Style of calligraphy: running script
Size: vertical length of 24.5 cm, horizontal length of 69.9cm Lanting Preface is representative of Wang Xizhi’s running script, which is a manuscript made by him when drinking wine with his friends in high spirits in Lanting, Shaoxing. So there are traces of painting and additions. The first three lines of this work show clear regular script strokes. Brush movement starts to gradually become smooth from the 4th line, the sth-llth line forms a beautiful rhythm, and the 12th-17th lines completely go into the best status so that brush movement signifcantly turns faster in more casual style and takes natural and fowing style of writing, thereby leading to infnite reverie. The entire artwork is free and unconstrained with full of flavor, which fully reflects Wang Xizhi’s vigorous, robust and flowing running script.
Lanting Preface is known as the”first running hand”, but the original has been lost. So it is wonderful copy of Feng Chengsu in the Tang Dynasty.
Running Script
Running script is a kind of Chinese character forms, and its structure and gesture range between regular script and cursive script. It is written more quickly and fexibly than the regular script, which is also more legible than cursive script. It is the most common handwriting font.
The origin ofLanting Preface on the 3rd day of lunar 3rd month in the 9th year during Yonghe Period in the Eastern Jin Dynasty(353), Wang Xizhi and his friends jointly went to Lanting in Shanyin (today’s Shaoxing, Zhejiang) for gathering.
That day, spring breeze blew, the sun shone, and all people were happily immersed in the wonderful landscape.
They could not help playing the game of floating wine cup along the winding water. They sat beside a small river, put the glasses on lotus leaves and let glasses drift downstream. When such glass stopped in front of a person, he must drink a glass of wine and make a poen on the spot. Drinking happily, they made many poems.
Finally, they decided to compile 37 poems into a collected poem work, and Wang Xizhi was recommended forwriting a preface. Wang Xizhi happily raised up the brush. He thought and wielded brush, and soon created masterpiecelanting Preface through the ages. Interestingly, Wang Xizhi subsequently kept mind at peace and re-copied this work several times, but he could not fnd the feeling with facility.
Font structure of Zanting Pelace proves high proficiency.
-In the Chinese character”Liu”，sharp strokes see no void.
Coarse place is not bloated，with dark-ink place is not muddy.
-Refined place is not weak.
Turning point of the Chinese character “Chang”combines square and round
strokes，with full of change.
Square fold looks strong and robust.
Round turning becomes flexible and moving.
In this artwork，the 12th-17th lines is the most exciting part，as brush movement takes natural and flowing style of writing，thereby leading to infinite reverie.
Modified and covered traces show the calligrapher’s liberated state of mind at the time of writing.
Although the upper and lower characters do not connect，the atmosphere between the lines is smooth and the rhythm is smoot and beautiful.
Modified and covered traces are left here.Heavy and eye-catching characters change the rhythm of the original writing.
Characters at the end of each line are small，indicating that the author has not exhausted mind to arrange the permissive，but simply allowed natural，homeopathic written.
Patterns of repeated Chinese characters vary，with the size at random.
