Dongchuang is the term to call a son-in-law, which originates from the anecdote of the famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (321-379 or 303-361) as recorded in Shishuo xinyu 世說新語 [A New Account of the Tales of the World]. The story goes that the grand mentor Chi Jian 郗鉴 (269-339) wanted to marry his daughter to the Wang family by sending matchmakers and was reported that all sons of the Wang’s are in great manner except one, Wang Xizhi, who kept casually sitting on the eastern bed with his clothes open. Chi highly appreciated Wang Xizhi’s attitude and eventually married his daughter to him.
Language and Culture Center (LCC) at Duke Kunshan University
