Wei & Jin Dynasties

The Three Kingdoms Period included Wei, Su, and Wu at the same time. Among them, Wei was playing the big role. Li Style was still used at the beginning of Wei. The most famous calligraphers at this time were Zhong Yao ( 鍾繇 ) , Wei Guan ( 衛瓘 ), and Han-Dan Tsuen ( 邯鄲淳 ).

Just 30 years after the West Jin was established, 16 countries in northern China appeared to claim each of their own territories. The Sima family (the emperor of Jin) had to move to the south of the Long River. Calligraphy achieved the best in the history at this time.

· Wei Heng's ( 衛恆 ) Calligraphy Postures of Four Styles ( 四體書勢 ) discussed the beauty of calligraphy as an art.

· Madame Wei's ( 衛夫人 ) Map of Strokes Disposition ( 筆陣圖 ) proposed the theory of flow and law of calligraphy. She also emphasized the importance of brush, ink, and ink stone. Seven methods of holding the brush were summarized and the effects were discussed.

· Han-Dan Tsuen 邯鄲淳 (?-?): He was good at all scripts. It's said "San Ti Shu Jing 三體石經" elected by the side of Xi Ping Thu Jing was done by him.

· Wang Shuen 王珣 (349-400): Grandson of Wang Dao who was cousin of Wang Hsi-Chih.

· Wei Ji 衛覬 (aka Wei Bo Ru): Good at all scripts. He once imitated Han-Dan Tsuen's "Gu Wen Som Shu" but Han-Dan Tsuen couldn't distinguish it from his own.

· Zhong Yao 鍾繇 (151-230): Studied calligraphy from Liu De-Sheng. People viewed his calligraphy as “swan traveling in the sky, wild goose playing in the sea". He was peered with Zhang Chih ( 張芝 ) and referred to as “Zhong Zhang”. He was also peered with Wang Hsi-Chih and referred to as “Zhong Wang”. Emperor Liang Wu Di said there were 12 sets of mind levels with extraordinary wonders within his work.

· Wei Dan 韋誕 (179-253): Studied Han-Dan Tsuen's Zuan Style and Zhang Chih's Tsao Style. He was good at writing on horizontal inscribing boards. Most of the boards of the Wei Dynasty were done by him.

· Huan Xian 皇象 (?-?): He was good at Li, Shiao Zuan, and Zhang Tsao styles. His Li Shu was powerful and graceful. His Zuan Shu was exquisite. His studied Tsao Shu from Du Du and was stable and delighted.

· Wei Guan 衛瓘 (220-291): He and So Jim both learned from Zhang Chih. They say Wei Guan got the bone and So Jim got the muscle.

· Suo Jin 索靖 (239-303): He was grandson of Zhang Chih's sister. He was good at Zhang Tsao and Tsao Style. He studied from Wei Dan. His calligraphy was more precipitous than his teacher's.

· Wei Heng 衛恆 (252-291): His book "Si Ti Shu Shu 四體書勢" was very important in calligraphy theory. He and his father, Wei Guan, were both killed by the King of Tsu. His daughter, Madame Wei ( 衛夫人 ), was the teacher of Wang Hsi-Chih.

· Madame Wei (272-349): Her maiden name was Wei and given name was Shuo. She was the teacher of Wang Hsi-Chih. It's said that she wrote "Bi Zhen Tu 筆陣圖" which was an important calligraphy theory book. She is the most renowned woman calligrapher in Chinese history.

· Wang Hsi-Chih (Pinyin: Wang Xizhi) 王羲之 (303-361): He earned the titles of the Calligrapher-Sage ( 書聖 ) and The Dragon of Hsin Shu. His styles have become paradigms of Chinese calligraphy for thousands of years.

王羲之出身于一個書法世家的門庭。他的伯父王翼，王導；堂兄弟王恬，王洽等都是當時的書法名手。王羲之（321—379年，或303—361年）字，字逸少，號澹齋，原籍琅琊臨沂（今屬山東），后遷居山陰（今浙江紹興），官至右軍將軍，會稽內史，是東晉偉大的書法家，被后人尊為書聖。

王羲之七歲那年，拜女書法家衛鑠為師學習書法。王羲之臨摹衛書一直到十二歲，雖已不錯，但自己卻總是覺得不滿意。因常听老師講歷代書法家勤學苦練的故事，使他對東漢「草聖」張芝的書法產生了欽羡之情，并決心以張芝的「臨池」故事來激勵自己。

為了練好書法，他每到一個地方，總是跋山涉水四下鈐拓歷代碑刻，積累了大量的書法資料。他在書房內，院子里，大門邊甚至廁所的外面，都擺著凳子，安放好筆，墨，紙，硯，每想到一個結構好的字，就馬上寫到紙上。他在練字時，又凝眉苦思，以至廢寢忘食。

他認為養鵝不僅可以陶冶情操，還能從鵝的某些體態姿勢上領悟到書法執筆，運筆的道理。有一天清早，王羲之和兒子王獻之乘一葉扁舟游歷紹興山水風光，船到縣禳村附近，只見岸邊有一群白鵝，搖搖擺擺的模樣，磨磨蹭蹭的形態。王羲之看得出神，不覺對這群白鵝動了愛慕之情，便想把它買回家去。王羲之詢問附近的道士，希望道士能把這群鵝賣給他。道士說：「倘若右軍大人想要，就請代我書寫一部道家養生修煉的《黃庭經》吧！」王羲之求鵝心切，欣然答應了道士提出的條件。這就是「王羲之書換白鵝」的故事。

