CHINESE ART TREASURES
Front cover
:
Back cover:
Anonymous: Noble Scholar under a Eleventh century, Sung dynasty. (No.
Wen Cheng-ming
Willo 26)
Old Trees by a Cold Waterfall. Dated 1549, Ming dynasty. (No. 98) :
t
:.._
CHINESE ART TREASURES
._^
U
61
Waiting for Guests by Lamplight, by
Ma
Lin (ca. 1246,
Sung
dynasty)
CHINESE ART TREASU RES
A
Selected Group of Objects
from
THE CHINESE NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM and
THE CHINESE NATIONAL CENTRAL MUSEUM
TAICHUNG, TAIWAN
,^,jf^
^'***»-*-i4,
i--. Exhibited
the United States by
in
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA at
The National
The Metropolitan Museum The Museum The Art
1961-1962
The M.
of Fine Arts,
Institute of
H.
Washington
Gallery of Art,
of Art,
New York
Boston
Chicago
De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco
HONORARY PATRONS The Honorable John
Kennedy
F.
President of the United States of America
and Mrs. Kennedy
His Excellency Chiang Kai-shek President of the Republic of China
and Madame Chiang
HONORARY COMMITTEE For the Republic of China:
His Excellency
Chen Cheng
Vice President of the Republic of China and concurrently Presiden
His Excellency Vice President
His Excellency
Wang Yun-wu of the Executive
Yuan
Shen Chang-huan
Minister of Foreign Affairs
His Excellency Mei Yi-chi Minister of Education
His Excellency George K. C. Yeh Chinese Ambassador
United States of America
to the
For the United States of America:
The Honorable Dean Rusk The Secretary
of State
The Honorable C. Douglas The Secretary
The Honorable
of the
Dillon
Treasury
Everett F. Drumright
American Ambassador
to the Republic of
The Honorable William C. The Honorable Walter
The Honorable Henry
Bullitt
S. Robertson
R.
Luce
China
of the Executive
Yuan
/ EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
'
for the Republic of China:
Wang
Shih-chieh, chairman
Han Lih-wu
Chang Tao-fan
Li
Chang Chun
Chiu Nien-tai
Hu Shih
Kung Teh-cheng
Chi
Lo Chia-luen
For
t/ie
United States of America:
Walter Heil Director,
The M.
H. de
Young Memorial
IVIuseum,
San Francisco
John Maxon Director of Fine Arts,
The Art
Perry T. Rathbone Director, The Museum
James
J.
Director,
Institute of
of Fine Arts,
Chicago
Boston
Rorimer The Metropolitan Museum
of Art,
New
Yorl<
John Walker Director,
The
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
SELECTION COMMITTEE For the Republic of China:
Wang
Shih-chieh
Ma Shou-hua
Lo Chia-luen
Chuang Shang-yen
Kung Teh-cheng
Tan T'an-chiung
Chiang Ku-sun
Na
Chih-liang
For the United States of America:
John A. Pope,
chairman
Aschwin Lippe Tseng Hsien-ch'i
\ CATALOGUE COMMITTEE John A. Pope,
Chairman
Aschwin Lippe
CHINESE OFFICIAL
James
Cahill
Chuang Shang-yen
IN
CHARGE OF THE EXHIBITION
Yang Yun-chu
/
V,
Preface
The Chinese Palace Museum's collection of objects of art is unique. Few other ancient civilizations of the world have handed down to posterity the masterpieces of their great artists in a single collection that is comparable in size and value. The formation of this famous court collection may be said to have started from the very beginning of the Southern Sung dynasty (1127-1279 A.D.). Miraculously, it survived the invading Mongols in 1276, the Manchus in 1644, and the fall of Peiping in China's disastrous foreign wars in 1860 and 1900. Though it inevitably suffered some losses
in
each upheaval,
it
has been
in
the main expanding con-
tinuously over the past eight hundred years.
Its
scope
is
compre-
hensive, with paintings, calligraphies, porcelains and bronzes
dominant features. The
as
its
in
the collection has set standards of evaluation for scholars
and
experts alike.
art
In
fine quality of the objects included
the current exhibition
many
of the best
items of the collection are presented to a foreign public for the
time.
first
Founded Palace
in
1925 by the
Museum
court at Peiping.
Government
inherited Its
of the
Republic of China, the
collection from the former imperial
its
long-established policy
is
representation of Chinese art for the study of
other of
its
tion. Its
success
responsibilities in
saving
is it
to provide a all
good
art lovers.
An-
to preserve this invaluable collec-
from the scourge
of
war during the
mean achievement. This has farsightedness of the Museum's Board of
past thirty years alone has been no
been mainly due to the
Directors and the Chinese Government. Shortly before the out-
break of the Sino-Japanese
moved the
art
War
in
1937, the
Chinese Government
treasures from Peiping to Nanking, and later
re-
transported them to the southwestern provinces of Szechwan and
Kweichow where they were kept for the duration of the war. When Communist revolt spread over many parts of the country in 1948-1949, the Chinese Government and the Museum decided to
the
move them to safety, this time to Taiwan. During some good work has been done in cataloguing
the past decade, this great
accu-
mulation of the fmest products of Chinese culture.
As
movement
early as 1953 a
to exhibit a choice selection of this
collection in the United States got under way. Frequent visits by
leading American and European authorities on Chinese art to the
Palace
Museum
Taiwan have
at its site in
movement. Much
also
is
owed
to Mr.
greatly
encouraged the
Henry R. Luce, Mr. Walter
S. Robertson, Mr. William C. Bullitt, Mr. Everett F. Drumright, Dr. Hu Shih, Mr. Han Lih-wu and Mr. George K.C. Yeh, without whose strong advocacy and support the current exhibition would
not have materialized. I
deeply feel that introducing Chinese art to the Western world
carries a manifold meaning. in
To begin
presenting Chinese art per
with, there
as well as
se,
in
is
intrinsic value
presenting Chinese
as one of the fmest parts of the Chinese people's cultural
art
heritage. Furthermore,
Chinese
art is singularly reflective of the
Chinese philosophy
traditional
ancient Chinese
art,
especially
of in
Many
life.
a masterpiece of
the field of graphic
art,
described as being ultramundane. This characteristic,
I
may be venture
may lend not a little comfort and solace to the modern man who often feels himself entrapped in a materialistic world. It is my belief that the essence of ancient Greek art is its quality
to suggest,
if
of
harmony and symmetry,
ancient Chinese art quillity
could perhaps be said that that of
it
to impart a high
is its ability
sense
of tran-
and peacefulness. The serene world the ancient Chinese
artist
labored to depict was, however, not a world void of pas-
sions
;
tion.
of
it
was
rather a world
Moreover,
ours a
fuller
I
where passions had found sublima-
also feel strongly that,
understanding
of
American people, on whose shoulders the free world,
assumes
a
new
in
Chinese
these troubled times art
and culture by the
largely rests the future of
significance. This exhibition
may
also serve as a reminder that the free Chinese are fighting to save their cultural heritage as
For the current exhibition,
much as to recover lost territories. some two hundred and fifty items have
been chosen. They are necessarily a mere fraction collection
in
the Chinese Palace
people, major emphasis
same
time,
all
care
In
presenting them to the American
is laid
on paintings and porcelains. At
has gone into their selection.
the
of the vast
Museum. However, much
selected objects are highly representative of
each
of the categories of objects in the collection.
