Goose Pond
And its carved stone.
Siyuwj — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Siyuwj — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yumeto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · shizhao — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Siyuwj — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Siyuwj — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yumeto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Siyuwj — CC BY-SA 4.0
The birthplace of the most famous work of Chinese calligraphy: on the third day of the third month in 353, the calligrapher Wang Xizhi gathered here with more than forty men of letters, among them Xie An and his own son Wang Xianzhi, for a spring festival beside a stream, and wrote the «Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems», held to be the finest piece ever written in running script. Tradition says King Goujian of Yue planted orchids on this spot centuries earlier and that a post station stood here in the Han dynasty, hence the name «Orchid Pavilion», while the present site was rebuilt by the local governor in 1548, in the Ming dynasty. Its sights include the Goose Pond, where Wang Xizhi is said to have kept the geese he loved, with a stone bearing its name; the winding stream on whose banks the scholars sat composing poems; a rare stele carved on one face by the Kangxi Emperor and on the other by his grandson Qianlong; and a shrine bearing the calligrapher's title, with a pond where he is said to have washed his brushes. Tickets cost CNY 70, or CNY 35 concession, and it opens from 8:00 to 17:00 with ticket sales ending at 16:30, per visitor guides. The site is quiet among bamboo and trees and loveliest in spring.
And its carved stone.
Where poems were composed.
Kangxi and Qianlong.
Foot of Lanzhu Mountain, Keqiao District, about 13 km south-west of Shaoxing
Because in 353 the calligrapher Wang Xizhi wrote the «Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems» here, the most famous work of Chinese calligraphy, during a spring gathering with more than forty men of letters.