When talking about calligraphy, we have to talk about Wang Xizhi; when talking about Wang Xizhi, he is almost a household name, and maybe a few stories about him can be told. This can also be regarded as a unique calligraphy cultural phenomenon in China.
Wang Xizhi (303-361), a calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, had the courtesy name Yishao. He was originally from Langya (now Linyi, Shandong) and lived in Shanyin, Huiji (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. As 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".
Compared with the Han Dynasty and the Western Jin Dynasty, the most obvious characteristics of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy style are his delicate brushwork and changeable structure. Wang Xizhi's greatest achievement was to enhance and detract from ancient calligraphy, transforming the simple calligraphy style of the Han and Wei dynasties into a calligraphy style of exquisite brushwork and beauty. The cursive script is dense and eclectic, the main script is clever and dense, and the running script is powerful and natural. In short, it introduces Chinese character writing from practicality to a realm that pays attention to technique and taste. In fact, this is the awakening of the art of calligraphy, marking that calligraphers not only discovered The calligraphy is beautiful and can express the beauty of calligraphy. Almost all later calligraphers copied Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, so he was known as the "Sage of Calligraphy". His regular scripts such as "Le Yi Lun", "Huang Ting Jing", "Dongfang Shuo Painting Praise", etc. "were very popular in the Southern Dynasties" and left various legends, and some even became the subject of paintings. His cursive script is respected by the world as the "Sage of Grass". There is no original copy of it, but there are many engravings of Dharma books, including "Seventeen Tie", Xiaokai Le Yi Lun, Huang Ting Jing, etc., and the ink-filled facsimile editions include Kong Shizhong Tie, Lanting Preface [Feng Chengsu's copy], Kuai Xue Shi Qing Tie, Frequent You There are mourning posts, mourning posts, distant eunuch posts, aunt posts, Ping An He Ru Feng Ju three posts, Han Qie posts, Xing Rang posts, as well as Tang monk Huairen's collection of books, "Holy Teaching Preface", etc.
Wang Xizhi's calligraphy influenced his descendants. His son Xuanzhi was good at cursive calligraphy; Ningzhi was good at cursive calligraphy; Huizhi was good at Zheng cursive calligraphy; Cao Zhi was good at Zheng cursive calligraphy; Huanzhi was good at Zheng cursive calligraphy; and Xian was called "Little Sage". Huang Bosi's "Dongguan Xu Lun" says: "Wang's four calligraphy works of Ning, Cao, Hui and Huan were passed down together with Zijing's calligraphy. They all have family styles, but their styles are different. Ning's calligraphy has its rhyme, and Cao's calligraphy has its own style. Its style, its emblem, its power, its glory, its appearance, and its origin, its origin." Afterwards, there were many descendants, and Wang's calligraphy was passed on endlessly. Wu Zetian tried to ask for Wang Xizhi's book, and Wang Xizhi's ninth great-grandson Wang Fangqing submitted ten volumes of the writings of twenty-eight people from the eleventh generation to his great-grandfather, and compiled them into "Long Live Tongtian Tie". In the Southern Dynasties, the Qi kings Sengqian, Wang Ci and Wang Zhi were all descendants of the royal family and had Dharma books recorded. Shi Zhiyong was the seventh grandson of Xi. He passed down the family method wonderfully and was a famous calligrapher in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Wang Xizhi's calligraphy has influenced generations of calligraphers. The establishment of Wang Xizhi's status as a calligrapher has its own evolution process. Yu He, a calligrapher during the Taishi period of the Southern Song Dynasty, said in "On Book Lists": "Between Han and Wei, Zhong (Yao) and Zhang (Zhi) were good at beauty, and in the late Jin Dynasty, the two kings were called heroes." The title of Youjun's book Unparalleled at that time, the person with the highest status in calligraphy between the Song and Qi Dynasties was Wang Xianzhi. Xianzhi learned calligraphy from his father. He was extremely talented and quick to innovate. He turned to Zhang Zhi and created the cursive script that connects up and down. Meiyan even surpassed his father. He became a saint from humble beginnings and was called the "Two Kings" with his father. "Discussing Calligraphy with Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty" written by Tao Hongjing of the Southern Dynasties said: "Everyone in the world respects the calligraphy of Zizi." What changed this situation was that Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, admired Wang Xizhi. He changed the order of calligraphy at that time from "Wang Xianzhi - Wang Xizhi - Zhong Yao" to "Zhong Yao - Wang Xizhi - Wang Xianzhi". In "Guan Zhong Yao's Twelve Meanings of Calligraphy", Xiao Yanyun said: "Zi Jingzhi does not know how to do it." "Easy and less" means "not as good as Yuan Chang". "Buyuan" can also be used as "not caught", which means falling short. Xiao Yan's status gave his comments a special appeal, and thus public opinion was determined.
