Wang Xizhi's Running Script Copy of the "Holy Teaching Preface"

Author: Jin Bo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: Wang Xizhi (321–379 AD), styled Yishao, was a native of Langya Linyi (now Yixian County, Shandong Province), and an outstanding calligrapher during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Wang Xizhi excelled in various scripts, including clerical script, regular script, running script, and cursive script. His calligraphy was vigorous, elegant, and full of variation, creating a new style that was graceful on the outside yet substantial on the inside. He became one of the most distinguished calligraphers in Chinese history and was revered by later generations as the "Sage of Calligraphy." The Holy Teaching Preface (also known as Preface to the Holy Teaching and Heart Sutra Collected by Wang Xizhi) is a full title of Preface to the Holy Teaching and Heart Sutra Collected by Wang Right Military and was compiled by the monk Huairen of Hongfu Temple during the Tang Dynasty. It was created by assembling Wang Xizhi's authentic running script. The full text contains over 2,400 characters, arranged in 30 lines, and took 24 years to complete. The stele is meticulously rendered, appearing as if it were naturally formed, and is almost identical to Wang Xizhi's original work in every detail. It was later praised as "seamless and superior to self-execution."