Study On The Wang Zhong's Collection Of Dingwu Lanting And Related Issues

The "Dingwu(??) version of the orchid pavilion" found in Wang Zhong(??)'s old collection is a "Dingwu" version of the "Preface of the orchid pavilion" collected by Wang Zhong,a scholar in Yangzhou,during the reign of the Qing dynasty emperor Qianlong.The "Dingwu version" of Wang Zhong's old collection played an important role in the "debates on the orchid pavilion" held in the 1960s:Guo Moruo(???),through a passage of the colophon written by the Qing dynasty scholar Li Wentian(???)on this version,advanced the position that the "Preface to the Orchid pavilion" is not Wang Xizhi's original work,and sparked off a big debate in the academic circles on the authenticity of the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" which up to now still does not reach a conclusion.Taking the debate on the "Orchid pavilion" as the background of the research,the "Dingwu version" of Wang Zhong's old collection actually answers the issue of authenticity(particularly the authenticity of the version)of the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" in its main version: it not only provides new research and historical materials to the studies on the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" ,but most importantly it is the basis from which the debate on the authenticity of the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" has begun.By means of the systematic arrangement and research on the "Dingwu version" of Wang Zhong's old collection and its related historical materials,it can be seen that Wang Zhong's praise and comment on the "postcript to the preface of the orchid pavilion" of his version,on one side stem from the esteem of the Song and Yuan dynasty scholar-officials towards the "Dingwu" version of the "Preface of the orchid pavilion" .On the other side,as for the argumentation,his praise and comment are clearly affected by the patterns of the Qing dynasty textual researches and by the ideas of that period,but there is not any direct connection with the authenticity of the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" .At the same time,it canbe noticed that the doubt raised by Li Wentian about the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" is just like the praise to the calligraphy made by the Song and Yuan dynasty scholars,likewise they are the result of certain historical conditions and of the zeitgeist background,so there still is no direct connection with the authenticity of the masterpiece.To answer the authentication issue of the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" ,we need to understand its connection with the "Preface to the riverside gathering" and furthermore establish a comparison on the difference of the ideas between the Tang dynasty fragments of the " Shishuo Xinshu" and the Song dynasty "Shishuo Xinyu" which could confirm that the "Preface to the riverside gathering" revises the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" .In this case not only Li Wentian's query does not subsist,but the several discussions concerning the relation between the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" and the "Preface to the riverside gathering" after the "debates on the orchid pavilion" are not crucial.The authenticity of the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" can be confirmed through the ideological comparison between the masterpiece and its contemporary versions.The research finds that the "Preface to the orchid pavilion" is a reliable document of the Wei Jin dynasties.Regarding the kind of thoughts and ideas,it is in line with the characteristics of the Wei Jin dynasties Xuanxue,but with the thought of Sui and Tang dynasties and the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties there is still a fundamental gap.