The alteration of the "Lanting Collection": whatever you want, everything is into the law

Wang Xizhi's Orchid Pavilion Preface (Partial)

Wang Xizhi's "Orchid Pavilion Collection" has long been regarded as a classic in terms of its literary significance and artistic value. As a calligraphy work, its gesture is "floating like a floating cloud, like a frightening dragon", and it is known as the first book in the world, and there have been many tracers in all dynasties and dynasties. It is rumored that Tang Taizong once loved it so much that he even brought it into the Zhaoling Tombs.

Although the Orchid Pavilion Collection has received supreme praise, according to the facsimile investigation of Feng Chengsu during the Dragon Period, it has obvious alterations. In the 325-word work, there is a supplement, an smear, and six rewrites. Because of the omission of the text, Wang Xizhi added the word "Chongshan" in the fourth line; scribbled the word "Liangke" in the twenty-fifth line; the six rewrites were the word "ugly" in the first line, the thirteenth line changed "outside" to the word "cause", the seventeenth line changed "Yu Jin" to the word "Xiangzhi", the twenty-first line changed "mourning" to the word "pain", the twenty-fifth line changed "also" to the word "Fu", and the twenty-eighth line changed "as" to the word "Wen". Since ancient times, countless people have copied the Lanting Collection, but few people have commented on the alterations in the works.

As a literary work, Wang Xizhi's revision makes the "Orchid Pavilion Collection" more rounded and natural, reflecting the efforts of "inexhaustible human achievements, ingenuity is not transmitted, knowing one is wrong, and entering a heavy realm". As a calligraphy work, the alteration of the "Orchid Pavilion Collection" retains the sense of the scene created at that time, which is conducive to historical restoration and reproduction. But the question is, how did the alteration contain the essence, qi, and spirit, and become an organic part of the work?

Generally speaking, calligraphy works have the characteristics of both time art and spatial art, so visual effects must not be disregarded. Lady Wei's "Pen Array" said: "If it is straight and similar, like an operator, it is not a book." The gap between the third and fourth lines of the "Lanting Collection Sequence" is wide from top to bottom, and Wang Xizhi wrote the word "Chongshan" in the fourth line near the top grid, which not only continued the context, but also filled in the gaps, and also broke the mechanical balance in the work, making the layout changeable. This method of three moves shows that Wang Xizhi has a clever and bold arrangement for the structure of the work.

The place painted in the "Orchid Pavilion Collection" is the word "Liangke" in the twenty-fifth line. Due to the thick use of ink, the word "good" after application is almost unrecognizable. Looking at the whole work, this smear is like a cloud, giving people a feeling of "yuanqi dripping with obstacles and wetness". Wang Xizhi borrows the form of "tu" to make the treatment of black and white contrast in the work perfect.

Change is an act of abandoning the old and the new, and the six modifications in the "Orchid Pavilion Collection" make the meaning of the text smooth and the song perfect. All the changes were handled in a way that covered the original words with thick strokes, and from the visual point of view, the last five changes were obvious, while the first one was relatively hidden. Because the word "ugly" was originally rewritten from the "艹" head of the twilight character, it may be that Wang Xizhi omitted to write the word "ugly" when he was creating, and he only found out after writing the head of the "ugly" character, so he changed the head of the "艹" to an ugly word because of the snobbish guide. This change is nearly perfect, so it is not easy to detect. It should be pointed out that the six rewrites did not destroy the chapter and style of the "Orchid Pavilion Collection", but on the contrary, it highlighted the importance of the work and the good at changing, and the ink color was beautiful. Where it has been rewritten, the ink color is stronger; and where it has not been rewritten, the ink color is lighter, so that the thickness and lightness reflect each other, and the whole work appears to be "light makeup and thick smearing is always appropriate".

Although some people think that graffiti is a discordant noise symbol in the work, in fact, "the hazelnut is not cut, but also honored in the collection of cui", calligraphy works pay attention to visual feelings, as long as the work is well calligraphed, the alteration does not damage the visual effect, it can be accepted by the audience. Many copiers of the "Orchid Pavilion Collection" did not even let go of the first work of the World's Travels, and even hated that they could not draw gourds in the same way.

In literary creation, we often encounter the problem of "meaning is not worthy of things, and the text is not grasping the meaning", so it is necessary to revise it. The desire to ask the author to make no mistake in his creation is good but unrealistic. If a writer has the mentality of not making a single mistake when creating, it is inevitable that he will tremble and tremble, walk on thin ice, and be nervous, which is undoubtedly extremely inappropriate. The tolerance that affirms that alteration can be used as a remedy is the emancipation of the author, which makes it easy for him to create freely, thus contributing to the birth of the masterpiece.

Xi Shi rubbed his forehead, without losing his beauty; Venus broke his arm, and the wind was still there. Although Wang Xizhi's "Orchid Pavilion Collection" has been altered, as Dong Qichang said, "Whatever you want, you all enter the law, so it is a divine product."

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