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Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

Kok Jean is a calligrapher and researcher of the history of calligraphy.

Emperor Wu of Liang was an avid calligrapher and a great connoisseur of calligraphy. He said that Wang Xianzhi was "absolutely superior, and no one can compare." This "imitation" means "imitation". Wang Xianzhi was very powerful, but no one could learn it. He said that Wang Xizhi was "a treasure of the past generations, and will always be a lesson." "Discipline" is the rule. Wang Xizhi is the eternal norm of calligraphy.

At that time, Wang Xianzhi's influence surpassed Wang Xizhi to a certain extent, but as a model and basic principle of calligraphy, it must be Wang Xizhi.

Fun is different, quiet and restless

2021.12.12 Shanghai

Hello everyone, I'm Kirk Jean. My main job is to create calligraphy, but I also study the history of calligraphy. Today I would like to introduce you to two people, two thunderous names, Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. They were father and son, and Wang Xianzhi was Wang Xizhi's seventh son. They are one of the top and strongest family groups in the world of calligraphy, and they are called "two kings".

The two kings in the history of calligraphy are both aesthetic and historical. What is aesthetic? It's our general feeling.

Let's start with two pictures. This picture is a calligraphic work by Wang Xizhi.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

This is Wang Xianzhi's "Lancao Thesis".

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

I believe that when you see these two works of the Two Kings, no matter whether you know calligraphy or not, how deeply you understand, you will definitely have a kind of impression. Because calligraphy is abstract. This is what we have just said, the two kings are first and foremost aesthetic.

However, if we stay at the aesthetic level, we will encounter many problems. Because the aesthetics of different people will be biased, the aesthetics of different eras are also customary. Then there are often things that you think are good, I think it's bad, you think it's genius, I think it's pretty low-level.

Limited to the aesthetic level, it is actually impossible to explain why their father and son became the representative figures of Jin calligraphy and a milestone in the history of Chinese calligraphy.

I think that only by placing calligraphy and calligraphers in the context of history, to see how they happened and how they had an impact on history, can we see the problem more clearly.

| 01 |

Everyone knows that Wang Xizhi is the only "book saint" in Chinese history. In Chinese history, there are many good terms and halos on calligraphy, but the aura of "Shusheng" is only used by Wang Xi alone. So it can be said that this is a monopoly status.

During his lifetime, Wang Xizhi was already "a person who had no match in the Middle Dynasty and jiangzuo". However, the aura of "Shusheng" was added to Wang Xizhi by Li Sizhen, a Tang Dynasty three hundred years later.

Why did it take three hundred years before he was given the aura of "Book Saint"?

With the passage of time, the details and phenomenal things will become more and more invisible, or they will be obscured, but the core things and historical values will be highlighted.

From the two words that the Tang people evaluated Wang Xizhi, I think they saw where the real value of Wang Xizhi was. This is the so-called "making the present body" and "creating the system".

The "present body" is obviously the opposite of the "ancient". "Creating a system" obviously means that there was no such system before, or that the system was not perfect before.

The birth of any great historical master, in addition to his personal talent and his own efforts, must be inseparable from the historical environment. Wang Xizhi lived in an era that coincided with the historical intersection of the fierce evolution of fonts and the awakening of scholar calligraphy.

Here I need to introduce two concepts to you, one is called book style, and the other is called font. The calligraphy body refers to the difference in calligraphy, such as the well-known Yan (Zhenqing), Liu (Gongquan), Ou (Yang), and Zhao (Meng Fu). Fonts refer to such things as true, grass, affiliation, and seal. The real book is what came to be called the letter of letters.

The Eastern Jin Dynasty was an era of intense literary evolution, when xingshu and true calligraphy were just about to mature, and cursive writing was also facing a problem of awakening.

Wang Xizhi was of course part of the social writing of his time, and Wang Xizhi's early works were still in this state.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

▲ Left: "Auntie Post", right: Lou Lan residual paper

The picture on the right is the remnant paper of Loulan unearthed in the northwest, which is the original handwriting of Wang Xizhi's era, and it is unknown who the writer is.

The one on the left is wang Xizhi's earliest work" "Aunt Ti", which has been handed down to today. According to my research, it was probably written by Wang Xizhi when he was in his early 30s. It is now hidden in the Liaoning Provincial Museum. It is a facsimile of the Tang Dynasty, not an authentic manuscript. Wang Xizhi's true manuscript has not been found to this day, not a single word has been lost.

