| The most famous Running Script Calligraphy work 'PREFACE TO THE ORCHID PAVILION POEMS COLLECTION' by Wang Xizhi |
The article ‘Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems Collection’ (the Preface)
was written by WANG Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (316 – 420). He is the
most famous Chinese calligrapher and has been given the title of ‘No. 1
Calligrapher’ in China.
On the third day of the third month in the nineth year of the Yunghe
(Permanent Harmony) period in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, WANG Xizhi invited
his friends to gather at Lanting (Orchid Pavilion) at Kweiji to celebrate a
cleansing ceremony through which participants would be ridded of any bad
luck they might have. The guests sat along a fast running brook and had to
compose a poem if wine cups flowing downstream stopped in front of them.
There were 43 scholars attending the ceremony and towards the end, 27
poems were composed and they formed the Orchid Pavilion Collection.
WANG Xizhi composed a preface to the collection which had become very
famous because of the exceptionally high quality of the calligraphy,
According to legend, the original of the Preface has been handed down to
one of WANG Xizhi’s descendents. It became the possession of Emperor
Taizong of the Tang Dynasty who loved it so much that he ordered his senior
officials who were also famous calligraphers to copy the original and
distributed the copies to members of the royal family. He also ordered that
the original be buried with him when he died.
The Orchid Pavilion Wang Xi-zhi (Jin Dynasty)
translated by YK Kwan Copyright © 2010
In the ninth year of Yunghe,
At the beginning of late spring,
We met at the Orchid Pavilion
At Shanyin for the Water Festival.
Here are gathered all the illustrious,
The young as well as the old.
Here are lofty mountains and peaks;
Prolific woods and tall bamboos.
Here are clear streams and rapids,
Gurgling on both sides of the gathering.
We sit in order along the water’s edge
Drinking in turns from wine cups
Floating down the water channels.
Though there is no music from strings;
And no clusters of wood-winds,
Yet with singing and drinking,
We thoroughly enjoyed the sentiments.
Today the sky is blue and air fresh;
The kind breeze is mild and soothing.
Truly enjoyable is the immense universe above;
And the myriad species under it.
We let our vision scan and sentiments roam,
Exhausting the pleasure of our senses.
When people gather together to look at life,
Some sit and talk in a small room
To unburden their thoughts;
And some overcome by a sentiment,
Soar into a world beyond physical realities.
Though we select our pleasures
According to our inclinations, some noisy,
And rowdy, others quiet and sedate.
Yet when we have found what pleases us,
We are all happy and contented,
Forgetting that we are growing old.
And then when satiety follows satisfaction,
With the change of circumstances,
Change also our whims and desires.
Then there is a feeling of poignant regret.
Lives’ span may be long or short by destiny,
But they all come to an end eventually.
There is an ancient saying thus:
“Life and death are important matters.”
Is this not a cause of great regret?
When we look into this cause of people in the past
It was identical to what we are having now.
They had never failed, in their writings,
To lament, but yet hardly able
To fully express the feelings they felt.
It’s known that matters of life and death are mystical;
Fairies and demi-gods belong to mythology.
Posterity looking at us is no different
From us looking at the past, Alas!
Therefore we record our contemporary sayings.
Though world circumstances may change with time,
The reason for people’s feelings are one and the same.
Our writings should strike a chord
In the hearts of the people to follow.
蘭亭序 王羲之
永和九年, 在癸丑。 暮春之初, 會于會稽山陰之蘭亭, 修禊事也。
羣賢畢至, 少長咸集。 此地有崇山峻嶺, 茂林修竹; 又有清流激湍, 映帶左右,
引以為流觴曲水。 列坐其次, 雖無絲竹管絃之盛, 一觴一詠, 亦足以暢敍幽
情。 是日也, 天朗氣清, 惠風和暢。 仰觀宇宙之大, 俯察品類之盛, 所以遊目騁
懷, 足以極視聽之娱, 信可樂也。 夫人之相與, 俯仰一世, 或取諸懷抱, 或因寄
所託, 放蕩形骸之外, 雖取捨萬殊, 静躁不同, 當其欣於所遇, 暫得於己, 怏然自
足, 知老之將至。 及其所之既倦, 情隨事遷, 感慨係之矣。 向之所欣, 俛仰之
間, 以為陳迹, 猶不能不以之興懷。 况脩短隨化, 終其於盡。 古人云: 死生亦大
矣! 豈不痛哉? 每攬昔人興感之由, 若合一契, 未嘗不臨文嗟悼, 不能喻之於
懷。 固知一死生為虛, 齊彭殤為妄作。 後之視今, 亦由今之視昔。 悲夫! 故
列敍時人, 錄其所述。 雖世殊事異, 所以興懷, 其致一也。 後之攬者, 亦將有感
於斯文。
was written by WANG Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (316 – 420). He is the
most famous Chinese calligrapher and has been given the title of ‘No. 1
Calligrapher’ in China.