二十歲時，有個太尉郗鑒派人到王導家去選女婿。當時，人們講究門第等級，門當戶對。王導的兒子和侄儿聽說太尉家將要來提親，紛紛喬裝打扮，希望被選中。只有王羲之，好像什么也沒聽到似的，躺在東邊的竹榻上一手吃燒餅，一手筆劃著衣服。來人回去后，把看到的情況稟報給郗太尉。當他知道東榻上還靠著一個不動聲色的王羲之時，不禁拍手贊嘆道：這正是我所要的女婿啊！于是郗鑒便把女儿郗浚嫁給了王羲之。這故事便成了「東床」和「令坦」兩個典故。

在他身上出現的成語還不只這些，据說有一次，他把字寫在木板上，拿給刻字的人照著雕刻，這人用刀削木板，卻發現他的筆跡印到木板里面有三分之深。這就是成語「入木三分」的由來。

王羲之一生最好的書法，首推【蘭亭集序】。那是他中年時候的作品。

東晉有一個風俗，在每年陰歷得三月三日，人們必須去河邊玩一玩，以消除不祥，這叫做[修褉]。永和九年的三月三日，王羲之和一些文人，共四十一位，到蘭亭的河邊修褉。大家一面喝酒，一面作詩。

作完了詩，大家把詩蒐集起來，合成一本【蘭亭集序】，公推王羲之作一篇序文。這時王羲之已醉了，他趁著酒意，拿起鼠鬚筆，在蚕茧紙上，揮起筆來。這篇序文，就是後來名震千古的【蘭亭集序】。此帖為草稿，28行，324字。記述了當時文人雅集的情景。作者因當時興致高漲，寫得十分得意，據說後來再寫已不能逮。其中有二十多個“之”字，寫法各不相同。宋代米芾稱之為“天下行書第一”。傳說唐太宗李世民對《蘭亭序》十分珍愛，死時將其殉葬昭陵。留下來的只是別人的摹本。今人所見，皆為《蘭亭序》臨摹本。王羲之的書法作品很豐富，除《蘭亭序》外，著名的尚有《官奴帖》、《十七帖》、《二謝帖》、《奉橘帖》、《姨母帖》、《快雪時晴帖》、《樂毅論》、《黃庭經》等。其書法主要特點是平和自然，筆勢委婉含蓄，遒美健秀，后人評王羲之書法曰：“飄若游云，矯若驚蛇”。

· Wang Jing-He 王敬和 (323-358): Wang Dao's calligraphy was famous at his time. Wang Jing-He was the most famous among Wang Dao's sons.

· Wang Hsian-Chih 王獻之 (344-386): The 7th son of Wang Hsi-Chih. He studied his father's calligraphy earlier and studied Zhang Chih's calligraphy later. He reformed bravely. His style was brilliant and heroic.

North Dynasty (386-577), South Dynasty (420-589), and Sui Dynasty (581-618)

The South and North Dynasties were also full of high achievements. There were a lot of tablets of North Wei (386-534) in Kai Style. The most famous works were “Lung Men Er Thu Pin 龍門二十品” with many tablets at a Buddhist place called Lung Men of which twenty of them were the best.

After the royal family of the Jin Dynasty immigrated to south of the Long River, China became two independent countries, south and north. Both southern and northern countries were divided into 4 or 5 dynasties. This was the longest time of split and chaos in Chinese history. Calligraphy achieved a high level despite of the political unrest. Two calligraphy schools were formed during this time: the Te School ( 帖學 ) and the Bei School ( 碑學 ). (“Te” usually means writings works on paper; “Bei” means works on monuments or tablets and were generally considered the styles with more strength and energy.) The South Dynasty inherited the tradition of the Jin Dynasty. Tablets and monuments were forbidden since the Jin Dynasty and so there were more new styles. In contrast, the North Dynasty did not forbid the erections of tablets.

In the North Dynasties, Wei Bei ( 魏碑 ) was the summation of all tablets of North Wei (386-534). As the famous calligraphy theorist Kang You-Wei ( 康有為 ) in the Ching Dynasty summarized, there are10 beauties and 13 schools of Wei Bei:

· Shiao Si-Hua 蕭思話 (406-455): He was good at Li Shu. He studied from Yang Xin.

· Wang Sen-Chian 王僧虔 (426-485): Emperors during that era liked his calligraphy.

· Shiao Tzu-Yeun 蕭子雲 (486-549). His Fei Bai Te was highly regarded by Oh-Yang Sheun and other calligraphers. Emperor Liang Wu Di respected his work.

· Zhu Yong 智永 (?-?): He was the seventh generation grandson of Wang Hsi-Chi. He wrote many copies of “1000 Characters in Kai and Tsao Styles 真草千字文” and distributed to temples.

· Zheng Dao-Zhao 鄭道昭 (?-516): Famous for his “Zheng Wen Gong Monument 鄭文公碑” and other works on rock monument on cliffs.