Wang Xizhi's Seventeen Pieces

Author: Editorial Committee of This Book
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Wang Xizhi is the eternal calligrapher sage of China, and Seventeen Notes is a representative work of his cursive script. In the Ten Volumes of Right Military Correspondence in the Essentials of Calligraphy by Zhang Yanyuan of the Tang Dynasty, the earliest record of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, Seventeen Notes is listed as the most important piece: "The Seventeen Notes is twelve feet long, which is the inner copy from the Zhenguan period. It has 107 lines and 943 characters, making it a renowned and celebrated scroll. Emperor Taizong of the Tang purchased the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi and Wang Da, who had three thousand sheets, usually rolled into scrolls of twelve feet each. The scroll is named Seventeen Notes because it has the characters 'Seventeenth Day' at the beginning." The content of Seventeen Notes mostly discusses the scenery and figures of Shu, as it is a letter from Wang Xizhi to Zhou Fu, the governor of. Zhou Fu was a famous general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, known as, who spent over thirty years in Shu. Wang Xizhi once intended to travel to Shu and climb Mount Min but did not succeed. In these notes, one can see Wang Xizhi's strong interest in the people and history of Sichuan. This brilliant and renowned work in calligraphy history is indispensable for copying and authentication. It completely collects the title notes and inscriptions of rare stone inscriptions and prints, authentically reproducing the subtle artistic charm of the original carving and printing! Wang Xizhi's Seventeen Notes is the first full-size, full-color printing. Seventeen Notes has been revered through the ages as a model of cursive script and is known as the "ultimate method" for practicing cursive script. This scroll is a Song Dynasty printing preserved by Zhang Boying, a first-class national cultural relic, and is considered the finest extant copy.