Zhiyong

CHINA, Zhejiang, Shaoxing; Sui dynasty

Zhiyong was a Chan master and calligrapher from Shanyin (present day Shaoxing, Zhejiang). He was also a descendant of the famed calligrapher, Wang Xizhi. After his renunciation, he stayed at Jiaxiang Temple in Zhejiang and later moved to Yongxin Temple in Zhejiang where he was referred to as Chan Master Yong. Master Zhiyong was well-versed in the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra, as well as the Lotus Sutra and was a keen practitioner of meditation. In his old age, he stayed at Ximing Temple in Shaanxi.
He practiced calligraphy for 30 years and was known to have scripted over 800 copies of the Thousand Character Classic, which he gave to many temples in Zhejiang as samples for practicing calligraphy. He earned a widespread reputation and it has been said that so many people sought to learn calligraphy from him that the threshold of his doorway was broken, prompting him to cover it with iron. Thus it became known as the “Iron Doorstep.” He ceased practicing calligraphy when it hindered him from his monastic cultivation. The brushes he used were consequently put into 5 large bamboo trunks and buried.
According to Haiyue Famous Sayings, Master Zhiyong’s calligraphy was beautiful, well-nurtured, and powerful. His Stele of Thousand Character Classic in Regular and Cursive Scripts has survived in ink calligraphy and stone carving. The former is listed as a National Treasure of Japan. The latter, carved on a stele in 1109, is now kept at the Xi’an Beilin Museum in Shaanxi; the rubbing of the carving is kept at the Palace Museum in Beijing.