ABSTRACT
In the ninth year of the Yonghe reign of Emperor Mu, in 353 AD, a group of friends out on a late spring excursion met up in a pavilion in the mountains, near the town of Kuaiji. They sat admiring the scenery, breathing in the fresh air, laughing, drinking and reminiscing together, then composed poems to mark the occasion and celebrate their friendship. This brief trip into the countryside left a remarkably profound legacy in China, expressing and shaping the contours of a genteel ideal for dynasties to come.
