Wang Xizhi's Holy Teaching Order (Unabbreviated and Enlarged Edition)

Author: (Tang) Huairen, collected characters
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1994-12-01
Features: The Holy Teaching Preface by Wang Xizhi, full title The Holy Teaching Preface Collected from Wang Xizhi's Calligraphy by Huairen of the Hongfu Temple in the Tang Dynasty, was created by the monk Huairen of the Hongfu Temple in the Tang Dynasty by collecting characters from Wang Xizhi's calligraphy preserved in the imperial collection of the Tang. It took twenty-five years from the twenty-second year of the Zhenguan era to the third year of the Jianheng era to complete. In the nineteenth year of the Zhenguan era, Tang Xuanzang was ordered by Emperor Taizong Li Shimin to translate Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures at the Hongfu Temple; three years later, Emperor Taizong personally wrote The Preface to the Three Baskets Holy Teaching; the following year, Crown Prince Li Zhi wrote The Record of the Holy Teaching. These prefaces and records, along with The Imperial Edict in Response to Xuanzang's Thank You for the Imperial Draft Preface to the Three Baskets, The Letter in Response to Xuanzang's Thank You, and Xuanzang's translation of The Heart Sutra, were collectively inscribed on stone. The stele is 3.2 meters high and 1.4 meters wide, with thirty lines of running script, each line containing 83 to 88 characters. The stele was originally located at the Hongfu Temple in Chang'an, Shaanxi, and is now in the Stele Forest of Xi'an. The calligraphy of The Holy Teaching Preface features slender strokes, a spirited and elegant style, natural composition, and well-ordered layout, truly resembling mist and dew gathering. Unfortunately, the stele broke after the Northern Song Dynasty and suffered significant damage. According to the Ming Dynasty scholar Dong Qichang, (in pre-Northern Song rubbings, the characters Feng, Gui, He, Yi, Chu remain intact. Additionally, Wang Shu of the Qing Dynasty wrote in Virtuous Boat Annotations, "The Wang Family of Shandong's New City possesses a Tang Dynasty red sand rubbing of this stele." However, these fine rubbings are no longer available. In 1972, a complete Northern Song rubbing was discovered at the base of the stele. Although still incomplete, it is a rare treasure and the best rubbing available today. Today, it has been enlarged from a fine copy for clarity; historical records have been examined to restore the missing parts using Wang Xizhi's running script, making it complete; and regular script annotations have been added to enhance its practicality.