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The day was fine, the air clear, and a gentle breeze regaled us, so that on looking up we responded to the vastness of the universe, and on bending down were struck by the manifold riches of the earth. And as our eyes wandered from object to object, so our hearts, too, rambled with them. Indeed, for the eye as well as the ear, it was pure delight! What perfect bliss! \u662f\u65e5\u4e5f\uff0c\u5929\u6717\u6c23\u6e05\uff0c\u60e0\u98a8\u548c\u66a2\uff0c\u4ef0\u89c0\u5b87\u5b99\u4e4b\u5927\uff0c\u4fef\u5bdf\u54c1\u985e\u4e4b\u76db\uff0c\u6240\u4ee5\u6e38\u76ee\u9a01\u61f7\uff0c\u8db3\u4ee5\u6975\u8996\u807d\u4e4b\u5a1b\uff0c\u4fe1\u53ef\u6a02\u4e5f\u3002<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
These words were written on the Third Day of the Third Month of the Ninth Year of the Yonghe reign of the Emperor Mu of the Eastern Jin dynasty \u6649\u7a46\u5e1d\u6c38\u548c\u4e5d\u5e74\u7678\u4e11\u4e09\u6708\u521d\u4e09. It was a\u00a0spring day in the year 353 of the Western Calendar. A group of friends had gathered by a flowing stream to celebrate the season, and to perform\u00a0the ancient\u00a0ritual\u00a0of the Spring Lustration \u8129\u798a xi\u016bx\u00ec<\/i>, or cleansing, by the water’s edge.\u00a0It was believed that\u00a0the malign influences of the past could be washed away in the flow of rivers and streams as the good fortune of the new was welcomed at a time when\u00a0spring gradually gave\u00a0way to summer.<\/p>\n
That spring day, or \u4e0a\u5df2<\/a> (the first yi<\/i>\u00a0day at the start of the month), 1,664 years ago at the Orchid Pavilion \u862d\u4ead, not far from present day Shaoxing in Zhejiang province, where\u00a0those men of society, politics and letters met at a ‘refined gathering’ \u96c5\u96c6 to compose poems by the stream while drinking wine from floating cups \u6d41\u89f4\u8ce6\u8a69 and banter in a manner celebrated as ‘pure talk’ \u6e05\u8ac7 is recorded in one of the most famous pieces of Chinese prose. In ‘Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems’ \u862d\u4ead\u96c6\u5e8f, an essay renowned\u00a0as much for its sentiments as its calligraphy (H.C. Chang \u5f35\u5fc3\u6ec4\u00a0calls it ‘a magnificent document in the history of the Chinese sensibility’), Wang Xizhi \u738b\u7fb2\u4e4b (309-c.365)\u00a0wrote the\u00a0immortal lines:<\/p>\n \u6c38\u548c\u4e5d\u5e74\uff0c\u6b72\u5728\u7678\u4e11\uff0c\u66ae\u6625\u4e4b\u521d\uff0c\u6703\u65bc\u6703\u7a3d\u5c71\u9670\u4e4b\u862d\u4ead\uff0c\u4fee\u798a\u4e8b\u4e5f\u3002In the Ninth Year of the Yonghe reign, which was a\u00a0guichou<\/i>\u00a0year, early in the final month of spring, we gathered at Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin in Guiji for the ceremony of purification.<\/p>\n \u7fa4\u8ce2\u7562\u81f3\uff0c\u5c11\u9577\u54b8\u96c6\u3002Young and old congregated, and there was a throng of men of distinction.<\/p>\n \u2014 translated by H.C<\/em>. Chang<\/em>.\u00a0(For the full text and translation, see below.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The past was a past of words, not of stones… . Chinese civilization seems not to have regarded its history as violated or abused when the historic monuments collapsed or burned, as long as those could be replaced or restored, and their functions regained… . The only truly enduring embodiments of the eternal human moments are the literary ones.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u2014 Frederick Mote, ‘A Millennium of Chinese Urban History:<\/em> Literary monuments themselves are often connected to specific occasions, or in the case of this particular commemoration, days of festivity and celebration.<\/p>\n As we noted earlier, the Festival of the Third Day of the Third Month \u4e0a\u5df2\u7bc0\u00a0(known in\u00a0ancient times as \u8129\u798a or \u7953\u798a), marks the Spring Lustration, or ritual purification.<\/p>\n The tradition continues in various parts of the Sinitic world, but here we mark\u00a0one particular cleansing ceremony for its legacy has resonated through the centuries in word, image and imagination. Although the ‘elegant delights’ \u96c5\u8208\u00a0of the original festivity have been replaced by crude commercialism, hackneyed celebrations and party-ordained ‘China Story Traditions’, in China Heritage<\/i> we mark this day by recalling that\u00a0gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, its antecedents and Wang Xizhi from the Hong Kong writer Xi Xi’s The Teddy Bear Chronicles<\/a>.<\/p>\n The influence of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphic introduction to the Orchid Pavilion poems continues to this day. Scattered throughout China are pavilions with meandering streams, called \u6d41\u676f\u4ead, created in imitation of that scene at the Orchid Pavilion, and for generations students, scholars and writers have studied copies of Wang Xizhi’s ‘Preface’ for inspiration and guidance when pursuing the sublime art of calligraphy.