperor Qianlong personally wrote a postscript at the end of the post: "Dang Xiuyi, a scholar from Dongpo, is one of the empresses Yan and Yang. This volume was written by the day when he was banished to Huangzhou. There is a postscript in the valley at the end, which is overwhelming. It is said that it is better to be good than to be unintentional..." To commemorate the past, the four words "Yun Yun of Xuetang" are written at the beginning of the volume. "Huangzhou Cold Food Poems" It shows the momentum and is full of ups and downs of emotions. The poem is written in a desolate and melancholy way, and the calligraphy is inspired by this mood and situation. The whole poem is ups and downs, fast and steady, and written in one breath. The changes in the mood and emotion of the poems are reflected in the changes in the dotted lines, either straight or sideways, with changeable transitions and disconnected connections, which are natural and strange. They may be large or small, sparse or dense, or light. Some are heavy, some are wide, some are narrow, they are scattered, wild and strange, and are ever-changing. Because of the praise and praise of various schools, the world combined "Han Shi Tie" with "Lanting Preface" by Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and "Manuscript of Sacrifice to Nephew" by Yan Zhenqing of the Tang Dynasty. It is called "the third running script in the world", or simply "Han Shi Tie" is called "the third running script in the world". Some people compare the "three major running scripts in the world" and say: "Lanting Preface" is the style of an elegant scholar and superman, "Memorial Note to Nephew" is the style of a wise man, and "Han Shi Tie" is the style of a scholar and a scholar. They are comparable to each other one after another. Each leads the way, which can be regarded as three milestones in the history of Chinese calligraphy.