Wang Xizhi's masterpiece is Preface to Lanting, his masterpiece in regular script is On the Meaning of Music, and his masterpiece in cursive script is Seventeen Posts.
Wang Xizhi is in an era of calligraphy reform. Wang Xizhi's early Cao Zhang was mature, and Wang Xizhi's early works inherited the characteristics of Cao Zhang. Wang Qian is called a book saint because he completed the transition from Cao Zhang to Cao Xing. His works in the middle and late period made the font lose the taste of official script, that is, the process of opening letters. So Wang Xizhi's font is cursive.
To be clear, there is no clear boundary between line and grass. Wang Xizhi's words are mostly in between, and different copybooks have different directions. Wang Xizhi's font features are also delicate and fresh, and his brushwork is exquisite. His brushwork is chic and elegant, and his brushwork is euphemistic and implicit, like flowing water. Later generations commented that his font was "floating like a cloud and agile like a dragon".
Characteristics of Wang Xizhi's Calligraphy
The characteristics of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy are: peaceful and natural, euphemistic and subtle, graceful and graceful. Many of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy lines are mainly based on lifting and pressing, and occasionally he also uses twisting brushwork. He used a neat pen at the turning point, showing Wang Xizhi's extraordinary brushwork.
One of the characteristics of Wang Xizhi's running script is that he writes it in the style of official script. It can be seen from his calligraphy that many of his running scripts are written in the center, and the pen used in seal script is characterized by the pen and the pen center, so the turning point in his running script is close to translation, so the lines in his calligraphy are very substantial and heavy.
The second feature of Wang Xizhi's running script is exquisite composition. Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is smooth and elegant, but the words and lines closely echo each other, and the whole calligraphy has a sense of unity. The third feature of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is style and charm, which is also the artistic realm pursued by many calligraphers.