Many
of the
exhibits are so unique that they are not to be found elsewhere;
nor have they been given photographic reproduction anywhere before.
we
For such a careful selection
work
John A. Pope,
are indebted to the
Aschwin Lippe, and Tseng Hsien-ch'i as well as to the staff of the Palace Museum and the Central Museum. The latter museum has also contributed a number of items from its collection to this exhibition. On behalf painstai
of Dr.
Dr.
Mr.
of the joint
Board
to express
profound appreciation
of Directors of
these two Museums, to the
Department
the Navy of the United States, without
I
wish also
of State
and
whose assistance and
cooperation difficulties relating to the arrangement of this exhibition
and the transportation
of
these
art
treasures to the United
States would have been insurmountable.
To
all
those
changes, may
who
are dedicated to Sino-American cultural ex-
this exhibition prove to
be an event which brings
high reward for past efforts and offers great encouragement for future endeavors.
Wang Taipei,
Taiwan
Republic of China
Shih-chieh.
Foreword
Interest
Chinese
in
art is
no new thing
the United States.
in
The
great porcelain collections of the nineteenth century associated
names as Altman, Morgan, Walters, and Widener show-
with such
museum
ed American
visitors
the late periods and are only
in
still
some
of
thefmest Chinese wares
outstanding of their kinds. But
the last half century that
we began
it
of
was
back into
to look farther
the cultural history of China and to look beyond ceramics to the
bronzes, jades, lacquers, and especially the paintings of early times.
enthusiasm
In their
the collectors of of
fifty
for these newly discovered treasures,
years ago bought feverishly, and the
T'ang and Sung painters proliferated
after a
in
names
their catalogues.
Now,
sober reappraisal, we know better.
True, a number of the important early paintings
in
our collections
date from these pioneer days, and these have been supplemented by the discriminating purchases of the last two generations of
curators to the point where American collections of Chinese painting from the Sung, Yuan, Ming, and Ch'ing dynasties are
pre-eminent
in
the western world. Purchases of bronzes, jades,
lacquers and of pottery and porcelain of the early periods have
been no less significant so that
become accustomed
public has
Chinese
art.
It
is
connoisseurship
in
recent decades the American
perhaps because of
Americans
phase
to the best in every of this
that
the
known
interest
Government
Republic of China has so generously agreed to exhibit
museums
a selected
collection
in
National
Museum
The present
of
Museum and
of
the
in
our
masterpieces from the greatest
the world, that preserved jointly
Palace in
group
of
and
the
in
the Chinese
Chinese National
Central
Taichung, Taiwan. exhibition will serve not only to sharpen the standards
of scholars professionally
occupied
in this field
but to
show
the
American public the
Those
culture.
finest products of the history of
charge
in
of the selection tried to
Chinese
keep
in
mind
the desirability of showing the kinds of things that are least familiar to of the
American museum goers and
The
highest quality.
result
to
show them
an exhibition
is
paintings such as has not been seen
in
examples
of
Chinese
the west before, and
in
these are supplemented by an equally fine group of ceramics, lacquers, jades and other materials, and a few bronzes of particular historic interest.
For help to
many
in
assembling
remarkable exhibition
this
people, but special mention must be
K. C. Yeh, the
Chinese Ambassador
been actively interested since Taipei and has done Dr.
Wang
much
his years as
Shih-chieh has been
Government
behalf of the
in
On
American
the
George
way
charge
of
Foreign Minister
in
for the final result. all
negotiations on
Republic of China since they
of the
began, and has kept watch over shipping.
are indebted
of Dr.
Washington, who has
in
to clear the
we
made
details
all
side.
from selection to
The Honorable Walter
S.
Robertson and The Honorable James Graham Parsons, former Assistant Secretaries of State for Far Eastern Affairs, represented
our Government
in
the negotiations and were helpful
in
many
ways. For concrete support to the whole project we are indebted
The Henry Luce Foundation,
to the interest of
individuals were helpful
in
among whom we would mention
We
are also
most
Inc.
Many other
the promotion of the exhibition project, especially Dr. Frank G.
grateful to the joint
James.
Chinese-American com-
mittee which undertook the actual selection of the objects and particularly to the representatives of the
John A. Pope Gallery of Art,
Aschwin Lippe
Art,
and Tseng Hsien-chi
who
travelled to
exacting task.
American museums,
of the Freer Gallery of Art, acting for the National of the Metropolitan
of the
Museum
Museum
of Fine Arts,
Taiwan and spent many weeks devoted
On
their return, Mr.
with the assistance of
James
time-consuming assignment
Pope and
Cahill,
of
Boston, to this
Mr. Lippe, this time
accepted the arduous and
of preparing the present scholarly
catalogue. Thanks are also due to the staffs of the Chinese
museums,
12
particularly
Messrs. Chuang Shang-yen, Tan T'an-
"^^
chiung,
Na
Chih-liang,
Wu- Vii-ch'ang who
and
Lin-ts'an,
Li
supplied the information, later compiled by Mr. H.
which, Finally,
in
part, the descriptive text of the
the five participating
catalogue
museums wish
L. is
Koo, on based.
express their
to
satisfaction at having the opportunity to present an exhibition of this extraordinary rarity
and beauty
to the
American
public.
JOHN WALKER Director,
JAMES Director,
The National
Gallery of Art,
Washington
RORIMER
J.
The Metropolitan Museum
of
Art
RATHBONE
PERRY
T.
Director,
The Museum
of Fine
Arts, Boston
JOHN MAXON Director of Fine Arts,
WALTER Director,
The Art
Institute of
Chicago
HEIL
The M.
San Francisco
H. de
Young Memorial Museum,
Introduction
The Collection The former vast
Imperial Collection of the IManchu (Ch'ing) dynasty of China, the
assemblage
of art objects
Museums
from which the present National Palace and
was brought together in the eighwho is also known by the title of his long reign (1736-1796) as the Ch'ien-lung Emperor. He inherited many of the pieces from the earlier Manchu rulers, who had themselves taken over some of them from their predecessors, the imperial house of the Ming dynasty. Central
collections were drawn,
teenth century by the Emperor Kao-tsung,
But the greater
including the majority of the important painting and
part,
calligraphy, Kao-tsung acquired from private owners, either by purchase or
as
gifts.
The Ch'ien-lung Emperor's
was, naturally enough, aristocratic and
taste
conservative. Paintings from the court academies of former emperors, or from
orthodox schools
Chinese
gaps
later times,
in
ceramics from the Sung and Ming imperial
products of the most firmly founded and highly esteemed traditions of
kilns,
in
make up the bulk of the collection. There are, as a result, some whole schools and categories of art that are sparsely represented
art, it,
or absent altogether. Within
limitations,
its
however, the Palace
Museum
unmatched richness; and its areas of strength are among the glories of Chinese art. It is these areas of strength that have been emphasized in the selection of the present exhibition. The aim has been to choose the collection
is
of
each of the major categories, rather than to represent the
finest pieces in
widest possible range of types and styles, at the expense of quality.
