The Jin dynasty calligrapher known as the “Lesser Sage,” in contrast to Wang Xizhi’s “Sage,” is Wang Xianzhi.
Wang Xianzhi (344–386) was the youngest son of Wang Xizhi, the artist traditionally honored as the Sage of Calligraphy. The two are often grouped together as the “Two Wangs,” whose styles profoundly influenced later Chinese calligraphy. Xianzhi was celebrated especially for his expressive cursive and semi-cursive writing.
The title “Lesser Sage” does not mean Xianzhi was an ordinary artist. It distinguishes his reputation from his father’s uniquely exalted status. Both men belonged to the Eastern Jin period, and later generations studied their surviving models and attributed copies as standards of elegant brushwork.
A common mix-up is confusing Wang Xianzhi with Wang Xun, another member of the influential Wang clan. Xianzhi was Wang Xizhi’s son; Wang Xun was a relative and fellow Jin calligrapher, not the figure conventionally called the Lesser Sage.