Wang Xizhi

Nationality: Chinese
Notable works: Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection: Classical and Vernacular Text in Parallel Twelve Chapters on the Momentum of the Brush

3 written works

About the author

Wang Xizhi (303–361), courtesy name Yishao, was a celebrated calligrapher of the Eastern Jin dynasty. He was born in Linyi, Langya (present-day Linyi, Shandong) and later moved to Shanyin, Kuaiji (present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang). He served as General of the Right Army and Interior Minister of Kuaiji, and was commonly known as “Wang Youjun.” He excelled in clerical, cursive, regular, and running scripts, and is honored as the “Sage of Calligraphy.” His representative work, the Lantingji Xu (Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection), is regarded as the finest running-script calligraphy under heaven. Three of his works are included here: Lantingji Xu, Lantingji Xu: Classical and Modern Chinese Comparison, and Twelve Chapters on Calligraphic Momentum. His works are commonly classified under Eastern philosophy and literary appreciation. Beyond these facts, public information on his life is limited and should not be speculated upon. His calligraphic thought and literary grace have had a profound influence on later calligraphy and literary appreciation.

Written (3)

Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection: Classical and Vernacular Text in Parallel cover

4.7

Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection: Classical and Vernacular Text in Parallel Wang Xizhi · 2025 Wang Xizhi, together with Xie An, Sun Chuo and some forty other literati, held a "floating goblets along the winding stream" gathering at the Orchid P…

Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection cover

5.0

Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection Wang Xizhi Bashu Publishing House · 2024 The Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection, also titled Preface at the Riverside Pavilion, the Purification Gathering Manuscript, or the Third Day …

Twelve Chapters on the Momentum of the Brush cover

3.4

Twelve Chapters on the Momentum of the Brush Wang Xizhi · 2024 Traditional Chinese thought has a long history and is highly original, inventive and literary. Early thought forms are highly distinctive: religious t…

Publishers

Bashu Publishing House