Poetry Party at Orchid Pavilion

This is a composition that depicts the Chinese man of letters Wang Xizhi meeting 41 men of letters at the Orchid Pavilion on Mount Xianglu and composing poetry while facing a meandering stream. It is a subject that was especially popular in the Southern School of Chinese painting. The piece expresses trees, rocks, and people with unconstrained strokes, colors with a sense of transparency, and soft dotting, features characteristic of Taiga. In the upper left of the picture, "Lantingjixu" (Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Compilation) is written in clerical script. The signature indicates that Taiga produced this work in 1763, when he was 41 years of age.