"Lanting Preface" And Its Calligraphy Cultural Significance

The Lanting Xu and its culture is a historic phenomenon that based on the Chinese calligraphic art and the Wang Xizhi culture. It describes the event of Spring Purification Festival in which many famous literati were present. By combining aesthetics, culture and calligraphy techniques, it demonstrates life and art in a broad sense. As a classical piece of work, it goes beyond the field of calligraphy, because it not only shows the artist’s techniques, but also represents the sprit of life. As a research subject, it has been developed into an independent discipline that is closely related to our responsibility to the history and concern for the reality, and therefore has become an important part of China’s traditional culture. This paper summarizes the history of calligraphy in the period of Wei and Jin Dynasties, analyzes the style and the value of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy,and reveals the core spirit represented by his work. The significance of the Lanting Xu is demonstrated from three aspects:(1) its historic background,(2) the related culture, and(3) the impact of this research. We hope the discussions in this paper would motivate further research on this unique culture resource, and benefit the modern development of calligraphy.