<\/p>\n The influence of the ‘Preface’ was so profound that it would seem\u00a0that China’s twentieth-century iconoclast, and his cultural henchmen, tried to invalidate it. Over fifty years ago, in the guise of disinterested scholarship, Mao’s favoured progressive scholar Guo Moruo \u90ed\u6cab\u82e5 (a literary titan dwarfed by\u00a0ambition) launched an attack on the authenticity and value of the calligraphic tradition. The assault occurred just as China was moving towards the complete self-abnegation of the Cultural Revolution. In his efforts, Guo was aided and abetted by Kang Sheng \u5eb7\u751f, the head of the Party’s security apparatus (who also happened to have a fine calligraphic hand). The resulting Controversy Surrounding\u00a0the Authenticity of the ‘Preface to\u00a0the Orchid Pavilion Poems’ \u00a0\u300a\u862d\u4ead\u5e8f\u300b\u771f\u507d\u8ad6\u8faf<\/a>\u00a0appears to have been an oblique attempt by sycophants hoping to curry favour with the Chairman. As Mao Zedong Thought dominated China could they have hoped to establish the Great Helmsman’s unruly calligraphic hand (influenced by the wild grass script of the Tang-dynasty Buddhist monk Huaisu \u61f7\u7d20) as the\u00a0ne plus ultra<\/em> of the Chinese brush? The controversy was soon eclipsed by events.<\/p>\n As the Cultural Holocaust drew to a close in the late 1970s, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the remnant world of ‘pure talk and refined gatherings’ \u6e05\u8ac7\u96c5\u96c6 in Peking by the famed translators Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang. They were part of a group of writer and artist friends who had\u00a0first met\u00a0in the\u00a0wartime capital of Chungking. They were known as\u00a0The Layabouts Lodge \u4e8c\u6d41\u5802<\/a>, and through their friendship, the exchange of poems, drinking, idle chatter and art works, I was given\u00a0an insight into (and some participation in) a tradition that stretches back long before even that gathering at the Orchid Pavilion in 353CE and what David Hawkes called The Age of Exuberance<\/a>.<\/p>\n Communist Party leaders with latter-day imperial pretensions would do well to recall that even the mighty Qianlong Emperor of the Qing was awed by Wang Xizhi’s ‘Preface’. He visited the site of the Orchid Pavilion in 1751. Back in Beijing:<\/p>\n Into the raised stone floor of the replicated belvedere in the Forbidden City, the emperor’s masons were instructed to carve a meandering, but slightly inclined, channel. At imperial literati gatherings, cups of wine were floated down this channel. Whenever a cup steadied before one of the scholars he had to drink and compose a poem to match the rhymes created by the previous player, exactly in the manner described in Wang Xizhi’s ancient essay.<\/p>\n \u2014 from my\u00a0<\/i>The Forbidden City<\/a>, 2008, p.88.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n They might also heed\u00a0Wang’s words:<\/p>\n For men of a later age will look upon our time as we look upon earlier ages \u2014 a chastening reflection. \u5f8c\u4e4b\u8996\u4eca\uff0c\u4ea6\u7336\u4eca\u4e4b\u8996\u6614\u3002\u60b2\u592b\uff01<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In marking the Third Day of the Third Month we observe the heritage of an ancient festival, and we also\u00a0invite our readers to appreciate Wang Xizhi’s meditation on transience, life, death and eternity. His ‘Preface’ is as\u00a0beautifully\u00a0moving today as in the past, and it brings to mind an observation Pierre Teilhard de Chardin made in a letter dated 15 April 1923, shortly after he set sail\u00a0for China:<\/p>\n The secret of the world lies wherever we can discern the transparency of the universe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n You can’t discuss the ocean with a well frog \u2014 he’s limited by the space he lives in. \u2014 \u838a\u5b50\u300a\u79cb\u6c34\u300bZhuangzi, ‘Autumn Floods’, trans. Burton Watson<\/em><\/p>\n The People’s Republic of China is\u00a0a country run by a party-state bloated on commercial wealth and autocratic practice. Under Xi Jinping it continues the Party’s dogged endeavours\u00a0to corral the marvellously diverse traditions of Chinese culture and thought.