A Study Of Wang Wenzhi 's Calligraphy

Wang Wenzhi is a famous calligrapher and poet of Qing Dynasty. He is very versatile for which he not only has a great ability to appreciate and excels in Zen Ideas, but also has a great achievement in calligraphy. Wang Wenzhi exert a tremendous influence on the latter calligraphy.His calligraphic works spread widely which not only play an important role in the Chinese calligraphic history, but also spread abroad.This thesis applies five chapters to study Wang Wenzhi’s calligraphy. The first chapter probes his extraction and lifetime as well as the social background information. Furthermore, it mainly focus on the social background and calligraphic background during the Qing Dynasty which will help us to have a better understanding about what has influenced the formation and development of his calligraphic style. Wang Wenzhi, who spends most of his lifetime outside,has peregrinated a lot and made a lot of friends. Therefore, in the second chapter, his peregrination will be the main focus, including his communication with Liang Tongshu, Bi Yuan,Yao Nai and so on which not only widens his field of vision in art, but also lays a solid foundation for the formation of his calligraphic artistic view. The third chapter mainly expounds Wang Wenzhi’s calligraphic thoughts for he, as a Master of Note Study, has an integrated set of calligraphic-thought system. This chapter contains five parts including “learning from the ancient calligraphers by copying their works”, “following the style of the calligraphic grand masters in Jin Dynasty and Tang Dynasty especially Wang Xizhi”, “paying more attention to naturally and quietly elegant style of writing techniques”, “never relying on textual criticism but pursue masterly taste”, “emphasizing the epiphany in learning process, studying and discussing the writing theory in accordance with Zen”. The above calligraphic thoughts are all originated from the calligraphic viewpoints of Dong Qichang. Wang Wenzhi, on the basis of inheritance, creates and develops his own integrated calligraphic viewpoints. In the fourth chapter, Wang Wenzhi’s artistic practices of calligraphy will be simply introduced including his educational origin of calligraphy and calligraphic style. The fifth and also the last chapter mainly presents his historical status and influence in calligraphy.Wang Wenzhi is a famous calligrapher in Qing Dynasty. This thesis, through analysis about Wang Wenzhi’s calligraphy, has a certain meaning in researching calligraphy.