Wang Xizhi

Biography

Wang Xizhi was born into the distinguished Langya Wang clan of the Wei-Jin period. The clan traced its ancestry to the Ji surname and to descendants of Prince Qiao, son of King Ling of Zhou. His seventeenth-generation ancestor Wang Yuan was said to have moved from Xianyang to Langya to escape disorder under Qin. Wang Xizhi's great-grandfather Wang Lan was the half-brother of Wang Xiang, famous for the story of lying on ice to obtain carp. Wang Xiang served as Grand Protector under Emperor Wu of Jin, while Wang Lan rose to Grand Master for Splendid Happiness. Wang Xizhi's father Wang Kuang served as Administrator of Huainan and Administrator of Danyang and was skilled in running and clerical scripts. His uncle Wang Yi excelled in calligraphy and painting. Wang Sengqian's Discourse on Calligraphy stated that after the crossing of the Yangzi and before Wang Youjun, Wang Yi was the foremost; he served as painting teacher to Emperor Ming of Jin, and his calligraphy provided a model for Wang Youjun.

Wang Xizhi was born in 303, the second year of Tai'an under Emperor Hui of Jin, and lived in Kaiyang County during childhood. His birth coincided with the War of the Eight Princes, when the Western Jin was in severe danger. His father Wang Kuang advised Sima Rui, then Prince of Langya, to move south. In 309, the third year of Yongjia, Wang Kuang led troops to relieve Huguan but suffered a complete defeat and disappeared; Wang Xizhi was seven. During the years that followed in Jianye, he was raised by his mother and elder brother. He loved calligraphy from childhood, was first instructed by his father and uncle Wang Yi, and later studied under his maternal aunt Lady Wei, Wei Shuo. Wei Shuo had inherited the tradition of Zhong Yao and transmitted to Wang Xizhi the methods of Zhong Yao, the calligraphic traditions of the Wei family, and her own style and techniques.

In 315, the third year of Jianxing, Wang Xizhi attended a banquet with his uncle at the home of Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi was a noted member of the Runan Zhou clan, then serving as Right Chief Clerk to Sima Rui, and was renowned for judging personalities. At the banquet, Zhou Yi served the famous Luoyang delicacy roasted ox heart first to Wang Xizhi, who sat at the lowest place, astonishing the guests. The gesture brought Wang Xizhi wider fame.

In the eighth month of 323, the first year of Taining, Emperor Ming of Jin ordered Xi Jian to return to court. After arriving in Jiankang, Xi Jian secretly discussed with the emperor plans to oppose Wang Dun. Before denouncing Wang Dun, Xi Jian sought a son-in-law among the Wang clan. Wang Xizhi was found lying casually with his belly exposed on the eastern couch and, precisely because of his unconcerned manner, was selected. He married Xi Jian's daughter Xi Xuan, also written Xi Xuan. This story became the source of the idioms “bare-bellied on the eastern couch” and “excellent son-in-law of the eastern couch.”

Around 325, the third year of Taining, with recommendations from his uncle Wang Bin and father-in-law Xi Jian, Wang Xizhi entered office as Gentleman of the Palace Library. The rank was not high and the duties were relatively light, giving him opportunities to examine calligraphy by Zhong Yao, Hu Zhao, Zhang Zhi, Suo Jing, Wei Dan, Huang Xiang, and others held by the Palace Library, and to exchange calligraphic ideas with members of his own and other great clans. After the Su Jun Rebellion was suppressed in 329, he was transferred to Companion to the Prince of Kuaiji, mainly accompanying the young prince in study and leisure. He later became Administrator of Linchuan, where he worked to remove longstanding administrative abuses and gained a favorable local reputation.

In 334, the ninth year of Xianhe, Yu Liang became General Who Conquers the West. After completing his mourning period, Wang Xizhi joined Yu Liang's staff as military adjutant. In 336, when his uncle Wang Bin died, Wang Xizhi took leave to handle the funeral and during that period visited his father-in-law Xi Jian in Guangling. Xi Jian spoke of tensions between Yu Liang and Wang Dao and asked Wang Xizhi to help mediate. Wang Dao urged Wang Xizhi to return to Jiankang and proposed recommending him as Palace Attendant, but Wang Xizhi declined and returned alone to the staff headquarters at Wuchang.