If we compare these two works, we will find one thing in common - the use of a pen. A core problem with calligraphy is the use of pens. We can see that the pen at this time is still in a relatively vague and naïve stage.

You can pay attention to the words "eleven" in the loulan remnant paper. The starting and closing strokes of the horizontal drawing are basically the original appearance of the brush, that is, do not make movements, and directly stroke the brush. This situation also exists in Wang Xizhi's "Aunt Post", and this horizontal stroke of "ten" is also like this.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

▲ The right is the part of Lou Lan's residual paper, and the left is the part of "Aunt Post"

It is in stark contrast to the firm and clear movements of Wang Xizhi's mature works at the beginning and end of their writings.

In the picture below, the right shoulder of the turn is round and unclear. Inside lou lan's residual paper, there was no obvious movement in the right shoulder. When folded from the side, the brush was taken a little, there was no stay, no lifting and turning.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

"Auntie Thesis" has the rules of the script, the flow of the book, and some cursive meaning, and it seems that it is a bit difficult to say whether this work is a book or a cursive book.

Therefore, from these two pictures, we can see the close relationship between Wang Xizhi and the social writing at that time.

In fact, the writers and calligraphers at that time were in the environment of social writing, so why was Wang Xizhi able to succeed?

There is also an important factor here, that is, the relationship between Wang Xizhi and his predecessors. An important figure is Zhong Xuan.

| 02 |

Zhong Xuan (yóu) was a calligrapher during the Cao Wei dynasty of the Three Kingdoms, who initially followed Liu Desheng to study calligraphy, and was the first genre of calligraphy in Chinese history. Zhong Xuan first appeared in history as a scribe. However, people who understand the history of calligraphy have a common sense, that is, in the Tang Dynasty, Zhong Xuan was named the ancestor of the main book. The main book is also the true book, which is later called the script. Why did Zhong Xuan, who studied xingshu in the early days, become the ancestor of the main book after hundreds of years in the Tang Dynasty?

This is because Wang Xizhi played an innovative role in it.

In Zhong Xuan's time, Xingshu was not yet independent. At that time, the so-called "xingshu" had two development directions. One is fast writing, convenient writing, and finally forms a line book; one is a slow, standardized writing, which forms a script.

Wang Xizhi was the first person to push Zhong Xuan up, he discovered the value of Zhong Xuan, and from Zhong Xuan's state of not being able to distinguish between writing and real books, he saw an opportunity for development. On the basis of Zhong Xuan, he made a clear distinction between the written book and the real book.

From the beginning of Wang Xizhi, Xingshu really called it Xingshu, and only then did Zhenshu truly call it Zhenshu. As a calligrapher, Wang Xizhi profoundly intervened in the history of the development of writing from the perspective of calligraphy. I think that after calligraphy entered the era of self-realization, he was the only one who really had this effect.

What does the effect of separation look like? Let's look at these two pictures.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

On the right is Wang Xizhi's calligraphy. On the left is one of his works of calligraphy. We can clearly see that the letter is the letter, and the book is the book.

The degree of law of the script is relatively complete, and there is no room for arbitrary simplification and continuity. But writing can. The line book can be dissolved at will, it can be simplified at will, and sometimes there will be some continuity in the middle.

After Wang Xizhi's transformation, the calligraphy and calligraphy have some common technical characteristics. This is Wang Xizhi's "Second Granddaughter Thesis".

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

In a typical work like Wang Xizhi,four characteristics are very clear. One is the miter cut at the beginning and end of the pen, one is a square fold, one is a hard hook, and the other is a visual effect caused by the combination of these three, that is, frustration.

For example, "first", the starting point of the horizontal painting is not square, called it a diagonal cut. The closing pen of this "two" is also extremely square, seeing the edges and corners.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

The squares at the turn are particularly clear.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

The hard hook looks like this too.

This is something that the previous zhenxing books in a state of simplicity did not have, or these techniques occasionally existed, but it was a simple, obscure state.

Is this something our deliberate interpretation more than a thousand years later? I don't think so. It is a conscious innovation. Because Wang Xizhi also left some theories.

