Tengwang Ge Xu

Tengwang Ge Xu (zh-sp|s=滕王阁序|p=Téngwáng Gé Xù) ("Preface to the Prince of Teng's Pavilion", full name "Qiuri deng Hongzhou Tengwang Ge Jianbie Xu" (zh-sp|s=秋日登洪府滕王阁鉴别序|p=Qiurì deng Hóngzhou Téngwáng Gé Jiànbié Xù) ("Preface to a farewell feast atop the Prince of Teng's Pavilion in Autumn") or "Tengwang Ge Shi Xu" (zh-sp|s=滕王阁诗序|p=Téngwáng Gé Shi Xù) ("Preface to a Poem on the Prince of Teng's Pavilion"), is a famous piece of literature by Wang Bo of the Tang Dynasty.

It is classified as Pianwen (zh-sp|s=骈文|p=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 Teng Wang Ge, a pavilion standing by the Gan River of Nanchang City, which was then called Hongzhou (zh-sp|s=洪州|p=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.

External links

* [http://baike.baidu.com/view/25328.htm 滕王阁序]
* [http://www.tydao.com/suwu/shiwen/mr-twgx.htm 滕王阁序]
* [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Teng_Wang_Ge_Xu English Translation]