<\/p>\n In October 2014, at\u00a0a symposium held to commemorate the\u00a02565th anniversary of the birth of Confucius, Party supremo Xi Jinping declared to the assembled host that they:<\/p>\n must work hard for they had a\u00a0shared responsibility as cultural leaders to fulfil the task of the age which was to\u00a0enable the creative transformation of traditional Chinese culture, to contribute to its innovative development,\u00a0as well as to ensure that it enjoys a symbiotic relationship\u00a0with modern culture\u00a0\u52aa\u529b\u5b9e\u73b0\u4f20\u7edf\u6587\u5316\u7684\u521b\u9020\u6027\u8f6c\u5316\u3001\u521b\u65b0\u6027\u53d1\u5c55\uff0c\u4f7f\u4e4b\u4e0e\u73b0\u5b9e\u6587\u5316\u76f8\u878d\u76f8\u901a\uff0c\u5171\u540c\u670d\u52a1\u4ee5\u6587\u5316\u4eba\u7684\u65f6\u4ee3\u4efb\u52a1<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This thicket of verbiage appears\u00a0innocent enough to global arts bureaucrats and academics, but it reflects ‘The China Story’ \u4e2d\u570b\u7684\u6545\u4e8b, a state-sponsored cultural and propaganda strategy\u00a0to\u00a0craft an acceptable version of China, its culture and ‘Chineseness’.<\/p>\n The gimlet eye of Party secretaries and functionaries is trained steadily on academia and the creative arts. Sixty years ago, my\u00a0old friend Wu Zuguang \u5433\u7956\u5149<\/a>, a leading member of The Layabouts Lodge,\u00a0first paid for his outspokenness in the wake of the Hundred Flowers Campaign, a nationwide political movement during which Mao Zedong and the Communist Party encouraged people to ‘help the Party’ rectify its errors. Like tens of thousands of others Zuguang took up the call and, among other things, observed that Party leadership was not the key to a flourishing Chinese cultural scene. After all, he asked, did the famous Tang poets Li Bo \u674e\u767d and Du Fu \u675c\u752b have commissars looking over their shoulders? ‘What’s the need for cultural workers to be under a “leadership”? \u5c0d\u65bc\u6587\u85dd\u5de5\u4f5c\u8005\u7684\u2018\u9818\u5c0e\u2019\u53c8\u6709\u4ec0\u9ebc\u5fc5\u8981\u5462?’, he asked<\/a>:<\/p>\n Who among you can tell me: in the past who ‘led’ Qu Yuan? Who oversaw Li Bo, Du Fu, Guan Hanqing, Cao Xueqin, Lu Xun? Who were the leaders in charge of Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Beethoven or Moli\u00e8re?\u00a0\u8ab0\u80fd\u544a\u8a34\u6211\uff0c\u904e\u53bb\u662f\u8ab0\u9818\u5c0e\u5c48\u539f\u7684\uff1f\u8ab0\u9818\u5c0e\u674e\u767d\u3001\u675c\u752b\u3001\u95dc\u6f22\u537f\u3001\u66f9\u96ea\u82b9\u3001\u9b6f\u8fc5\uff1f\u8ab0\u9818\u5c0e\u838e\u58eb\u6bd4\u4e9e\u3001\u6258\u723e\u65af\u6cf0\u3001\u8c9d\u591a\u82ac\u548c\u83ab\u91cc\u54c0\u7684\uff1f<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As the hundred flowers wilted Zuguang was silenced and, in 1957, he was sent, like so many others, to the Great Northern Wilderness to undergo a period of labour reform.<\/p>\n Today, China’s\u00a0Party Secretary extraordinaire strains to look over everyone’s shoulder and thereby vouchsafe the Grand Renaissance of the Chinese Nation.\u00a0Despite this, valuable scholarship is still being pursued and artistic work produced.<\/p>\n Our advocacy of New Sinology<\/a> predates these latest moves by the Party and its Chairman of Everything by nearly a decade, just as\u00a0The China Story Project<\/a> launched in 2012 preempted the\u00a0advocacy of a new official narrative. Both New Sinology and The China Story were developed\u00a0to foster a scholastic and more broad-based understanding of official China while advocating a resistance to its blandishments and to help those engaged with or interested in the Chinese world to focus their awareness\u00a0on the deadening effects of Party discourse on thought, creativity and inspiration. We decline to be modern-day ‘cultural fellow travellers’, collaborators in the political pilgrimage to the\u00a0cashed-up, Communist controlled party-state.<\/p>\n China Heritage<\/em>\u00a0draws inspiration\u00a0from wellsprings untainted by the formulations of the Party’s in-house academics and popularisers. We encourage our readers rather to pay heed to figures like Wang Xizhi and\u00a0the\u00a0Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove<\/a>. Just as their art and words resonate today, they will continue to do so far beyond the tenure of the new autocrats, be they political, cultural or\u00a0academic.<\/p>\n In 2017, the Third Day of the Third Month of the Lunar Year falls on the 30th February. China Heritage<\/em> marks this day by recalling the world of letters and ideas related to the tradition. In doing so, we continue our own practice of commemorating ancient festive days in 2017, as\u00a0we did when observing\u00a0Chinese New Year (see\u00a0The Year of the Rooster, On Reading<\/a>,\u00a015 January,\u00a0The Year of the Rooster, On Seeing<\/a>, on\u00a019 January and\u00a0The Year of the Rooster, On Eating, Injecting, Imbibing & Speaking<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a025 January), The Fifteenth Day of the First Month\u00a0(The End of the Beginning \u5143\u5bb5<\/a>, 11 February)\u00a0and The Second Day of the Second Month (The Dragon Raises its Head<\/a>, 27 February\u00a02017).