Lanting Xu:Millennium Legend

by+Xu+Shuyuan

Among the important items at The Precious Collection of the Stone Moat special exhibition catalogued by the Palace Museum， the Paper Scroll of Lanting Xu（Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion） by Feng Chengsu in the Tang Dynasty （618-907） has drawn particular attention.

In the spring of 353， the ninth year of Yonghe， Wang Xizhi， dubbed the ‘Sage of Calligraphy， wrote Lanting Xu during an enlightened gathering of his friends at the Orchid Pavilion near Shaoxing. Composed of 324 Chinese characters in 28 lines， Lanting Xu expressed the authors melancholy caused by the uncertainty of living and dying， through his depiction of the beautiful landscape around the Orchid Pavilion and the pleasure of being in the gathering. It has been celebrated by generations of calligraphers as a masterwork.

Emperor Taizong of Tang was one of those obsessed with Lanting Xu. Acclaimed by the emperor， Lanting Xu attained the utmost calligraphic excellence， thus reputed as the "the worlds No. 1 semi-cursive script." Unfortunately， the original version was said to have been buried， and it never became public. Feng Chengsus version of Lanting Xu is traditionally regarded as the most precious duplicate version. Having been stamped with a seal， with the words "Divine Dragon" of Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty， this version was honored as the Shenlongben （神龙本）， or"Divine Dragon Version."

The Divine Dragon version was believed to have been created by Feng Chengsu， who traced impressions of inscriptions in the Tang Dynastys Taizong era. He served Taizong with his calligraphic talent when he was young. Although he was obscure in his lifetime， he became famous after Guo Tianxi， a collector in the Yuan Dynasty， speculated that he might be the calligrapher of the Divine Dragon version. However， such speculation appears baseless. Besides， the engraved seal of "Divine Dragon" itself is questionable， though the version was composed during the Tang Dynasty. Compared with other inscriptions， the Divine Dragon version was copied so exquisitely that it was strikingly close to the original. This is the viewpoint of most present-day calligraphers and historians. The Divine Dragon version best reflects the original features of Wang Xizhis authentic work. As the famous Chinese calligrapher Qi Gong observed， “Judging from its exquisite strokes， the Divine Dragon version may not be far away from the original work.”

Calligraphic masterpieces have always been considered precious and collected by the imperial palace. Therefore， the chaos of the warring states during the rise and fall of dynasties was the main reason for scattering and losing masterworks. Calligraphic works of Wang Xizhi and his son Wang Xianzhi collected in the imperial palace of the Kingdom of Liang during the Southern Dynasties amounted to “15，000 pieces.” A century later， Taizong of Tang searched diligently for Wang Xizhis handwritings， but only to find that the surviving number was far too small.

The original Lanting Xu by Wang Xizhi disappeared in the 12th Century. With copies following one after another， ‘loss of original features was unavoidable. As written in Wang Xizhis Lanting Xu， “What fascinated yesterday is a mere memory today， not to mention that everyone will return to nothingness.” The work， aptly enough， is not only about life and death but the common destiny of all living forms， including calligraphy.