Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid pavilion, copy by an artist in the Tang Dynasty

Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid pavilion, copy by an artist in the Tang Dynasty

Purchased and collected by Hunan Provincial Cultural Relics Management Committee in 1952; then transferred to Hunan Provincial Museum in June 1958
This Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid pavilion collected by Hunan Provincial Museum was originally presumed to be written by Chu Suiliang (a Chinese official who served as a chancellor during the reigns of the emperors Taizong and Gaozong in the Tang dynasty). The texture of the background is tough silk in dark yellow, hence also called “Yellow Tough Silk Version”. With the height of 24.5cm and width of 65.6cm, the scroll is stamped with two seals. Beneath this section on the last line of which there exist illegible characters carved in relief on a seal-‘fuyin’ and ‘ziyou’. In addition, the frontispiece of the scroll bears an inscription ‘treasure of ink’ (fragment) by Dong Qichang, a noted calligrapher and connoisseur in the Ming dynasty. In addition, some seals collected by Xiang Yuanbian, a famous calligrapher and connoisseur in the Ming dynasty, can be seen in the middle of the scroll. The end of the scroll has postscripts presented in succession by Xu Chu in the Ming Dynasty, and Wang Shu, He Tianjun, Tang Yujian, Gu Chun, Liang Zhangju, Liang Tongshu, Sun Xingyan, Shi Yunyu, Li Zuoxian and Han Chong in the Qing Dynasty.