The
collection
has had a remarkable history since Kao-tsung's time;
it
is
any other of comparable importance has travelled so far or been subjected to such hazards. It was passed down through the Manchu imperial unlikely that
line to the last
from 1908
emperor, Hsuan-t'ung, whose period of actual
until 1912,
but
years after that. While
were given as
it
gifts or
who
was under
his control, a great
otherwise disposed
installed in Peking in 1925 as the Palace
objects that had been recovered from
placed Central
in
a separate
Museum
in
museum
;
rule lasted only
retained possession of the collection for
of.
Most
many of
some
of the best pieces
what remained was
Museum (Ku-kung Po-wu Yuan). Some the old Summer Palace in Jehol were
these were eventually turned overto the National
Nanking. During the period 1933-1937, when Peking was
threatened by the Japanese invasion, the most important objects from both collections were crated and shipped south to Shanghai and Nanking. Later
they were taken for safety inland to
Szechwan and Kweichow Provinces where
they remained throughout the war. Between 1945 and 1947, the crates were
moved back
to Nanking,
and
in
ever since, stored near Taichung
1949 to Taiwan where they have been kept in
the central part of the island.
15
Art of the Early Periods: Shang, Chou,
The
earliest period in
preserved artifacts 1028 B.C.
until
China that
Shang
the
is
is
l^nown from both recorded history and
or Yin dynasty, which lasted from about 1523
the revised chronology; 1766-1122 B.C.
(in
chronology). During the
was located near the present town
of the
Yellow River, and excavations there
remains of a
civilization of high material
was reached
Chou dynasty
ing
in
the late
of
Anyang
in
times, are
Honan province, north
in
recent years have uncovered the
and
artistic
Shang and
achievement. The peak
early part of the
succeed-
manu-
(1028-256 B.C.) and bronze vessels from this age,
was never
factured on a technical and aesthetic level that later
the traditional
in
from around 1300, the Shang
latter half of this period,
capital
of this civilization
Han
among
the treasures of Chinese
art.
to be equalled in
Admiration for their
powerful shapes and well integrated decor, however, as well as for the amazing precision of the casting and the richly colored patina they have acquired with
through the centuries, is chiefly a matter of modern occidental taste. Chinese antiquarians and connoisseurs, who usually clean and wax the bronze burial
surfaces, have valued the vessels rather as relics of a great early stage
by Confucius,
civilization, of that idealized antiquity praised
of rulers
and subjects were ordered by
The vessels were The
relief or linear
and cooking food
Chou
of the
in
their
in
who could
afford
such
sacrifices to the spirits of
surface designs, apart from the purely abstract,
are entirely devoted to animal forms, which held
significance
in
the lives
and ceremony.
originally used, by the ruling class
costly objects, for heating wine
ancestors.
ritual
when
the religion of the time.
Some
some symbolic and magical
of the vessels, especially
period, have long inscriptions cast or incised
in
those
them, and such
pieces are especially treasured by the Chinese as monuments of epigraphy and documents of history. It must be remembered, however, that many "antique documents", handsome bronzes with long inscriptions, were fabricated with great skill centuries later, in the Sung dynasty and thereafter, to meet the demands of scholars and collectors. It is only recently that epigraphists and metallurgists have
begun
to distinguish the later copies
from the
truly
ancient
originals.
By the middle of the Chou, the central power was drastically weakened, and the country divided into feudal principalities. By the time of Confucius (551-
become independent states. The last three centuries of the known as the Warring States Period, was a time of almost continual struggle between these states which ended only when one of them, Ch'in, overcame the last opposition and established a unified rule over the first true Chinese empire. The Ch'in dynasty was short-lived (256-207 B.C.) but the Han, which succeeded it, was one of the strongest and most enduring (206 B.C.-
479 B.C.) these had dynasty,
Chinese history. and sculpture flourished under the Han, but little of either survives. Painting is known chiefly through pictorial engravings in stone, and sculpture through small objects of bronze, pottery and jade. The jade chimera in the exhibition, while it is probably of a slightly later date, retains a good bit
220 A.D.)
The
of
in
arts of painting
Han
and reveals how well the sculptors had by now mastered threeitself. Jade is a "tough" stone comfibrous crystals which cannot be cut or carved, but must be worked
style,
dimensional form, as well as the medium
posed
of
entirely by abrasion like.
16
:
various sawing tools,
The jade used by
drills,
grinding wheels, and the
the early Chinese craftsmen
came from Chinese
Turkestan, west of China proper, and varied
color through a wide range of
in
brown, green, yellow, grey and white tones, with subtle markings. To the visual loveliness
and
appeal of polished jade, a special value was added
tactile
by the supernatural properties the Chinese attributed to the stone.
One
great chapter
in
the history of Chinese
the Buddhist sculpture of the
art,
centuries following the Han: the Six Dynasties, Sui and T'ang periods, illustrated in this exhibition at
small
gilt
bronzes, never had
Buddhist sculpture, except
all.
much
attraction for
case was not considered sufficiently elegant
in
Buddhism
in
any
taste to have a place
in
the
in
the
is in
order here. Originating
in
first
became
a powerful element in
was once more fifth to
attract
split into rival states.
It
was
the eighth century, after which
it
the peak of
at
declined
adherents and commission works of
art,
it
Chinese society
Han empire, when China
the turbulent period following the collapse of the
the
in
China shortly before the
India in the sixth century B.C., the religion reached
beginning of our era, but
not
Chinese collectors, and
in
imperial collection. Since a few Buddhist paintings of later times appear exhibition, however, a brief note on
is
the form of
;
its
influence from
and while it continued to played no major role in
Chinese culture and thought thereafter though it influenced Neo-Confucian thought in the Sung and later periods, and developed a special sinicized form of Buddhism, the Ch'an (Zen) sect.
Painting and Calligraphy In
painting and calligraphy, two of the three arts traditionally held
esteem by the Chinese It
is
poetry), the Palace
unmatched especially
Sung dynasty
flower and animal pictures of the of the leading In
is
Museum
in
highest
Collection
is
what may properly be called Chinese painting: the landscapes, figure compositions, and bird,
richer than any other.
the core of
(the third
in
(960-1260 A.D.), and the works
masters of the YUan (1260-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties.
other collections, moreover, painting of the
Sung dynasty and
earlier is
represented almost entirely by small pictures, chiefly handscrolls; nowhere else can
The
one see large hanging
scrolls from the early periods in any
extraordinary strength of the Palace
Museum
collection in
painting accounts for the preponderance of early works tion.
It
is
true that only a small
number
in
numbers.
Sung and
earlier
the present exhibi-
of these bear reliable signatures
and
can be safely ascribed to particular masters, but the same or (more commonly)
worse situation prevails must be used to date and
a
paintings
scholars
will
in all
other collections as well, and other evidence
attribute the pictures.
probably always remain
may be
in
A
majority of early Chinese
anonymous however successful
determining their age and the
stylistic traditions to
future
which
they belong. Of the few extant early paintings with trustworthy signatures
and the even fewer dated pieces, in this
a surprisingly large proportion are included
exhibition.
