The preciousness of this work moved a large number of celebrities including Emperor Taizong, Tang Gaozong, Wu Zetian, Gan Long and even Guo Moruo.
Whether this legendary calligraphy still exists in the world is still inconclusive, but many people think that it is hidden in a corner, and some people think that it has not been discovered.
Today, we will talk about Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Pavilion".
Wang Xizhi was a famous calligrapher in Jin Dynasty. Preface to Lanting Collection is his masterpiece as well. He is known as "the best running script in the world" and even "the best calligraphy in the world".
After the preface to Lanting Collection was written, it was handed down to later generations. Until the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin, a calligraphy enthusiast, was still a brain powder of Wang Xizhi. He pushed this masterpiece to an unparalleled position. He cheated the Preface to Lanting from others and regarded it as a treasure.
Before he died, Li Shimin told his son Li Zhi that other things didn't matter, but he must bury the Preface to Lanting for himself.
As a result, Preface to Lanting was put into Li Shimin's Mausoleum and became the mainstream view.
In the chaos of the late Tang Dynasty, the royal tombs of the Tang Dynasty were looted, and Li Shimin's dry tomb was not spared. It is said that the preface to Lanting Collection was obtained by grave robbers at that time, and this masterpiece was rediscovered.
However, it didn't take long for the whereabouts of The Lanting Preface to become a mystery. Some people say it's ruined, some people say it's hidden, and some people say that the original work of Preface to Lanting has not been discovered.
The study of Preface to Lanting has never stopped since ancient times. In the Song Dynasty, people thought that the original Preface to Lanting was not buried with Li Shimin, but was replaced by Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, who was also a calligraphy lover. Later, this masterpiece was acquired by Wu Zetian and buried in the tomb with Wu Zetian.
So, where is the original work of Preface to Lanting, and does it still exist?
There are many people who like the Preface to Lanting in modern times, and the authenticity of the Preface to Lanting caused a great discussion in the late Qing Dynasty.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Guo Moruo, because of his love for calligraphy, advocated searching in the dry tombs of the Tang Dynasty, especially the tomb of Wu Zetian, to see if he could find Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion. However, this proposal was rejected by Premier Zhou, who said, "We can't do all the good things, but we can leave it to future generations."
In this way, Wu Zetian's mausoleum was preserved, but the unsolved case of Preface to Lanting continued.
Later, a self-proclaimed "Preface to the Lanting Pavilion" was sent to Guo Moruo, but Guo Moruo thought that the style and techniques of this work were quite different from those of Wang Xizhi, and it was a fake. However, this statement has also been refuted by many experts, who believe that the preface to Lanting is the original. Even Chairman Mao paid attention to the debate and gave instructions to support it.
The matter was inconclusive at that time and is still being debated today.
If the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion exists today, it is either a work handed down or hidden in the hands of folk collectors.
If the original does not exist in the world, then future generations will lose a priceless treasure.
Of course, there is another possibility, just as Guo Moruo inferred from the textual research of the Song Dynasty and was buried in the tomb of Wu Zetian.
It seems that the unsolved case of Wang Xizhi's Preface to Lanting will continue.