{"id":4324,"title":"Jade Mountain Illustrating the Gathering of Scholars at the Lanting Pavilion","medium":"Light green jade","classification":"Sculpture","dimension":"22 1/2 × 38 3/8 × 15 3/4 in. (57.2 × 97.5 × 40 cm)","object_name":"Sculpture, Massive Imperial Jade Mountain, 1784","continent":"Asia","country":"China","nationality":"Chinese","dated":"1790","room":"G210","list":"chinese-art-highlights","role":"Artist","markings":"Seal of Emperor Qianlong on one side | Seal referring to the eightieth year of the Emperor Qianlong on the opposite side (1784)","text":"The Qing dynasty emperor Qianlong (r. 1736–95) commissioned this jade boulder, apparently the largest piece of historic carved jade outside of China. It depicts a literary gathering of scholar-officials at Lanting, the Orchid Pavilion described in “Lanting jixu” (Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion), by Wang Xizhi (303–361), recognized as the greatest calligrapher of the Far East. The prose itself is carved on the front. Wang Xizhi, together with forty-one other renowned scholar-officials, gathered at Lanting and 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 drink it and write a poem. In the end, twenty-six of the participants composed thirty-seven poems. Emperor Qianlong’s own poem appears carved on the reverse.","creditline":"The John R. Van Derlip Fund and Gift of the Thomas Barlow Walker Foundation","accession_number":"92.103.13","artist":"China","department":"Asian Art","rights_type":"Public Domain","image_width":10328,"image_height":7760,"recent":0,"see_also":[],"sort_number":"92   103   13","dynasty":"Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong period (1736–95)","image":"valid","public_access":1,"curator_approved":0,"highlights":0,"Cache_Location":"004000\\300\\20\\4324","Primary_RenditionNumber":"mia_6017993.jpg","Rights_Image_Display":"Full","list:chinese-art-highlights":true,"related:audio-stops":[{"title":"Jade Mountain  (2 labels)","_id":"4324","objectId":"4324","link":"http://audio-tours.s3.amazonaws.com/p225.mp3","number":"225","type":"audio"}],"related:artstories":[{"title":"Jade Mountain","_id":"4324","objectId":"4324","description":"<p>Who wouldn’t want to join this serene party of poets? This idealized scene of a real literary gathering of Chinese scholar-officials that took place at Lanting, the Orchid Pavilion, was carved from a jade boulder—the largest piece of carved jade from the Qing dynasty outside of China. It was commissioned by Emperor Qianlong, who reigned from 1736–95 and whose own poem is carved into the back. The front bears the Lanting jixu (“Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion\") by Wang Xizhi, perhaps the greatest calligrapher of the Far East. </p>","link":"http://artstories.artsmia.org/#/o/4324","type":"artstory"}],"mtime":"2026-02-04T06:00:50.797Z"}