From: Preface to Lanting Collection by Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Original text:
If your mind is clear, if your mind is empty.
Happiness is in the water, and quiet interest is in the mountains.
Translation:
Fragrant as orchid, modest as bamboo. The fun of playing lies in mountains and water.
Extended data:
Creative background:
On the art of painting and calligraphy in wei and jin dynasties. People always associate it with the aesthetic taste of "the debate between form and spirit", which has developed from "both form and spirit" to "the separation of form and spirit" and emphasizes nature. According to heaven, this is the relationship between formal expression and spiritual connotation in art, which is both "elegance" of Taoism and "literature" of Confucianism.
The artistic feature of China's traditional calligraphy and painting is the combination of beauty and simplicity. Later, it rose to the state of "getting carried away", which made the art of calligraphy and painting turn from the external expression in the objective world to the expression of people's inner spiritual world. This is the aesthetic taste of the pursuit of "rhyme" in the calligraphy art of the Jin Dynasty.
Judging from the ink of the circulating Jin books, Jin people like rhyme, which is mainly manifested in the beauty of nature, harmony and agility. Wang Xizhi was an outstanding representative of calligraphy in Jin Dynasty, and later generations honored him as a "book sage", and his calligraphy post Preface to Lanting was also honored as "the first cursive script in the world".
Preface to Lanting is a book written by Wang Xizhi at the age of 47. It tells the story that Xihe and his good friend Yashi gathered in Lanting (now southwest of Lanqing, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province) for a grand tour. His book is calm, elegant and full of vitality. It is said that Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, loved his calligraphy and thought the Preface to Lanting was "perfect", so he buried it in the mausoleum after his death.
There has been a great debate about the authenticity of Preface to Lanting, and Li Shimin's tomb was almost dug. However, the artistic value of Preface to Lanting is generally acknowledged. Mi Songfei's poem said: "Mo Han is the most romantic in the world. Who doesn't love Yin Shan in Goose Pond? Although this book decays to Zhaoling, stone carving is particularly precious. "There are dozens of copies of calligraphers in past dynasties, which is also a rare cultural phenomenon in the history of calligraphy.
Although Preface to Lanting is not as good as Wang Shu's cursive script, as an elegant, leisurely and chic style of the times, no one can surpass it and accompany it. That kind of elegant layout, elegant style, changeable brushwork, and easy borrowing make later generations of literati feel that they are facing an ordinary and mysterious tower, which is often impossible to enter.
Looking at the richness of his pen, there are various wonderful changes, such as hiding the front, weighing and decorating, hanging the pen to the front, tying the line, reflecting the belt, turning from square to circle, and turning from circle to square. Some horizontal strokes and wavy strokes have the meaning of official script, which is unpredictable, new and healing, and normal and normal. This is also the permanent artistic charm of Lanting Preface. The so-called "no stimulation, no discipline."