<\/p>\n \u2014 Geremie R. Barm\u00e9, Editor, China Heritage<\/i> For a\u00a0high-definition image\u00a0of the Feng Chengsu’s Shenlong Version \u99ae\u627f\u7d20\u795e\u9f8d\u672c<\/a>\u00a0of Wang Xizhi’s ‘Preface’, click on the image below (to be read\/ scrolled from right to left):<\/p>\n This is the most renowned, and widely reproduced,\u00a0copy\u00a0of Wang’s original. It\u00a0dates\u00a0from the Tang dynasty and was in the former imperial collection, now the Palace Museum, in Beijing. (This copy\u00a0of the ‘Preface’ is called the Shenlong Version because it carries a seal with the reign title Shenlong on it. The Shenlong \u795e\u9f8d\u00a0<\/b>reign was from 705 to 707CE.)<\/p>\n As ever, I am grateful to John Minford, co-founder of The Wairarapa Academy for New Sinology, whose\u00a0Classical Chinese Literature<\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>is a constant inspiration, and a source of material for\u00a0China Heritage<\/em>, to Duncan Campbell for his earlier work on the Orchid Pavilion, which I had the pleasure of publishing in\u00a0China\u00a0Heritage Quarterly<\/em>, and to Christina Sanderson for another Xi Xi Teddy Bear. Callum Smith, designer of the\u00a0Heritage<\/em>\u00a0sites, helped with the high-resolution digital version of the\u00a0Feng Chengsu Shenlong Version<\/a>\u00a0of Wang Xizhi’s ‘Preface’ (see above).<\/p>\n Further Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n The year 316 saw the collapse of the Jin dynasty in the north, when the capital Chang’an fell to the invading Xiongnu tribesmen. An exodus to the south began, and Nanjing became the capital of a restored dynasty, the Eastern Jin. Shattered by the fateful turn of events, the exiles from the north would forgather in some pavilion overlooking the Yangtze, seemingly their only bulwark against the invaders, to brood on the past and be pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the scenery. For northern eyes, accustomed to plains and plateaus and mountain ranges, the entire region that is now southern Jiangsu and the whole of Zhejiang, abounding in lakes and hills, rivers and watercourses, was nothing short of a revelation. …<\/p>\n The lofty sentiments, at once jubilant and mournful, expressed in the thirty-seven poems written at the Orchid Pavilion gathering in 353 reflect the state of mind, once troubled and serene, of a select and influential group.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u2014\u00a0H.C. Chang in John Minford and S.M. Lau, eds,\u00a0<\/em>Classical Chinese Literature: The inspiration for the gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, and Wang Xizhi’s preface to a collection of poems written by those present, is\u00a0to be found far north at the Golden Valley Creek near the former capital of Luoyang \u6d1b\u967d. It was there that Shi Chong \u77f3\u5d07,\u00a0a man of immense wealth and talent, both political and cultural, created his Golden Valley Garden \u91d1\u8c37\u5712. A contemporary of the Sages of Bamboo Grove, Shi Chong enjoyed all the the earthly rewards\u00a0showered upon a man of his genius. Here he entertained friends and in the preface to his own Golden Valley Poems \u91d1\u8c37\u5712\u8a69\u5e8f written in 296CE he said:<\/p>\n Day and night we roamed about and feasted each time moving to a different place, sometimes climbing to a height and looking down, sometimes sitting by the water’s edge. \u665d\u591c\u904a\u5bb4\uff0c\u5c62\u9077\u5176\u5750\uff0c\u6216\u767b\u9ad8\u81e8\u4e0b\uff0c\u6216\u5217\u5750\u6c34\u6ff1\u3002<\/p>\n … [E]ach one composed a poem to express the sentiments in his heart. Whenever anyone could not do so, he had to pay a forfeit by drinking three dipperful of wine. Moved by the impermanence of our lives, and dreading the unappointed hour of falling leaves, I have duly recorded below they office names, and ages of those who were present. In addition, I have copied their poems and appended them after the names, in hopes some curiosity-seeker of later times may read them.\u00a0\u9042\u5404\u8ce6\u8a69\u4ee5\u6558\u4e2d\u61f7\uff0c\u6216\u4e0d\u80fd\u8005\uff0c\u7f70\u9152\u4e09\u6597\u3002\u611f\u6027\u547d\u4e4b\u4e0d\u6c38\uff0c\u61fc\u51cb\u843d\u4e4b\u7121\u671f\uff0c\u6545\u5177\u5217\u6642\u4eba\u5b98\u865f\u3001\u59d3\u540d\u3001\u5e74\u7d00\uff0c\u53c8\u5beb\u8a69\u8457\u5f8c\u3002\u5f8c\u4e4b\u597d\u4e8b\u8005\uff0c\u5176\u89bd\u4e4b\u54c9\uff01<\/p>\n \u2014 translated by Richard Mather<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Shi Chong’s ostentation and bravado gave his enemies at court who coveted his wealth and influence due reason to plot against him. His fall from grace was dramatic and bloody. Green Pearl \u7da0\u73e0, his favourite concubine, committed suicide by throwing herself from a tower in the garden and he, along with fifteen members of his family, was put to death in the market place. ‘Five centuries later’, as John Minford notes, ‘the poet of the late Tang, Du Mu \u675c\u7267, wrote a quatrain entitled Shi Chong’s Golden Valley Garden’ \u91d1\u8c37\u5712, a poem famous to this day:<\/p>\n Scattered pomp has falled to the scented dust. \u2014 Minford and Lau,\u00a0<\/em>Classical Chinese Literature<\/a>, pp.474-478.