Around the fifth or sixth month of 342, the eighth year of Xiankang, Wang Xizhi succeeded to the post of Inspector of Jiangzhou and was additionally given the title General Who Pacifies Afar. Sources disagree about the tenure; it may have been extremely brief, or he may have been promoted without actually assuming the post. In 348, the fourth year of Yonghe, he was promoted to General Who Guards the Army. The office carried substantial authority, including responsibility for forces protecting the emperor and capital and a staff of subordinate officers; when ordered on campaign, it could also establish a military staff. Wang Xizhi took his duties seriously and showed concern for soldiers' hardships, issuing the “Instructions on Assuming the Post of General Who Guards the Army.”

In 351, the seventh year of Yonghe, the incumbent Chief Administrator of Kuaiji, Wang Shu, left office to mourn his mother, and Wang Xizhi was appointed General of the Right Army and Chief Administrator of Kuaiji. On the third day of the third lunar month in 353, the ninth year of Yonghe, Wang Xizhi joined Xie An, Sun Chuo, Xu Xun, Zhi Dun, and forty-two others at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji, for a spring purification gathering. The participants drank wine and composed poetry; twenty-six left poems later gathered into a collection. Wang Xizhi spontaneously wrote the preface, the Lantingji Xu, in twenty-eight lines and 324 characters. It was a draft written under ideal circumstances and, according to tradition, later attempts by Wang Xizhi to reproduce it never equaled the original. More than twenty occurrences of the character zhi were each written differently. Mi Fu of the Song later called it the “finest running script under Heaven.”

In 355, the eleventh year of Yonghe, Wang Xizhi took the startling step of swearing before his parents' tomb never again to serve in office. In the third month he claimed illness, abandoned his post, and resigned as Chief Administrator of Kuaiji. Such a resignation had no precedent within the Langya Wang clan and caused a considerable stir at court. Elders, scholars, and commoners urged him to reconsider, but his decision was firm. Thereafter he moved with his son Wang Caozhi from Wuxi to Jinting in the Shaoxing region, built a library, planted mulberries and fruit trees, taught his children and younger relatives, wrote poetry and prose, practiced calligraphy and painting, and amused himself with geese, hunting, and fishing. He traveled widely through the eastern commanderies, explored famous mountains, and sailed the sea. Together with Xu Xun, Zhi Dun, and others he roamed the scenery of Shan, reaching as far as Linhai Commandery and perhaps Yongjia Commandery. Delighting in these travels, he is recorded as saying that he would ultimately “die from joy.”

Even after leaving office, Wang Xizhi continued to concern himself with state affairs. Around 358, Xie Wan was appointed General of the Gentlemen of the West and Inspector of Yuzhou. Knowing that Xie Wan lacked military ability, Wang Xizhi wrote to Huan Wen and also directly advised Xie Wan on military leadership, telling him to share hardships with the troops and not overemphasize personal comfort. Xie Wan ignored the advice and later suffered defeat and was reduced to commoner status. In 359 Wang Xizhi arranged a marriage for his youngest son Wang Xianzhi with Xi Daomao, daughter of Xi Tan, and the proposal was accepted.

In 361, the fifth year of Shengping, Wang Xizhi's granddaughter, a four-year-old daughter of Wang Caozhi, died. Fewer than ten days later, a newborn daughter of Wang Xianzhi also died of sudden illness. Another daughter born to a woman of the Xi clan, named Yurun and especially beloved by Wang Xizhi, also died after a sudden illness. In the same year, Wang Xizhi died at Jinting in Kuaiji and was buried at Pubu Mountain, also called Ziteng Mountain. His fifth-generation descendant Heng later donated his residence to establish Jinting Abbey, whose site survived. During the Datong era of the Southern Liang (535–546), descendants built a shrine in front of the tomb.

Major Activities

Wang Xizhi was said to have been adept at calligraphy by the age of seven and, at twelve, to have secretly read an earlier Treatise on the Brush from beneath his father's pillow. He first studied under his maternal aunt Wei Shuo, but after crossing the Yangzi and traveling north among famous mountains he saw works by Li Si, Cao Xi, and other masters. In Luoyang he viewed the three-script Stone Classics written by Cai Yong and the Huayue Stele by Zhang Chang, and came to recognize the limitations of his earlier training. He then studied a wide range of inscriptions and made great progress. Wang Xizhi later described how he had initially believed his study under Lady Wei to be sufficient, but after seeing works by Li Si, Cao Xi, Zhong Yao, Liang Hu, Cai Yong, Zhang Chang, and others, realized that remaining with a single teacher had wasted time and thereafter learned broadly from ancient monuments.

