Zhong Yao of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Zhi of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty are collectively called the Four Sages in the book.
Zhong Yao (151～230), a calligrapher from the Wei Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period of China. The character Yuanchang was born in Changshe, Yingchuan (now Changge County, Henan Province). During the reign of Emperor Ming, he became the Taifu and was granted the title of Marquis of Dingling. He was known as Taifu Zhong. Posthumous title: Chenghou.
Zhong Yao studied calligraphy from Cao Xi, Cai Yong and Liu Desheng. He learned from everyone's strengths and was good at official script, regular script and running script. He has conducted in-depth and thorough research on the composition and structure of calligraphy. The artistic characteristics of his calligraphy are: clever and delicate, dense and deep, natural and uncarved. His regular script writing style and structure have a strong flavor of official script, and his style is simple and simple, and he has been regarded as a model by the past dynasties. It was praised by the "Xuanhe Shupu" of the Northern Song Dynasty as the complete legal system and the ancestor of the official script. Zhong Yao, Zhang Zhi of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty are collectively known as the Four Sages in the Book; together with Wang Xizhi, they are also known as King Zhong.
The original calligraphy of Zhong Yao has not been handed down. The ancient version of "Jian Ji Zhi Biao" was destroyed during the Republic of China, and only the photocopy has been handed down. The engraved stickers include "Declaration Form", "Congratulations Form", "Li Ming Form", "Tomb Field Bingshe Formation", etc. It is said that the "Shangzunhao Stele" and "Shouchanbiao Stele" of the Wei Dynasty were also written by Zhong Yao. "Declaration Form" is a representative work of Zhong Yao's calligraphy. The currently circulated engraving is said to be written by Wang Xizhi. The calligraphy of this calligraphy is slightly flat, the rules are strict, and it has the calligraphy style after the Jin Dynasty, which may be due to the imprinting of Jin people. "Declaration Form" is included in "Chunhua Pavilion Tie", "Daguan Tie" and other series of posts. "He Jie Biao", also known as "Rong Lu Biao" and "He Ke Jie Biao", is the most distinctive work in Zhong Yao's calligraphy. It was written in the 24th year of Jian'an (219). This book retains many official script styles and is an official regular script. Book style in the process of gradual change. "He Jie Biao" has a copy of "Yugang Zhai". "Li Ming Table", 8 lines in regular script, is engraved in "Kuaixuetang Tie" written by Wang Xizhi.
Zhang Zhi
Zhang Zhi (?~about 192)
A calligrapher of the Eastern Han Dynasty in China. The name is Boying. A native of Jiuquan, Dunhuang (now Jiuquan, Gansu Province). He was born into an official family, and his father Zhang Huan once served as Taichang Qing. Zhang Zhi is good at cursive writing in cursive script. He changed the ancient cursive writing method of distinguishing characters and separating strokes into a new writing method that involves up and down and is full of changes. He is full of originality and had a great influence at the time. He is known as the sage of cursive writing. No ink traces of his calligraphy have been handed down to the world, and only his "August Tie" and other engraved inscriptions are included in the "Chunhua Pavilion Tie" of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Wang Xizhi
Wang Xizhi (321-379, or 303-361), also known as Yishao and named Danzhai, was originally from Linyi, Langya (now part of Shandong), and later moved to Shan Yin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang), an official to the general of the Youjun Army, an internal historian of Kuaiji, was a great calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and was revered as the "Sage of Calligraphy" by later generations.
He believes that raising geese can not only cultivate sentiments, but also comprehend the principles of calligraphy and writing from certain body postures of geese. Early one morning, Wang Xizhi and his son Wang Xianzhi took a small boat to explore the landscape of Shaoxing. When the boat arrived near Jun Village in the county, they saw a group of white geese on the shore, swaying and dawdling. Wang Xizhi was fascinated by the sight and fell in love with these white geese, so he wanted to buy them home. Wang Xizhi asked the Taoist priest nearby, hoping that the Taoist priest could sell him the geese. The Taoist priest said, "If Lord Youjun wants it, please write for me a Taoist health-preserving book called the Huang Ting Jing!" Wang Xizhi was eager to ask for it, and he readily agreed to the conditions put forward by the Taoist priest. This is the story of "Wang Xizhi's book exchanged for a white goose".
