Wang Xizhi (王羲之), courtesy name Yi Shao, was the nephew of Situ Wang Dao. His grandfather, Wang Zheng, served as Shang Shulang. His father, Wang Kuang (王旷), was the Taishou of Huainan, who first proposed that Ma Rui, the Emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, cross the Yangtze River. Wang Xizhi has not been good at words since he was a child, and people have not found him different from ordinary people. When Wang Xizhi was thirteen years old, he once visited Zhou Jie, and after Zhou Jie looked at him, he felt that he was extraordinary. Once at a wine banquet, before everyone had eaten, Zhou Jie first cut a piece of roast beef heart vegetable that was very valuable at that time for Wang Xizhi, a move that made people begin to pay attention to Wang Xizhi. When he grew up, Wang Xizhi was brilliant, and he was known for his ability to argue and be honest. Proficient in calligraphy, especially in calligraphy. Its book can really be described as the best in ancient and modern times, and critics use it as "floating like a floating cloud, like a frightening dragon" to evaluate. Wang Xizhi was deeply valued by his cousin Wang Dun and Wang Dao. At that time, Ruan Yu, a Chen Liuren, was very famous and was wang Dun's master book. Wang Dun once said to Xi Zhi: "In our Royal Family, you are the best, and compared with the Ruan Master Book, you should be more than that." Ruan Yu himself also regarded Wang Xizhi, Wang Cheng, and Wang Yue as the three talents of the Wang clan. At that time, the taiwei Xi Jian wanted to find a son-in-law, so he asked his students to go to Wang Dao's house to see, and Wang Dao asked Junjian's students to pick them in the east wing of their house. After returning home, this student said to Xi Jian: "The young people of the Wang family are all good, but when they heard that they had chosen a son-in-law from among them, they all stood up and did not open up enough, but there was only one who was open-chested and open-chested, ate on the east bed, and turned a deaf ear to the selection of a son-in-law." Xi Jian said, "This man is my dragon-riding son-in-law!" When I went to see it, I found that this person was Wang Xizhi, so I married my daughter to him.
Wang Xizhi began with the official position of secretary Lang, and the general Yu Liang of The Western Expedition recommended him to join the army, and he was later promoted to Changshi. When Yu Liang was dying, he gave the emperor a song and said that Wang Xizhi was high and insightful. So Wang Xizhi was sent to be the general of Ningyuan and the assassin of Jiangzhou. Wang Xizhi's fame spread far and wide at a young age, and the ministers of the DPRK and The Central Committee attached great importance to him, and the imperial court intended to summon him to be a servant and an official Shangshu, but he pushed him away. The imperial court also granted him the post of general of the escort army, but he still resigned on the pretext of resignation. Yin Hao, the Assassin of Yangzhou, always valued him, persuaded him to accept the appointment of the imperial court, and wrote a letter to him, saying: "Many people in the court judge the rise and fall of politics by your entry and exit, and those of us who think the same. Since your entry and exit correspond to the rise and fall of national politics, how can you ignore the survival of a country and only satisfy your leisurely pursuits? I hope you can see everyone's wishes. If you shouldn't be out of time. How can we seek the integrity and honesty of the government?
If you figure this out, you know what to do. ”
Wang Xizhi wrote back: "I have always been uninterested in politics. When Wang Dao was a minister, he recruited me several times and three times as an official, and I swore to die and did not agree, and to this day, I still have the letters that rejected Wang Cheng xiang at that time. The idea of retiring from the jianghu has a long history, and I did not want to retire when you were in power. Ever since my children started a family, I always wanted to be a mountain hermit like Shang Ziping, and I have said more than once to my confidant and friend that I have surpassed this idea. If you can see me, send me as an envoy to Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan, and I will not give up.
Although I am not good at communicating, I can strictly obey the orders of the imperial court, and I can declare the prestige of the country at the border, I will certainly be able to make myself different from ordinary envoys, and I will certainly be able to let the whole world know the meaning of the imperial court. I have benefited from all this far more than as a protector. In the following year of the Han Dynasty, the court sent Taifu Ma sunrise to the eastern part of Shaanxi, and if you do not have any doubts about me because I am slight, then you will let me leave for my life in the early winter, and I am here respectfully waiting for your dispatch. ”
After Wang Xizhi took the post of protector of the army, he bitterly requested to be the Taishou of Xuancheng, but he was not allowed, so the imperial court appointed him as a general of the Right Army and a general of the Huiji Neishi. At that time, Yin Hao was at odds with the general Huan Wen, and Wang Xizhi felt that the stability of the country depended on internal and external unity, so he wrote a letter to Yin Hao to advise him, but Yin Hao did not listen to his advice. After that, Yin Hao planned to go north, and Wang Xizhi thought that this move would undoubtedly fail, so he wrote to stop him, and the words in the letter were earnest. Yin Hao did not listen and continued the Northern Expedition, and was indeed defeated by Yao Xiang.
At that time, there was a famine in the eastern part of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and Wang Xizhi always opened a granary to help the victims. However, there were many harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes in the imperial court, and in the Wuyue area, the tax burden was particularly heavy, and Wang Xizhi always went to the imperial court to request tax relief, and the imperial court agreed to his request many times.
