Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is a great calligrapher whose calligraphy is still admired by future generations. In order to commemorate his contribution in the world of calligraphy, we also left a idiom named after Wang Xizhi in our Chinese vocabulary for him. Let’s learn it with the editor
Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy is divided into three parts: human and wood; Expert explanation: Once, the emperor wanted to go to the northern suburbs to offer sacrifices, and asked Wang Xizhi to write his congratulations on a wooden board, and then sent workers to carve them. The carving workers were very surprised when they were carving. The words written by Wang Xizhi penetrated into the wood by more than three thirds. He said with admiration: The calligraphy of General Youjun is really penetrating! Describes calligraphy as vigorous and powerful. Metaphor analysis is very insightful.
From Zhang Huai of the Tang Dynasty_Book Breaking of Wang Xizhi: Wang Xizhi's calligraphy edition was cut by a worker, and the pen penetrated the wood three-thirds.
1. About Wang Xizhi:
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty when kings and horses dominated the world, the Wang family was a high-level noble family. The children of Wang Dao and Wang Dun's family have all become officials, large and small. Most of them are mediocre bureaucrats, but among them, there is also a famous calligrapher in the history of our country. He is Wang Xizhi.
Because he came from a noble family and because of his outstanding talents, all the ministers in the court recommended him to become an official. He served as governor and general of the right army. Later he became an official in Kuaiji County. He didn't like living in the bustling capital. When he saw the beautiful scenery of Kuaiji, he loved it very much. Whenever he had time, he would visit the mountains and rivers with his friends. Once, Wang Xizhi and his friends held a banquet at Lanting in Shanyin, Kuaiji County. Everyone drank and wrote poems. Finally, Wang Xizhi wrote an article on the spot to commemorate the banquet. This is the famous preface to the Lanting Collection. The preface to the Lanting Collection, written by Wang Xizhi himself, has always been considered a treasure of our country's calligraphy art. Unfortunately, its original work has been lost.
Wang Xizhi, courtesy name Yishao, was born in Kuaiji during the Jin Dynasty. He is the most famous calligrapher in the history of our country. Because he once served as a general of the Right Army, later generations also called him Wang Youjun.
Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy can be said to be unparalleled in ancient and modern times. His calligraphy is beautiful and vigorous, soft and strong. Among the many calligraphers of later generations, none can compare with him. Therefore, many calligraphy students use his calligraphy as a model. Among the calligraphy he left behind today, the most famous ones include the Preface to the Lanting Collection and Huang Ting Jing, etc.
Wang Xizhi's handwriting is so good, although it has something to do with his talent, but the most important thing is because of his hard practice. In order to practice calligraphy well, whether he was resting or walking, he always thought about the structure of the calligraphy, imitating the frame and momentum of the calligraphy, and kept tracing it on the skirt of his clothes with his fingers. So after a long time, even the clothes on my body were scratched.
He once practiced writing by the pond. Every time he finished writing, he would wash his pen and inkstone in the pond. Over time, the water in the entire pond turned black. From this we can know that he put a lot of effort into practicing calligraphy.
Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy is becoming more and more famous. People at that time regarded his writing as a treasure. It is said that once, he went to his disciple's home, and the disciple received him warmly. He sat next to a new desk and saw that the surface of the desk was smooth and clean, which aroused his interest in writing and asked his disciples to bring him pen and ink.
The disciple was so happy that he immediately brought the pen and ink to Wang Xizhi. Wang Xizhi wrote a few lines on several cases as a souvenir and went back.
A few days later, the disciple went out for something. His father went into the study to clean up. When he saw that the new papers were stained with ink, he scratched out the words with a knife. When the disciple came back, the writing on several cases had disappeared. The student worried about this matter for several days.
Another time, Wang Xizhi went to a village. An old woman was selling a basket of hexagonal bamboo fans at the market. That kind of bamboo fan was very simple, with no decoration, and it did not attract the interest of passers-by. It seemed that it could not be sold, and the old woman was very worried.
When Wang Xizhi saw this situation, he sympathized with the old woman, so he stepped forward and said to her: There is no painting or writing on your bamboo fan, so of course it cannot be sold.
How about I inscribe it for you?
The old woman didn’t know Wang Xizhi, so seeing his enthusiasm, she gave him the bamboo fan to write.
Wang Xizhi picked up his pen and wrote five words on each fan, then returned them to the old woman. The old woman was illiterate and felt that his writing was very sloppy and she was very unhappy.
Wang Xizhi comforted her and said: Don't worry. You just tell the person who bought the fan that the calligraphy on it was written by Wang Youjun.
After Wang Xi left, the old woman did as he asked. When people at the market saw that it was Wang Youjun's calligraphy, they all rushed to buy it. A basket of bamboo fans was sold out immediately.
2. The story about Wang Xizhi and the geese:
Many artists have their own hobbies, some like to grow flowers, and some like to raise birds. But Wang Xizhi has his special hobby. It is said that he loved geese very much. He often stared at the geese playing in the river in a daze. Later, he understood the principles of writing from the geese's movements, which greatly helped his calligraphy skills. No matter where there is a good goose, he is interested in seeing it or buying it back to enjoy.
There was a Taoist priest in Shanyin who wanted Wang Xizhi to write him a Tao Te Ching. But he knew that Wang Xizhi was not willing to copy scriptures for others easily. Later, he found out that Wang Xizhi liked white geese, so he specially raised a batch of good varieties of geese.
Wang Xizhi heard that the Taoist family had good geese, so he really ran to see it. When he approached the Taoist priest's house, he saw a group of geese floating leisurely on the water in the river. Their snow-white feathers contrasted with the tall red roof, which was really cute.
Wang Xizhi looked at the geese by the river and was reluctant to leave, so he sent someone to find the Taoist priest and asked to sell the geese to him.
The Taoist priest smiled and said: Since the prince likes it so much, there is no need to spend any money. I will give you all the geese. But I have a request, that is, please write a volume of Huang Ting Jing for me.
Wang Xizhi copied a volume of scripture for the Taoist priest without hesitation, and the geese were taken back by Wang Xizhi.