Wang Xizhi
The sage of calligraphy.
Wang Xizhi transformed Chinese writing and is regarded as the greatest calligrapher of all time. Emperors collected his works, and the originals are lost – only copies remain.
Wang Xizhi was born in 303 and died in 361, according to the most common accounts, though other dates are given. He belonged to the powerful Wang clan of Langya, which held a leading position at the Eastern Jin court. He was an official and is often called Wang Youjun, after one of his military titles. As a young man he is said to have learned calligraphy from Lady Wei, a celebrated calligrapher.
Wang Xizhi refined several scripts, above all standard script, running script and cursive script. His writing is fluid and lively yet balanced. The characters vary in size and weight, and the brush seems to dance across the paper. For posterity he became the model of what good writing is, and he is known as the sage of calligraphy.
His most famous work is the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems of 353. It was written at a spring gathering in Kuaiji, present-day Shaoxing, where a group of scholars drank wine and composed poems beside a stream. Wang Xizhi wrote a preface to the poems, a short lyrical piece on the joy of the moment and the transience of life. The original is lost. According to tradition, the Tang emperor Taizong was so fond of it that he had it buried with him. Several Tang-dynasty copies survive today, including in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
There are many anecdotes about him, for instance that he exchanged calligraphy for geese, which he admired, but these are legends. His son Wang Xianzhi also became a famous calligrapher, and together they are known as “the two Wangs”.
Every later Chinese calligrapher has had to come to terms with Wang Xizhi. Emperors collected his letters and had them copied, and his writing has also shaped calligraphy in Japan and Korea. He is perhaps the most important artist in East Asian calligraphy.