<\/em><\/p>\n To this day the words ‘Golden Valley Garden’ \u91d1\u8c37\u5712 signify worldly success, hubris, as well as disaster.<\/p>\n The site of Orchid Pavilion \u862d\u4ead is some eleven kilometers south-west of Guiji \u6703\u7a3d (present-day Shaoxing \u7d39\u8208; Guiji is now pronounced Huiji, although another reading is Kuaiji) in Zhejiang province. It is here, in 353 that\u00a0Wang Xizhi \u738b\u7fb2\u4e4b (309-c.365), the greatest of Chinese calligraphers, wrote his ‘Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems’ \u862d\u4ead\u96c6\u5e8f. Wang had gathered forty-one of his friends and relatives (including his son, Wang Xianzhi (\u738b\u737b\u4e4b, 344-388) in order to undertake the Spring Lustration Ceremony, one whereby the evil vapours of the winter past were washed away in the eastward flowing waters. Twenty-six of the men named as being present produced between them a total of thirty-seven poems, and towards the end of the day, we are told, Wang Xizhi, formerly employed in the Imperial Library but then serving in Guiji as the General of the Army on the Right \u53f3\u8ecd, wrote his immortal preface to this collection, on ‘cocoon paper’ with a ‘weasel-whisker brush’, in 324 characters and 28 columns.<\/p>\n \u2014 Duncan M. Campbell,\u00a0Orchid Pavilion<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Surrounding the pavilion were high hills with lofty peaks, luxuriant woods and tall bamboos. There was, moreover, a swirling, splashing stream, wonderfully clear, which curved round it like a ribbon, so that we seated ourselves along it in a drinking game, in which cups of wine were set afloat and drifted to those who sat downstream. \u6b64\u5730\u6709\u5d07\u5c71\u5cfb\u5dba\uff0c\u8302\u6797\u4fee\u7af9\uff1b\u53c8\u6709\u6e05\u6d41\u6fc0\u6e4d\uff0c\u6620\u5e36\u5de6\u53f3\uff0c\u5f15\u4ee5\u70ba\u6d41\u89f4\u66f2\u6c34\uff0c\u5217\u5750\u5176\u6b21\u3002<\/p>\n The occasion was not heightened by the presence of musicians. Nevertheless, what with drinking and the composing of verses, we conversed in whole-hearted freedom, entering fully into one another’s feelings. \u96d6\u7121\u7d72\u7af9\u7ba1\u5f26\u4e4b\u76db\uff0c\u4e00\u89f4\u4e00\u8a60\uff0c\u4ea6\u8db3\u4ee5\u66a2\u6558\u5e7d\u60c5\u3002<\/p>\n The day was fine, the air clear, and a gentle breeze regaled us, so that on looking up we responded to the vastness of the universe, and on bending down were struck by the manifold riches of the earth. And as our eyes wandered from object to object, so out hearts, too, rambled with them. Indeed, for the eye as well as the ear, it was pure delight! What perfect bliss! \u662f\u65e5\u4e5f\uff0c\u5929\u6717\u6c23\u6e05\uff0c\u60e0\u98a8\u548c\u66a2\uff0c\u4ef0\u89c0\u5b87\u5b99\u4e4b\u5927\uff0c\u4fef\u5bdf\u54c1\u985e\u4e4b\u76db\uff0c\u6240\u4ee5\u6e38\u76ee\u9a01\u61f7\uff0c\u8db3\u4ee5\u6975\u8996\u807d\u4e4b\u5a1b\uff0c\u4fe1\u53ef\u6a02\u4e5f\u3002<\/p>\n For in men’s associations with one another in their journey through life, some draw upon their inner resources and find satisfaction in a closeted conversation with a friend, but others, led by their inclinations, abandon themselves without constraint to diverse interests and pursuits, oblivious of their physical existence. \u592b\u4eba\u4e4b\u76f8\u8207\uff0c\u4fef\u4ef0\u4e00\u4e16\uff0c\u6216\u53d6\u8af8\u61f7\u62b1\uff0c\u609f\u8a00\u4e00\u5ba4\u4e4b\u5167\uff1b\u6216\u56e0\u5bc4\u6240\u6258\uff0c\u653e\u6d6a\u5f62\u9ab8\u4e4b\u5916\u3002<\/p>\n Their choice may be infinitely varied even as their temperament will range from the serene to the irascible. Yet, when absorbed by what they are engaged in, they are for the moment pleased with themselves and, in their self-satisfaction, forget that old age is at hand. But when eventually they tire of what had so engrossed them, their feelings will have altered with their circumstances; and, of a sudden, complacency gives way to regret. What previously had gratified them is now a thing of the past, which itself is cause for lament. Besides, although the span of men’s lives may be longer or shorter, all must end in