Traditional calligraphy festival at the orchid pavilion and the destinies of modern Chinese intellectuals

This paper continues a series of publications devoted to the game culture of East Asian countries. Here we speak about ancient Chinese intellectual entertainment based on literature games accompanied by ritual wine drinking. With regard to the results of the ethnographic expedition to Lanting (Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, China) in April, 2011, we describe one of the most ancient rituals called «The Feast near Winding Waters, in which the participants compete in composing impromptu verses while a cup filled with wine flows along the winding channel. The revival of the ancient ritual illustrates the consolidation of efforts of Chinese society directed on the strengthening of national intellectual values and the development of the positive image of a modern intellectual – a man of culture. An analysis of the features of this process allows us to reach a new level of perceiving the relationship between traditions and innovations in the contemporary world.