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Flowing-Cup Pavilion(Á÷±­Í¤ Liubeiting)

This is a pavilion which used to serve as a place of recreation for men of letters. In the stone floor is cut a winding ditch to which water from a spring is channeled. Participants to the ¡°flowing-cup¡± with liquor and set it ¡°sailing¡± down the mini-canal.

The man whose cup reached the end of the ditch without spilling would be a winner. ON the other hand, a loser would be made to drink or compose a poem as a forfeit.

The game, according to another source, could be played in a different way. Players took their respective positions alone the ditch. He, in front of whom the cup stopped, would be made to drink or chant a poem of his composition.

Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), it is said, was a great enthusiast for this game. The ¡°flowing-cup pavilion¡± built for the emperor still stands today in the ImperialGarden of the Forbidden City.

Another pavilion of this type in Beijing is found at Tanzhe Temple .Although a poem (praising the pleasures of the game,¡°especially on a rainy day when there is little else to entertain the visitors with¡± ) is still intact on its columns ,yet ,alas !there is now neither flowing water nor cup.

If the pastime should be revived with some modern variations ¨C beer, lemonade or tea instead of spirits, singing or telling a joke as the forfeit if the players are not poets ¨Cit would certainly arouse considerable interest.

Another famous ¡°flowing-cup pavilion¡± is Lanting (Orchid Pavilion) in Shaoxing ,Zhejiang Province ,which was a favorite resort of the great 4th-century calligrapher Wang Xizhi (321-379)and his friends , who used to gather there for the game and poem recitals. The little stream which carried the sailing cup is still there to greet modern admirers.

 

 

 

 

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