The Preface to Lanting is a calligraphy work by the famous Chinese calligrapher Wang Xizhi. It has high calligraphy reference value. So, how do people appreciate the Lanting Preface? The following is an appreciation of the Lanting Preface that I compiled for you. I hope it can help you.
Appreciation of the Lanting Preface
"Lanting Collection Preface" is also titled "Linhe Preface", "Han Tie", "March 3rd Lanting Poetry Preface", etc. On March 3rd in the ninth year of Yonghe reign of Emperor Mu of Jin Dynasty (AD 353), Wang Xizhi, then the internal historian of Kuaiji, and his friends Xie An, Sun Chuo and 41 other people gathered in Lanting Pavilion to compose poems and drink wine. Wang Xizhi compiled the famous names and poems written by them into a collection, and wrote a preface to describe the incident of drinking Qushui and express the inner feelings caused by it. This preface is the "Preface to the Lanting Collection". This preface is greatly influenced by Shi Chong's "Preface to Jingu Poems", and its achievements are far superior to "Preface to Jingu Poems".
The article first describes the time, place and participants of the meeting, concisely and comprehensively. Then describe the natural environment and surrounding scenery where Lanting is located, using concise and well-organized language. To describe the scenery, start from the big picture, from far to near, then from near to far, and push to infinity. First, he writes about the high mountains and ridges, then gradually he writes about the clear and turbulent water, and then he goes down the river to transcribe the characters' activities and their moods, combining movement and stillness. Then he adds natural features, starting from the clear blue sky and the gentle spring breeze, and naturally pushing towards the vast universe and all things in the world. The artistic conception is clear and elegant, and the mood is cheerful and smooth. The Lanting banquet can really be said to have four beauties and two difficulties.
But there is no such thing as a banquet that lasts forever. Where there is gathering, there must be parting. The so-called joy and sorrow must be a common mood among people, although people have different choices and different temperaments. Just now, I felt extremely happy about what I longed for and finally obtained, but in an instant, it was already a thing of the past. Human life is no exception. The so-called "I don't know that old age is coming" (Confucius's words), "The old age is coming slowly" (Qu Yuan's words), "In the world of life, one is dying as if the dust is flying" ("Nineteen Ancient Poems") ), this cannot help but arouse people's emotions. Whenever we think of the fact that human life, no matter how long it is, will eventually perish, it makes people feel even more desolate and sad. If the previous paragraph is about narrative and scene description, then this paragraph is about discussion and lyricism. The author expresses his longing and persistent enthusiasm for life in his lament that life is short and life is fleeting.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, metaphysics talks were popular for a while. Scholars in the gentry mostly used Zhuangzi’s "Equality of Things" as a pretext, pretending to be open-minded and disdainful of merit. Wang Xizhi was also a eloquent literati, but in terms of political thought and life ideals, Wang Xizhi was different from other literati. He once said: "Empty talk is a waste of work, and idle writing hinders important matters" (Shishuo Xinyu, "Words Chapter"). In this preface, Wang Xizhi also clearly denounced "Yi Shisheng" and "Qi Peng Shang" as a single thing. This false outlook on life clearly affirms the value of life.
This article has a fresh, simple and non-embellished style. The language is fluent, clear and moving, which is completely different from the work of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, "The Literary Heart and the Diaolong, Ming Poems", which is a model of mountains and rivers. The sentence pattern is neat and varied, mainly short sentences, with occasional sentences in the prose, the rhythm is harmonious, and it is pleasant to the ear.
In short, this article reflects Wang Xizhi’s positive outlook on life, which is in sharp contrast to the inaction advocated by Lao-Zhuang’s theory. To inspire and think for future generations. Introduction to Lanting Preface
"Lanting Preface" is Wang Xizhi's most important running script work. In terms of technique, it is almost perfect and has become a model of later running calligraphy. It has the reputation of "the best running script in the world". . Wang Xizhi (303-361), named Yishao and Danzhai, was originally from Linyi, Langya (now part of Shandong), and later moved to Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang). He rose to the rank of general of the Youjun Army and was an internal historian of Kuaiji. He was a great calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He was revered as the "Sage of Books" by later generations. His son Wang Xianzhi was also good at calligraphy, and people called them "Er Wang". Another son, Wang Ningzhi, was promoted to General Zuo. Because he served as General of the Right Army, he was known as "Wang Youjun" and "Wang Kuaiji".
Representative works include: "Le Yi Lun" in regular script, "Huang Ting Jing", "Seventeen Tie" in cursive script, "Auntie Tie" in running script, "Kuai Xue Shi Qing Tie", "Sang Luan Tie", "Preface to the Lanting Collection" in running script, etc.
This calligraphy mainly uses the center of the brush, with many strokes showing the edge, the expression is delicate, and the drawing is smooth and graceful. The structure of the character is long and vertical, low on the left and high on the right. The size of the characters corresponds to each other, long and short, virtual and real. The layout has rows and columns, and each row is swaying and changing. The most commendable thing is that the "Lanting Preface"'s "neutral" style contains the author's sophisticated pen and ink skills, profound traditional skills, extensive cultural literacy and noble artistic sentiment, reaching the pinnacle of perfection. An overall analysis of the Lanting Preface
On March 3rd in the ninth year of Yonghe (353) in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi, Sun Chuo, Xie An, Zhi Dun and other forty-one people gathered at Lanting in Shanyin, Kuaiji. Enjoy and play by the water. They drank together, composed poems and talked about their love. Afterwards, all the poems were compiled into a volume, and Wang Xizhi wrote this preface.
"The Preface to the Lanting Collection" describes a large gathering of talkers during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, expressing their communist will. The article integrates narrative, scene description, lyricism, and discussion. The writing style is full of ups and downs, with strange changes and vigilance, to meet the needs of expressing philosophical thinking. The full text can be divided into two parts. The first part is mainly about narrative and scene description, first describing the time and place of the gathering. Then it highlights the beautiful natural environment of Orchid Pavilion: winding mountains and clear streams; the wind is gentle and the sun is bright, the sky is clear and the air is clear. Looking up, you can see the infinity of the universe, and looking down, you can observe the prosperity of all kinds of things. Here it is enough to relax your eyes and entertain your mind, and enjoy the ultimate audio-visual entertainment. You can observe and think freely to meet people's needs of sight, hearing and hearing. This is the perfect place for participants to talk about their feelings and have fun. These descriptions are full of poetry and painting, and the author's emotions are calm and leisurely.
In the latter part, the writing style changes and becomes lyrical and argumentative. From admiring the beautiful scenery and drinking freely, it triggers emotions of joy and sorrow, life and death, and the author's mood suddenly changes from calm to agitated. He said: The happiness in life is extremely limited. When happiness is satisfied, you will feel uninterested. The past becomes history in the blink of an eye, and people will die at the end of their lives. From joy to sorrow, from life to death, this is the philosophical thinking he had at this time. He believed that "life and death are an illusion, and the sacrifice of Qi Peng is an illusion", thus further exploring the value and meaning of life, and came up with a kind of thinking of cherishing time, being attached to life, and loving civilization. Since longevity and life and death are natural laws that cannot be controlled by humans, he inevitably reveals a sentimental mood in his article. But by the end of the article, the author's mood became calm again. He felt that personnel were changing and history was developing. From prosperity to decline, from birth to death, it was inevitable. Precisely because life is impermanent and time waits for no one, he had to write articles to pass down to future generations to inherit his predecessors and inspire others to come.