WANG HSI-CHIH

born c. 303, Shantung, China died , c. 361 Pinyin Wang Xizhi the most celebrated of Chinese calligraphers. It is said that even in his lifetime a few of Wang Hsi-chih's characters or his signature were beyond price; down through the ages aspiring students of that most basic yet highest art in China, calligraphy, have copied preserved traces of his style. The most famous example of his writing is the Lan-t'ing hs ("Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion"), which recorded a famous gathering of some 42 literary figures during the Spring Purification Festival of AD 353 to compose poems and enjoy the companionship of wine. Wang Hsi-chih's memorial was written in the hsing shu, or "running script," and has become the model for that particular style of writing. The historical incident itself became a popular subject for paintings of later times, especially under the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) with its antiquarian interests. Among other generations of calligraphers in the family, Wang Hsien-chih (AD 344-386), the youngest son of Wang Hsi-chih, was the most famous.