For example, when he asks for writing, "three fold pens", that is, each stroke must have a bearing and turning action. If you say, for example, the painting of the two words "夭令", this feature is particularly clear.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

He also opposed "the pen is straight", the pen directly crossed, no action. The Lou Lan residual paper and the "Aunt Post" just mentioned are typical of the pen that is straight, and the brush is what it looks like. Opposing the "pen is straight" is actually complementary to the emphasis on the "three-fold pen".

Wang Xizhi's work is not a happy thing, it is a very tragic thing. Wang Xizhi's two granddaughters died. "The second granddaughter is infertile", this "infertility" refers to the premature death, so the following is said to be "wounded and dying".

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

Such a painful thing, written in this strong, flowing, and beautiful style of writing, has no sense of violation. Therefore, we say that the image, temperament and content of a work of art are sometimes unified, and sometimes they are opposites.

These four main technical characteristics of using the pen, which Wang Xizhi summarized and prescribed on the basis of his predecessors, have since become the main technical characteristics of real books and writings. That is to say, as long as it can be called true and written, it must have some of the characteristics of using a pen.

| 03 |

It doesn't end there. Wang Xizhi also applied these new features to cursive writing, and completed another innovation in cursive.

True and cursive writing were produced later, while cursive writing was produced very early. By the time of Wang Xizhi, cursive writing should have developed for five or six hundred years. Here in Wang Xizhi, although it is not a first, it is still a great innovation in the history of cursive writing.

There is a saying in the history books that Wang Xizhi "changed its ancient form, not Er, and still Jufa Zhong and Zhang." Zhong and Zhang are Zhong Xuan and Zhang Zhi. That is to say, if it were not for Wang Xi's change from ancient to modern, even cursive writing would still be the same state as before.

This is one of his cursive works, The Distant Eunuchs. This post is very famous, it is a Tang Dynasty facsimile, and it is not a real handwriting.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

▲ Source: National Palace Museum, Taipei

If you compare this post with the previous post, you will find that the characteristics of Wang Xizhi's cursive writing are the use of square pens and hard folds.

The word "no," for example, is almost made up of four very sharp triangles. The front "small and large under the foot" is also very square.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

This is actually consistent with his artistic propositions. Wang Xizhi once proposed that cursive writing should be "edged and undulating" under the premise of "continuous hooks and links", that is, there must be sides and edges, there must be square folds, and it must be tough.

The "Distant Eunuch" we just saw is a facsimile, and we will look at two cursive engravings.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

Is the carving of the knife far from the real thing? Not necessarily. Excellent engravings can convey the brilliance of calligraphy and the style of the original work. In this way, the two cursive engravings of Wang Xizhi can also see the characteristics just mentioned.

In these two works, Wang Xizhi uses dot painting a lot. You see the bottom of this "cold", he cut off such a series of pens directly and turned it into three points.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

This method of pointing is extremely authentic in cursive writing. Because cursive writing was developed from Lishu, at the beginning it "dissolved Lishu and roughed up", that is, some of the writing methods of Lishu were scattered, and one of the techniques used frequently in it was the point method.

Everyone knows that Tang Taizong Li Shimin greatly admired Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, and he gave Wang Xizhi several evaluations. One is called "If broken and connected". That is to say, you see that it is broken, but its actual qi is smooth.

We look closely at the bottom of the first line, which is composed of many dots, and the word "no" below the third line is simply composed of several dots.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

At this time, in the process of creation, I am afraid that there is a sixth sense at work, he knows that these two areas are composed of dots, and here he drags a long stroke to separate the two areas. Therefore, this kind of "if broken and connected" effect has emerged.

Li Shimin's evaluation of him also has a sentence called "like anyway". "欹" means "side". We can see that many of the words here are not actually positive, it is oblique, but the final line is positive. The macroscopic feeling of his calligraphy is a kind of neutral and neutral appearance, but the interior is full of strangeness.

Wang Xizhi used these methods to start from the True Xingshu and finally to the cursive script, in fact, establishing a new order of the three-body Zhenxingcao. Future generations can play on this basis, but they cannot be separated from their ancestors. The meaning of His existence, his meaning as a book saint, lies in this.

