Lu Ji and Pingfu Tie: A Letter Across a Thousand Years

Lu Ji (261–303) was a famous writer of the Western Jin dynasty. He was born into a noble family — his grandfather and father were both well-known generals of the Eastern Wu kingdom. Lu Ji was twenty years old when the Eastern Wu kingdom fell. He retired to his hometown and spent his days reading and enjoying a quiet life. 

Written with a worn-out brush on rough paper, Pingfu Tie has only nine lines and eighty-six characters. Yet despite its small size, it is the oldest surviving original work of calligraphy by a well-known master. It is often called "the number one calligraphy treasure in China."

Pingfu Tie is a letter to his friend Yanxian. In the letter, he first expresses his happiness that Yanxian is recovering from an illness. He then praises another friend, Wu Ziyang, for his growing wisdom. At the end, he worries about the fate of a third friend, Xia Borong. Through these simple words, we can see a young man who was sincere, warm-hearted, and truly cared about his friends.

The cursive script used in Pingfu Tie is quite different from the later cursive script of Wang Xizhi, which most people are familiar with. In Lu Ji's writing, the characters stand apart from one another, and the brushstrokes are round and gentle, without the sharp changes in pressure that came later. This shows that the transition from clerical script to cursive script was not yet complete at that time.