In the ninth year of Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (353), the third day of the third lunar month was sunny and sunny. Wang Xizhi and his friends held a restoration activity in Lanting, Huiji. The so-called "cultivation" is an ancient ritual activity to eliminate filth. Generally, on the third day of the third lunar month, when the spring is bright, people choose the water's edge. On the one hand, they sacrifice to the gods, and at the same time, everyone should wash their hands and feet. It is said that evil spirits can be avoided. This ceremony began in the Western Zhou Dynasty, but gradually developed from the initial sacrifice to the outing activities of enjoying scenery, drinking wine and writing poems in spring.
According to "Lanting Collection" in Tang Dynasty, there are Xie An, Sun Chuo, Zhi Dun and others ... and Wang Xizhi's third son, 41 people, drinking and writing poems. Finally, some drunken Wang Xizhi prefaced it. Wang Xizhi flicked the eight-character pen, spread out the cocoon paper, and wrote a script with his best center, with 28 lines and 324 words. In this essay, Wang Xizhi not only describes the beautiful natural environment of Lanting, but also expresses the joy of meeting friends, and also expresses the feeling that life is short, eating, drinking and being self-sufficient quickly. The article is profound and interesting, refreshing, and calligraphy is charming and vigorous, with endless changes. None of the more than 20 words of "Zhi" are the same, God help. Later, Wang Xizhi rewrote the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion by dozens of articles, none of which were as good as the original.
Two years after Lanting gathered momentum, Wang Xizhi put his philosophy of life expressed in Preface to Lanting into practice-swearing to resign from the imperial tomb and leaving home with his family. But where did he retire? It is not recorded in the Book of Jin, thus leaving a historical case. Teacher Yuan Bochu mentioned at the beginning of this article is one of the people who have been tirelessly exploring and trying to solve this case.
Naturally, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion, known as "the best running script in the world", originally came to a quiet place of practice with Wang Xizhi's Don't make trouble in the Temple. So, where did it go with its owner?
Debate of Jin ting
In the Wang Family Tree of Langxie, there is an inscription "The inscription of Shigushan Ancestral Temple", and it says "Chuanjinting Daoyuan is located in Factory Ridge". Jinting Mountain is located in Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province. Today, there is a golden court view in Houchang Village, Jinting Town, Shengzhou, which is magnificent. Because it is located in a flat valley, the road passes by the door, and the convenient transportation attracts many calligraphy lovers to come to worship, just like Mecca. But is this the golden palace where Wang Xizhi retired and practiced in his later years? There are some different versions.
Pei Tong, a Taoist priest in the Tang Dynasty, visited Jinting Cave with several Taoist friends one day in March, 808, and wrote an article similar to the investigation report, which mentioned a small incense burner peak. "Wang Xizhi's home is in this mountain, and the old Mo Chi in the bookstore is still there." At that time, Li Bai should be able to see the relics of these kings when he visited Wang Xu. Song Dynasty Gao said in Historical Records: "Fifteen miles to the east, there are great lakes and great rivers, and the peaks are towering over the sky. There are Chishui and Danchi on it, which used to be the headquarters of the right army ... "In this way," Chishui Danchi "became a special symbol of Wang Xizhi's hometown. Due to the long history, the water in the pool has already dried up, and the unique landscape of "Chishui Danchi" is rarely seen. A few years ago, Yuan Bochu, who had been studying in this generation, made an important discovery in Mianniuwan Reservoir. Mianniuwan Reservoir, built in 1979, just flooded the mountain stream recorded in history. The reservoir has culverts and outlets. It was in the canal connecting the culvert outlet that Yuan Bochu found that a layer of red scale had accumulated in the canal because of the water flow. The villagers guarding the reservoir also said that after releasing water from the reservoir, they could see that the bottom of the reservoir was dyed red. There is an ancient temple site in Liwan village, not far from the reservoir, which contains a large number of ancient broken tiles, and there are thousands of ancient cypresses and ancient Chinese fir trees beside it. The villagers said that this is the place where Wang Xizhi lived in seclusion.
Is Wang Xizhi's home in Wanghanling, Xinchang or Jintingguan, Shengzhou? At present, there is no unified conclusion in academic circles. According to the existing historical records, Wang Xizhi's secluded Jinting is deep and steep, and is called the 27th Cave of Taoism. To be sure, Wang Xizhi, who believed in Shi Tiandao, devoted himself to practicing alchemy in the mountains at the junction of these two counties in his later years, and Wang Xizhi's masterpiece Preface to Lanting, which he could not surpass, also accompanied his master to the end of his life at the age of 59. In the area of censer peak in the Han mausoleum, the mountains are endless, the streams are gurgling and the trees are swaying, but the residents in the mountains can't bear to be quiet and move out one after another. Perhaps only Wang Xizhi, such an ultra-refined person, such a miracle of "the best running script in the world" can be integrated with this world and be self-sustaining?