Quote Lantingji Xu：Samantha's feelings as she passes over Beijing

Overview

Samantha Cristoforetti^[1][2], a ESA astronaut on a mission in the International Space Station, took to her Twitter account ^[3] on October 12 as she passed over Beijing to look down on Earth: ” 仰观宇宙之大，俯察品类之盛，所以游目骋怀，足以极视听之娱，信可乐也 “. （ I look up at the immense universe. I look down at myriad works [of poetry]. As our eyes wander, so do our minds too. Indeed, it is a pure delight for all our senses. ）

This passage is from Wang Xizhi’s Lantingji Xu^[4].

Samantha Cristoforetti’s Twitter

Lantingji Xu

The Lantingji Xu (traditional Chinese: 蘭亭集序; simplified Chinese: 兰亭集序; pinyin: Lántíngjí Xù; lit. ‘Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion’) or Lanting Xu (“Orchid Pavilion Preface”), is a piece of Chinese calligraphy work generally considered to be written by the well-known calligrapher Wang Xizhi (303 – 361) from the Eastern Jin dynasty (317 – 420).

In the ninth year of the Emperor Yonghe (353 CE), a Spring Purification Ceremony was held at Lanting, Kuaiji Prefecture (today’s Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province), where Wang was appointed as the governor at the time. During the event, forty-two literati gathered along the banks of a coursing stream and engaged in a “winding stream” drinking contest: cups of wine were floated on the water upstream, and whenever a cup stopped in front of a guest, he had to compose a poem or otherwise drink the wine. At the end of the day, twenty-six literati composed thirty-seven poems in total and the Lantingji Xu, as a preface to the collection was produced by Wang on the spot. The original preface was long lost, but multiple copies with ink on papers or stone inscriptions remain until today.

The original

永和九年，岁在癸丑，暮春之初，会于会稽山阴之兰亭，修稧（禊）事也。群贤毕至，少长咸集。此地有崇山峻领（岭），茂林修竹；又有清流激湍，映带左右，引以为流觞曲水，列坐其次。虽无丝竹管弦之盛，一觞一咏，亦足以畅叙幽情。

是日也，天朗气清，惠风和畅。仰观宇宙之大，俯察品类之盛。所以游目骋怀，足以极视听之娱，信可乐也。

夫人之相与，俯仰一世，或取诸怀抱，悟言一室之内；或因寄所托，放浪形骸之外。虽趣（取/趋）舍万殊，静躁不同，当其欣于所遇，暂得于己，怏然自足，不知老之将至；及其所之既倦，情随事迁，感慨系之矣。向之所欣，俯仰之间，以（已）为陈迹，犹不能不以之兴怀；况修短随化，终期于尽。古人云：“死生亦大矣。”岂不痛哉！

每揽（览）昔人兴感之由，若合一契，未尝不临文嗟悼，不能喻之于怀。固知一死生为虚诞，齐彭殇为妄作。后之视今，亦由（犹）今之视昔，悲夫！故列叙时人，录其所述，虽世殊事异，所以兴怀，其致一也。后之揽（览）者，亦将有感于斯文。

Translation

In the ninth year of Yonghe, at the beginning of the late spring, we have gathered at the Orchid Pavilion in the North of Kuaiji Mountain for the purification ritual. All the literati, the young and the old, have congregated. There are high mountains and steep hills, dense wood and slender bamboos, as well as a limpid flowing stream reflecting the surrounding. We sit accordingly by a redirected stream with floating wine goblets. Although short of the company of music, the wine and poems are sufficient for us to exchange our feelings.

As for this day, the sky is clear and the air is fresh; the mild breeze greets us. I look up at the immense universe. I look down at myriad works [of poetry]. As our eyes wander, so do our minds too. Indeed, it is a pure delight for all our senses.

Acquaintance will quickly span a lifetime. Some would share their ambitions in a chamber; others may indulge into diverse interests and pursuits. The choices are plenty and our temperaments vary. We enjoy the momentary satisfactions when pleasures regale us, but we hardly realize how fast we will grow old. When we become tired of our desires and the circumstances change, grief will arise. What previously gratified us will be in the past,
we cannot help but to mourn. Whether life is long or short, there is always an end. As the ancients said, “Birth and death are two ultimate events.” How agonizing!

Reading the past compositions, I can recognize the same melancholy from the ancients. I can only lament before their words without being able to verbalize my feelings. It is absurd to equate life and death, and it is equally foolish to think that longevity is the same as the short-lived. The future generations will look upon us, just like we look upon our past. How sad! Hence, we record the people presented here today and their works; Even though time and circumstances will be different, the feelings expressed will remain unchanged. The future readers shall also empathize the same by reading this poems collection.

Samantha Cristoforetti

Samantha Cristoforetti, OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [saˈmanta kristofoˈretti]; born in Milan on 26 April 1977) is an Italian European Space Agency astronaut, former Italian Air Force pilot and engineer. She holds the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut (199 days, 16 hours), and until June 2017 held the record for the longest single space flight by a woman until this was broken by Peggy Whitson and later by Christina Koch. She is also the first Italian woman in space. She took command of ISS Expedition 68 on September 28 2022.

Samantha Cristoforetti’s connection to China

Samantha Cristoforretti traveled to China in 2017 to participate in a maritime survival exercise organized with Chinese astronauts in the Yellow Sea. It is also the first time that Chinese astronauts and foreign astronauts have conducted joint training in China.