On the third day of March in the ninth year of Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi invited 42 celebrities including Xie An, Sun Chuo and other celebrities to gather at the Lanting waterfront in Shanyin, Kuaiji (located 13 kilometers southwest of today's Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province). ), watching mountains, admiring water, drinking wine, and writing poems. Almost all the prominent families at that time arrived: Wang family, Xie family, Yuan family, Yang family, Xi family, Yu family, Huan family, etc. The open-minded, elegant, elegant and mysterious temperament of the Wei and Jin Dynasties made this gathering completely lose its political color, even though the organizer Wang Xizhi was the highest local official (then the internal history of Kuaiji), and even though most of the participants were senior military and political officials from various places. On this day, 26 people in the country were inspired and poetic. They completed 37 poems and compiled a collection of poems "Lanting Collection" in the form of crowd creation. Someone suggested that Wang Xizhi write a preface. Wang Xizhi, who was slightly drunk, seemed to have divine help and wrote the "Preface to the Lanting Collection" in one go.
"The Preface to the Lanting Collection" has 28 lines and 324 words. It is actually a draft, with many revisions and erasures, but it cannot conceal its brilliance and elegance. Di's calligraphy is even more charming, vigorous and elegant. Articles and calligraphy are integrated into one, and the strokes are ever-changing. The brush strokes use a mixture of hidden and exposed, the characters are sparse and dense without being messy, and even the ink is used in a light and sometimes thick way. The whole work is an implicit and harmonious rhythm, "beautiful and vigorous, unparalleled". There are 7 "no" characters and 21 "zhi" characters in the preface. Each character has its own writing method and brushwork. Techniques are ever-changing.
"Preface to the Lanting Collection" is also known as "Lanting Preface", "Linhe Preface", "Ye Tie", and "March 3 Preface to Lanting Poems". It was praised as "the best running script in the world" by later generations. It is said that after Wang Xizhi sobered up, he wanted to remove the smear and copied it many times, but it failed to achieve its charm.
One draft turned out to be the pinnacle work of Wang Xizhi’s life, making him the greatest calligrapher in Chinese history and respected as the Saint of Calligraphy. Shaoxing, Zhejiang is the hometown of the sage of calligraphy, and the Orchid Pavilion has become one of the famous pavilions in my country. Today, Lanting Scenic Area is the most famous cultural scenic spot in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province.
In ancient and modern times, men, women, old and young, most people like to travel around the mountains and rivers, and literati like to write articles and write poems when they travel around the mountains and rivers. Since the Zhou Dynasty in ancient China, there has been a tradition of worshiping the gods twice a year. Spring outings are called Chunhu, and they usually fall on the day of "Si Day" in the first ten days of the third month of the lunar calendar. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was fixed on the third day of March. This day is the day when the Han people welcome the souls of their ancestors. People meet at the waterside to bathe and wash in order to get rid of the dead. Disasters remove evil spirits. Later, gatherings of literati drinking wine and writing poems were also called gatherings to repair evil spirits. Climbing high in autumn, the air is crisp and clear, and naturally there is also the autumn plague, which usually falls on the 14th day of the seventh lunar month.
After Wang Xizhi’s orchid pavilion repaired the misfortune, Shaoxing held many orchid pavilion events, such as "Lanting Banquet, Orchid Pavilion Party, Kuaiji Fengliu, Shanyin Haoyi, Shanyin Tour", etc., which are collectively referred to as gatherings of distinguished guests and gatherings of sages. . After the Sui and Tang dynasties, the practice of cultivating evil spirits became more and more popular among literati. However, the practice of cultivating evil spirits that really spread across the country and had far-reaching influence was during the Kangxi and Qianlong years of the Qing Dynasty, when three famous "Red Bridge Corrections" were held in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province (Hongqiao, originally a bridge) An ordinary wooden bridge, after several repairs, it became the extremely beautiful Hong Bridge, which is said to be the most beautiful among the 24 Slender West Lakes in Yangzhou).
The most famous thing about the Red Bridge Cultivation is that on March 3rd in the 22nd year of Qianlong (1757), Lu Jian, the Liangquan Salt Transport Envoy, invited celebrities to the "Hongqiao Cultivation" Hall of Yihong Garden , composed four poems of seven rhymes, and there were more than 7,000 people from all over the country who harmonized with the rhymes. Zheng Banqiao, the famous Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, also participated. The collection of poems compiled at that time amounted to more than 300 volumes, and the "Hongqiao Scenic Spot" was also drawn to commemorate its victory. The repair of the Red Bridge was unprecedentedly grand, and its reputation spread all over the country, becoming a major event in the history of Chinese poetry.
At the beginning of the third month of the lunar calendar, everything revives and is full of vitality, with hundreds of flowers blooming in purple and red. Beautiful mountains, rivers and beautiful scenery, literati and elegant people gather together to drink tea. It is actually a good way to inspire inspiration, which is very similar to today's brainstorming.
In January 1985, the Standing Committee of the Shaoxing Municipal People’s Congress made a resolution on “taking the third day of the third lunar month as the Shaoxing Municipal Calligraphy Festival”. The Lanting Calligraphy Festival has become the most influential annual event in the Chinese calligraphy community. At that time, famous calligraphers at home and abroad will gather in Lanting Pavilion to discuss calligraphy, splash ink and write poems while drinking wine, which is a grand occasion again.
The exact time of Wang Xizhi’s orchid pavilion was the third day of March in the ninth year of Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. When converted to the Gregorian calendar, it was April 22, 353 AD (one day earlier than World Book Day). Since the date is clear, the poetry collection "Lanting Collection" created by 26 people can be regarded as a collection of poetry diaries on the same day.
Strictly speaking, the "Preface to the Lanting Collection" is a diary written by Wang Xizhi on the third day of the third lunar month in 353 AD. It records the activities of that day, including drinking wine, drinking wine and composing poems. Of course, it is still a work inspired by Wang Xizhi, so it can also be called Wang Xizhi's "Inspiration Diary". Because of this inspiration, it created a legend in the history of Chinese literature, made the relevant characters and their poems known to future generations, and also benefited Lanting. It has been rebuilt and rebuilt many times in history, and it still survives nearly two thousand years ago and has become the most famous pavilion in Shaoxing, Zhejiang. Scenic spots.
In today’s Internet age, poetry is gradually drifting away from most people. In order for Chinese culture to achieve a great renaissance, the renaissance of poetry should not be absent. It is recommended that March 3rd of the lunar calendar be set as the Poetry Diary Festival every year, a nationwide March 3rd Poetry Contest be held every year, and the best works will be selected and published in the annual "March 3rd" A poetry collection that encourages poetry talents to thrive and stand out.
Li Mingqiang, founder of the Better Life Project and Luoyang Diary Innovation Society, added in the late night of April 3, 2022 (March 3) and the morning of June 4th