The first peak of learning from Wang Xizhi in history was in the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, and the second time was in the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty highly respected Wang Xizhi. Not only did he widely collect the king's books, but he also personally wrote a eulogy for the "Book of Jin: Biography of Wang Xizhi". Commenting on Zhong Yao, he said "there may be some doubts about his perfection" and derogatory remarks about Zhong Yao's presentation. "The disease of calligraphy and calligraphy", other calligraphers such as Ziyun, Wang Meng and Xu Yan all say that they are "extremely praised". Through comparison, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty believed that Youjun was "perfect" and "he is the only one who admires and chases in his heart, and the rest are just trivial and useless"! From then on, Wang Xizhi's supreme position in the history of calligraphy was established and consolidated. Scholars of calligraphy in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties all respected the "two kings" of the Jin sect. Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, Xue Ji, Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan in the Tang Dynasty, Yang Ningshi in the Five Dynasties, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Di, Cai Xiang in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu in the Yuan Dynasty, Dong Qichang in the Ming Dynasty, all famous calligraphers in the past dynasties converted to Wang Xizhi. Although the study of stele in the Qing Dynasty broke the scope of the study of calligraphy, Wang Xizhi's status as a calligrapher remained unshaken. Although the "Sage of Calligraphy" and the "Emperor of Mo" are suspected of "sacralizing", generations of famous scholars and giants, through comparison and speculation, are all convinced and highly respected.
Although Wang Xizhi is praised as the "Sage of Calligraphy" in the history of Chinese calligraphy, he is not regarded as a solidified icon, but only as a symbol of the "perfection" of calligraphy creation in Chinese culture. Things are always developing and moving forward. Wang Xizhi reached the pinnacle of "perfection" in his era. This "holy image" will surely call upon those who come after him to reach new pinnacles of calligraphy in their respective eras.
Part of "Lanting Preface" (copy by Feng Chengsu, Tang Dynasty)
Attachment: In the ninth year of Yonghe, when I was in Guichou, at the beginning of late spring, I met at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji, to repair evil spirits. All the talented people have arrived, and the young and old have gathered together. Here there are high mountains, luxuriant forests and tall bamboos; there are also clear and turbulent streams, reflecting them to the left and right, which make them look like flowing water. Although it is not as prosperous as silk and bamboo orchestral music, one drink and one chant are enough to express the secret love. On that day, the sky was clear and the wind was gentle and gentle. I looked up at the vastness of the universe and looked down at the prosperity of categories. Therefore, wandering around and wandering my mind was enough to provide great visual and auditory entertainment. I believe it is a joy. The lady's relationship with her lasts a lifetime, or she takes her into his arms and talks to each other in the same room; Although there are many choices and choices, calmness and impatience are different. When you are happy with what you encounter, you get what you have for the time being, and you are happy and contented, not knowing that old age is coming. When I am tired of what I am doing, my emotions change with the situation, and I am filled with emotion. The admiration for it and the admiration of it have become old traces, but I still cannot help but feel happy about them. The situation will be shortened and changed, and it will eventually end. The ancients said: "Death and life are also big things." Isn't it painful? Every time I look at the reasons for people's interest in the past, if they are combined into one, I will not fail to express my condolences in writing, which cannot be expressed in my heart. I know that death and rebirth are just illusions, and mourning for Qi Peng is an illusion. The future looks upon the present, just as the present looks upon the past. Sad husband! Therefore, I listed people from that time and recorded what they said. Although things are different in different times, I am interested in them and they are consistent. Those who view it later will also feel the elegance.
The world's best running script "Lanting Preface"
Preface to Feng Lanting
Preface to Yu Lanting
Preface to Chu Lanting
aunt's post
Huang Tingjing
On Le Yi
Kong Shizhong Tie
First month post
Peace is like offering three orange posts
Quick snow and sunny post
In mourning, two thank you notes were given
Will post in July
Wang Xizhi
Shangyu Tie
Xing Rang Tie
