Wang Kuang, Wang Xizhi's father, is a magistrate in Huainan and a good official. Wang Xizhi's calligraphy was influenced by his father's words and deeds, and first benefited from his family background. In his childhood, Wang Xizhi was honest and plain in language. He began to learn calligraphy at the age of seven, but he showed great talent in calligraphy. Later, he learned the skills of correcting books from Mrs. Wei.
From 16 to 20 years old, Wang Xizhi changed his teacher, uncle and father, and got that wonderful calligraphy. Wang Kui is famous for his calligraphy and painting: the Eastern Jin Dynasty moved to the south, and "after crossing the river, it was the first calligraphy and painting in Jin Dynasty".
Under the careful teaching and guidance of his uncle Wang Xun, Wang Xizhi's calligraphy has made rapid progress. After the age of 20, his main calligraphy and running script are still in Zhong You, and his brushwork is imitated by Zhang Zhi, thus integrating various calligraphy techniques. Wang Xizhi learned from all kinds of beauty, gathered the strengths of various schools, and brought forth the new, which changed the calligraphy style since the Han and Wei Dynasties and achieved a new style of beauty and convenience.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the ideology of the gentry class influenced people's behavior, and the style of celebrities became fashionable, which also profoundly influenced people's aesthetic taste at that time. In addition to advocating nature and detachment, celebrities in Wei and Jin Dynasties were sincere and romantic.
In the turbulent social background, many celebrities and scholars have chosen a non-cooperative attitude that is independent, special and detached from the secular in the face of the sinister living situation. They are informal, love mountains and rivers, drink songs and are charming, which embodies their unique "Wei and Jin demeanor" and is admired and respected by later literati. Wang Xizhi, who was born in a famous family, is a romantic celebrity, and his calligraphy art is undoubtedly the best embodiment of this "Wei and Jin demeanor".
(Lanting Preface, partial)
In the 9th year of Yonghe (A.D. 353), Wang Xizhi, Xie An, Zhi Dun, Sun Chuo, Xu Xun and other celebrities gathered in Lanting, Huiji, drinking and composing poems. In ancient times, this kind of party was called "Xiu", which was a custom of ancient people swimming by the water in spring to pray for peace and drive away ominous. After this feast, Wang Xizhi took the opportunity to preface the poems recited by friends at the party and wrote the famous poem "Preface to Lanting".
"Preface to the Lanting Pavilion" is concise, describing Wang Xizhi and his friends' poetic and picturesque feelings, indulging in landscapes and rejoicing. The end reveals the pessimism that life is short and happiness is fleeting. Between words and sentences, the author's inner anguish is vented and his urgent desire to get rid of worldly troubles is expressed. His calligraphy is a running script, an improvisation, and an essay. Pen and ink flow like flowing water, showing extraordinary skill, and even reaching the realm of perfection. No wonder it was praised as "the best running script in the world" by later generations.
Preface to Lanting Collection has 28 lines and 324 words. In terms of writing and style, * * * wrote 2 1 "know", 7 "no" and 7 "yi", each with its own merits and extraordinary skills. Even if the viewer only savors the simple word "Zhi", it can make people realize the wonderful situation of China's calligraphy pen, which really impressed and amazed calligraphers and calligraphy lovers in later generations.
Over the past 1000 years, the running script Preface to Lanting Collection has become a classic, attracting countless calligraphy lovers to follow suit. Many people fell in love with China's calligraphy art by observing and studying Preface to Lanting Collection, and then entered this elegant calligraphy art palace.
Wang Xizhi seems to have a soft spot for the word "Zhi". As we know, the ancients in China paid the most attention to the taboo of writing, and the words used by ancestors must not be used by future generations. There happened to be a strange phenomenon in Wang Xizhi's family. Sub-names Xuan Zhi, Ning Zhi, Hui Zhi, Cao Zhi and Dedication; Sun Tzu's name is Zhenzhi, Jingzhi, and so on.
Why didn't Wang Xizhi's house keep a secret?
To this end, Chen Yinque, a master of Chinese studies, believes through textual research that the reason why Wang Xizhi's family does not shy away from family secrets and loves the word "zhi" is because they are all followers of Taoism. "Knowledge" means "Tao", and this word "knowledge" is the secret code or badge of the members of Shi Tian Taoist organization. In other words, the word "Zhi" in Preface to Lanting is not only beautiful in shape, but also carries Wang Xizhi's Taoist belief.