Wang Xizhi (33-361): Yi Shao, whose name is Lian Zhai, was originally from Linyi, Langya (now Linyi, Shandong), and later moved to Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang), where he was a general of the right army. He was a great calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and was honored as a book saint by later generations.
He came from a family of calligraphers. His uncles Wang Yi and Wang Dao, and his cousins Wang Tian and Wang Qia were all famous calligraphers at that time.
at the age of seven, I learned calligraphy from Wei Shuo, a female calligrapher. Wang Xizhi copied Wei Shu until he was twelve years old. Although he was good, he always felt dissatisfied. Because he often listened to the teacher's stories about calligraphers' diligent study and hard practice in past dynasties, he had admiration for the calligraphy of Zhang Zhi, a "grass saint" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was determined to inspire himself with Zhang Zhi's "Linchi" story.
In order to practice calligraphy well, he always travels across mountains and rivers to explore ancient inscriptions and accumulates a large amount of calligraphy materials. In his study, in the yard, by the gate and even outside the toilet, he has stools and pens, ink, paper and inkstones. Every time he thinks of a well-structured word, he immediately writes it on the paper. When he was practicing calligraphy, he concentrated his eyebrows and thought hard, even forgetting to eat and sleep.
He thinks that raising geese can not only cultivate sentiment, but also understand the truth of calligraphy from some posture of geese. One day early in the morning, Wang Xizhi and his son, Wang Xianzhi, took a boat to visit Shaoxing's landscape. When they arrived near Xianshui Village, they saw a group of white geese on the shore, swaying and dawdling. Wang Xizhi was fascinated by this group of white geese, so he wanted to buy them home. Wang Xizhi asked the Taoist nearby, hoping that the Taoist could sell him the geese. The Taoist priest said, "If the adults in the right army want it, please write a Taoist health-preserving book" Huang Ting Jing "for me! Wang Xizhi was eager for the goose and readily agreed to the conditions put forward by the Taoist priest. This is the story of "Wang Xizhi's Book for White Goose".
At the age of twenty, a captain Chi Jian sent someone to Wang Dao's house to choose a son-in-law. At that time, people paid attention to the rank of family and asked for the right family. Wang Dao's son and nephew heard that Qiu's family was coming to propose marriage, and they all dressed up in disguise, hoping to be selected. Only Wang Xizhi, as if he didn't hear anything, was lying on the bamboo couch in the east, eating sesame cakes with one hand and painting clothes with the other. When people come back, they report what they have seen to Xi Taiwei. When he knew that there was still a quiet Wang Xizhi leaning on the east couch, he couldn't help clapping his hands and exclaiming, This is the son-in-law I want! So Chi Jian married his daughter Xi Jun to Wang Xizhi. This story has become two allusions of "East Bed" and "Lingtan".
There are more idioms that appear on him. It is said that once, he wrote his words on a board and gave them to the engraver for carving. The man cut the board with a knife, only to find that his handwriting was printed three-thirds deep into the board. This is the origin of the idiom "get to the point".
His best calligraphy is the preface to Lanting Collection. That was his work in middle age. There is a custom in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. On March 3rd of the lunar calendar every year, people must go to the river to play, so as to eliminate the ominous. This is called [repair]. On March 3rd, the 9th year of Yonghe, Wang Xizhi and some scholars, 41 * * *, went to the riverside of Lanting to repair the temple. Everyone is writing poems while drinking. After the poem was finished, everyone collected the poems, synthesized a Lanting collection, and recommended Wang Xizhi as a preface. At this time, Wang Xizhi was drunk. He took advantage of the wine, picked up a moustache pen, and waved a pen on cocoon paper. This preface is the preface of Lanting Collection, which was later famous throughout the ages. This post is a draft, with 28 lines and 324 words. Described the scene of literati's elegant collection at that time. Because the author was in high spirits at that time, he wrote very proudly. It is said that it is impossible to write later. Among them, there are more than twenty "zhi" characters, which are written in different ways. In Song Dynasty, Mi Fei called it "the best running script in the world". Legend has it that Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, cherished the Preface to Lanting and buried it in Zhaoling when he died. What remains is only a copy of others. What people see today is a copy of Preface to Lanting. Wang Xizhi's calligraphy works are very rich. In addition to Preface to Lanting, there are other famous calligraphy works, such as Official Slave's Post, Seventeen Post, Two Thank-you Post, Orange Post, Aunt's Post, Sunny Post in Fast Snow, Le Yi Lun and Huang Ting Jing. The main features of his calligraphy are peace and naturalness, tactful and subtle brushwork, graceful and graceful, and later generations commented, "If you are floating in the clouds, you will be frightened by the moss." Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is extremely beautiful.