Tengwang Ge Xu

Tengwang Ge Xu
Traditional Chinese滕王閣序
Simplified Chinese滕王阁序
Literal meaningTeng Prince's Pavilion Preface
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTéngwáng Gé Xù
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingTang4 Wong4 Gok3 Zeoi6
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese秋日登洪府滕王閣餞別序
Simplified Chinese秋日登洪府滕王阁饯别序
Literal meaningAutumn Day Ascend Hongzhou City's Teng Prince's Pavilion Farewell Feast Preface
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinQiūrì Dēng Hóng Fǔ Téngwáng Gé Jiànbié Xù
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingCau1 Jat6 Dang1 Hung4 Fu2 Tang4 Wong4 Gok3 Zin3 Bit6 Zeoi6

Tengwang Ge Xu (Chinese: 滕王閣序; pinyin: Téngwáng Gé Xù, Preface to the Prince Teng's Pavilion), full name Preface to a Farewell Feast Atop the Prince Teng's Pavilion in Autumn (Chinese: 秋日登洪府滕王閣餞別序; pinyin: Qiūrì Dēng Hóng Fǔ Téngwáng Gé Jiànbié Xù) or Preface to Poems on the Prince of Teng's Pavilion (Chinese: 滕王閣詩序; pinyin: Téngwáng Gé Shī Xù), is a piece of literature by Wang Bo of the Tang dynasty. It is considered a founding piece of Tang Literature.

It is classified as Pianwen (Chinese: 駢文; pinyin: Piánwén), which depends greatly on rhythm, somewhat like classical Chinese poetry, but does not have a restriction of how many characters should be in one sentence, and how many sentences in one paragraph. It is named after Pavilion of Prince Teng, a pavilion standing by the Gan River of Nanchang City, which was then called Hongzhou (Chinese: 洪州; pinyin: Hóngzhou) and is the capital of the current province of Jiangxi. It was first built in the early Tang dynasty.

Wáng Bó was on his way to Jiaozhi County, in present-day northern Vietnam, visiting his father, and encountered a grand banquet held there. It is acknowledged that he actually finished the work at the banquet. The author expressed his sadness at being unable to make use of his talent. In fact, he was drowned in the South China Sea not long after he finished this classic before he reached Vietnam to see his father.

Wen Zhengming's calligraphy of Tengwang Ge Xu...Wen Zhengming's calligraphy of Tengwang Ge XuWen Zhengming's calligraphy of Tengwang Ge Xu
Wen Zhengming's calligraphy of Tengwang Ge Xu