When he was twenty years old, a Taiwei Xi Jian sent people to Wang Dao's house to choose a son-in-law. At that time, people paid attention to family status and the right family. Director Wang's son and nephew heard that Taiwei's family was coming to propose marriage, so they all dressed up in disguise, hoping to be selected. Only Wang Xizhi seemed to have heard nothing. He was lying on the bamboo couch in the east, eating sesame seed cakes with one hand and drawing on his clothes with the other. After the visitor returned, he reported what he saw to Taiwei Xi. When he knew that there was a calm Wang Xizhi leaning on the east couch, he couldn't help but clapped his hands and exclaimed: This is exactly the son-in-law I want! So Xi Jian married his daughter Xi Jun to Wang Xizhi. This story became the two allusions of "Dong Bed" and "Ling Tan".
These are not the only idioms that appeared on him. It is said that once, he wrote the words on a wooden board and showed it to the carver to carve. The person used a knife to cut the wooden board and found his handwriting. Print three-thirds deep into the inside of the board. This is the origin of the idiom "three points into the wood".
The best calligraphy of Wang Xizhi’s life is the preface to the Lanting Collection. That was his work in middle age.
There was a custom in the Eastern Jin Dynasty that on March 3rd of the lunar calendar every year, people had to go to the river to play to eliminate bad luck. This is called "Xiucai". On March 3 of the ninth year of Yonghe, Wang Xizhi and some literati, numbering forty-one, went to the riverside of Lanting to repair. Everyone drank and wrote poems.
After finishing the poems, everyone collected them and combined them into a preface to the Lanting Collection. Wang Xizhi was recommended to write a preface. Wang Xizhi was already drunk at this time. Taking advantage of his drunkenness, he picked up the rat whisker pen and began to write on the silkworm cocoon paper. This preface was the preface to the Lanting Anthology, which later became famous throughout the ages. This post is a draft, 28 lines, 324 words. It describes the gathering of literati at that time. The author was in high spirits at the time and was very proud of his writing. It is said that he could no longer be caught writing it again later. There are more than twenty characters "Zhi" written in different ways. Mi Fu in the Song Dynasty called it "the best running script in the world". Legend has it that Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, cherished "Lanting Preface" very much and buried it in Zhaoling when he died. All that remains are copies of others. What people see today are all copies of "Lanting Preface". Wang Xizhi's calligraphy works are very rich. In addition to "Lanting Preface", the famous ones include "Guannu Tie", "Seventeen Tie", "Two Xie Tie", "Fengju Tie", "Auntie Tie", "Kuaixue Tie" "Shi Qing Tie", "Le Yi Lun", "Huang Ting Jing", etc. The main characteristics of his calligraphy are peaceful and natural, euphemistic and implicit, and graceful and graceful. Later generations commented: "Flying like clouds, trimming moss and frightening snakes." Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is extremely beautiful.
Wang Xianzhi
Wang Xianzhi (344-386), calligrapher and poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, courtesy name Zijing, was born in Linyi, Shandong Province, and was born in Kuaiji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province). Wang Xizhi was the seventh son. When he reached Zhongshu Ling, he was known as Wang Daling to distinguish him from later calligrapher Wang Min. Together with his father, he is called the "Two Kings".
Wang Xianzhi followed his father to practice calligraphy since he was a child, and he had great ambitions. Later, he also took Zhang Zhi as his calligraphy, and became one. He is famous for his running script and cursive script, but he also has profound skills in regular script and official script. Because Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty did not appreciate his works very much, his works did not survive as much as his father's works. The handed down masterpiece "Thirteen Lines of Luo Shen Fu" is also known as "Thirteen Lines of Jade Edition".
The story of Wang Xianzhi and his concubine Taoye has always been a hot topic in folklore. It is said that he once composed a "Peach Leaf Song" to send off his beautiful lady.