Preface to Lanting Gathering

In the late spring of 353, Wang Xi Zhi, the renowned Chinese calligrapher, invited 41 men of distinction to a poetry party at Lanting (Orchard Pavilion), at the foot of Mt. Huiji in Zhejiang province. The guests sat along the banks of a winding stream, on which cups of wine were floated, and were asked to compose a poem before the cups reached them. If they were unable to do so, they had to drink the wine as a forfeit. It was an elegant game enjoyed by literary men. It is said that out of the 42 participants, 11 composed two poems, 15 composed one poem, and 16 were unable to compose a poem and had to drink the wine. These poems were gathered together and Wang Xi Zhi wrote a preface to the collection. This is the Preface to Lanting Gathering which has been praised as his best calligraphic work.

Emperor Tai Zong (Tang Dynasty, 618-907) who greatly admired Wang Xi Zhi's calligraphy, ordered his retainer, Xiao Yi, to obtain the Preface to Lanting Gathering, and after laborious efforts he succeeded in acquiring it from the priest Biancai, to whom it had been entrusted. The emperor ordered his most skilled court calligraphers to copy the original work and selected the best one to be engraved in stone, then had rubbings produced for his sons, grandchildren and most distinguished retainers. The original by Wang Xi Zhi was treasured by the Emperor, but is now lost, as according to legend, he instructed for it to be buried with him when he passed away.

Stone engravings were reproduced based on the rubbings and then new rubbings were made from these. As a result, numerous versions of the Preface to Lanting Gathering appeared over the years. During the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) it was so popular to collect versions of it, that every family of intellectual elites are said to have owned a stone engraving. Copies of Wang Xi Zhi's masterpiece had profound influence on the calligraphy of later generations, and Chinese literati from successive periods sought the finest quality copies.

This display features different versions of the Preface to Lanting Gathering rubbings from the Song dynasty (960-1279), as well as Qing dynasty (1644-1912) works which were influenced by the Song rubbings.