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The "Lanting Preface" by the "Calligraphy Saint" Wang Xizhi is known as the "best running script in the world" and is also the representative of the "most beautiful Chinese characters" in the minds of the public. The strokes are natural and unrestrained, the structure is flexible and varied, the aura is moderate and peaceful, and every detail can be called "perfect". However, in terms of the beauty of the brushwork and the elegance of the aura, there are more beautiful characters than the "Lanting Preface".

Many people in the industry have pointed out that Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy is more beautiful, and the "aesthetic calligraphy style" since the late Ming Dynasty has made every calligrapher follow the "golden ratio" when writing, and there is no flaw in it, which is surprisingly beautiful. Whether it is Zhao Mengfu or other calligraphers after him, they have copied this classic calligraphy, which is praised as "the crown of Tang Dynasty running script" and "the rival of the top ten running scripts". This work is Lu Jianzhi's "Wen Fu".

Lanting Preface was an accidental work of Wang Xizhi, a work that was "accidentally created by a skilled hand", while Wenfu was the culmination of Lu Jianzhi's "decades of hard work", a work that was "written with divine power" after he had copied thousands of scrolls of calligraphy. Lu Jianzhi was born in the fifth year of the Kaihuang reign of the Sui Dynasty (585) into the wealthy Wujun Lu family. His family produced many calligraphers, such as Lu Ji, his uncle Yu Shinan, and his grandson Zhang Xu.

According to "Essentials of Calligraphy", Lu Jianzhi learned calligraphy from Yu Shinan since he was young and also received guidance from Zhiyong. Within only a few years, he was known as "surpassing his master". Zhao Mengfu said of him: "In the early Tang Dynasty, those who were good at calligraphy were Ouyang Xiu, Yu Yu, Chu and Xue. In terms of calligraphy, how can he be inferior to the four?" The only reason he lost was that there were too few works handed down.

After surpassing Yu Shinan, Lu Jianzhi began to specialize in the Wei and Jin dynasties. He copied the calligraphy of Zhong Yao, the two Wangs, Yang Xin, and Lu Ji. Compared with other calligraphers, Lu Jianzhi was able to get rid of the vulgarity of the Wei and Jin dynasties. His contemporaries praised him as "the most unique one, with no temper at all, pure skills and clear spirit, and a peaceful and tranquil demeanor that is fascinating."

Although he became famous at a young age, Lu Jianzhi never dared to write "Wen Fu" because this article was the proud work of his ancestor Lu Ji. He was worried that his poor calligraphy skills would bring disgrace to his ancestor's famous works. Therefore, he did not start writing until his later years when his skills were mature and he had reached the ultimate state of "both the person and the calligraphy are old". From the first word to the last word, he wrote thousands of words without a single flaw, and industry experts praised his "strong visual impact".

The "Wen Fu" is 26 cm long and 366 cm wide, with 144 lines and 1,658 characters in all three scripts, regular script, running script and cursive script. There are also postscripts by Zhao Mengfu, Li Dongyang, Shen Du, Jie Xisi, Wei Su, Song Lian, Liu Ji, Sun Chengze and others on the scroll. It is now kept in the National Palace Museum in Taipei and is a first-class cultural relic that is permanently prohibited from being exhibited abroad. The brushwork is meticulous and delicate, with the center of the brush. The regular script has elegant and vigorous strokes, and the characters are round and stretched. The running and cursive scripts are connected and twisted freely, and are completed in one go, showing the skill everywhere.

Liu Bowen praised Wenfu as "the two beauties of Lu's words in Jin Dynasty and Lu's calligraphy in Tang Dynasty". For all calligraphy friends, if you can copy this work thoroughly and learn the brushwork, your level will naturally make a qualitative leap.

Now, we have reproduced Lu Jianzhi's "Wen Fu" in ultra-high definition and 12 colors, making it as easy to see as the original. We have also launched an exclusive folding version with corresponding texts, making it very convenient for you to copy and appreciate. If you are interested, please click the link below to take a look!