Arts and cultur e in general made long strides forward under these political and economic conditions.The literary arts of the Wei，Jin，and the Northern and Southern Dynasties were of a particular quality—the work of certain known artists shines a clear light on the spirit of humanism.These artists and their art include the poetry of Cao Zhi and Tao Yuanming，the philosophy of the so-called Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove，the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi，the painting of Gu Kaizhi，and the proses of the Six Dynasties.Although their artistic creations often contained an underlying sense of pessimism and escapism，the weight of history cannot cover over the brilliance of their works.We see recognize the rays of light from the calligraphic work of Wang Xizhi.
Wang Xizhi lived fr om ar ound 321 to 379.Hiscourtesy name was Yishao，and he hailed from a placethat is now called Linyi in Shandong.He came from a line of illustrious and successful aristocrats.His father，grandfather，and father’s elder brother were all high officials in the Eastern Jin government，elevated elite and powerful.Wang Xizhi first served as an executive，an official，and later as a military advisor before being transferred to serve in Ningyuan as General.In the end he became what is known as“Right-Army General，”so that he is also referred to as Wang Right-Army.The term“right”was applied to the western flank of an army，since the perspective of the northern rulers of China at the time was that of looking southward.Hence the“right-hand”army was the army on the western side.
Wang Xizhi was known to have a very straightforward disposition，one that did not pay lip service to etiquette and formality.One citation in history refers to the story of his lying on the eastern bed with a bare chest.The story goes as follows：a notable family in the Jin Dynasty wanted to marry into the Wang family，so it sent a person over to discuss marriage with the Wang clan.The father of Wang Xizhi led this person over to gaze into the place where the sons were resting.On returning，he gave his report，saying that all the sons looked fine but one of them was lying on the eastern bed，eating something with his chest bared，as though he cared nothing aboutthe scrutiny of the potential matchmaker.The father of the bride heard this and immediately said，“That is the one I want as my son-in-law.”On later investigation，he found out that this son was Wang Xizhi，and he married his daughter to him.Since Wang Xizhi was not of high rank—the court tried many times to get him to accept various kinds of official positions and he refused.When he could no longer keep the request at bay，he did not，as many did at the time，merely hold the position without working.The phrase used in Chinese for this attitude is to sit like a dead corpse in a post，eating vegetarian，i.e.not coming to grips with something and working hard like a good meat-eater.Wang Xizhi is known to have expressed frank and astute views on political situations to the Prime Minister of the time，and he is known to have opened granaries to starving people during times of famine.From a young age，he had a robust and open nature，never allowing himself to be troubled by trifling matters and he maintained this quality of“beneficence and uprightness”as an adult.This may be what makes his calligraphy so flowing and expansive，so endowed with vigor，so carefree and gladsome.
Wang Xizhi is known to have loved calligraphy from an early age.He used the calligraphed works of thefamous calligrapher Lady Wei as his model，also earliergreat masters of calligraphy like Li Si，Cao Xi，Zhang Zhi，Zhang Chang，Cai Yong，Zhong You and Liang Hu.He combined the best attributes of their various styles and developed his own.His attainments in the various traditional shape strokes，including cursive，square，and so on，including exaggerated forms of these traditional shapes，allowed him to deepen and develop the artform.
Specific works of Wang Xizhi have been carved into models and made into rubbings, which are used as reference by calligraphers to this day.Certain works in the style of“kai-shu，”or square script，are famous and much emulated.One，called Piece Written in a Sunny Day after a Pleasant Snowfall has only 24 characters and was included by the Qing-dynasty Emperor Qianlong in his collection of“Three Delights”for emulating as models of calligraphic script.The Preface for the Orchid Pavilion Poems is his most famous work.It is admired from a literary perspective as much as for its calligraphy，for its expansive and feeling nature.From a calligraphicperspective，it has been crowned with high acclaim by generations of calligraphers as worthy of respectful study.Wang Xizhi’s son succeeded him as a calligrapher（Wang Xianzhi，344–386），and became a fine artist in his own right，contributing to further development of the art.His Mid-Autumn Scroll is written in cursive script，and is only22 characters long，but is a unique masterpiece.Emperor Qianlong similarly put this work among his“Three Delights，”regarding it as a national treasure.The son and the father are equally famous and therefore known as the Two Wangs.