If I had to make a metaphor for Wang Xizhi, I often flashed a person in my mind, that is, the Yu of the Great Yu Zhishui. In the past, China did not care about Kyushu, which according to the "Book of Shang" was called "Tang Tang Flood Fang Cut", flooding everywhere. Because of the emergence of Dayu, there was Kyushu. Similarly, before Wang Xizhi, the three bodies of True Grass were basically a state of chaos, and it was only when he was that this basic order was established and the relationship between the three bodies became clear.

| 04 |

In the ninth year of Yonghe (353 AD), when Wang Xizhi wrote the Orchid Pavilion Preface, Wang Xianzhi participated, but he was still a child at that time.

There is a saying in the "Left Biography" called "Under the pine cypress, its grass does not breed.". Translated into the current saying, it is called "there is no strong seedling under the big tree". When this father is too strong, the son can't do it.

Then, at the same time that Wang Xizhi established the basic order of Zhenxingcao, Wang Xianzhi began to break this order, because he could not continue to walk along Wang Xizhi's path, or could only repeat it. As a genius calligrapher, Wang Xianzhi obviously took a different path—to explore fun that was more convenient to play outside the norm.

Wang Xianzhi's real contribution, in literature terms, is only in two words, namely the "Book of GǍo". The original meaning of the book is cursive, so there is a saying called "grass, grass". Then when it comes to Wang Xianzhi, the Book of Grass is definitely not cursive, but the fusion of the three bodies of true grass.

This is Wang Xianzhi's typical Gaoshu work "Poyang Thesis". It is also a relatively large work of Wang Xianzhi' inheritance.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

This pen power jumps out of the paper. This sense of flying in the work, and the ease of his pen, I think everyone can read it.

How did this style gradually come to be explored? In fact, the method used by Wang Xianzhi is very simple, that is, it starts with mixing.

Because Wang Xizhi had clearly distinguished the three bodies of true grass, Wang Xianzhi re-mixed them here to form a new artistic effect.

You see the two words "difficult to do", connected together, you see this solid line connected. But no matter how solid it is connected, these two words are written in writing. This is a cursive book.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

The "real" inside is simply a complete letter. And the cursive writing around it is mixed and matched with it, very harmonious.

So in such a post, the fusion of the three-body of true grass is very obvious.

I highly recommend this post, and I think Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which is enough for posterity to imitate in 2000. If you look at the above "think" and this "no", it is simply a letter. There is no doubt that the following has entered the stage of big grass and wild grass.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

What does these two lines equate to? Driving a manual car requires you to get on five gears at once within 50 meters.

(Silence on the spot...) )

It seems that most people have no experience in opening manual transmission.

It's very hard. He started by writing a letter, which immediately turned into wild grass; then stopped in the middle, indicating that I still had the ability to brake again, and then immediately reached an orgasm. Such an intense transition, put people busy nagging you can't do it. How to say this? In a word, you write it to know how difficult it is, and it looks quite lively when you don't write. Anyway, I can't imitate it for decades.

Both lines are wild, but different. The first line is wild, it flows smoothly and continuously. In the second line he actually uses an action. Everyone should pay attention to the two words "Er'er" in the lower left corner, and whether the horizontal strokes are particularly prominent.

The prominence of the horizontal stroke slows down the downward speed of the stroke, causing its rhythm to change. In this way, these two lines look continuous, but its rhythm and time effect and perception are different. This is the brilliance of Gao Shu, and it is also the artistic skill created by Wang Xianzhi.

| 05 |

Since the book is a mixture of three bodies, what kind of words are written in cursive, what kind of words are written in cursive, what kind of words are written in letters, and what kind of words are written in letters? It's actually very simple, commonly used words in cursive.

Because commonly used words are drafted, it does not affect reading, improves the speed of writing, and sometimes enhances the artistic effect. Why not?

Do we also have this habit of writing now, the word "of" in modern Chinese is very commonly used, as long as we encounter the word "of", everyone writes very simply and especially grass. I'll write it down, you can all know, right?

Human nature and human feelings often remain unchanged for thousands of years. This was not invented by Wang Xianzhi, but Wang Xianzhi made full use of it and carried it forward.

The cursive characters on the lines in these three works are all very commonly used words "Naihe".

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

Jinren's posts are often letters with exclamations like "what's the matter", which is equivalent to saying "Oops, Oops".

In the first post, this "Naihe", he still had a little patience and wrote the "Naihe" twice. After the second post "Naihe" is written, directly hit a dot each, which is called overlapping characters, that is, here are two "Naihe".

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

Then to the third post he was more anxious, he was not even willing to play, after playing the first point directly dragged down.

