Winding stream party

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File:Meandering Stream at Lan-ting Yamamoto Jakurin Hanging scroll color on silk.jpg
The Winding Stream Party at Orchid Pavilion in Shaoxing, hosted by Wang Xizhi in 353
File:Guilin Guihai Beilin Bowuguan 2012.09.28 15-38-45.jpg
A Song dynasty winding stream party historic site located in Guilin, China

A winding stream party (Chinese: 流觴曲水/曲水流觴; pinyin: liúshāngqūshuǐ) is an old Chinese custom in which the participants wait by a winding stream and compose poems before their cups full of rice wine float down to reach them. It was popularized by Wang Xizhi, and dates back as far as 353; poems composed at this event were recorded in Wang's famous work, the Lantingji Xu.[1]

File:Korea-Gyeongju-Poseokjeong site 3832-06.JPG
Poseokjeong ruins in Gyeongju, Korea

This Chinese custom was adopted by the Koreans, such as the party in 927, hosted by King Gyeongae of Silla, in Poseokjeong, Gyeongju.

File:A Winding Stream Party.jpg
A Winding Stream Party (Kyokusui no en), print by Japanese artist Shunman

It was also adopted by the Japanese and was called Kyokusui-no-en (Japanese: 曲水の宴, Hepburn: Winding stream party), a party game played by the nobility. Participants must compose a tanka poem beside a stream, within a time limit set by the passage of a lacquer cup of sake floating towards them on the water.[2] When the cup reached the poet, they were expected to drink its contents, either as a celebration of the poem's completion or as a forfeit if they had not composed a suitable verse in time.[3][4] The first kyokusui-no-en events were reportedly held in the Kofun period during the reign of Emperor Kenzō, making the ceremony around 1,500 years old.[5] Other sources, however, suggest that the game originated in the Heian period, around 500 years later; it appears in scrolls from that period and is mentioned in The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon.[6][7]

The ceremony is still performed at the Tenman-gū Shrine in Dazaifu and also in Kyoto.[2] The modern Japanese version of the ceremony was created in 1963; participants dress in Heian era costumes of the nobility and musical accompaniment is provided on the koto.[6][7]

References

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