Orchid Pavilion Gathering
Encyclopedia
Six Dynasties
Six Dynasties is a collective noun for six Chinese dynasties during the periods of the Three Kingdoms , Jin Dynasty , and Southern and Northern Dynasties ....
era, in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. This event itself has a certain inherent and poetic interest in regards to the development of landscape poetry and the philosophical ideas of Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period, a period corresponding to the philosophical summit of Chinese thought — the Hundred Schools of Thought, and is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name,...
. The gathering at the Orchid Pavilion is also famous for the excellent quality of the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi
Wang Xizhi
Wang Xizhi was a Chinese calligrapher, traditionally referred to as the Sage of Calligraphy , who lived during the Jin Dynasty...
(321-379), who was both one of the participants as well as the author and calligrapher of the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion
Lanting Xu
The Lantingji Xu or Lanting Xu is the most famous work of calligraphy by Wang Xizhi, composed in year 353. Written in semi-cursive script, it is the most well-known and well-copied piece ever...
, not to mention the literary quality of this introduction.
The Orchid Pavilion Gathering of 42 literati included Xie An
Xie An
200px|right|thumb|Statue of xie anXie An , courtesy name Anshi , formally Duke Wenjing of Luling , was a Jin Dynasty statesman who, despite his lack of military ability, led Jin through a major crisis—attacks by Former Qin...
and Sun Chuo (孙绰, 320?-380?) and Wang Pin-Chih (fl. 400) at the Orchid Pavilion near Shaoxing, Zhejiang
Shaoxing
Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou to the southeast, Jinhua to the southwest, and Hangzhou to the west. It was once known as "越"...
, during the Spring Purification Festival, on the third day of the third month, to compose poems and enjoy the wine. The gentlemen had engaged in a drinking contest: wine cups were floated down a small winding creek as the men sat along its banks; whenever a cup stopped, the man closest to the cup was required to empty it and write a poem. In the end, twenty-six of the participants composed thirty-seven poems.
Modern influence
There is a Orchid Pavilion Calligraphy College in Shaoxing UniversityShaoxing University
-History:The university was originally founded in 1909 as the Shankuai Primary Normal School. The great modern Chinese author Lu Xun is a native of Shaoxing. He was the education inspector for the school. In 1996, Shaoxing University was established from the merger of several higher education...
. The musical artist Jay Chou
Jay Chou
Jay Chou is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for...
has a song "蘭亭序" (Lán Tīng Xù Orchid Pavilion), by Vincent Fang
Vincent Fang
Vincent Fang was born on 26 January 1969 in Hualien, Taiwan. He is a Taiwanese multi-Golden Melody Award nominated lyricist, best known for his collaboration with singer-songwriter Jay Chou...
. Many versions of reproductions of the calligraphic masterpiece Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion yet exist.
Scroll copy of "Lantingji Xu"
See also
- Admonitions ScrollAdmonitions ScrollThe Admonitions Scroll is a Chinese narrative painting on silk that is traditionally ascribed to Gu Kaizhi , but which modern scholarship regards as a 5th to 8th century work that may or may not be a copy of an original Jin Dynasty court painting by Gu Kaizhi. The full title of the painting is...
- History of graphic designHistory of graphic designGraphics are the production of visual statements on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, pottery, computer screen, paper, stone or landscape. It includes everything that relates to creation of signs, charts, logos, graphs, drawings, line art, symbols, geometric designs and so on...
- Juran (painter)Juran (painter)Juran was a Chinese landscape painter of the late Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and early Northern Song periods.Very little is known about Juran's life, and not even his family name is known . He was a native of Chiang-Ning and worked at the Southern Tang court in Jinling...
- Lantingji Xu
- OrchidaceaeOrchidaceaeThe Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...
- Shangsi Festival
- Six Dynasties poetrySix Dynasties poetrySix dynasties poetry refers to those types or styles of poetry particularly associated with the Six dynasties era of China . This poetry reflects one of the poetry world's more important flowerings, as well as being a unique period in Classical Chinese poetry' which, over this time period,...
- Xie AnXie An200px|right|thumb|Statue of xie anXie An , courtesy name Anshi , formally Duke Wenjing of Luling , was a Jin Dynasty statesman who, despite his lack of military ability, led Jin through a major crisis—attacks by Former Qin...