So if you don't understand the environment of this post and don't understand the writing rules of Jinren's post, I'm afraid this word is difficult for you to decipher, and you don't know what word he wrote.

| 06 |

We have just talked about Wang Xianzhi's two means, mixed with mixtures and commonly used words, and it seems that those two means are extremely simple, as if there is nothing superior. But Wang Xianzhi has a skill, which is really unprecedented, that is, not simplifying the orthography, and using continuous to open up the connection of true lines.

An important feature of the line book is that there is no actual connection between words and words, and continuous is the technical language of cursive writing. Wang Xianzhi used this technique, which originally belonged to cursive writing, to the Zhenxing Book.

Now when people hear it, they say that this is not simple, just move over. The question is what is his cleverness? Not simplified orthography. Let those two words still be itself, secretly connecting it, unconsciously. This continuity is unobstructed, but it does not affect the orthography. Smoothness ensures the value of art appreciation; it does not affect the orthography and ensures the legibility of reading. It's really high. Wang Xianzhi is a grounded genius, you can read his words, and his words have a very high height.

The glyphs are not disordered, and the upper and lower levels are connected, which can be said to be the most significant stylistic feature of the Gaoshu. But this thing is hard.

When we look at this work, "December Cut to the Post", it is an engraving.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

This post often does not attract everyone's attention, but the great calligrapher and expert of the Song Dynasty, Mi Fu, pushed this post as Wang Xianzhi's first post, which shows how much he likes this thing.

Everyone looks at this "cut", as well as "fu", "mourning", "qing and so on", such words he did not simplify.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

And sometimes he uses this kind of linkage between left and right, deliberately writing these words very complicated. Why?

One of the characteristics of cursive writing is the continuous and unobstructed feeling of continuous and downward flow within a line. But after you watch it too much, you will get bored and feel that its rhythm is monotonous. Cramming in these complex words will disrupt the rhythm and make your vision stop.

And these complex words are not simplified in the slightest, it makes you wonder, how are they connected up and down?

We may wish to look at how "cut" and "to", "phase" and "not", "un" and "complex" are connected.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

He uses this continuity of cursive characters to connect these literal and unsimplified true and calligraphic writings, not feeling abrupt, but with a sense of strength. This is the charm of the book.

Works such as Wang Xianzhi's are indeed heavenly books. When he confuses you with cursive symbols, he gives you a letter; again around you, another letter; around again... Repeatedly makes you want to stop. You think if I can't understand this, I'll give up. But as soon as you look at a word that you know, you think you can understand, and you keep reading. You can read everything, but the end result is that you don't understand, so there is nowhere to start.

Wang Xizhi's simplicity to the extreme is certainly an aesthetic, but Wang Xianzhi found that his father Jane was too much, and he could no longer go down this road. So he started to come back and start complicated.

Now people talk about calligraphy and talk about change, in fact, sometimes the same is more terrible than the change. It uses this diagonal connection over and over again to achieve a dizzying, dizzying effect.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

Especially the two words "Qing and so on", he made this connection between the strokes inside a word real, and the connection outside the two words also made real. String these lines on two different levels into one. This kind of thing really makes people have to calm down and calmly analyze what the word is.

So in a word, Wang Xianzhi seems to be simple, but if he is really as simple as it seems, he is not enough to keep pace with Wang Xizhi. That's why I say wang xianzhi is a low-key genius. He uses normal means and achieves unexpected artistic effects.

This work not only feels that it is the first post of Wang Daling in the world, but in fact, it is probably pushed up, pushed to Chu Suiliang, I am afraid that it is also considered to be the first post in the world. Here are the four-square seal, "Chu Shi".

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

He used four seals, pressed four corners, what is this? Domination.

During the Zhenguan years, Chu Suiliang helped the state to identify the previous generation of law books collected by the people, and I think he has seen a lot of things. But judging from what has been handed down today, [he] put his four seals on the four corners, this phenomenon is rare, almost only.

After seeing this post, we may think of another thing, that is, the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

It is now hidden in the Sanxi Hall in Qianlong, Forbidden City, Beijing. Because the front is the word "Mid-Autumn Festival", it is called "Mid-Autumn Festival".

In fact, this post is from the "December Cut to Post" in the border section. The festival is to take a copy of the middle paragraph down. It is generally believed that it is the arrival of rice. Compared to these two posts, the judgment is high.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

"Mid-Autumn Festival" is a bit soft, soft piā piā.

