The most influential cultural mystery in history is the whereabouts of Wang Xizhi's authentic calligraphy", the Orchid Pavilion Collection.
On the third day of march in the ninth year (353) of the ninth year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi, Xie An, Sun Qi, and 41 other people gathered at a banquet on the banks of Lanting Creek in Jishanyin, a suburb of Shaoxing City, and 26 people gave 41 poems and gathered poems into a collection of poems for the "Lanting Collection", And Wang Xizhi wrote a preface manuscript, known as the "Lanting Collection". The prologue describes the beauty of the landscape around the Lanting Pavilion and the joy of the gathering, and expresses the author's lament for the life and death of people and the shortening of the short.
The full text of the "Orchid Pavilion Collection" is 28 lines and 324 words, and the whole text is charming and flowing, and the words are exquisite, like divine help. For example, none of the 20 "ZigZag" characters are the same, becoming a must in the history of calligraphy. He has rewritten it many times since then, but none of them are as good as this one. This work has been regarded as the best in the literary circles of successive dynasties, and the Song Dynasty calligrapher Mi Fu called it "the first post of Chinese calligraphy". However, it is this "Guiyue group product, ancient and modern Mo II" calligraphy masterpiece, until now, its whereabouts are still confusing, people can not help but regret.
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The Legend of the Orchid Pavilion Collection (Partial)
He Yanzhi's "Records of Lanting" once said that Li Shimin of Tang Taizong, who was a martial artist, had a special love for calligraphy, especially the ink treasure of Wang Xizhi, the "book saint", and he took advantage of the convenience of the emperor to search for Wang Xizhi's calligraphy works in the world. Whenever you get a real handwriting, you will regard it as a treasure, and when you come, you will copy and speculate, and experience the excitement of its brushwork. After appreciating its natural charm, you will treasure it next to you, lest you lose it. Not only that, he also advocated Wang Xizhi's style of writing, personally wrote the "Biography of Wang Xizhi" for the "Book of Jin", and collected and copied wang Xizhi's true works.
Although there are many inkblots of Wang Xizhi in the collection, the original copy of Wang Xizhi's "Orchid Pavilion Collection" has never been found. Whenever Tang Taizong thought of this, he was sullen and unhappy.
It turned out that Wang Xizhi himself also cherished the "Divine Help" work "Orchid Pavilion Collection", carefully kept it, and used it as an heirloom to his seventh generation Sun Zhiyong.
Zhiyong was a young monk, loved calligraphy, admired the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, and was determined to let Naizu's calligraphy flow through the ages.
Zhi Yong was at the end of his hundred years, and before his death, he passed on the Orchid Pavilion Collection to his disciples, the discerning monk. The discerning monk was also very knowledgeable about calligraphy, and he knew the value of the Orchid Pavilion Collection and treasured it in a specially chiseled hole in the beam of the bedroom.
When Li Shimin learned that the "Lanting Collection" was in the discerning monk's place, he was so excited that he sent people to ask for it many times, but the discerning monk always said that he did not know the true whereabouts. Li Shimin saw that he was determined to succeed, so he changed to wisdom, and he sent the inspector Yushi Xiaoyi to dress up as a scholar to get close to The Discernment and seek an opportunity to obtain the Lanting Collection. Xiao Yi also studied calligraphy and talked speculatively with discerning monks. After the two became close, Xiao Yi deliberately took out several pieces of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy works for the discerning monk to admire. After discerning the talent, he said disapprovingly: "The truth is true, but it is not good, I have a true manuscript, that is Wang Xizhi's true treasure." ”
Xiao Yi pretended to be confused and quietly asked what the post was, and only then did he hesitate again and again, before mysteriously telling him that it was the original manuscript of the "Orchid Pavilion Collection". Seeing that Xiao Yi did not believe it, he decided to let him open his eyes and take the original manuscript of the Orchid Pavilion Collection from the roof beam for Xiao Yi to see.
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Tang Yan Liben's "Xiao Yi Earn Lan Ting Tu" (Northern Song Dynasty facsimile), Liaoning Provincial Museum collection
Xiao Yi carefully inspected it, and it was indeed the original copy of the Lanting Collection. Seeing that his face changed, he quickly put it into his sleeve, and at the same time showed Tang Taizong's "edict" to the discerner. At this time, the discernment knows that he has been deceived, but it is too late to regret it.