death. \u96d6\u8da3\u6368\u842c\u6b8a\uff0c\u975c\u8e81\u4e0d\u540c\uff0c\u7576\u5176\u6b23\u65bc\u6240\u9047\uff0c\u66ab\u5f97\u65bc\u5df1\uff0c\u5feb\u7136\u81ea\u8db3\uff0c\u4e0d\u77e5\u8001\u4e4b\u5c07\u81f3\u3002\u53ca\u5176\u6240\u4e4b\u65e2\u5026\uff0c\u60c5\u96a8\u4e8b\u9077\uff0c\u611f\u6168\u7cfb\u4e4b\u77e3\u3002\u5411\u4e4b\u6240\u6b23\uff0c\u4fef\u4ef0\u4e4b\u9593\uff0c\u5df2\u70ba\u9673\u8de1\uff0c\u7336\u4e0d\u80fd\u4e0d\u4ee5\u4e4b\u8208\u61f7\u3002\u6cc1\u4fee\u77ed\u96a8\u5316\uff0c\u7d42\u671f\u65bc\u76e1\u3002<\/p>\n And, as has been said by the ancients, birth and death are momentous events. What an agonizing thought! \u53e4\u4eba\u96f2\uff1a\u300c\u6b7b\u751f\u4ea6\u5927\u77e3\u3002\u300d\u8c48\u4e0d\u75db\u54c9\uff01<\/p>\n In reading the compositions of earlier men, I have tried to trace the causes of their melancholy, which too often are the same as those that affect myself. And I have then confronted the book with a deep sigh, without, however, being able to reconcile myself to it all. But this much I do know: it is idle to pretend that life and death are equal states, and foolish to claim that a youth cut off in his prime has led the protracted life of a centenarian. \u6bcf\u89bd\u6614\u4eba\u8208\u611f\u4e4b\u7531\uff0c\u82e5\u5408\u4e00\u5951\uff0c\u672a\u5617\u4e0d\u81e8\u6587\u55df\u60bc\uff0c\u4e0d\u80fd\u55bb\u4e4b\u65bc\u61f7\u3002\u56fa\u77e5\u4e00\u6b7b\u751f\u70ba\u865b\u8a95\uff0c\u9f4a\u5f6d\u6ba4\u70ba\u5984\u4f5c\u3002<\/p>\n For men of a later age will look upon our time as we look upon earlier ages\u2014a chastening reflection. And so I have listed those present on this occasion and transcribed their verses. Even when circumstances have changed and men inhabit a different world, it will still be the same causes that induce the mood of melancholy attendant on poetical composition. \u5f8c\u4e4b\u8996\u4eca\uff0c\u4ea6\u7336\u4eca\u4e4b\u8996\u6614\u3002\u60b2\u592b\uff01\u6545\u5217\u6558\u6642\u4eba\uff0c\u9304\u5176\u6240\u8ff0\uff0c\u96d6\u4e16\u6b8a\u4e8b\u7570\uff0c\u6240\u4ee5\u8208\u61f7\uff0c\u5176\u81f4\u4e00\u4e5f\u3002<\/p>\n Perhaps some reader of the future will be moved by the sentiments expressed in this preface. \u5f8c\u4e4b\u89bd\u8005\uff0c\u4ea6\u5c07\u6709\u611f\u65bc\u65af\u6587\u3002<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wang Xizhi is regarded as the greatest master of Chinese calligraphy. His most famous piece is his ‘Preface to the\u00a0Orchid Pavilion Poems’<\/i>. Although\u00a0<\/em>the original\u00a0disappeared over a\u00a0millennium ago, traced copies continue to influence and inspire students of the brush. <\/i><\/p>\n Wang is said to have had a particular fondness for geese and it is believed\u00a0that he studied the movement of their necks to perfect his calligraphic hand.<\/i><\/p>\n See also<\/strong><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n The Grand Commandant Xi Jian once sent an envoy to the home of the Prime Minister, Wang Dao, to choose a son-in-law for him. Wang guided the envoy out to the Eastern Wing of the mansion to make the selection. \u90d7\u9452\u592a\u5c09\u6d3e\u4eba\u5230\u738b\u5c0e\u4e1e\u76f8\u5bb6\u4f86\u6c42\u9078\u5973\u5a7f\uff0c\u738b\u5c0d\u4f7f\u8005\u8aaa\uff0c\u5230\u6771\u5ec2\u623f\u9078\u4e00\u500b\u597d\u4e86\u3002<\/p>\n As soon as word got out that someone from the Xi family was coming to choose a son-in-law, the young men in the Eastern Wing quickly assumed very reserved and dignified airs. All except for one, who stayed just as he was, stretched out on a couch with his belly exposed. He was very relaxed, munching away on something, as though the news hadn’t reached him. The Xi family ended up choosing this young man, who was Wang Xizhi. \u6771\u623f\u7684\u738b\u5bb6\u5c11\u5e74\u90ce\uff0c\u77e5\u9053\u90d7\u5bb6\u4f86\u9078\u5a7f\uff0c\u90fd\u8868\u73fe\u5f97\u7aef\u838a\u77dc\u6301\uff0c\u7368\u662f\u5176\u4e2d\u4e00\u500b\u4ecd\u7136\u6211\u884c\u6211\u7d20\uff0c\u5766\u8179\u5367\u5750\u5e8a\u69bb\u4e0a\u5403\u6771\u897f\uff0c\u597d\u50cf\u4e26\u6c92\u6709\u807d\u805e\u9078\u5a7f\u7684\u4e8b\u3002\u7d50\u679c\uff0c\u90d7\u8a8d\u70ba\u4ed6\u6700\u597d\uff0c\u539f\u4f86\u9019\u500b\u4eba\u5c31\u662f\u738b\u7fb2\u4e4b\u3002<\/p>\n This story is the origin of the saying ‘an excellent son-in-law upon the Eastern couch’ \u6771\u5e8a\u5feb\u5a7f. The incident is outlined in ‘On Elegance’, a chapter in Liu Yiqing’s New Account of Tales of the World. Why was Wang Xizhi lying on the Eastern couch with his belly exposed, anyway? \u9019\u662f\u300c\u6771\u5e8a\u5feb\u5a7f\u300d\u7684\u7531\u4f86\uff0c\u4e8b\u898b\u300a\u4e16\u8aaa\u300b\u7684\u8a18\u8f09\uff0c\u6536\u5230\u300c\u96c5\u91cf\u300d\u4e00\u8f2f\u5167\uff0c\u6587\u5b57\u5f88\u7c21\u6f54\u3002\u738b\u7fb2\u4e4b\u4f55\u4ee5\u5766\u8179\u6771\u5e8a\u5462\uff1f<\/p>\n The general explanation of his behaviour is that he had probably been taking Five Mineral Powder \u4e94\u77f3\u6563 