Wang Xizhi’s Spring Festival couplet calligraphy works

Among Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy works, "Lanting Preface" is recognized by calligraphers of all dynasties as the unparalleled "No. 1 running script in the world".

Wang Xizhi (AD 303-361), the most outstanding calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was named Yi Shao. He was a native of Linyi, Langya. He lived in Shanyin, Kuaiji, and was a general of the Youjun Army, so he was called "Wang Youjun".

Wang Xizhi began to learn calligraphy at the age of seven. He successively studied with Mrs. Wei and his uncle Wang Xian who came from a calligraphy family. Later, he read the ancient and simple masterpieces of Qin and Han seal scripts, studied the postures carefully, and copied them by heart and hand. He drew on the strengths of many people and combined them in one furnace to create running calligraphy works that are "natural in nature and abundant in spirit", and were hailed as the "Sage of Calligraphy" by later generations.

Li Zhimin, a professor at Peking University and the founder of the introduction of stele into grass, commented: "Wang Xizhi's calligraphy not only expresses the simplicity and profoundness based on the philosophy of Lao and Zhuang, but also expresses the harmony based on the Confucian golden mean. ." In his later years, his calligraphy reached its peak, and "Lanting Preface" was his proud work in his later years.

The best running script in the world

"Lanting Preface" was called "Linhe Preface" in the Jin Dynasty, and later generations also called it "Xiuhu Preface", "Yutie", "Lanting Poetry Preface" contains twenty-eight lines and three hundred and twenty-four words. It is said that on March 3, the ninth year of Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 353), the sky was clear and the wind was gentle. Forty-one people, including Wang Xizhi, Xie An and Sun Chuo, were drinking wine at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin, composing poems and singing.

[2] Faced with the beautiful scenery and the presence of many close friends, Wang Xizhi took advantage of the opportunity and wrote this preface with silkworm cocoon paper and rat whisker pen. After Wang Xizhi returned home, he rewrote it dozens of times, but it was not as good as the original manuscript. Therefore, he especially loved this article and passed it on to his descendants for collection.