Most Chinese painting occurs in one or the other of the two forms of mounting mentioned above, the handscroll and hanging scroll. The handscroll is in the shape of a horizontal strip, ordinarily about a foot in height but varying greatly in length. It is kept rolled up except when actually being viewed, at which time one sees it in sections, as the pictures pass before one's gaze, one hand unrolling (to the left) and the other rerolling the portion already seen. Such scrolls were not, therefore, meant originally to be exposed at full length, as they must be in an exhibition, at least so far as space permits. The hanging
17
scroll, by contrast,
as
to be
was intended
A
the western easel painting.
is
either of a collection of
hung on the
third
form
is
wall
and seen
In its entirety,
the album, which
may
consist
pictures by different artists and of different
small
periods, or of an integrated series by one artist, executed as a single work. Chinese painters, especially after the Sung dynasty, were fond of writing inscriptions on their
artist,
related in subject to the pictures, or prose
works— poems
circumstances under which they were created. Friends of the as well as later connoisseurs and collectors, added inscriptions, which of the
accounts
poems
again could consist of
or prose, usually appreciative
comments
in
the
case. Probably the most prolific writer of inscriptions in history, and one of the few who violated the canons of good taste in the size and placement flaccid of his inscriptions, was the Ch'ien-lung Emperor himself. His rather latter
calligraphy
may be seen on most
of the
paintings
in
the exhibition. Long
inscriptions were also written on the mountings, or, in the case of handscrolls, on separate pieces of paper or silk mounted after the picture. Inscriptions of
known as colophons, and often yield valuable information about the history of the painting and how it was understood and appreciated in former times. Also of value in tracing the previous ownership of a painting, although somewhat annoying to occidental viewers, are the seals impressed
this last type are
on the painting surfaces or studio
names. Most
in
red pigment by collectors, bearing their personal
of the large
and often obtrusive seals on the Palace
paintings are those of the Ch'ien-lung Emperor, although seals of two of his successors, the Chia-ch'ing and HsiJan-t'ung Emperors, are also
Museum
common. The early is known
history of chiefly
Chinese painting,
through
great flourishing of the art to the sixth centuries,
prior to the
T'ang dynasty (618-906 A. D.),
records. From these
literary
we
learn of the first
the later Six Dynasties period, from the fourth it first attained a truly respectable status, along
in
when
with literature, music, and calligraphy, as worthy of serious critical attention. The survey of Chinese painting presented by the exhibition begins, however,
The brief Sui dynasty (589-618) had unified the country again after nearly four centuries of division, during which extensive areas had been under the control of non-Chinese peoples from Central Asia with the early T'ang period.
and Mongolia, and placed it once more under a single native rule. The T'ang inherited and consolidated this new national power, and through brilliant west. military campaigns pushed the frontiers of Chinese dominance far to the Changan, the T'ang capital, became the richest and most cosmopolitan city perhaps of the seventh century world. The painting that is stylistically (although not to
in
actual date) the earliest
Yen Li-pen
pride
(d. 673),
an
in
the exhibition, the Tribute Bearers attributed
artist of the imperial court,
reflects the
Chinese from
this national glory, depicting the arrival of a tribute mission
in
Southeast Asia. Figure subjects were most popular in the T'ang period; life. historical anecdotes, famous personages of the past, scenes of palace Another favorite subject was animals, especially horses, a genre in which the eighth century master
a
new prominence
in
Han Kan was pre-eminent. Landscape began the latter part of the dynasty.
Emperor Mmg-huang's journey century
:
the ostensible subject
to Shu, is
An example
is
to
assume
the famous
depicting an incident of the eighth
subordinated to
its
setting, a vivid rendering
rugged mountain scenery of Szechwan Province. These paintings are done in the ancient and orthodox Chinese mode, fine-line brush drawing on other artists. silk with washes of color. In this same period, however, certain
of the
18
who worked
most
for the
of ink
known
and were
some cases
in
painted as an avocation, explored the potentialities
monochrome painting and broader manners of brushwork. The best of these was Wang Wei (699-759); another was Lu Hung, to whom the important early scroll entitled
attributed
is
part outside the court circles
who
scholars and officials
Ten Scenes Viewed from a
Thatched Lodge.
Under the brief Five Dynasties period (906-960) which followed the T'ang, China was divided once more, with short-lived "dynasties" succeeding one another
in different
T'ang, with
its
Among
parts of the country.
capital at Nanking,
was
these states, the Southern
relatively peaceful.
It
claimed to be the
legitimate successor to the T'ang dynasty,
and continued T'ang artistic traditions. The court Academy of the last Southern T'ang ruler, the poet-emperor Li Yu, included several of the greatest Chinese artists: Chou Wen-chij, who specialized in scenes of palace ladies the flower painter Hsu Hsi Chao Kan, ;
who was famous
for river
;
scenes and the landscapists Tung Yuan and ChiJ-jan, ;
who, along with two northern painters of slightly earlier date, Ching Hao and Kuan T'ung, began the evolution that was to culminate in the incomparable landscapes
and twelfth centuries. Meanwhile, the north and east what are now Manchuria and Mongolia, was controlled
of the eleventh
of China, with portions of
by the Liao dynasty of the Khitan Tartars, which lasted into the early twelfth
The famous
century.
paintings of deer
in
an autumn forest are works of this
period, and others in the exhibition, whether or not actually painted by Liao artists,
belong
in
the special tradition they inaugurated.
The Sung dynasty (960-1260) is customarily divided into two parts: the first (960-1127), when the capital was located at the northern city of Kaifeng, is known as the Northern Sung, and the remainder, the period after the capital had been moved south to Hangchow and the north of China abandoned to the Chin (Jurchen) Tartars, as the Southern Sung. Among the Northern Sung artists,
the landscapists were outstanding. Beginning with
Ch'eng and
Li
continuing with Fan K'uan, Kuo Hsi and others, a succession of masters of
such power that Chinese art of
landscape
critics
to a height of
elsewhere. Through a
speak
of
them as superhuman brought the
grandeur never equalled again,
consummate handling
of ink
through new solutions to problems of representing
in
China or
monochrome technique, space, mass and texture,
they gave to their compositions a sense of vast order and coherence that reflects both the Taoist
beings, placed play only minor
The same in
in
and the prevailing Neo-Confucian world-views.
and transitory roles in these pictures. from the human world to that
shift of interest
the popularity of bird, flower and animal painting
such eminent
artists
the imperial court.
as Ts'ui Po and
The
last of the
I
of nature
in this
Yuan-chi were
may be seen when
period,
summoned
to paint for
who
specialized
in
Academy.
genre
The
greatest of the landscapists
his
same
Northern Sung emperors, Hui-tsung, was
himself a painter of birds and flowers, and favored artists this
in
Human
sharp contrast to the grandeur and permanence of nature,
in
Hui-tsung's Academy,
Sung
a pivotal position in the transition to Southern
important surviving works, both
in this
Li
T'ang, occupies
styles.
exhibition, illustrate the
the huge hanging scroll preserves
much
His two most
main phases
ing
Sung tradimonumental landscape, while the handscroll, especially in its openpassage, points the way to the smaller-scale, more intimate mode that
was
to prevail in the Imperial
of his art
:
of the Northern
tion of the
Academy through
the following centuries. This
19
new mode reached in
its full
maturity
in
the school of
Ma Yuan and
Hsia Kuei,
the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Ever greater areas of the
picture
were given over to mist and space
viated.
