The Eastern Jin Dynasty, a special historical period loved by literati and hated by warriors. The reason why many people are reluctant to mention this period is because the social turmoil in this period was so severe, there were foreign races outside the coveting, and there was royal chaos inside. It's a real fire.
Today, we temporarily abandon the bad side of this dynasty and look at the proud side of this era with a peaceful mind. The Eastern Jin Dynasty was a period of great development of culture and art, and both literature and calligraphy and painting were developed at their peak in this period, and laid the foundation for style and law for literature and calligraphy painting in later generations. This is incomparable to any dynasty in history, and even the prosperous Sui and Tang Dynasties must bow to it.
The great development of culture and art in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was mainly due to the prevalence of clean talk thinking in that period. The reason why qing talk and mysteries are prevalent is because the literati and aristocrats of this era all believed in the way of Lao Zhuang. Take heaven and earth as the foundation and do the things of nature. Do not demand the necessary rules, only want free and inactive thoughts. In particular, the art of calligraphy is even more brilliant in this era.
The development of calligraphy art in the Eastern Jin Dynasty is the most dazzling dynasty in the entire history of calligraphy. A calligraphy style represented by Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi was born, and had obvious characteristics of the times. The calligraphy style of the Eastern Jin Dynasty has influenced nearly two thousand years from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the present day. So today we are going to talk specifically about the king who gave it to him.
Wang Xianzhi (王献之), courtesy name Zijing ,pinyin: Wáng Zhāng zhīng, was a Han Chinese official, from Linyi, Langyue (present-day Lanshan District, Linyi, Shandong Province), and was born in Huiji Shanyin (present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang). Eastern Jin Dynasty calligrapher, poet, painter, official, seventh son of "Shusheng" Wang Xizhi, son-in-law of Sima Yu, Emperor Wen of Jin, and father-in-law of Sima Dezong, Emperor Of Jin'an. Wang Xianzhi is usually quiet and quiet, but he is talented and intelligent, and his emotional intelligence is very high. Wang Xianzhi, who was talented, was also favored by Sima Daofu, the princess of the Eastern Jin Dynasty at the time, and became the son-in-law of Sima Yu, the Emperor of Jianwen.
Wang Xianzhi studied the book of Wang Xianzhi, and under the guidance of his father, he also had many studies on the seal and the lishu. Although Wang Xianzhi's calligraphy was studied by his father, his calligraphy style was not blindly old-fashioned, but there were many obvious differences from his father. Wang Xizhi's brushwork is biased towards inward expansion, while Wang Xianzhi is biased towards outward expansion. In terms of form, Wang Xizhi is biased towards flattening, and Wang Xianzhi is biased towards vertical length. This is especially evident in small letters. Wang Xianzhi's early calligraphy was based on Wang Xizhi's calligraphy style, and later after a long road of calligraphy and continuous exploration and improvement, he slowly formed his own style. This is why the descendants will be father and son and become the two kings.
Wang Xianzhi was talented and intelligent, and for the study of calligraphy, he studied his father, but did not restrain his father, but immersed himself in the study of various bodies, and integrated the essence of the various bodies into his own calligraphy. In addition to learning from his father Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi's cursive writing also learned From Zhang Zhi of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was not integrated. Wang Xianzhi Xiaokai studied Zhong Xuan and Wang Xizhi, and made unique improvements on the basis of the two, and had a profound impact on the calligraphy of Xiao Kai in later generations. His calligraphy is also different from his father's style, and it is a good source for us to learn to write calligraphy.
Throughout the ages, there has been a debate about which of Wang Xi's father and son are stronger or weaker. This may also be because different people, different perspectives to see. After all, some people approve of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy and style, and some people recognize Wang Xianzhi. For example, Li Shimin strongly admired Wang Xizhi and denied Wang Xianzhi, resulting in many of Wang Xianzhi's inkblots being scattered. Many of Wang Xizhi's codex rulers were copied and preserved.
Therefore, the debate between the father and son of the two kings is actually not necessary. What makes us most proud is that the two people's calligraphic ideas and classic works can be preserved for future generations to study and observe, which is the most fortunate thing.
Wang Xianzhi's previous married life was happy, and he and his wife Xi Daomao had known each other since childhood, which was considered to be a green plum bamboo horse. After getting married, the life with his wife is full of love and affection, and he will not abandon it. Sima Daofu, the daughter of Sima Yu, was attracted by Wang Xianzhi's talent and tried her best to force Wang Xianzhi to divorce his wife and marry himself, but Wang Xianzhi was obsessed with his ex-wife and had a strong sense of strangeness with the princess Sima Daofu. Life is not happy. In order to remember his wife Xi Daomao, Wang Xianzhi specially wrote "Thoughts of Love":
Nostalgia, never to be lost. Excuse me, sorry for it! I don't know when I'll see you again. What a metaphor for this! I wish to cherish it as much as I can. Late letter reversed, re-informed movement. (See Chunhua Ge Ti)
Wang Xianzhi's "Thoughts and Thoughts" written to his ex-wife
This post is enough to prove the character of Wang Xianzhi. In 386, Wang Xianzhi, a talented son of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, died in depression. With his lifelong talent, he "feathered into a fairy". In the years that followed, with the continuous decline of the Xie family, the Eastern Jin Dynasty also perished, and a new chapter in Chinese history began - the Southern and Northern Dynasties.