You see how honestly he writes the two words "Qing wait", and the strokes are so fat that they are intertwined, which is called unclear strokes.

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

You see these two words of Wang Xianzhi, you are dazzled, but the stroke is very clear, one stroke is one stroke, which stroke after another, including this gap has not been drowned. But this place is definitely drowning you in.

Mi Fu once said: "The times suppress it, and it cannot be high and ancient." In this sentence, I think it is appropriate to talk about this Linben of Mi Fu and Wang Xianzhi's "December Cut to the Post".

| 07 |

In the initial sense, it refers to cursive writing. However, in the era of Wang Xianzhi, he creatively fused the three bodies of Zhenxingcao into one, creating a unique and unprecedented Gaoshu. This kind of thing was also called "present body" or "new body" at that time, and there is also a saying called "breaking body", that is, breaking the boundaries of various bodies. Therefore, Wang Xianzhi's fame is quite large, and he definitely overshadowed Wang Xizhi during the Southern Dynasty.

It can be said that since Wang Xianzhi founded the Gaoshu, except for some special circumstances, such as cursive thousand characters, there is almost no cursive in the pure sense. All cursive and calligraphy are mixed together. The same is true of the line of writing, which makes extensive use of cursive continuity and the stability of the script.

So since this book created by Wang Xianzhi was so valuable for appreciation, why did it disappear later?

It is not gone, it is in name only, but the concept of "Gao Shu" is not used. Later, this three-body fusion of words in one body is all called cursive in a broad sense. If it is biased toward cursive, it is reluctantly called cursive. If it is biased towards the book, it is called the book of the line. When the two are equally divided, it is called cursive writing. They are actually all Gaoshu, at least an extension of the history of Gaoshu.

If cursive, cursive, cursive became the mainstream font of calligraphy creation in the last 1500 years, then who pioneered this 1500-year history? Wang Xianzhi.

So there was a situation in the Liang Dynasty. Emperor Wu of Liang was passionate about calligraphy, a great expert in calligraphy, and a generation of emperors with high eyesight. Regarding Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, he gave such a statement respectively.

He said that Wang Xianzhi was "absolutely superior, and no one can compare." What does this "pseudo" mean? Some people understand that "proposed" is "compared", and no one else can compare with him. Not really. At that time, this "imitation" was not the meaning of comparison, but the meaning of "imitation". Wang Xianzhi was very powerful, but no one could learn it.

So what is the situation of Wang Xizhi? "Treasures of the ages will always be taught." "Discipline" is the rule. Wang Xizhi is the eternal norm of calligraphy. At that time, Wang Xianzhi's influence surpassed Wang Xizhi to a certain extent, but as a model and basic principle of calligraphy, it must be Wang Xizhi.

That is to say, in the Liang Dynasty, Wang Xizhi was an example to learn forever, and Wang Xianzhi was already lacking in succession.

In the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin pushed Wang Xizhi to the position of a person throughout the ages, and trampled Wang Xianzhi under the eighteenth layer of hell. On the surface, the two kings look like one is in heaven and one is on the ground, but in fact, secretly, the historical status of the two is quietly changing again.

The two highest peaks in the history of Chinese calligraphy are the Jin and Tang, and the Tang is based on the Jin. The real cornerstone of Tang Dynasty calligraphy is not Wang Xizhi, but Wang Xianzhi.

Everyone hears this a little strange, a little incredible, and even a little disagree. It does not matter. Here is the time relationship, this issue I will not expand on. You can pay attention to the calligraphy class I did in one of the seats.

Wang Xizhi is the founder of the calligraphic order, and Wang Xianzhi is the applicator of this order or norm. Establishment and destruction are eternal themes in the history of calligraphy, and landmark figures may appear in both directions.

These two types of master craftsmen, no matter what kind of differences there are, always have a common feature, that is, to take care of both. The founder of the rule must establish a rule with innovation, and the inheritor of the rule must also give the new meaning of the times when it is fully inherited. This is an eternal law in the history of calligraphy.

Thank you!

(The text content is based on The Trial Lecture and on-site comprehensive collation of The Clerk Jean)

Planning 丨CH

Clip 丨 Dirt

Wang Xianzhi wrote these two lines, which are enough for posterity to imitate the 2000 | Kirk Jean

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