The
stern world of Northern
forms were simplified and abbre-
;
Sung landscape was transformed
into an
through which roam elegant scholars enjoying the scenery. The
ideal realm,
warm romantic mood
of
Academy works
these pictures also pervades the
other genres: pictures of playing children by
Su Han-ch'en
or
Li
in
Sung, or
and flowers by Li Ti, Ma Yuan and others. Atthe same time, however, very different kinds of painting were being produced
birds, animals
outside the
Academy,
especially
painters" that had arisen
in
in
the school of scholar-amateurs or
belong the great Su Shih and his friend the
landscapist Mi Fu and his son Mi Yu-jen, the figure painter well as of
such
later
Sung
who were
these men,
"literati
Sung period. To this tradition bamboo painter Wen T'ung, the
the late Northern
artists
as
Wu
YiJan-chih and
Mou
poets and calligraphers as well
Li
Kung-lin, as
The primary aim as painters, was not to I.
create accurate images of the world outside them, or objects of beauty, or rather to embody in their works something of their skill it was own nature and feeling. The new ideals and new styles of the scholar-painters did not arrive at full fruition, however, until the Yuan dynasty (1263-1368). This was the dynasty of the Mongols, descendants of Genghis Khan, who had overcome first the Chin Tartars and then the Sung Chinese, and now ruled the whole of China from their capital in Peking. The Literati School of painting, which had showed little originality or impetus in the Southern Sung, now sprang again to life. A few of its major masters, such as Chao Meng-fu and Kao K'o-kung, held high office in the Mongol court, but more of them belonged to the society of "recluses", disaffected scholars who congregated in a small area south of the Yangtze River and remained somewhat aloof from the affairs of the nation. In this group belong the so-called Four Great Masters, Huang Kung-wang, Wu Chen, Ni Tsan and Wang Meng. All these, and a number of their important
displays of
;
contemporaries, are well represented
in
the present exhibition.
In
landscape,
the main theme of Yuan painting, they turned from the styles and taste of
Southern Sung to something
partly
new,
partly derived
from older schools,
Kuo Hsi. Bamboo painting in ink monochrome was also popular among the Yuan artists. With the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), native rule was restored to China, and Chinese culture, including painting, came to be suffused with the sense of particularly those of
Tung
Yiian and
well-being that reflects an age of peace and prosperity. During the of the
Ming period only a few
tradition of the of a
group
artists of rank,
such as
Wang
first
century
Fu, carried on the
Yuan scholar-painters. More impressive are the achievements many of whom worked under imperial patronage;
of professionals,
of these, the landscapist Tai
Chin and the bird-and-flower master Lu Chi are
New
was infused into the literati tradition Shen Chou, his follower Wen Cheng-ming, and their numerous associates who make up the Wu or Soochow School. Admiring and imitating the Yuan masters, and through them certain schools of Sung painting, they exhibited a degree of eclecticism that was new
represented in
in
the exhibition.
life
the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by
Chinese painting. Also active in the same city of Soochow (just west of in this period were T'ang Yin and Ch'iu Ying, two very versatile painters who, with remarkable success, combined the superb technical mastery
in
Shanghai)
of the best professional styles with the refined taste of the scholars.
20
The seventeenth century was the age the leading connoisseur and
of the individualists.
Tung Ch'i-ch'ang,
opened the way with landscapes which, although purportedly based on the styles of the Yuan masters, were revolutionary in their effect on later painting. From the late years of the Ming through the early decades of the Ch'ing (or Manchu) dynasty (1644-1912), a number of individualists and eccentrics appeared on the artistic scene. IVIany of them entered religious orders or went into retirement after the fall of the critic of his
day,
Ming, refusing to serve under the Manchu invaders. Partly because of these political dissent, partly for reasons of artistic taste, their works were almost ignored by the Ch'ing emperors. Only one of them, Ch'en Hungconnotations of
shou,
represented
is
in
the exhibition, although works of a few others are
in
Museum.
the Palace
The orthodox
line in
Wangs (Wang
the early Ch'ing lay
Shih-min,
Wang
in
the school of the so-called Four
Wang
Hui and Wang Yuan-ch'i), and Yijn Shou-p'ing. In their landscapes, the innovations of Tung Ch'ich'ang were adopted but used for tamer and more conservative ends, and
Wu
Chien,
Li
practically every painting
famous
early master.
richness
in
was designated as being "in the manner of" some The Chinese admire their works for a special textural
the brushwork, and for subtle references to old traditions— for is, which may easily elude most western viewers. Their styles
qualities, that
dominated the Ch'ing Court Academy to a stultifying degree. The Palace Museum collection contains hundreds of paintings by court artists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but they were not considered to be of sufficient interest to warrant inclusion in the exhibition.
China as in the west, paintings were sometimes translated into textiles through the techniques of tapestry weaving and embroidery. The special Chinese form of tapestry weave known as k'o-ssu, in which colored threads In
woven into the warp to make the design, was done in Central Asia as early as the T'ang dynasty, and a few fragments of that age have been discovered. are
The three examples in the exhibition are attributed to the Sung dynasty; two of them bear signatures (also woven) of a famous master of this technique, Shen Tzu-fan. An example of Sung dynasty embroidery is also included. Of
all
the arts
in
China, the most widely practiced by far has been calligraphy who takes pride in his writing is to that extent a calligra;
every literate person pher.
Because
calligraphy, like poetry
and painting, can serve as a vehicle for the individual man to communicate his thought and feeling, and was therefore one of the scholarly accomplishments rather than a professional skill, it has been regarded by the Chinese as one of the major arts. The choice of the text to be written is of decidedly secondary importance; the artistic value of the work of calligraphy lies in the design of the individual characters and their compositional relationship, ginality
in
the correct balance between tradition and
ori-
the variant forms of characters used, and in the strength and expressiveness of the brushstrokes of which they are composed. The forms of in
calligraphy, in their essentially abstract character, are somewhat akin to the expressive forms of non-objective art in the modern west, although it must be noted that the Chinese calligrapher underwent a longer and stricter training,
and
a
much
firmer discipline
was required
of
him than most "calligraphic"
Many Chinese calligraphers are said to have found nature: the greatest of them, Wang Hsi-chih, in the curving necks of swimming geese, another in scudding clouds, and so forth. But the painters display today.
inspiration
in
proficiency that preceded such inspiration
came from years
of practice.