and was just feeling its effects in the form of a full body fever. The reason people in the Wei-Jin period loved wearing loose, roomy clothes and exposing themselves in a state of undress is more or less because they were tripping on such psychedelic Taoist drugs. Five Mineral Powder was extremely toxic, which could be why Wang Xizhi’s letters are often preoccupied with bodily ailments. \u901a\u884c\u7684\u89e3\u91cb\u662f\uff0c\u4ed6\u5927\u6982\u662f\u670d\u4e86\u4e94\u77f3\u6563\uff0c\u85e5\u529b\u767c\u4f5c\u6642\uff0c\u5168\u8eab\u767c\u71b1\u3002\u9b4f\u6649\u4eba\u611b\u7a7f\u5bec\u95ca\u7684\u8863\u88f3\uff0c\u53c8\u611b\u5766\u9732\u808c\u819a\uff0c\u591a\u5c11\u56e0\u670d\u98df\u85e5\u7269\u4e4b\u6545\u3002\u4e94\u77f3\u6563\u5c0d\u8eab\u9ad4\u6709\u5bb3\uff0c\u6240\u4ee5\u738b\u7fb2\u4e4b\u7684\u66f8\u7c21\uff0c\u5e38\u5e38\u8a34\u82e6\u75c5\u60a3\u7e8f\u8eab\u3002<\/p>\n Why did Grand Commandant Xi choose him? As a matter of fact, his choice reflects the prevailing attitude of the time. Yes, they were particular about family background, but they placed the ability to be oneself above the pretence of good manners. They also considered the ability to tolerate eccentricity to be a sign of good taste and elegance. \u90d7\u592a\u5c09\u4f55\u4ee5\u6703\u9078\u4e0a\u4ed6\uff1f\u9019\u5176\u5be6\u53cd\u6620\u4e86\u9b4f\u6649\u4eba\u7684\u54c1\u5473\uff0c\u9664\u4e86\u8b1b\u7a76\u9580\u6237\uff0c\u9084\u4ee5\u70ba\u7387\u6027\u9ad8\u65bc\u77dc\u838a\uff0c\u4ee5\u70ba\u63a5\u53d7\u4efb\u771f\u9069\u610f\u662f\u4e00\u7a2e\u300c\u96c5\u91cf\u300d\u3002<\/p>\n Such people would have preferred the running style of calligraphy to the more formal kind of written script. (In those days, wild-grass cursive script hadn’t evolved.) As for clothing, they liked things to be loose and free-fitting rather than tight. The fewer things they had to wear, the better. \u9019\u7a2e\u4eba\u5beb\u5b57\u6703\u559c\u6b61\u5beb\u7b46\u5283\u727d\u9023\u7684\u884c\u66f8(\u4ed6\u5011\u9084\u6c92\u6709\u767c\u5c55\u51fa\u72c2\u8349)\uff0c\u591a\u65bc\u898f\u884c\u8209\u6b65\u7684\u6977\u66f8\ufe54\u7a7f\u8863\uff0c\u6703\u6311\u9b06\u8eab\u7684\u591a\u65bc\u7dca\u8eab\u7684\uff0c\u7a7f\u5f97\u8d8a\u5c11\u8d8a\u5999\u3002<\/p>\n Another individualist of the Wei-Jin period was Liu Ling, who came before Wang Xizhi. For him, heaven and earth were his abode, and his house was his trousers. If Grand Commandant Xi had encountered Liu Ling before he met Wang Xizhi, which of the two do you think he would have chosen? \u9b4f\u6649\u540d\u58eb\uff0c\u4e4b\u524d\u66f4\u6709\u4e00\u4f4d\u7d22\u6027\u4ee5\u5929\u5730\u70ba\u695d\u5b87\uff0c\u4ee5\u5c4b\u5ba4\u70ba\u890c\u8863\u7684\u5289\u4f36\uff0c\u5982\u679c\u90d7\u592a\u5c09\u63d0\u65e9\u9047\u4e0a\u4e86\uff0c\u6703\u600e\u6a23\u9078\uff1f<\/p>\n The Wang Xizhi, Xi Kang and Ruan Xian teddies are all made from pure white South American alpaca wool. It’s bright, beautiful and stretchy; normally only suitable for polar bears. Wang, Xi and Ruan can all sit or stand. I designed a special pattern for them: their arms had to be bent, and Wang’s belly had to be lengthened so as to have enough to ‘expose’. Their outfits are all similar. \u6211\u7e2b\u7684\u738b\u7fb2\u4e4b\u3001\u5d47\u5eb7\u548c\u962e\u54b8\u90fd\u7528\u7d14\u767d\u7684\u5357\u7f8e\u7f8a\u99dd\u963f\u5e15\u52a0\u6bdb\uff0c\u9019\u7a2e\u6bdb\u975e\u5e38\u4eae\u9e97\uff0c\u5bcc\u6709\u5f48\u6027\uff0c\u4e00\u822c\u53ea\u7528\u4f86\u7e2b\u5317\u6975\u718a\u3002\u738b\u3001\u5d47\u3001\u962e\u4e09\u718a\u6216\u5750\u6216\u81e5\uff0c\u7d19\u6a23\u7d93\u7279\u5225\u8a2d\u8a08\uff0c\u624b\u81c2\u9700\u5f4e\u66f2\uff0c\u738b\u718a\u7684\u8179\u90e8\u52a0\u9577\uff0c\u624d\u53ef\u5766\u9732\u591a\u4e9b\u3002\u4e09\u718a\u7a7f\u7684\u8863\u7269\u76f8\u540c\u3002<\/p>\n There is a large goose behind Wang Xizhi which was a present from my teacher. His pillow was called a ‘hidden bag’ \u96b1\u56ca, the equivalent of our modern back cushions. In the Wei-Jin period, people still didn’t use chairs. They would simply sit or kneel around a small table. When sitting with their legs out in front, they would use these hidden bags for support. The famous scroll painting referred to earlier, Northern Qi Scholars Collating Classic Texts<\/i>, features one such bolster being carried by a maid. It looks just like a large cylindrical cushion. \u738b\u7fb2\u4e4b\u8eab\u908a\u6709\u4e00\u5927\u9d5d\uff0c\u662f\u8001\u5e2b\u76f8\u8d08\uff0c\u81f3\u65bc\u6240\u6795\u4e4b\u7269\uff0c\u540d\u70ba\u300c\u96b1\u56ca\u300d\uff0c\u7b49\u65bc\u73fe\u4ee3\u7684\u9760\u6795\u3001\u6905\u6795\u3002\u9b4f\u6649\u9084\u6c92\u6709\u6905\u5b50\uff0c\u5e2d\u5730\u800c\u5750\uff0c\u8dea\u5750\u6642\u524d\u6709\u96b1\u51e0\u3002\u7b95\u5750\u6642\uff0c\u5169\u8173\u524d\u4f38\uff0c\u80cc\u5f8c\u5c31\u7528\u96b1\u56ca\u6191\u9760\u3002\u300a\u5317\u9f4a\u6821\u66f8\u5716\u300b\u4e2d\u6709\u96b1\u56ca\u5716\uff0c\u7531\u4e00\u5973\u4f8d\u62b1\u6301\uff0c\u72c0\u5982\u5927\u6795\u982d\u3002<\/p>\n 4-22-15:<\/p>\n O: ‘The most we can do is to write \u2014 intelligently, creatively, critically, evocatively \u2014 about what it is like living in the world at this time.’