Wang Xizhi (c. 303 - 361) was born in
today's Shandong province. He was a great calligrapher of Eastern Jin Dynasty, and
was called by later generations Saint of Calligraphy.
Wang Xizhi studied calligraphy under the calligraphy master Madame Wei in his youth.
Then he traveled widely to study tablet inscriptions executed by famous calligraphers
of older generations. It is said that he used to practice calligraphy by a pond
beside Lan (Orchd) Pavilion in Shaoxing, in today's Zhejiang province. He worked
day and night, until the clear pond water turned black from his dipping his inky
brush into it so many times. At last, He had finally formed his own unique style.
Wang Xizhi's unique style in both the running hand and cursive script had a great
influence on later generations of calligraphers. His famous rubbings of stone inscriptions
include the Preface to Orchid Pavilion and the Kuaixueshiqing Rubbing.
Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty admired Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, and chose 1,000
characters written by Wang Xizhi, which he included in a book titled Ancient 1,000-Character
Text to be used as a guide for students of calligraphy.
Gu Kaizhi (c. 345 - 409) was an outstanding painter in Eastern Jin Dynasty. Later
generations grouped him together with Lu Tanwei, Zhang Sengyao and Wu Daozi, and
Called them the "Four Ancestors of Painting". Gu traveled all over south China accumulating
rich materials for his paintings.
Gu Kaizhi was especially good at figure painting, and he stressed the "Spirit by
deescribling". He maintained that a subject's heart could be read through looking
deep into his or her eyes. He once worked on a temple on a mural, but he did not
finish the figure's eyes until visitors came. He painted the eyes, and viewers said
that the figure's face suddenly filled with energy and seemed like a real person.
Gu Kaizhi's works have long been lost. What remains today are only facsimiles of
his Picture Scroll of Female Scholars, Picture Scroll of the Loushui River Nymph
and the Picture Scroll of Virtuous Ladies.
Reference data
The Inventor of Regular Script
During the period from the end of Han Dynasty to the beginning of Wei Dynasty, there
was a famous calligrapher named Zhong Yao who gained a full mastery of the regular
script. He was the first master of regular script in Chinese history, and his calligraphy
helped the transition from official script to regular script as the ordinary writing
system. He also helped set the style of Chinese characters. His representive works
include Statement of Proclamation and Statement Recommending Jizhi
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