21
Any understanding
of
Chinese calligraphy demands some knowledge
of the
nature and evolution of the script. Beginning as a form of picture-writing, the
Chinese
script
soon overcame the limitations
com-
system
of
now
use can
of this primitive
munication. Only a minor fraction of the Chinese characters
in
most are compounds formed by combining complex ways. By the latter part of the Chou dynasty, the characters had become highly formalized, and the Large be traced back to simple pictures
phonetic and semantic elements
came
Seal (ta-chuan) script {hsiao-chuan)
Han, and
in
;
in
into being. This
was followed by
the Small Seal
the Ch'in dynasty, the Clerical or Official style (li-shu)
finally, shortly after
the
in
the Han, the Square or Standard script, k'ai-shu,
which has been the orthodox form of writing ever since, and upon which the The abbreviated and fluid cursive
typefaces of printed Chinese are based. scripts,
used for ease and speed
in
writing letters
and drafts
of
documents,
evolved along with the Standard style; these are the Running (hsing-shu) and mistranslated as "Grass") scripts. All these are
Draft (ts'oo-s/iu, often
used by modern calligraphers, although the others being considered archaic. Already it
its
greatest heights
Chinese have revered
in
the Six Dynasties.
for sixteen
Wang
still
most common, the
the Han period calligraphy had attained the status of an
in
rose to
last three are
Hsi-chih,
art,
but
whom
the
centuries as the "Sage of Calligraphy",
belongs to this period. Very few examples of writing by the masters of that age survive, except in stone engravings. Their works were admired, collected and imitated, however, by
T'ang calligraphers, such as the eighth century Emperor
HsiJan-tsung, the writer of the
developments
in
first
piece of calligraphy
Draft script, practiced by the eccentric Buddhist
The
the exhibition.
in
New
the T'ang included a "wild" (and scarcely legible) form of the
was the
next peak period
late
monk
Huai-su,
among
Northern Sung, when the group of
others. literati
Su Shih, mentioned already in connection with painting, produced three first-class calligraphers: Su himself, his disciple Huang T'ing-chien, and Mi Fu, all represented in the exhibition. Their younger contemporary Emperor led by
Hui-tsung, besides being an accomplished painter, created an elegant and distinctive calligraphic
several paintings writing.
The
although
manner, which may be admired
the exhibition, as well as
into painting.
Yuan dynasty.
The
in
greatest painters were usually proficient as calligra-
was not so regularly true. Chao Meng-fu of the and Tung Ch'i-ch'ang of the Ming, all of whom
in
the exhibition as painters, are to be seen also as
Cheng-ming's four versions of the Thousand Character special interest to occidental audiences in that they display
text in four of the principal scripts:
(//)
was more and
painting and calligraphy
calligraphy were adopted
Wen
Classic will be of
same
on
Wen Cheng-ming
have prominent places calligraphers.
Clerical
his inscriptions
calligraphy of his successor Kao-tsung has a similar elegance,
phers, although the reverse
the
in
the separate scroll of his
is
even closer, as types of brushwork used
more
in
more conventional. Sung dynasty, the relationship between
it
After the
in
Standard
(k'ai), Draft {ts'ao),
and Seal (chuan).
Ceramics and Other Materials The
collection of ceramics in the Palace
the painting collection
in
Museum
is
even more limited than
the variety of types represented, but as
painting, a great richness exists within these limitations.
22
in
the case of
The wares
collected,
Sung, Ming and Ch'ing dynasonce more the aristocratic taste of the Ch'ien-lung Emperor for high technical finish and elegant forms. Ceramics of periods prior to the Sung are not to be found in this collection, which seems to have been formed primchiefly the products of the imperial l
ties,
reflect
arily
of pieces transmitted by imperial
and other collectors, rather than
of
excavated pieces. Moreover, the Sung wares that were intended for more practical use, such as the Chien and Tz'u-chou wares so much admired in the west today, partly because of their popularity in Japan, have traditionally been held in lower esteem by the Chinese, and are likewise absent from the
collection, or poorly represented.
Sung ceramics in
body
technique, style and taste from T'ang
reflect a radical shift in
pottery which, although (fired at a
some
was being made,
porcelain
lower temperature), simpler
in
is
generally softer
shape, and often decorated
Sung potters aimed rather at the utmost The profiles of their pieces exhibit complex curves, and the glazes are usually monochrome, in subtle hues. Decoration, when present at all, is ordinarily confined to designs carved or moulded on the body, and softened in appearance by the covering glazes. The Sung wares with florid designs in brilliant colors.
refinement
in all
aspects of their
art.
are of the highest order technically as well as artistically, with their f eld spat hie
glazes firmly bonded to high-fired stoneware bodies, and such glaze charac-
minute bubbles which are responsible for the unctuous appearance and texture, and the crackles that are cultivated as spontaneous patterns,
teristics as the
all
controlled by these master craftsmen.
Examples
wares from the Sung dynasty are included in the exhibition Kuan and Chi-chou. Chun ware was produced at several kilns in
of four
ChiJn, Ju,
:
Honan Province, in the north of China. Its thick, bubbly glaze, on a fine light stoneware body, ranges through soft blue and lavender tones, otten with suffusions of crimson. Ju ware
and one
of the rarest;
is
it
is
one
of the
most renowned
of
Sung ceramics,
said to have been produced under strict imperial
supervision and exclusively for use in ceremonial banquets in the imperial court, and only during the short period from 1107 to the fall of the Northern capital in 1127. The traditional site of the Ju kilns is at Ju-chou, also in Honan Province, but no shards of the type now generally identified as Ju have
been found there, so the exact circumstances
of
its
manufacture remain pro-
The glaze is grey-blue or grey-green in color, and usually has a fine ice crackle. Kuan (which simply means "official") was made, presumably for court use, at both the Northern and Southern capitals, but that made for the blematic.
Northern Court imperial court to city for
at
Kaifeng has yet to be identified. After the removal of the
Hangchow
in
1127, kilns
exhibition were probably
ban Altar")
kiln,
times so that
made
all
from which
one
at
kiln site
we have some
were established
The examples
the production of Kuan ware.
of
at
two places
Southern Kuan
of these sites, the Chiao-tan
materials have been recovered
clues to
its
identification.
pieces range through grey-greens and grey-blues, and there a widely spaced crackle.
Many
of the
Kuan shapes
is
in
the
("Subur-
in
The colors
in that
modern Kuan
of
nearly always
reflect the antiquarian
Sung nobility, imitating ancient bronze and jade objects. The Yuan dynasty saw only a single major innovation in ceramic manufacture, but one that was to overshadow all others for more than three centuries: interests of the
porcelain with underglaze decoration
"blue and white." White porcelain
in
cobalt blue, the universally renowned
was not new
in itself;
a translucent white
ceramic had been produced as early as the T'ang dynasty, and another, the
23
Ch'ing-pai ware, under the Sung. (The Chinese word translated as "porcelain" is
not confined to white or translucent wares, but applies to
all
that are high-
and produce a ringing sound when struck.) The date and circumstances the origin of the blue and white technique are not known. Chinese tradition
fired
of
puts
Sung
the
in
it
found.
period, but no evidence to verify this early date has been
any case,
In
was
it
highly developed by the mid-fourteenth century;
development was certainly stimulated by, if it did not originate in, the close contacts with the Near Eastthat had been opened by the Mongol conquest
and of
its
nearly
Asia, including China. These contacts continued
of
all
;
during
several of the Ming reigns, the cobalt material used for the underglaze blue
was imported from
"Muhammedan
Blue" produced a deeper, and so was preferred. Also from the Near East came Islamic decorative motifs which are to be seen on some blue Persia. This
richer color than the local cobalt ore,
and white pieces.