<\/p>\n \u2014 Bill Hayes quoting Oliver Sacks in <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The day was fine, the air clear, and a gentle breeze regaled us, so that on looking up we responded to the vastness of the universe, and on bending down were struck by the manifold riches of the earth. And as our eyes wandered from object to object, so our hearts, too, rambled with them. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[12,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays","category-journal"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9gcZ6-1uk","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5724"}],"version-history":[{"count":202,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20792,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5724\/revisions\/20792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Lan-Ting-stele.Kangxi-1024x768.jpg\")
Eternal Human Moments<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n Form, Time, and Space Concepts in Soochow’,<\/em>
\nRice University Studies, 59.4 (1973): 51.<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_2270-127x300.jpg\")
Men of a Later Age<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/XishangTing.jpg\")
The Frog’s Viewpoint<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\u4e95\u86d9\u4e0d\u53ef\u4ee5\u8a9e\u65bc\u6d77\u8005\uff0c\u62d8\u65bc\u865b\u4e5f\u3002<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSub specie aeternitatis<\/b><\/h4>\n
Marking Time<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nThird Day of the Third Month of the
\nDingyou Year of the Rooster 2017
\n\u4e01\u9149\u96de\u5e74\u4e09\u6708\u521d\u4e09\u4e0a\u5df2\u7bc0<\/p>\n
\nWang Xizhi, ‘Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems’ \u738b\u7fb2\u4e4b\u300a\u862d\u4ead\u96c6\u5e8f\u300b<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_7414-300x14.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAcknowledgements\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
\n
\nAn Anthology of Translations<\/a>, vol.I, 2000, pp.479-482.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThe Golden Valley<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
![](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/\u4ec7\u82f1\u91d1\u8c37\u56ed\u56fe.png\")
\nThe streaming waters know no care, the weeds
\nclaim spring for their own.
\nIn the East wind at sunset the plaintive birds cry:
\nPetals on the ground\u00a0are her likeness still
\nbeneath the tower where she fell
\n\u2014\u00a0A.C. Graham<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u6d41\u6c34\u7121\u60c5\u8349\u81ea\u6625\u3002
\n\u65e5\u66ae\u6771\u98a8\u6028\u557c\u9ce5\uff0c
\n\u843d\u82b1\u7336\u4f3c\u589c\u6a13\u4eba\u3002<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nThe\u00a0Orchid Pavilion<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/\u862d\u4ead\u66f2\u6c34\u6d41\u89f4-300x225.jpg\")
Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\u862d\u4ead\u96c6\u5e8f<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Translated by H.C. Chang<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/\u5170\u4ead\u96c6\u5e8f\u5f00\u5934.png\")
In the ninth year [353] of the Yonghe [Everlasting Harmony] reign, which was a guichou<\/em> year, early in the final month of spring, we gathered at Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin in Guiji for the ceremony of purification. Young and old congregated, and there was a throng of men of distinction. \u6c38\u548c\u4e5d\u5e74\uff0c\u6b72\u5728\u7678\u4e11\uff0c\u66ae\u6625\u4e4b\u521d\uff0c\u6703\u65bc\u6703\u7a3d\u5c71\u9670\u4e4b\u862d\u4ead\uff0c\u4fee\u798a\u4e8b\u4e5f\u3002\u7fa4\u8ce2\u7562\u81f3\uff0c\u5c11\u9577\u54b8\u96c6\u3002<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/\u4e7e\u9686\u5170\u4ead\u96c6\u5e8f-1024x768.jpg\")
\nWang Xizhi
\nof the\u00a0Eastern Jin<\/h3>\nXi Xi<\/h4>\n
Translated by Christina Sanderson<\/h4>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_2266-1024x746.jpg\")
![](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_0657-670x1024.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chinaheritage.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Goose-Pond.Lanting-1024x768.jpg\")
\n
\n<\/em>Insomniac City \u2014 New\u00a0York, Oliver, and Me,
\nBloomsbury, 2017, p.254.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n