A Research On The Evolvement Of New Style Calligraphy In The Eastern-Jin Dynasty

In the history of Chinese calligraphy, Wang xizhi is traditionally honored as the sage, that is mainly attributed to the long-lasting influence of the "new style" he developed.Cursive script, standard script and semi-cursive script, the three of the most important styles are perfected by him. His impact in the calligraphy history is so significant that not only practitioners in Federal china, but also students of contemporary time are more or less influenced by him. Those we exercised frequently in today's calligraphy work and daily handwriting can all trace back their origins to the "new style" Wang developed. Therefore, it's of vital importance and necessity to study the style itself and its process of formation.In the book presented, it is comprised of 7 chapters along with a preface, a conclusion and appendix.Chapter 1 defines the concept of "New style", drawing a line between "new style" and "old style". The main difference, as the book explains, is whether they have elements of seal script and clerical script. Those with the mentioned elements are recognized as "old style", while those without are "new style". By making comparisons between the two styles, we can see the close connection in their origins underneath their different features and aesthetics.Chapter 2,3,4 embark its eye on the overall social background of that time, examining influences from aspects of politics, thinking trend, and cultural popularity.In Wei and Jin dynasty, with the decay of Confucianism, the prosper of mysteries ("xuanxue") and that of Daoism and Buddhism, there was a trend of conscious raising and complete libration of personality, which, too, brought changes to the aesthetics in the field of calligraphy.In the political aspect, evolution in the form of state and regime directly or indirectly enhanced the foundation for the upgrade and spread of new style in calligraphy. Geographical transformations and cultural mix resulted by the big-scale "escape to the south" accelerated the birth and development of the "new style"At the same time, the awakening of new cultural awareness and the artistic life style developed by the public nurtured a favorable social environment to the formation of the "new style". Under the trend, general aesthetics in art inter wined with the way people lived art in life, finally making it possible for the new style to prosper.Chapter 5 starts research on the development and evolution of writing tools, materials and methods, aiming to find out a link between the formation of "new style" and the relevant substances. The development of tools like brush, ink, paper and inkstone created big room for the development of calligraphy. Apart from that, the changes in writing postures should also be counted for the innovation to happen. Chapter 6 and 7 introduce the main contributors in the formation of "new style", and give special light to Wang xizhi as a prominent figure.As the research showed, those contributors are largely from aristocracy families, including Wang xizhi. The superior social status of the aristocracy families spontaneously endowed their members with great social influence, thus their efforts and achievements in calligraphy could be easily recognized and later developed into a social trend. The popularity and impact of this group of artists insured the public foundation and spreading channel of the "new style".Among the group, Wang xizhi is undoubtedly an outstanding figure, and he played a decisive role both in the perfection of the skills and the establishment of new trend of aesthetics in the history of calligraphy.