Wang Xizhi’s classic stories include penetrating into the wood, changing the goose when the calligraphy is done, cleverly mending the Spring Festival couplets, not avoiding zigzag, and cleverly avoiding disasters.
1. Entering the Wood
It is said that the emperor at that time wanted to go to the northern suburbs to offer sacrifices, and asked Wang Xizhi to write the congratulations on a wooden board, and then sent workers to carve it. 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 into three-thirds of the depth 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. "Three Points into the Wood" is derived from this story.
2. The calligraphy success is exchanged for geese
The calligraphy sage Wang Xizhi liked geese very much. He believed that raising geese not only cultivates one's sentiments, but also enables one to learn some calligraphy theories from observing the movements of geese. . One time, Wang Xizhi went out to play and saw a group of beautiful white geese. He wanted to buy them. After asking, he learned that these geese were raised by a Taoist priest nearby.
So he found the Taoist priest and wanted to discuss buying the geese with him. When the Taoist priest heard that the famous Wang Xizhi wanted to buy it, he said: As long as Wang Youjun can copy a copy of the Tao Te Ching for me, he will take some Wang Xizhi gave him the goose, and Wang Xizhi happily agreed, thus completing the story of the book being exchanged for the white goose.
3. Cleverly making up Spring Festival couplets
The great calligrapher Wang Xizhi would write Spring Festival couplets and paste them on the door every New Year's Eve. Because his handwriting is known as "the best running script in the world", many people want to know his handwriting but it is rare. So every New Year's Eve, as soon as his Spring Festival couplets are posted, they are secretly taken away before midnight. This year, New Year's Eve came again, and Wang Xizhi still wrote the Spring Festival couplet with the eight words "Blessings come without pairs, misfortunes never come alone", leaving the lower half.
Those who wanted to steal the couplet saw that these eight characters were too unlucky, so they left disappointed. At the Yin time, Wang Xizhi added the second half, and it became "Unparalleled blessings have come this morning, and misfortunes do not come alone last night." Early the next morning, those who wanted to steal the Spring Festival couplets saw the change in the couplets, and they all marveled and clapped their hands.
4. Don’t avoid words
Wang Xizhi’s sons Xuanzhi, Ningzhi, Huizhi, Caozhi and Xianzhi; his grandsons Zhenzhi and Jingzhi. People after Wang Xi did not shy away from family taboos. There is a big secret hidden here, a secret related to Zhang Liang of the Western Han Dynasty. There are 12 names with the character "Zhi" in Wang Xi's generation, 22 children and nephews with the character "Zhi", 12 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, 9 great-great-grandchildren, and 4 fifth-generation grandchildren.
Chen Yinke said that the reason why these people do not avoid taboos is because they are all members of Tianshi Tao, and the "zhi" is a secret code and a badge. The eldest son of Tianshi Dao, Tianshi Zhang Ling, was the eighth generation grandson of Liuhou Zhang Liang.
5. Avoid disasters skillfully
When Wang Xizhi was young, he was favored by General Wang Dun and often asked Wang Xizhi to sleep with him. One time, Wang Dun got up first, and soon Qian Feng came in. Wang Dun ordered all his servants to leave, and they discussed the plan of rebellion. For a moment, they forgot that Wang Xizhi was still sleeping in the bed.
Wang Xizhi woke up and heard what Wang and Qian were talking about. He knew that he was going to die, so in order to survive, he had to smear his face and quilt with saliva and pretend to be asleep.
Halfway through the conversation between Wang and Qian, Wang Dun suddenly remembered that Wang Xizhi had not gotten up yet, and was shocked and said: "Now that things have come to an end, I have to kill this kid." When he opened the mosquito net, he saw Wang Xizhi's face was drooled, thinking that he was fast asleep and heard nothing, so Wang Xizhi saved his life.
Reference for the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Wang Xizhi