Do you know anything about the Preface to Lanting?

Wang Xizhi/Lanting Preface: In the history of calligraphy in China, there is a kind of "the best running script in the world" recognized by calligraphers of all ages. This is Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion. Wang Xizhi (AD 32 1 ~ 379), the most outstanding calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was born in Linyi, Langya, a general of the right army, and was called "Wang Youjun". At the age of seven, he began to learn calligraphy, studied under Mrs. Wei and her uncle Wang, and came from a calligraphy family. Later, he visited Seiko in Qin and Han Dynasties, studied the style, imitated the hand, learned from others' strengths, and merged them into one furnace, creating a running script that is "natural, enriching the people and enriching the people", and was praised as a "book saint" by later generations. Calligraphy reached its peak in his later years, and Preface to Lanting was his masterpiece in his later years.

Preface to Lanting was called Preface to Linjiang in Jin Dynasty, and later generations also called Preface to Xiu, Preface to Tie and Preface to Lanting, with 28 lines and 324 words. According to legend, on March 3rd, the 9th year of Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 353), the sky was clear and calm, and Wang Xizhi and Xie. Facing the beautiful scenery and friends, Wang Xizhi wrote this preface with silk paper and moustache on a whim. After returning home, Wang Xizhi rewrote it dozens of times, which was not as good as the original, so he liked it very much himself. He gave it to his descendants and passed it on to Wang Xizhi's seventh generation Sun Zhiyong, who had no children and gave it to his disciples for preservation. In the tenth year of Zhenguan (AD 636), calligraphers such as Feng Chengsu, Yu Shinan and Chu Suiliang were asked to copy ten copies and give them to the recent ministers. After his death, the original works were brought to Zhaoling as funerary objects. So now we can't see the original work of Preface to the Lanting Pavilion, but only the first-class edition of the Tang Dynasty. The most authentic copy of the Tang Dynasty is Feng Chengsu's copy, which is also called "Dragon Book" because the title of Tang Zhongzong Li Xian is printed before and after the post. Guo Tianci called it "Dragon Book", "elegant brushwork, gorgeous ink color, beautiful, fascinating."

The Preface to the Lanting Pavilion is colorful, patchwork and ever-changing, and the 20 words "ambition" in the post are different. With a pen, the center is bone, and the edge pen is beautiful. Sometimes it contains storage, and sometimes it is sharp. Especially the composition, from beginning to end, looks at the pen, looks at the back, is sparse, disconnected, vivid and natural. Therefore, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Dong Qichang said in "Essays on Painting Zen Rooms": "The preface to the composition of Lanting in the right army is the first in ancient and modern times, and its words, big or small, are reflected in the Dharma, so it is God. The most commendable thing is that the style of Preface to Lanting contains the author's skillful pen and ink skills, profound traditional skills, extensive cultural accomplishment and noble artistic sentiment.

According to historical records, in the eleventh year of Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 355), Wang Xizhi resigned from the county and traveled all over the southeast landscape to the Jinting in Shengzhou. Attracted by the beautiful scenery, he happily built a room and settled here, where he spent his old age and was buried at the foot of Jinting Waterfall. Throughout the ages, Wang Xizhi's former residence of Jinting is as admired by the world as Linyi's birthplace and Shaoxing's scenic spots.

The former residence of Wang Xizhi in Shengzhou covers an area of 30 square kilometers. The main scenic spots are Jintingguan historical and cultural protection area, calligraphy pilgrimage area and mountain pastoral scenery area, forming a cultural tourism area integrating calligraphy exchange, pilgrimage, study, research, sightseeing and leisure. Newly built and rebuilt Jintingguan, Sanqing Hall, Youjun Temple and Huatang Ancient Village, where calligraphers' descendants live together, have initially formed a characteristic cultural tourist area with the theme of calligraphy pilgrimage.