Nong Xizhi is extremely fond of taking Dan medicine and cultivating his mind. He did not like to stay in the capital, and the first time he crossed the Qiantang River to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, he had the idea of living here for life. Huiji has beautiful mountains and rivers, excellent scenery, and many celebrities and scholars live here, and Xie An also lived here when he was not an official. Sun Qi, Li Chong, Xu Qian, Zhi Shuo, and others are all famous for their articles, and they all make their homes in the Huijian Building Room, and they are very good with Wang Xizhi.
Wang Xizhi loves geese. There was a lone old woman who had a goose, and her goose was good at whining. Wang Xizhi wanted to buy the goose from the old woman, but the old woman refused, so Wang Xizhi asked his relatives and friends to take a ride to watch the goose. When the old woman heard that Wang Xizhi was coming immediately, she boiled the goose and entertained him.
For this matter, Wang Xizhi sighed and regretted for a long time. In addition, there was a Taoist priest in Shanyin, and the geese raised were very good, wang Xizhi went to watch, and after seeing it, he liked it very much, so he asked the Daoist priest to sell the goose to him anyway. The Taoist priest said, "If you write the Tao Te Ching for me, I will give you all the geese I have raised." Wang Xizhi readily agreed. After writing the Tao Te Ching for the Taoists, Wang Xizhi put the goose into a cage and happily brought it back. From the above two incidents, we can see the extent to which Wang Xizhi's willfulness has gone. Wang Xizhi once visited his student's home, and saw that the cases of beech wood in the student's home were very smooth and clean, so he wrote on it, of which half of it was written in letters and cursive. Later, the student's father accidentally scratched off the handwriting on several cases, and the student was annoyed by this for a long time. Another time, Wang Xizhi met an old woman on The Mountain, who was selling hexagonal bamboo fans. Wang Xizhi wrote five words on each of her fans. The old woman was not happy at first.
Wang Xizhi then said to her, "As long as you say that it is written by Wang Youjun, it is no problem to sell it for a hundred dollars." The old woman did as Wang Xizhi said, and sure enough, people scrambled to buy her fan later. Soon, the old woman came over with a fan to ask Wang Xizhi for the inscription, and Wang Xizhi just smiled and did not make a sound. This shows the extent to which Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is respected by the world. He often said that his calligraphy could compete with Zhong Xuan's, and his cursive writing was only after Zhang Zhi. Wang Xizhi once wrote to someone: "Zhang Zhi linchi learned calligraphy, and the ink stained the whole pool of water black, if others also indulged in calligraphy like him, they would certainly not be worse than him." "In the beginning, Wang Xizhi's calligraphy was not as good as that of Yu Qi and Xi Xi. It was not until his later years that the wonders of his calligraphy were slowly revealed, which can be described as a late bloom. He once used Zhang Cao to reply to Gengliang. Gengliang's younger brother Yu Yi was deeply impressed when he saw Wang Xizhi's handwriting, so he sent a letter to Wang Xizhi, saying: "I once collected Ten True Seals of Bo Ying, and when I crossed the river in the south, I accidentally lost them because of the turbulence and displacement. For this reason, I often sigh, thinking that this wonderful calligraphy will never be available again. I stumbled upon your reply to my brother and felt that your calligraphy was truly brilliant, and that the previous wonders were immediately reproduced. ”
At that time, the hussar general Wang Shu was already famous at a young age, on a par with Wang Xizhi, but Wang Xizhi looked down on him very much, so the two had a bad relationship. Wang Shu was originally an official in Huijian, but because of the death of his mother, he resigned from the official and kept filial piety and lived in Huijian. Wang Xizhi replaced Wang Shu as an official in huijian, and he only went to Wang Shu's house to mourn once, and he never visited the door again. Whenever Wang Shu heard the sound of trumpet blowing, he thought that Wang Xizhi was going to visit him, so he cleaned up the house and waited for his arrival. Er E Shu had been looking forward to it for many years, but Wang Xizhi still hadn't seen him once. Wang Shu held a grudge against Wang Xizhi for this. Later, when Wang Shu did the Yangzhou Assassination History, and was about to leave, Wang Shu would visit wang Xizhi all over the place, but he did not go to Wang Xizhi's place, and before leaving, he bid farewell to Wang Xizhi. Previously, Wang Xizhi always said to his guest friends: "Wang Shu can only be a Shangshu at most, and he can be a servant when he is old." If you want to become an official in the meeting again, I am afraid that it is far away. When Wang Shu gained the position of high-ranking official, Wang Xizhi felt that it was shameful to be his subordinate, so he sent an emissary to the imperial court and asked that the county be changed to Yue Prefecture to be equivalent to the rank of Yangzhou. The emissary sent by Wang Xizhi accidentally slipped his mouth. The celebrities at that time knew Wang Xizhi's intentions and laughed at him. Later, Wang Xi sighed and said to his sons, "Compared with Wang Shu, my talent is not inferior to his, but the position situation is so much worse than his. Wang Shu later examined the punishment and decree of the procuratorial council, and the person in charge could hardly answer.
