Orchid Pavilion Gathering

This event itself has a certain inherent and poetic interest in regard to the development of landscape poetry and the philosophical ideas of Zhuangzi.

[1] The gathering at the Orchid Pavilion is also famous for the artistry of the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi,[2] who was both one of the participants as well as the author and calligrapher of the Lantingji Xu (Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion).

[3] The Orchid Pavilion Gathering of 42 literati included Xie An and Sun Chuo[4] and Wang Pin-Chih at the Orchid Pavilion (Lanting) on Mount Kuaiji just south of Kuaiji (present-day Shaoxing in Zhejiang), during the Spring Purification Festival, on the third day of the third month, to compose poems and drink huangjiu.

Aside from reproductions of the Lantingji Xu, other influences include the Orchid Pavilion Calligraphy College at Shaoxing University and Jay Chou's recording of a song by Vincent Fang entitled "Lántīng Xù" (蘭亭序, "Orchid Pavilion") from his album Capricorn.

The events of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering and the ensuing poems have inspired not only generations of poets, but also painters and other artists.

The Orchid Pavilion Gathering as depicted in an 18th-century Japanese painting