Source: Preface to Lanting Collection by Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
"What makes it happy is that it is a thing of the past between pitching and pitching." In this regard, the author thinks it is "very painful"! Therefore, collecting their poems will not make them disappear, but will make them immortal, so that "those who look after them will feel gentle", just like the author, there will be a feeling that "life is too great".
Why is this happening? Because "the world is different, but it is prosperous and unified", because "the future looks at the present and now looks at the past." This can't help but make people sigh what a kind heart the author has!
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I'm glad that between pitches, this has become a thing of the past. I still want to live happily, the situation will be very short, and finally it will be over! The ancients said, "Life and death are great." It hurts!
Translation:
What I used to like, in an instant, has become an old trace, but I can't help feeling because of it. Besides, the length of my life depends on nature, and finally it comes down to extinction. The ancients said, "Life and death are important things after all." How can it not make people sad?
On the third day of March in the 9th year of Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (A.D. 353), 4/kloc-0 military and political dignitaries of the Jin Dynasty were in Lanting (now Shaoxing) to discuss state affairs, and each had his own poems, which were compiled as Preface to Lanting Collection. Wang Xizhi wrote a preface for it, which is called Preface to Lanting Collection.
Legendary allusion
For a long time, there has been a popular saying in academic circles: The Preface to the Lanting Pavilion was brought into the coffin after the death of Li Shimin, the emperor Taizong who deeply loved it, and will never appear in front of the world as a sacrificial object.
During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin had a soft spot for calligraphy, especially Mo Bao, the "sage of calligraphy". He used the convenience of the emperor to collect Wang Xizhi's works all over the world. Every time I get an original, I regard it as a treasure. When I am interested in it, I will guess it, appreciate its brushwork and appreciate its natural charm, and then I will cherish it for fear of losing it.
Not only that, he also advocated Wang Xizhi's calligraphy style, which made the style of learning from Wang prevail in Zhenguan period. It is said that Li Shimin personally wrote Biography of Wang Xizhi for the Book of Jin, and he liked Wang Xizhi more in his later years.
Although Mo Bao is rich, Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion has never been found. A monarch can't get the rare treasures of the previous dynasty. Every time Emperor Taizong thought about it, he was unhappy.
It turned out that Wang Xizhi himself cherished the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion, a work of "God Help", and regarded it as a family heirloom, which was passed down to the seventh generation of Sun Zhi. Zhiyong, a monk, loves calligraphy, admires the calligraphy of his ancestors Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, and is determined to copy the calligraphy of his ancestors.
He practices calligraphy very hard. When he was in Yongxin Temple, he built a small building to practice calligraphy, vowing that "if the book is not finished, he will never leave this building". In this abandoned small building, he was fascinated by writing. After thirty years of hard work, Zhiyong's calligraphy has become more and more famous. The Thousand-Character Literatures is the representative work of Zhi Yong, which has been highly praised by all dynasties.
A hundred years of wisdom and courage. Before he died, he passed the Preface to Lanting Collection to his disciple Cai Bian. Monks in Cai Bian are also very good at calligraphy. Knowing the value of Preface to Lanting Collection, he treasured it in a hole specially carved on the beam of the bedroom.
When Li Shimin heard that the Preface to Lanting Collection was in the place of monk Cai Bian, he was very excited and sent someone to get it many times, but monk Cai Bian always said that he didn't know the whereabouts of the original. Li Shimin see stubbornly don't believe, then change to outwit. He sent suggestion Xiao Yi to dress up as a literate, close to discerning people, and tried to obtain Preface to Lanting Collection. Xiao Yi also studied calligraphy and had a pleasant conversation with the talented monk.
After their close relationship, Xiao Yi specially took out several calligraphy works of Wang Xizhi for the monks to enjoy. After reading it, he said disapprovingly, "It's true, but it's not good. I have an original book, which is the real treasure handed down by Wang Xizhi. " Xiao Yi quietly asked what post it was, and hesitated to tell him mysteriously that it was the original work of Preface to Lanting Collection.
Xiao Yi didn't believe her, saying that the letter had long been lost. How could it be here? Seeing that he was very suspicious, he took out the original Lanting from the roof beam hole and gave it to Xiao Yi for appreciation. Xiao Yi looked at it carefully and found that it was genuine. As soon as his face changed, he immediately stuffed it into his sleeve and recognized the "imperial edict" that he had just shown to Taizong. Only then did I know that I had been cheated, but it was too late to regret it.
When Li Shimin finally got what he dreamed of, he was ecstatic. However, stimulated by this incident, Cai Bian fell ill and died a year later.
Li Shimin appreciated Wang Xizhi's calligraphy very much, and ordered him to serve Zhao Mo, Han Daozheng, Feng Chengsu, Zhu Gejin and other four extension calligraphers in the palace, each of whom extended a few copies and gave them to the Crown Prince and princes. Therefore, at that time, the imitation of this "inferior original" was also "Luoyang paper is expensive". Besides, Ou Yangxun, Chu Suiliang and Yu Shinan were handed down from generation to generation.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Preface to Lanting Collection