When did calligraphy become an art? Who were the famous calligraphers in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties?

Calligraphy is a unique traditional art in China. Chinese characters in China were created by working people and began to be recorded by pictures. After thousands of years of development, it has evolved into today's writing, and the generation of calligraphy is because ancestors invented the writing brush. So after Meng Tian invented the writing brush in Qin Dynasty, calligraphy became an art.

Calligraphers in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties mainly include Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Zhong You, Suo Jing, Wang Xun, Lu Ji, etc. Among them, the epitaph of Zhang Menglong in Shigu, Zhang Hei in Mount Tai, Dunhuang Calligraphy, Yuan Huai Epitaph and Hui Yuan Epitaph are all famous calligraphy inscriptions in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

1. People in Jin Dynasty advocated "elegance" and "quality" in their daily life, and pursued the beauty of moderation and elegance. Calligraphers come forth in large numbers, and the artistic interest of the two kings of bamboo slips (Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi) caters to the requirements of literati. People are more and more aware of the aesthetic value of written words. Wang Xizhi, the most representative of the spirit of Wei and Jin Dynasties, is the most influential calligrapher in the history of calligraphy and is known as the "sage of calligraphy". Wang Xizhi's running script "Preface to Lanting" is known as "the best running script in the world", and critics say that his writing style is like a cloud and agile as a dragon. His son's "Ode to Luo Shen" is magnificent, creating a "broken style" and "a book", which is a great contribution in the history of calligraphy. With the help of Lu Ji, Wei Guan, Suo Jing, Wang Dao, Xie An and Liang Jian, Nanzong calligraphy flourished. Yang Xin, Qi, Xiao Ziyun and Chen of Liang in the Southern Song Dynasty were all his followers.

At the peak of calligraphy in Jin Dynasty, it was mainly manifested in running script, which was a font between cursive script and regular script. His representative works "Three Wishes", namely "Yuan Bo Tie", "Sunny Tie in Fast Snow" and "Mid-Autumn Festival Tie".

2. Northern and Southern Dynasties. Calligraphy in the Southern and Northern Dynasties entered the era of "Beibei Nantie". Calligraphy at this time is a transitional period from official script in Han Dynasty to regular script in Tang Dynasty. Zhong Zhishuai's Xue Xuan Shu Pin said: "Weibei calligraphy inherits the charm of Han Lizhi and opens the voice of Tang Kai." The Northern Wei Dynasty and the Eastern Wei Dynasty are the best calligraphers in the Northern Dynasties, and their styles are also colorful. Representative works include stele, Zhang Menglong stele and Shi Jingjun stele. The representative works in the inscription are: thousands of words are really grass. The Northern Dynasties praised their ancestors and revealed their family business, and carved many stones, such as the north monument and the south post, the north opening to the south, the north people and the south soil, and the north glory and the south show.

For example, the representative works of the North-South School include Nan Liang's Yi and the Northern Wei Dynasty's Zheng Wengong Monument, which can be described as the North-South binary star. Most northern writers are Shu Ren, whose books are anonymous, so calligraphy is the crown. Zheng Daozhao is known as "the sage in the book", and Wang Youjun is the northern school.