Wáng Xīzhī jí 王羲之集
Collected Works of Wang Xizhi (Reconstructed) by 王羲之 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of the literary writings of Wáng Xīzhī 王羲之 (ca. 303–361 CE), the greatest calligrapher in Chinese history and a significant literary figure of the Eastern Jin dynasty. Organized in two juǎn, the collection contains his epistolary prose: the 〈遺殷浩書〉 (Letter Left for Yin Hao) and 〈報殷浩書〉 (Reply to Yin Hao), extended political letters addressed to Yīn Hào 殷浩 (306–356 CE), the Eastern Jin general who led the ill-fated Northern Expeditions (Běifá 北伐), along with further correspondence and literary pieces. The letters are substantial political documents arguing against overextension in the north and advocating for consolidating control of the Yangtze region, building agricultural reserves, and repairing popular confidence after military defeats. Additional pieces are drawn from Shū jù 書句 and encyclopaedic collections. This jíyìběn was compiled by Zhāng Pǔ 張溥 (1602–1641) for his Hàn Wèi Liùcháo bǎisān jiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集 and is not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Abstract
Wáng Xīzhī 王羲之 (ca. 303–361 CE; zì Yìshǎo 逸少; CBDB id 25793) was born into the great Lángyé 琅琊 Wáng 王 clan, served as a military commissioner and later as Tàishǒu 太守 (Governor) of Kuàijī 會稽 (modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang), and became the preeminent calligrapher of all Chinese history. His biography is in Jìnshū 晉書 juǎn 80. See 王羲之 for full biography.
Wilkinson (Chinese History: A New Manual, §4.4) cites his 〈Lánting jí xù〉 蘭亭集序 (Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Anthology, 353 CE) as the most famous calligraphic work in China, noting that Zhang Dai in 1613 visited the site of the Orchid Pavilion precisely because it was a guǐchǒu 癸丑 year — the same sexagenary year in which Wang had written the preface. The text of the Lántíng xù is simultaneously a literary masterpiece (translated in Strassberg 1994) and the most admired piece of calligraphy; it is not included in this jíyìběn, which focuses on Wang’s epistolary writings preserved in encyclopaedic sources.
The 〈遺殷浩書〉 is one of the most significant private letters surviving from the Eastern Jin. Written after the disastrous defeat of Yīn Hào’s Northern Expeditions (354–356 CE), it argues cogently for a policy of defensive consolidation: “今軍破於外，資竭於內，保淮之志非復所及，莫過還保長江” (Now that the army has been defeated in the field and resources are exhausted within, the intention of holding the Huai is no longer achievable; the best course is to retreat and hold the Yangtze). The letter also deplores the harsh treatment of the common people under repeated military levies (“近比刻剝遺黎，刑徒竟路，殆同秦政”), a comparison to Qin tyranny that carries considerable weight. Wilkinson (§10.7) cites Wang Xizhi’s letters as among the earliest personal letters surviving from the post-Han period found in transmitted texts (alongside materials from the Dunhuang manuscripts).
Translations and research
- Strassberg, Richard E., trans. Inscribed Landscapes: Travel Writing from Imperial China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. (Translation of the Lanting xu, 65–66.)
- Ledderose, Lothar. Mi Fu and the Classical Tradition of Chinese Calligraphy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979. (Context of the calligraphic legacy.)
- Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. Entry on Wang Xizhi.
Links
- Wikipedia: Wang Xizhi