During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was the famous Wang Xizhi, who was known as the Saint of Calligraphy. His son Wang Xianzhi is also a famous calligrapher. Both father and son wrote running script. At that time, the style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties was that of an immortal, and Wang Xizhi's calligraphy also had this characteristic. His greatest calligraphy feature is his delicate brushwork and changeable structure. His famous poem "Lanting Preface" is also very famous. No one knows where his original work is now, and all they see are imitations. Lanting's preface is also known as the best running script in the world. Moreover, their father and son are also good at official, regular script and cursive script.
The most famous people in the Tang Dynasty are Yan Zhenqing, Ouyang Xun, Liu Gongquan, and Huai Su. Yan Zhenqing, Ouyang Xun, and Liu Gongquan are all good at writing regular script. Yan Zhenqing has many pagoda monuments, and his authentic works can still be seen. He is very upright, and like his works, Yan Zhenqing is known as the man closest to Wang Xizhi. Ouyang Xun is known as the best regular script writer in the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, he is also a calligraphy theorist, and some of the theories he proposed are palace-level theories. Liu Gongquan absorbed the styles of Yan Zhenqing and Ouyang Xun, and later formed his own school called Liu Style. It is known as the muscle of the face and the bones of the willow. Huaisu and Zhang Xu are the representatives of cursive script and the two peaks of cursive script. Characteristics are like a gust of wind and rain, changing at any time.
In the Song Dynasty, there were Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu and Cai Xiang. Huang Tingjian is good at cursive and running script. His running script is highly praised by Lanting Preface, and his representative works include Longmen Twelve Ranks and Zuohe Inscription. Cai Xiang's calligraphy is vigorous and dignified, simple, graceful and self-contained. Mi Fu likes to copy the works of his ancestors, and his level of skill is so high that he can fake the real ones. What he studied the most and accomplished the most was his running script, and many of his original works can still be seen.
There was Zhao Mengfu in the Yuan Dynasty. Zhao Mengfu’s calligraphy style was handsome and charming, with strict structure and mature brushwork. The Zhao style that we later call him was originally created by Zhao Mengfu.