Orchid Pavilion Preface (Lanting Xu) In Cursive Script (Caoshu)

The entire text of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" is recorded in this long handscroll by the late Ming artist Gui Changshi. The described gathering at the Orchid Pavilion was hosted by Wang Xizhi (303–361), considered one of China's greatest calligraphers, in the spring of 353. Wang's preface to the record of the event became one of the most famous and influential calligraphies in Chinese history. The event—at which a group of likeminded intellectuals gathered to drink wine, enjoy and compose poetry, practice various arts including calligraphy, and appreciate the natural surroundings—became a model for Elegant Gatherings in the centuries that followed.

Gui used a cursive script known as kuang cao, or "crazy grass script," to create this work. At the end of the calligraphy he described his motivation for writing out Wang Xizhi's work, stating that he felt it the greatest pity that Wang's original was buried in the tomb of the Tang dynasty emperor Li Taizong (reigned 626–649) but that the fame of the work would survive forever.