Wang Xizhi
Orchid Pavilion Gathering

On 22 April 353, Wang hosted 41 of his friends, relatives, and pupils at the Orchid Pavilion on Mount Kuaiji for the Double Third Festival, which was celebrated annually on the third day of the third month of the Chinese calendar. Originating as a spring purification ritual, the festival became popular among scholars who gathered each year to discuss philosophical topics, compose poetry, and drink rice wine.

Wang's gathering included six of his sons (Xuanzhi, Ningzhi, Huanzhi, Suzhi, Huizhi, and Xianzhi), as well as Xie An, Sun Chuo, and the Buddhist monk Zhi Dun. The participants of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering took part in a " winding stream party ", a customary drinking game in which they composed poetry while cups containing rice wine floated down the stream towards them. Those who were able to compose two poems before the cups reached them would have to drink only one cup of wine, whereas those who were unsuccessful had to drink more. The scholars composed a total of 41 poems that day.

The Lantingji xu (蘭亭集序; "Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion"), the most famous calligraphic work attributed to Wang (though its authenticity has been debated), is a preface to the collection of poems that were written that day. The Orchid Pavilion Gathering has been described as "one of the most famous events in Chinese literary history". It has been depicted in numerous works of art and literature, and features as a prominent theme in paintings from the Song and Ming dynasties in China and the Edo period in Japan.
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