Wang is known for the Lantingji Xu ('Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection'), a work published in 353 which remains highly influential to calligraphers throughout the Sinosphere.

[3] Semi-cursive script is prominent in modern Chinese society despite the lack of official education for it, a status aided by the introduction of fountain pens.

The Chinese writing system has been borrowed and used in East Asian countries, including Japan, Korea and Vietnam for thousands of years due to China's extensive influence, technology and large territory.

[3] The semi-cursive style was also the basis of the techniques used to write with the fountain pen when Western influence was heavy in China, in the early 20th century.

[3][5] In the digital age, it has been proposed to encode Chinese characters using the "track and point set" method, which allows users to make their own personalized semi-cursive fonts.

[6][7] In the Edo period, general trends have been noticed where semi-cursive was used with hiragana in mixed script for "native" literature and books translated for commoners, while regular script kanji was used alongside katakana for Classical Chinese works meant to be read by scholars.

The smooth transition and omission of some strokes of the semi-cursive style had also contributed to the simplification of Chinese characters by the People's Republic of China.

[3]With the intention to prioritise speed, calligraphers may choose to make subtle changes to the stroke order of the written character.

Where works of the regular script are usually written in the same size, semi-cursive characters can be arranged to achieve “rhythm and balance” artistically.