Sunday, January 08, 2006
Orchid Pavilion is located at the foot of Lanzhu Hill, 12.5 km southwest of Shaoxing City. During the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC), Goujian, the king of the Yue State, planted orchids here and during the Han (206 BC - 220 AD), a post pavilion was built. Hence the name.
In the spring of 353 during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), Wang Xizhi, a famous calligrapher of the time, invited his friends to come here for a party.
They recited poems while drinking. Wang Xizhi was challenged to compose a preface to record this event. While in high spirits, Wang Xizhi wrote an article called "Prologue to the Orchid pavilion Collection". Eminent and praiseworthy in both calligraphy and literary talent, this article became a masterpiece in these two fields. Wang Xizhi was crowned as the "sage of calligraphers" from then on and this pavilion came to prominence from this event. Now, Orchid Pavilion has been regarded as the Mecca for calligraphers.
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