"Lanting Preface" and "Lanting Collection Preface" are the same thing.
"Preface to the Lanting Collection" is also known as "Preface to the Lanting Banquet Collection", "Lanting Preface", "Linhe Preface", "Ye Preface" and "Ye Tie".
On the third day of the third lunar month in the ninth year of Yonghe reign of Emperor Mu of Jin Dynasty (353 years), Wang Xizhi, who "had the ambition to finally cross Zhejiang for the first time", once visited Lanting in Shanyin, Kuaiji (today's Lanzhu outside Shaoxing City). At the foot of the mountain), he held an elegant gathering with forty-one celebrities including Xie An and Sun Chuo.
The participants composed poems while they were there, expressing their feelings and transcribing them into a collection. Everyone recommended the convener of this gathering, the highly respected Wang Xizhi, to write a preface to record this gathering, which is the "Preface to the Lanting Collection" .
The article describes the scenery of Orchid Pavilion and the fun of Wang Xizhi and others gathering, and expresses the author's lament that great events do not come often and that "the shortcomings are modified and the end is over". The author is sometimes happy and sad, extremely happy and sad, and the article also changes from calm to agitated, and then from agitated to calm according to the changes of his emotions. It is full of the beauty of ups and downs, cadences and ups and downs. That is why "Preface to the Lanting Collection" has become a famous work.
This preface is clear, concise and profound, which prominently represents Wang Xizhi's prose style. And its sentences are exquisite, clear and catchy. It is a masterpiece of ancient parallel prose.
"The Preface to the Lanting Collection" has advantages in several aspects of parallel prose. In terms of syntax, the antitheses are neat and the meanings of the sentences are parallel, such as "All the virtuous people have arrived, and the young and old have gathered together", "Look up at the size of the temple. Look down at the prosperity of the categories", "Maybe take the arms of all the people and talk to each other in the same room. "; Or because of the entrustment, let go of the waves." The two are opposite each other, the phonology is harmonious, there are no traces of chiseling, and the language is fresh, simple and natural.
The text that belongs to the discussion part is also very simple and expressive. In terms of allusions, it only uses simple and easy-to-remember allusions such as "Qi Peng Shang" and "Xiu Chuashi", such simple writing. It is in sharp contrast to the Eastern Jin Dynasty's rich and flashy writing style. This article reflects Wang Xizhi's positive outlook on life, which is in sharp contrast to the inaction advocated by Lao-Zhuang's theory.
Wang Xizhi (303-361) was a Han nationality with the courtesy name Yishao and Danzhai. He was originally from Langya Linyi (now Linyi, Shandong) and later moved to Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang) because Wang Xizhi once served as the right general. , known as "Wang Youjun" and "Wang Kuaiji" in the world.
Wang is also good at Li, Cao, Kai and Xing. He studies the styles carefully, imitates them with his heart and hands, picks up the strengths of others, prepares various styles, and cultivates them in one furnace, getting rid of the writing styles of Han and Wei dynasties. , became a family of its own, had far-reaching influence, and created the running script of "nature is natural, abundant gods cover generations".
Representative works include: "Le Yi Lun" in regular script, "Huang Ting Jing", "Seventeen Posts" in cursive script, "Auntie Posts" in running script, "Quick Snow and Clear Posts", "Sang Luan Posts", and regular script " "Preface to the Lanting Collection" and so on. He was a calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He was revered as the "Sage of Calligraphy" by later generations, and he and his son Wang Xianzhi were collectively known as the "Two Kings".