Wang Xizhi · calligraphy by 長青
In the late spring of 353, Wang Xizhi and some forty friends gathered at the Orchid Pavilion. Cups of wine floated down a winding stream, and whoever a cup stopped beside had to drink and write a poem.
His preface to their poems moves from joy in the day to how quickly life passes, and ends by speaking to us: the readers who come later.
One continuous take, in step with a reading of the whole text. The day turns to sunset, the seasons race to snow, night falls, and Wang writes by his lamp until dawn.
At the top right, great-grandpa’s calligraphy writes each character as it is read. At the end it grows into his full sheet, his note and name, and his seals.
All 351 characters, traced from a scan of the sheet he wrote on 己卯大寒日, and drawn stroke by stroke in Chinese stroke order.
Where the scan was unclear, the strokes are small, careful guesses.