Xi Xian And His Son Calligraphy To Accept The Study

Xizhi Wang, Senior and Xianzhi Wang are of important figures, in the history of Chinese calligraphy, who synthesized the achievements of the calligraphers before them. Their works and aesthetic orientations have fundamental influence upon both the art creation and theoretical development of Chinese traditional calligraphy, even upon the developmental trend of the whole calligraphic art. In terms of their position in the history of calligraphy, both Xizhi and Xianzhi have been regarded as "sages", comparable to Bai Li and Fu Du in the field of poetry and Daozi Wu and Kaizhi Gu in that of painting.Calligraphy is an art with unique process of acquisition. This property decides that the receiver's accepting activities play a pivotal role in the making of the history of calligraphy. The activities of this kind, however, are impacted by contexts, even when the receivers are fellow disciples of the two Wangs. From this point of view, a book on the history of calligraphy can be regarded as the record of the process of reading and accepting the classic works by Xizhi and Xianzhi as well as the process that new versions come into being on the basis of the first one. This thesis attempts to understand and study both the two Wangs' calligraphic art and the history of calligraphy as a whole in order to better understand its development and facts about it.Although the two Wangs are always mentioned together in the history of calligraphy, they are different in terms of calligraphic style. In addition, changes have even been found in the works produced by any one of them in different period of his lifetime, which reflects the different aesthetic styles of the same Wang. Did people of later generations "accept" classic calligraphers like Xizhi and Xianzhi and their classic works? What have they accepted from them and their works? Did any misunderstanding occur in the process of acceptation? Factors such as the aesthetic tendency and moral norms of a society in a particular period of time, the taste of rulers, the endowments of calligraphers, the artistic criticism of theorists, etc. may have effect on people's acceptation of the two Wangs' works. This thesis makes a preliminary study of Xizhiand Xianzhi's calligraphic works, in chronological sequence. It falls into five chapters: On Acceptation of Xizhi and Xianzhi's Calligraphic Works in the Eastern Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, in the Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties, in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and in Modern and Contemporary Times.