道家思想建立中國第一個哲學思想體系，開創者老子的五千言之著－《老子》一書直接論述有關審美和藝術的立論雖不多，但有關哲學和社會人生等問題的某些議題，對後世影響甚鉅。另一位道家代表人物－莊子則對中國的美學發展有特殊的貢獻，後人將其言論申引至文藝上，形成重要的有關美學諸命題，尤其影響魏晉時期的美學風潮，從人物至藝術作品，無不開創獨有的藝術審美意識與哲學思想。中國的書法藝術堪稱世界獨一無二的藝術形式，藉文字中「形」體的構造，巧妙純熟地表述「和」的審美意涵，將形、線的字體表現，自覺地賦予自然的感性形式所蘊含之精神意義，一方面表達自然物的諸般形式結構，另一方面又將此感性形式的「美」摻進文字的形象中。魏晉時期之風流人物－王羲之有「天下第一行書」及「書聖」之美名，其藝術精神與創作旨趣，皆與道家思想密不可分，如「法自然」、「有無」、「虛實」、「陰陽」以及「中和之美」等哲學概念，進以探討王羲之之書法美學及獨特的藝術表現形式。

Daoism is China's earliest philosophical system. Discussions of philosophical and social issues in the Laozi, by the founder of Daoist thought, have had an enormous impact on Chinese intellectual history. The Laozi does not contain many arguments directly concerning art or the aesthetic. But another great representative of the Daoist school, Zhuangzi, made a major contribution to Chinese aesthetics. Arguments by Zhuangzi have been applied by his successors to the arts, to develop important aesthetic propositions. These ideas were particularly influential during the aesthetic developments of the Wei and Jin Dynasties (220-420). Individuals and artworks from this period developed new philosophies of art and a unique aesthetic consciousness. Chinese calligraphy is a unique art form, in which the creation of the written form expresses the aesthetic concept of harmony. Characters are created with form and line, and are consciously imbued with the spirit and meaning of natural affective forms. Calligraphy expresses the myriad forms and structures of nature, and also incorporates the natural beauty of affective forms into the shapes of written language. Wang Xizhi was an important Jin Dynasty calligrapher, often referred to as the "Sage of Calligraphy". His artistic creativity was intimately bound up with Daoist concepts, such as natural law, being and non-being, substantial and insubstantial, yin and yang, and the golden mean. This paper discusses the distinctive expression and aesthetics of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy.