Wang Xizhi

Also known as Zi Yishao · Shu Sheng

Wang Xizhi, courtesy name Yishao, came from Linyi in Langya; he was a nephew of the minister Wang Dao. Seeking a son-in-law among the Wangs, the grand commandant Xi Jian chose the young man lying at ease on the eastern couch, Wang Xizhi, for his daughter. Starting as a palace library clerk, Wang served on Yu Liang's staff and as governor of Jiangzhou, and later became General of the Right and administrator of Kuaiji, hence the name Wang Youjun. In late spring of 353 he gathered with Sun Chuo, Xie An and others at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin for the spring purification rite and wrote the preface to their poems, the *Lanting xu*. Unwilling to serve under Wang Shu, the new governor of Yangzhou, he resigned on grounds of illness and swore at his parents' grave never to take office again. Emperor Taizong of Tang wrote the closing judgment of his biography in the *Book of Jin* (*Jinshu*) himself and collected his writing widely.