On the third day of the third month in the nineth year of the Yunghe
(Permanent Harmony) period in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, WANG Xizhi invited
his friends to gather at Lanting (Orchid Pavilion) at Kweiji to celebrate a
cleansing ceremony through which participants would be ridded of any bad
luck they might have. The guests sat along a fast running brook and had to
compose a poem if wine cups flowing downstream stopped in front of them.
There were 43 scholars attending the ceremony and towards the end, 27
poems were composed and they formed the Orchid Pavilion Collection.
WANG Xizhi composed a preface to the collection which had become very
famous because of the exceptionally high quality of the calligraphy,
According to legend, the original of the Preface has been handed down to
one of WANG Xizhi’s descendents. It became the possession of Emperor
Taizong of the Tang Dynasty who loved it so much that he ordered his senior
officials who were also famous calligraphers to copy the original and
distributed the copies to members of the royal family. He also ordered that
the original be buried with him when he died.
The Orchid Pavilion Wang Xi-zhi (Jin Dynasty)
translated by YK Kwan Copyright © 2010
In the ninth year of Yunghe,
At the beginning of late spring,
We met at the Orchid Pavilion
At Shanyin for the Water Festival.
Here are gathered all the illustrious,
The young as well as the old.
Here are lofty mountains and peaks;
Prolific woods and tall bamboos.
Here are clear streams and rapids,
Gurgling on both sides of the gathering.
We sit in order along the water’s edge
Drinking in turns from wine cups
Floating down the water channels.
Though there is no music from strings;
And no clusters of wood-winds,
Yet with singing and drinking,
We thoroughly enjoyed the sentiments.
Today the sky is blue and air fresh;
The kind breeze is mild and soothing.
Truly enjoyable is the immense universe above;
And the myriad species under it.
We let our vision scan and sentiments roam,
Exhausting the pleasure of our senses.
When people gather together to look at life,
Some sit and talk in a small room
To unburden their thoughts;
And some overcome by a sentiment,
Soar into a world beyond physical realities.
Though we select our pleasures
According to our inclinations, some noisy,
And rowdy, others quiet and sedate.
Yet when we have found what pleases us,
We are all happy and contented,
Forgetting that we are growing old.
And then when satiety follows satisfaction,
With the change of circumstances,
Change also our whims and desires.
Then there is a feeling of poignant regret.
Lives’ span may be long or short by destiny,
But they all come to an end eventually.
There is an ancient saying thus:
“Life and death are important matters.”
Is this not a cause of great regret?
When we look into this cause of people in the past
It was identical to what we are having now.
They had never failed, in their writings,
To lament, but yet hardly able
To fully express the feelings they felt.
It’s known that matters of life and death are mystical;
Fairies and demi-gods belong to mythology.
Posterity looking at us is no different
From us looking at the past, Alas!
Therefore we record our contemporary sayings.
Though world circumstances may change with time,
The reason for people’s feelings are one and the same.
Our writings should strike a chord
In the hearts of the people to follow.
蘭亭序 王羲之
永和九年, 在癸丑。 暮春之初, 會于會稽山陰之蘭亭, 修禊事也。
羣賢畢至, 少長咸集。 此地有崇山峻嶺, 茂林修竹; 又有清流激湍, 映帶左右,
引以為流觴曲水。 列坐其次, 雖無絲竹管絃之盛, 一觴一詠, 亦足以暢敍幽
情。 是日也, 天朗氣清, 惠風和暢。 仰觀宇宙之大, 俯察品類之盛, 所以遊目騁
懷, 足以極視聽之娱, 信可樂也。 夫人之相與, 俯仰一世, 或取諸懷抱, 或因寄
所託, 放蕩形骸之外, 雖取捨萬殊, 静躁不同, 當其欣於所遇, 暫得於己, 怏然自
足, 知老之將至。 及其所之既倦, 情隨事遷, 感慨係之矣。 向之所欣, 俛仰之
間, 以為陳迹, 猶不能不以之興懷。 况脩短隨化, 終其於盡。 古人云: 死生亦大
矣! 豈不痛哉? 每攬昔人興感之由, 若合一契, 未嘗不臨文嗟悼, 不能喻之於
懷。 固知一死生為虛, 齊彭殤為妄作。 後之視今, 亦由今之視昔。 悲夫! 故
列敍時人, 錄其所述。 雖世殊事異, 所以興懷, 其致一也。 後之攬者, 亦將有感
於斯文。