Wang Xizhi mastered clerical, cursive, regular, and running scripts. He studied structural forms, absorbed strengths from many traditions, and fused them into a personal style that departed from earlier Han and Wei modes. The most obvious features of his calligraphy are delicate brushwork, highly varied structure, calm naturalness, restrained movement, strength, and elegance. Tang critic Zhang Huaiguan's Shuduan observed that Wang Xizhi refined Zhang Zhi's cursive script by balancing thick and thin but could not equal Zhang's mature command, and transformed Zhong Yao's clerical tradition by enriching its application though not its archaic elegance; in mastering structural forms, however, he excelled in every respect. Shen Yinmo later argued that Wang Xizhi was naturally influenced by Lady Wei and the tradition of Zhong Yao, but, after studying ancient seal and clerical works of the Qin and Han that differed from the newer Zhong-derived style transmitted by Lady Wei, became dissatisfied with his teacher's method and broadened his sources.

The Lantingji Xu has been revered by generations of calligraphers. The surviving tradition describes it as a draft of twenty-eight lines and 324 characters, with more than twenty forms of the character zhi, each written differently. Mi Fu called it the “finest running script under Heaven.” Another celebrated work of Wang Xizhi's later years, the Timely Clearing after Snowfall, is a brief letter of only twenty-eight characters addressed to Zhang Hou of Shanyin, with brushwork described as poised, archaic, rounded, and elegant.

Wang Xizhi entered official life at about twenty-three as Gentleman of the Palace Library and went on to serve as Companion to the Prince of Kuaiji, Administrator of Linchuan, military adjutant to the General Who Conquers the West, Inspector of Jiangzhou, General Who Guards the Army, General of the Right Army, and Chief Administrator of Kuaiji. As Administrator of Linchuan he worked to remove longstanding abuses and sought to understand local hardship. As General Who Guards the Army he issued instructions showing concern for soldiers. During his tenure as Chief Administrator of Kuaiji, amid debate at the Eastern Jin court over northern campaigns and defensive consolidation, Wang Xizhi wrote to Sima Yu, Prince of Kuaiji, to oppose Yin Hao's northern expedition. He analyzed the strategic situation and argued that trying to manage nine-tenths of the realm with the limited resources of Wu and Yue would invite destruction, advocating first strengthening the base and allowing the population to recover. Yin Hao ignored the advice, suffered a major defeat in the north, and thereafter lost political influence.

Wang Xizhi's life took him across northern and southern regions. He spent childhood in Kaiyang in Langya, migrated south to Jianye with his family after the Disaster of Yongjia, and lived in Wuyi Lane. His official career took him to the capital, Linchuan, Wuchang, Jiangzhou, Kuaiji, and other places. After resigning, he traveled throughout the eastern commanderies, explored famous mountains, sailed the sea, and toured Shan with Xu Xun and Zhi Dun. He reached Linhai Commandery and may also have visited Yongjia Commandery. In later life he settled at Jinting in Shan County, present-day Shengzhou, Zhejiang, where numerous sites associated with him remain known.

Wang Xizhi associated closely with prominent Eastern Jin literati. At the Orchid Pavilion Gathering in the ninth year of Yonghe, he joined Xie An, Sun Chuo, Xu Xun, Zhi Dun, and forty-two others, producing the poems of the gathering and the Lantingji Xu. He was a close friend of the Daoist Xu Mai, with whom he often traveled through mountains and gathered medicinal plants. When Xu Xun learned that Wang Xizhi had retired to Jinting, he came from Xiaoshan to live nearby. Wang Xizhi also corresponded or associated with Yu Liang, Xi Jian, Wang Dao, Yin Hao, Huan Wen, Xie Wan, and other senior political figures. He had a poor relationship with Wang Shu. Wang Xizhi had looked down on Wang Shu when the latter had earlier served as Chief Administrator of Kuaiji; when Wang Shu later became Inspector of Yangzhou, Wang Xizhi felt humiliated at being subordinate to him, which became one factor in his decision to resign.