No authentic works of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy have been handed down to the world, only engravings and copies.
During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, there were more than 3,000 volumes of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy. By the time of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, there were only more than 160 volumes. Today, there are only 20 copies of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy surviving in the world.
It is said that Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, cherished "Lanting Preface" very much and buried it in Zhaoling when he died, leaving only other people's copies. What people see today are all copies of "Lanting Preface".
Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy works are very rich, except for "Lanting Preface". The famous ones include "Guannu Tie", "Seventeen Tie", "Two Xie Tie", "Fengju Tie", "Auntie's Tie", "Kuaixue Shiqing Tie", "Le Yi Lun" and "Huang Ting Jing". wait. The main characteristics of his calligraphy are peaceful and natural, euphemistic and implicit, and graceful and graceful. The main characteristics of his calligraphy are peaceful and natural, euphemistic and implicit, and graceful and graceful.
Tang Taizong liked the word "王" more than Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty. It is said that he collected all the words "王" in the world. He also deceived the authentic "Lanting Preface" from Zhiyong's disciple Biancai, and then asked Chu Suiliang to preside over the appraisal. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty only followed Chu Suiliang's opinion on this matter. Therefore, the Wang characters we see today that are considered to be authentic were all identified by Chu Suiliang. We cannot know what the fakes he picked out are like. You know, because they were all destroyed.
The most outstanding calligraphers of the early Tang Dynasty, Ou, Yu, and Chu, were able to achieve great achievements. The main reason was that they served in the palace during this period and had access to a large number of precious authentic calligraphy works.