Wang Xizhi and Preface to the Orchid Pavilion

Called "calligraphy saint" in China's history of calligraphy, Wang Xizhi (303–361) was the great calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Incorporating widely the essence and strong points of preceding and contemporary calligraphers, he broke away from the script styles of the Han and Wei Dynasties and established a school of his own.

Learning calligraphy at a very early age, he was said to have dyed black a small brook with his constant practice of calligraphy. Through diligent and perseverant practicing, Wang Xizhi introduced the writing of Chinese characters from its practical usage into a realm of art and interest. His calligraphy features fine strokes of brush, variable character structures, and perfectly beautiful handwriting.

Versed in regular script, running script, and cursive script, he had left behind calligraphy works, such as Leyi Dissertation and Huangting Classics in regular script, Seventeen Copies of Model Handwriting in cursive style, and Aunt's Copies of Model Handwriting, Kuaixue Shiqing Tie (Clear up after Snow) and Sangluan Tie in running script. The most representative is his Preface to the Orchid Pavilion in running style. On the third day of the third lunar month in 353, Wang Xizhi invited over thirty friends and his sons to a party at the Orchid Pavilion beneath the Kuaiji Hill, where they drank and improvised poems. Amid the gather-together, 26 men made poems on the spot. With the slight effect of liquor, Wang Xizhi flourished his brush and completed at a breath a preface to their poems. In terms of the content, it is a mixture of scenery description and emotional expression, conveying the writer's inner conflicts and feelings. Viewed in the perspective of calligraphy, the characters resemble flying dragons and dancing phoenixes, emitting a vigorous and unrestrained spirit. In the work, the art of calligraphy had reached the peak of development at its time. 324 characters of the preface are all legible. The 20 Chinese characters "(zhi)" are different from each other in style. Preface to the Orchid Pavilion has been revered by generations of calligraphers as "No. 1 Running Script in the World".