The way to write the characters in the preface to Lanting: horizontal, vertical, vertical, vertical, dot, horizontal apostrophe/horizontal hook, vertical, horizontal fold hook, vertical.
The Preface to the Lanting Collection is from the Jin Dynasty of China (AD 353). The calligraphy sage Wang Xizhi met friends at the foot of Lanzhu Mountain in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and wrote "the best running script in the world", also known as the "Lanting Preface", "Linhe Preface", "Ye Tie", "March 3rd Orchid Pavilion Poetry Preface", etc.
In April 353 AD (the third day of March in the ninth year of Jin Yonghe), Wang Xizhi, then the internal historian of Kuaiji, and forty-one friends including Xie An and Sun Chuo gathered at Lanting in Shanyin, Kuaiji. , drinking and composing poems. Wang Xizhi compiled these poems into a collection and wrote a preface to describe the incident of drinking Qushui and express his inner feelings caused by it.
This preface is the "Preface to the Lanting Collection". He also wrote a "Preface to the Lanting Collection". Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty admired him so much that he personally wrote the "Biography of Wang Xizhi" in the "Book of Jin" and praised him as "perfect and perfect". Copies of the work were also given to nobles, relatives and ministers, and they were buried with the original works.
The full text of "Lanting Preface" has 28 lines and 324 words. The whole text is charming and elegant, and the words are exquisite. The stippling is like a dance, like the help of gods and men. It has been regarded as the best in the calligraphy circles of the past dynasties. Mi Fu, a great calligrapher in the Song Dynasty, called it "the first calligraphy in Chinese running script". Anyone who learns calligraphy in future generations will be fascinated by Lanting and cannot extricate themselves.
About the author of "Lanting Preface":
Wang Xizhi, a calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, had a small character. He was originally from Langya (now Linyi, Shandong) and lived in Shanyin, Kuaiji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang). From official to general of the right army, he was an internal historian of Kuaiji and was known as "Wang Youjun". He was born into a prominent family in the Jin Dynasty. When Wang Xizhi was twelve years old, his father taught him the theory of brushwork.
When he was a child, he learned calligraphy from Mrs. Wei, a famous female calligrapher at the time. After that, he crossed the Yangtze River and traveled to famous mountains in the north, learning from everyone's strengths. He learned from Zhang Zhi, a master of cursive calligraphy, and learned from Zhong Yao in his official calligraphy. Observing and learning the "methods of gathering together people to prepare a family", reaching the height of "Guiyue Group's products are the best in ancient and modern times".