Xiyuan Poems was composed when Wen Zhengming was fifty-six and serving in the capital as an Academician Awaiting Edict at the Hanlin Academy. The poems describe the imperial garden west of the palace city, centered on Taiye Pond. Wen is thought to have written this scroll at the age of eighty-five, making it one of his fine late works. The calligraphy is warm, elegant, steady, mature, rigorous in method, and lively in expression. Rooted in Wang Xizhi, it draws on many masters, with refined turning strokes, balanced spacing, calm structure, graceful movement, and a polished, flowing elegance.