Wang Xizhi was deeply ashamed, so he pretended to be ill and resigned from the government, left Huiji County, and came to the grave of his parents and swore: "Yonghe eleven years of the first day of March is The first day of March is The first day of the first month of the eleventh year is The first day of the first month is Xinhai, and xiao'er Xizhi respectfully tells the second elder in the spirit of heaven." Xi zhi is not blessed by heaven, his parents are lost at an early age, and his tutoring is not good. Under the care of my brother, I gradually grew up, although there was no one in the dprk, but for the wrong love of the imperial court, I did not keep the festival of loyalty and filial piety, I did not obey the righteousness of the sages, and whenever I thought of Lao Zhuang's admonition, I was afraid that death was coming, and I was worried about the future and fate of the clan, not just myself! So I tossed and turned, sighing, as if I had fallen into a bottomless abyss. From now on, I will be content and cut off my name and profit. I would like to take advantage of this auspicious day to set up a feast, to make a clear wish, and to swear to the spirit of the Second Elder in heaven. From now on, if I go against this heart and covet fame and fortune, I will have no respect for my superiors and am not worthy of being a son of man. To be the Son of Man and not to be the Way of the Son of Man will be intolerable to heaven and earth and spurned by the famous religion. Dan Dan swears, like the dawn of the day!"
After Wang Xizhi resigned as an official, he traveled with the famous people of the Eastern Jin Dynasty throughout the landscape and took pleasure in fishing and hunting. He also practiced medicine with the Taoist priest Xu Mai Xiudan, and traveled thousands of miles to collect medicinal stones, almost traveling throughout the southeast counties and counties, and climbing all over the famous mountains and rivers in the southeast. When the boat was in the sea, Wang Xizhi said: "I will eventually die happily." Xie An once said to Wang Xizhi: "After people reach middle age, they will inevitably be hurt by the emotions of mourning, and as long as I am separated from my relatives and friends, I will be sad for many days." Wang Xizhi said: "When people are old, it is inevitable that this will happen." Lately, I've always relied on music to distract myself, and I've often worried about being seen through by my children and grandchildren and ruining their fun. Because Wang Xizhi had taken a poisonous oath, the imperial court no longer recruited him as an official.
At that time, Liu Hui was a Danyang Yin, and Xu Qian once stayed at Liu Wei's house, and saw that Liu Huan's bed was draped with a new and gorgeous, and the wine and food were rich and sweet, so he said to Liu Hui, "If you can keep this wealth and glory, it is far better than being a hermit in Dongshan in the past." Liu Hui replied, "If I think that Ji Ji is in the people, how can I keep it?" At that time, Wang Xizhi was also present, and he said coldly, "If it were Father Chao and Xu You who met Ji and Qi, they would definitely not say so." "Speaking of Xu Qian and Liu Wu, the two of them are ashamed.
When Wang Xizhi was playing in the mountains and rivers and was idle, Lang Xiewan, a shangshu official, said: "The reclusive people of ancient times either put on their heads and pretended to be crazy, or they made themselves dirty and pretended to be demented, and they did a tough enough job. If I am so lucky to be able to easily hide and fulfill my wish, is this not a gift from Heaven? It seems that defying Providence will lead to ominousness! I recently returned from a trip to Dongshan, planted some mulberry fruit trees and the like, and now the branches are lush and the flowers are in full bloom. So I took my sons and my grandchildren to the fruit grove to play, and as soon as there was a delicious fruit, I picked it and ate it separately for entertainment. Although I can't pass on virtue to the world, I still want to raise my children and grandchildren well, so that they can be humble and humble, and know how to give in. Some people think that I am wrong to do this, and ask me to be like the officials of Wanshi in the Han Dynasty, to raise a whip and count the horses and serve the king with all my heart. What do you think? Recently, Xie An and I climbed mountains and seas, and together we inspected the farmland, and we were at ease and happy. In addition to the necessities of life, I use all the harvest to feast on my relatives and friends, even if I can't talk with pleasure and chant loudly, and it is very happy to pour wine and say something in the field to help talk about fun. These things are simply inexhaustible! I always take the principles of Lu Jia, Ban Si, and Yang Wangsun as the guideline, and I hope to follow the style of these people, and my old husband's lifelong volunteers are here. ”
Xie Wan later became the governor of Yuzhou, and Wang Xizhi wrote to persuade him: "With the charm of standing out from the crowd at his feet, it is indeed difficult to live among ordinary officials. However, the so-called mastery and insight means that it responds randomly to events and can be extended, which is the performance of long-term vision. I hope that I can communicate with the vulgar officials more often, so that I can be perfect. The ancients regarded 'not being able to eat and not being able to sit at the table' as a virtue, and this frugal style of life has been lost. However, success or failure is really a small, detailed thing. I hope that I can remember what the old man said. Xie Wan did not listen to Wang Xizhi's advice, and later he really failed.
Wang Xizhi died at the age of fifty-nine, and after his death, the imperial court posthumously honored him as the Golden Purple Guanglu Doctor. His sons obeyed his wishes, resolutely refused, and did not accept the title of imperial court.