Subscribe to free Email Newsletter

Luo Shen Fu

Among the four big families of theEastern Jin Dynasty, namely, the Wangs, Xies, Xis and Yus, the Wang Family was the most conspicuous. Within thecalligraphyfamily, there was competition between father and son, husband and wife and among brothers, which was a dazzling and unique phenomenon in the history of calligraphy as well as in world art. In particular, there were Wang Xizhi and his son, both of whom were great calligraphers, known as "Er Wang(Double Wangs)."

Wang Xianzhi (344-386), the seventh son of Wang Xizhi and son-in-law of the Emperor Wendi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, enjoyed a reputation as a young calligraphy master and was the pride of his father. He was appointed to various government posts and died a high-ranking government official.

Wang Xianzhi was accomplished in writingcaoshu(cursive script) andlishu(official scripts). He was also skilled at painting. As a small boy, Wang Xianzhi studied calligraphy under his father and showed outstanding talent. However, he was not limited to his father's teaching. Instead, he made creations and formed his own style.

An anecdote about his practicing calligraphy goes like this: once his father came up stealthily from behind and tried to yank thewriting brushfrom 7-year-old Wang Xianzhi. Surprisingly, the son was holding the brush so tightly that the father was unable to take it away from his hand. With much emotion, the father sighed that the son would become an accomplished calligrapher in the future.

Another time little Wang Xianzhi wrote huge-sized characters on a

Yuban Shisan Hang

wall, which pleased Wang Xizhi very much. Huan Wen, a high-ranking official, once asked Wang Xianzhi to write on his fan. By accident, Wang dropped the brush on the fan, leaving an ink stain on it. He took advantage of the stain and painted a cow.

In an effort to improve the art, Wang Xianzhi absorbed the best of Zhang Zhi, a calligrapher proficient in caoshu (cursive script) in theHan dynasty, and became an expert at caoshu.

His use of the brush pen was innovative and turned the unsophisticated ancient style into a new style known for its boldness. His influence on the calligraphers of later generations was enormous. He was also known as the little calligrapher sage, second only to his father. His authentic works have been passed down in history and are available today.

His masterpieces includeLuo Shen FuandYuban Shisan Hang.

Author: Jessie