One
manufacture
of the centers for the
had been the region of Chingtechen
in
porcelainous ware
of
in
the
Sung dynasty
Kiangsi Province, where the ware known
as Ch'ing-pai or "bluish-white" (often called Ying-ch'ing or "shadowy-blue")
had been made. Large deposits of kaolin or "china clay" and petuntse or "china stone", along with other materials used
were
in
the porcelain body and glaze,
chiefly responsible for the concentration of porcelain production in this
region.
In
Yuan dynasty, a distinctive white ware with slip decoration under known as Shu-fu ware, was made in the same place. At
the
a transparent glaze,
the end of the fourteenth century, imperial kilns were established at Ching-
techen, which had by then It
become
the center of ceramic manufacture
in
China.
supplied blue and white porcelain to the imperial court, to the Chinese market
and to merchants engaged in foreign trade, who exported it to Japan, Southeast Asia, India and the Near East, even to Africa, and finally to Europe, where it revolutionized the taste and technique of occidental ceramics. While the Chingtechen artisans maintained the most uniformly high quality only pieces destined for court use,
many extremely
hands and even
well into private
fine pieces
found
their
in
the
way as
into the export trade.
During the early Ming reigns underglaze red, known as
yu-li hung,
sometimes
replaced the underglaze blue decoration. But the technique, based on the reduction of copper oxide, proved extremely difficult to control, and wastage
was so great used
in
its
that
abandoned later, and an overglaze red enamel monochromes, likewise produced with reduced the same reason, are called by the Chinese chi-hung or
was
it
place.
Two
all
but
red
copper and
rare for
"sacrificial
red" and pao-shih-hung or "precious stone red"; the story that
ground-up rubies were used between them
distinction
is
for the glaze of the latter
not clear.
monochrome ware, on which
white in slip
or incising on the
known
"three-color ware", the surface of which
enamel colors covering
sented
it.
in
in
The
either by far
is
a
body before glazing (the so-called an-hua or "secret
the Ming polychromes, the best
fired lead glazes,
surely fantasy, and the
subtle designs were applied by painting
decoration") or else by moulded or applique
Among
is
More common than
is
relief. in
the west are the san-ts'ai or
completely covered with medium-
and the wu-ts'ai or "five-color ware", on which lower-fired body without
a greater variety are used to decorate the white rarest
and most refined
the exhibition,
is
of the
Ming polychromes,
well repre-
the tou-ts'ai or "contrasting colors", on which
transparent green, yellow and aubergine enamels, together with an opaque red,
were
laid within
the spaces defined by drawing
in
underglaze blue. This was an
invention of the Ch'eng-hua period (1465-1487)
when the finest examples were made, and was much imitated later. As works of art, Ming porcelains are distinguished by a sense of purity and perfection minor flaws and accidental markings that were allowed or even cultivated in Sung pottery could no longer be tolerated in the chaste, white ;
The same insistence on flawlessness continued into the Ch'ing dynasty, and combined with technical advances to bring Chinese ceramics to a stage of ultimate refinement in the late seventeenth and eighteenth vessels of Ming.
Monochrome
centuries.
blossomed
glazes were no longer limited to a few colors, but
into a variety of hues.
that they could be
used
like
Enamels were now so
pigments
skillfully
to paint colorful pictures
controlled
on the porcelain
Some
ground.
of the finest known examples of such painting are in the exhibiinfluence of Europe, which reached the Chinese court through Jesuit missionaries in Peking, appears in porcelain designs, and also in enamel designs
tion.
The
on copper and glass, two techniques also represented by fine examples. Paintings by such European artists as Watteau and Boucher, classical motifs and Christian scenes, were copied by the Chinese, for whom they had the same exotic
charm as
did chinoiserie for
types of polychrome which
in
of as typifying the best Ch'ing
vases, for are
none
example— were in
the Palace
in
Europeans
in
this period. Curiously, certain
the west have been highly prized and thought
taste— the great famille verte and famille noire made for the European market; there
fact mostly
Museum
collection.
Blue-and-white porcelain was still manufactured with some skill under the Ch'ing dynasty, but the vigor was gone from this medium. A decadence had
begun
to set in generally; technical display
had become an end
in itself,
fascination with tour-de-force effects, such feats as the imitation
in
and
a
ceramic of
bronze, various minerals, wood, or shark-skin, supplanted the restraint and taste of earlier periods. A few pieces of high quality were made in the first half of the nineteenth century, but they are exceptions in a period of steady
good
decline. Finally, the exhibition includes objects in a variety of materials to exemplify the varying taste of the scholars and nobility of the Ming and Ch'ing periods.
A fondness for the ornate may be seen sonne vessels the aim
in
in
The evocation pieces, notably some
of Ch'ing.
certain
more austere elegance favored by the
the great Ming lacquers, and
in
the cloi-
modes seems to have been jade carvings. The simpler and
of ancient
of the
well illustrated by other jade carvings, or by pieces intended for the scholar's study, such as the carved literati is
bamboo
brush-holders. All these serve to round out the remarkably full picture presented by this exhibition of Chinese art as it was admired and collected by the emperors of China, and is now being carefully preserved in Taiwan as a
constant reminder of China's traditional cultural heritage.
Map
of
China showing the principal places mentioned
in
the catalogue
Chinese Chronology
ShangorYin Chou
ca. 1523-1028 B.C.
256-207 B.C.
Ch'in
Han The Three Kingdoms The Six Dynasties The Northern and Southern Dynasties
»
1028-256 B.C.
206 B.C. -A. D. 220 i
'
A. D. 220-589
|
589-618
Sui
T'ang
618-906
The
906-960
Five Dynasties
Northern Sung
960-1127
Southern Sung
1127-1260
(While the Sung dynasty ruled over a gradually diminishing area
of
China
proper, the Tartar dynasties of Liao (907-1123) and Chin (1115-1235) controlled in the north. All were eventually engulfed by the Mongols under Khubilai Khan who called himself emperor in 1260 and adopted the dynastic name Yuan in 1271. The last Sung pretender was drowned in
increasingly large territories
1279.)
Yuan
1260-1368
Ming
1368-1644
Ch'ing
1644-1912
•These dates are in accordance with the revised chronology; the traditional dates of the Shang dynasty are 1766-1122 B.C. In Chinese history all dates before 770 B.C. are uncertain.
27
Selected Bibliography
It is not feasible to list the hundreds of booths and articles in English, French, German, Chinese and Japanese that should be read by those who wish to gain an understanding of Chinese art. The following brief selection of English
titles will
serve to introduce the reader to the various subjects they cover,
and the bibliographies
will
lead those interested further into the fields of their
choice.
GENERAL Laurence Sickman and Alexander Soper, The art and architecture of China, Penguin Books, London and Baltimore, 1956.
PAINTING and CALLIGRAPHY James
Cahill, Chinese painting, Skira,
New
York, 1960.
Chiang Yee, Chinese calligraphy, Methuen, London, 1958. R. H. van Gulik, Chinese pictorial art as viewed by the connoisseur.
Rome,
Is.
M.E.O.
1958.
Osvald Siren, Chinese painting, leading masters and principles, Lund Humphries,
London, 1956-1958.
