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Winding stream party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A winding stream party (Chinese: 流觴曲水/曲水流觴; pinyin: liúshāngqūshuǐ) is an old Chinese custom in which the participants wait by a winding stream and compose poems before their cups full of rice wine float down to reach them. It was popularized by Wang Xizhi, and dates back as far as 353; poems composed at this event were recorded in Wang's famous work, the Lantingji Xu.[1]
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This Chinese custom was adopted by the Koreans, such as the party in 927, hosted by King Gyeongae of Silla, in Poseokjeong, Gyeongju.
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It was also adopted by the Japanese and was called Kyokusui-no-en (曲水の宴, Winding stream party), a party game played by the nobility. Participants must compose a tanka poem beside a stream, within a time limit set by the passage of a lacquer cup of sake floating towards them on the water.[2] When the cup reached the poet, they were expected to drink its contents, either as a celebration of the poem's completion or as a forfeit if they had not composed a suitable verse in time.[3][4] The first kyokusui-no-en events were reportedly held in the Kofun period during the reign of Emperor Kenzō, making the ceremony around 1,500 years old.[5] Other sources, however, suggest that the game originated in the Heian period, around 500 years later; it appears in scrolls from that period and is mentioned in The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon.[6][7]
The ceremony is still performed at the Tenman-gū Shrine in Dazaifu and also in Kyoto.[2] The modern Japanese version of the ceremony was created in 1963; participants dress in Heian era costumes of the nobility and musical accompaniment is provided on the koto.[6][7]