Orchid Pavilion Preface

In the third month of the ninth year of the Yonghe era of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (353 AD), Wang Xizhi, Xie An, Sun Zhuo, and 41 others gathered at the elegant Lan Ting Pavilion in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, to float cups along the winding stream, drink wine, compose poetry, and express their feelings. Wang Xizhi spontaneously picked up his brush and wrote the preface, penning the timeless masterpiece of calligraphy known as the ‘Preface to the Collection of Lan Ting.’