The Lantingji Xu (simplified Chinese: 兰亭集序; traditional Chinese: 蘭亭集序; pinyin: Lántíngjí Xù; Wade–Giles: Lant'ingchi Hsü; literally: "Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion") or Lanting Xu (蘭亭序) is a famous work of calligraphy by Wang Xizhi, composed in the year 353. Written in semi-cursive script, it is among the best known and often copied pieces of calligraphy in Chinese history. This work began as the preface to a collection of poetry seminal to the Chinese nature poetry movement, but developed a life of its own. The preface describes the event during that year's Spring Purification Festival in which 42 literati, including Xie An and Sun Chuo, were present at a gathering at the Orchid Pavilion near Shaoxing, Zhejiang, at which they to composed poems, played music, and enjoyed wine. The gentlemen engaged in a drinking contest; wine cups were floated down a small winding creek as the men sat along its banks; whenever a cup stopped, the man closest to the cup was required to empty it and write a poem. In the end, twenty-six of the participants composed thirty-seven poems.
