Wang Xizhi studied as a child and admired Zhang Zhi, a calligrapher in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Zhang Zhi, whose word is Boying, is also famous for his calligraphy. It is said that when Zhang Zhi studied calligraphy, he often wrote on clothes and silks, and then dyed them in a dye vat to make clothes. Zhang Zhi often goes to the pool to write, and uses the pool water to grind ink and rinse pens. As a result, the pool water was dyed black. Because he works hard, he writes well, especially cursive. At that time, people called him "Cao Sheng". Wang Xizhi is determined to learn from the spirit of Zhang Zhi, and believes that if he is willing to work hard, he will certainly catch up with or surpass Zhang Zhi.
Wang Xizhi not only learned the spirit of Zhang Zhi, but also learned Zhang Zhi's writing methods. Like Zhang Zhi, he often goes to the pool to learn to write.
There is a river at the foot of Linchuan in Wang Xizhi's hometown. There is a place by the river called Xincheng. There is a deep rectangular pool above the new town, where he often learns to write. Whenever spring comes, he comes here with paper, pen, inkstone and ink to learn to write. He used the ink in the pool and the water in the pool to wash the pen. Every time his black ink pen is put into the pool, a cloud of black ink immediately appears in the water. In this way, over time, the pool water will gradually turn black. As the water in the pool darkens day by day, Wang Xizhi's words grow day by day. Soon, his calligraphy surpassed that of the calligrapher Yu Yi at that time.
On one occasion, he wrote a letter to his brother Yu Liang in cursive script. After Yu Yi saw it, he was deeply impressed. He said that Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is "really comparable to Zhang Zhi!" Wang Xizhi eventually became a famous calligrapher at that time.