Writers and artists have long admired the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, and Wang Xizhi’s Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion is universally appreciated as a brilliant piece of prose and a crowning achievement in calligraphy. Considered an unparalleled example of running script, calligraphers through the ages have studied and emulated this piece. Over the centuries, writers, collectors, and connoisseurs have formed their own opinions of the work. During the Song dynasty, emperors held the arts in high esteem and personally excelled in painting and calligraphy. They were particularly interested in the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion, working diligently to study and practice it. These versions of the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion by Emperor Renzong of Northern Song and Emperor Gaozong of Southern Song bear witness to the cultural milieu of their courts.
Power & Culture: Emperor Renzong and Emperor Gaozong’s Preface to the Rrchid Pavilion
16 October 2024 | Hong Kong