The coveted thing finally arrived, and Li Shimin was overjoyed. Because Xiao Yizhi had merit in taking the "Orchid Pavilion Collection", Li Shimin Zhu Pen hand-picked him, promoted him to a foreign minister, added five pins, and rewarded him with a silver bottle, a golden bottle, an agate bowl and a pearl, etc., and gave him two imperial horses in the palace, and equipped with a saddle decorated with jewelry, and one each in the mansion and manor.
Li Shimin was angry at first when he hid the Lanting Collection Sequence and did not dedicate it to him, the discerning talent of the heavenly son, but after calming down, he considered that the discerning talent was old and could not bear to punish him. A few months later, he gave three thousand pieces of jiancai jinbu and other things, three thousand stones of the valley, and the next edict was asked to pay for it on behalf of the governor of Yuezhou.
After receiving these rewards, the terrified discerner did not dare to classify them as his own. He managed to exchange this gift for money, which he used to build a three-story pagoda. Frightened and stimulated, Discernment became ill and died a year later.
Li Shimin admired Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, and ordered four Tuoshu people in the palace, Zhao Mo, Han Daozheng, Feng Chengsu, and Zhuge Zhen, to each expand several copies and reward them to the crown prince and his princes and close subjects. In addition, there are Ouyang Qian, Chu Suiliang, Yu Shinan and other famous hands of the Linben lineage.
Then, after Tang Taizong's death, where did Wang Xizhi's "Orchid Pavilion Collection" authenticity go?
The history books record that Li Shimin's last will and testament said that he wanted to pillow the "Lanting Collection" under his head. That is to say, this treasure should be in Zhaoling (the mausoleum of Emperor Taizong of Tang). The warlord Wen Tao of the five dynasties at the end of the Tang Dynasty stole zhaoling during his tenure as an envoy to the northern part of Guanzhong in Shaanxi. The historical records record: "In the seventh year of the town, the tomb of the Tang Emperor was excavated in its territory and the golden treasures hidden in it were taken. "Li Shimin's ZhaoLing tomb is naturally not spared. After the tomb robbers entered the underground palace of Zhaoling, they saw the grandeur of its architecture and internal facilities, which was almost the same as the Chang'an Imperial Palace. In the middle of the burial chamber is Emperor Taizong's main bed, where stone letters are placed on the bed, and the stone letters are opened, and the iron box is hidden inside. The iron box is full of precious books and paintings treasured by Li Shimin during his lifetime, the most valuable of which are the authentic works of Zhong Xuan, the calligrapher of the Three Kingdoms, and Wang Xizhi, the great calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. When you open it, the paper and ink from more than two hundred years ago are as new as new. These rare treasures were all taken out by Wen Tao, but their whereabouts have been unknown for more than a thousand years.
However, on the list of excavated treasures written by Wen Tao, there is no "Orchid Pavilion Collection", and there have been no records of authentic manuscripts circulating and included since then. Some historians believe that Wen Tao's excavations were hastily and hastily excavated without a comprehensive and careful cleanup, so it is likely that the original artifacts are still hidden in a more secret place in the Zhaoling Tombs.
There is another theory in the academic circles, that is, the "Orchid Pavilion Collection" was not buried with Li Shimin in the Zhaoling Tomb, but buried in the Qianling Tomb of Li Zhi of Tang Gaozong. Those who hold this view believe that when Tang Taizong died, he did not propose to bury the "Lanting Collection" with him, but gave the "Lanting Collection" to his son Li Zhi, who also loved to pass on the art.
Li Zhi was the ninth son of Li Shimin, who was made crown prince in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (643) and ascended the throne in the twenty-third year of Zhenguan (649). Li Zhi reigned for 34 years, died in the first year of Hongdao (683) and was buried in Qianling. Before his death, Li Zhi left an edict on his sickbed and buried the calligraphy and paintings he liked before his death. Therefore, after the "Lanting Collection" was lost, some people suspected that the "Lanting Collection Sequence" was not buried with Zhaoling, but was hidden in Qianling.
There were 18 imperial tombs in the Tang Dynasty, and it is said that 17 were dug up by Wen Tao, but when they were dug up to Qianling, the wind and rain were great and they were returned without success. After the Tang Dynasty, no one has ever seen the original manuscript of the "Lanting Collection Sequence", which also makes more people believe that the "Lanting Collection Sequence" buried Qianling with it.
The whereabouts of the original "Lanting Collection" are still a mystery, and it seems that the truth can only be revealed when zhaoling and Qianling are officially excavated later. The questions left by history can only be answered by time. We should be patient enough to wait for this, and there will always be a day when the water will come out.
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Responsible editor 丨 Yawen
Editor 丨 Li Shan
Preliminary review 丨 Ye Xiao
Review 丨 Qi Feng
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