BRONZES Bernhard Karlgren, Yin and Chou of Far Eastern Antiquities, No. by Karlgren
in
the
same
Chinese bronzes, Bulletin of the
in 8,
Museum
Stockholm, 1936 (and many other works
bulletin).
Lodge, Wenley, and Pope, A descriptive and illustrative catalogue of Chinese bronzes, freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1946.
W.
P. Yetts,
The Cull Chinese bronzes, Courtauld
Institute of Art,
London,
1939.
CERAMICS G. St. G. M. Gompertz, Chinese celadon wares, Faber and Faber, London, 1958.
William Bowyer Honey, The ceramic art of China and other countries of the Far East... London, Faber and Faber and the Hyperion Press, 1945.
Soame Jenyns,
Later
Chinese
porcelain,
the
Ch'ing
dynasty
(1644-1912),
Faber and Faber, London, 1951. (Second Edition 1959).
John Alexander Pope, Chinese porcelains from the Ardebil Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1956.
Shrine,
Freer
JADES S.
Howard Hansford, Chinese jade
TEXTILES,
ENAMELS,
carving,
LACQUER
and
Lund Humphries, London,
MISCELLANEOUS
CARVINGS
The arts of the Ming dynasty. Oriental Ceramic Society, London 1958.
28
1950.
List of Titles in
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Index of Painters and Calligraphers
Chang Sheng-wen
CATALOGUE
FOREIGN ENVOY WITH TRIBUTE BEARERS Yen Li-pen
Attributed to Handscroll
The of
in ink
painting
and color on
is
(died 673) T'ang dynasty
silk,
23%
white
parrot,
75^
in. (61 .5 x 191 .5
cm)
a fragment of a longer handscroll which illustrates the arrival
an embassy from
Champa
the "Rakshas" (demons), also a
x
(Southeast Vietnam), Borneo and the country of in
Southeast Asia,
elephant tusks,
in
A.D.
631
.
peacock-feather fans, an
mountain-goat or antelope, a weird animal which may be a shaped rocks (or petrified wood) found in the sea.
The
gifts
ibex,
tapir,
a
include piebald
and strangely
Yen Li-pen was a high official and architect-painter in the T'ang capital, Changan, during the seventh century. He became famous for his paintings of religious
34
and other
figural subjects.
\
•?;
l^t
-*/
^
^
^
K] -<-
The present work
gives us a
fairly
accurate idea of Chinese figure-painting
with landscape elements, of the seventh to eighth century. of the figures are of
The
whose
is in
The contour
lines
even thickness and have a wirelike quality.
inscription with attribution
the painting
«r*;^-..r»>t-»T-)»--v.x-
and
title
on a
the handwriting of the
strip of silk
immediately preceding
Sung emperor Hui-tsung
seal appears on the picture, along with that of the late
minister Chia Ssu-tao. One body of opinion declines and assigns the painting to a later date.
Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691) and
An
to
Ch'i (born 1683)
(1082-1135),
Sung prime
support this attribution
once owned the
scroll.
35
;
EMPEROR MING-HUANG'S JOURNEY TO SHU Anonymous Hanging
In
(T'ang dynasty)
scroll in ink
and colors on
July 756 the T'ang
had to
silk,
21^x31
in.
(55.9x81 cm)
emperor Hsuan-tsung (posthumous
flee before the rebel
An
Ming-huang)
title
Lu-shan. Taking with him his beautiful and
beloved consort Yang Kuei-fei, he crossed the passes into Shu (Szechwan) where his troops, believing, rig'htly or wrongly, that she had been involved in the rebellion and was a menace to the dynasty, seized and killed her. The emperor appears at the right of the picture, in a red robe, on horseback the horse's mane is braided into three tufts. The round-faced ladies of his harem, who follow him, wear high perched hats or "hennin"— like peaked caps. The center group has already unsaddled the horses and one of the camels is being relieved of its pack. An advance party is climbing the next pass. The
plank-roads overhanging the precipices are typical of Szechwan.
The blue-and-green landscape style seen in this painting is associated with the names of Li Ssu-hsiJn (651-716) and his son Li Chao-tao. The picture has been attributed to Li Chao-tao, who is reported to have painted the subject "Emperor Ming-huang's Journey to Shu". It is doubtful whether Li Chao-tao was still alive in 756. However, the painting faithfully represents the landscape style of the eighth century. The strongly stylized clouds and cliffs
of
actually
are
done
in fine
outlines and rich
color-washes—the rocks with a kind
zontal hatching, forerunner of the later "texture strokes".
The
of hori-
colorful trees
and the disproportion in scale between figures and landscape are other features of the T'ang style. Some scholars feel the painting was probably executed during the tenth century, an opinion put forward two centuries ago by the Ch'ien-lung emperor. Before being acquired by him, of
Keng Chao-chung
(The
36
illustration
shows a
(1640-1686).
detail.)
it
was
in
the collection
*V-'''";:,--'»^j«»aiS
37
TWO HORSES AND GROOM Attributed to
Han Kan
Album
and
leaf in ink
(ca. 750,
light colors
on
silk,
T'ang dynasty) 10%x13%
in.
(27.5x34.1 cm)
The black
stallion and the grey are two of the famous blooded horses from Ferghana and Khotan which were the pride and passion of the T'ang dynasty emperors. The bearded groom also is a Central Asian.
Han Kan
said to have
is
summoned
the painting attributing
tsung and
The
begun
his career as a wine-peddler before he
was
Ming-huang's stables. The inscription on to Han Kan was written by the Sung emperor Hui-
to portray the prizes of
is
it
dated 1107.
painting carries a seal attributed to the Southern T'ang court (937-975)
and another
of emperor Hui-tsung. It probably was executed in the tenth cenwas based on a work by Han Kan, it is a free copy and represents in brushwork the style of the Northern Sung dynasty (late tenth - eleventh
tury. Its
If
it
century) rather than that of the eighth century. It
has been
in
the collections of Hsiang YiJan-pien (1525-1590) and Liang
Ch'Ing-piao (1620-1691).
38
mi
iv
TEN VIEWS FROM A THATCHED LODGE Attributed to Lu Handscroll
Hung
10 sections) in
(in
(early eighth century, inl(
on paper, 115^x236%
in.
T'ang dynasty)
(29.4x600 cm)
The "Thatched Lodge" was the country place of Lu Hung, on one of the five Sacred Mountains, the Sung-shan near Loyang. He preferred his hermit's life to the court position offered by the emperor. The ten scenes are views of
and from
The
his beloved
abode.
scroll is not signed.
artist.
is prefaced with a text composed by the Yang Ning-shih, dated 947, attributes the colophon, by Chou Pi-ta and dated 1199, supports
Each scene
An appended encomium The first One body of
painting to Lu Hung. this attribution.
holds that this
accomplished Lu Hung.
is
artist of
In
were a copy,
the
Hung's composition done by some highly Sung dynasty. The Ch'ien-lung emperor, in his mentions that Li Kung-lin (No. 29) was a follower
a later colophon, dated 1776, he concludes that even
could only have been done by
it
decidedly archaic with
its
and disproportionate sizes unique value
opinion, however, both Chinese and western,
a version of Lu
on the painting,
inscription of
is
by
in
bands
horizontal
of figures.
Li
The
if
the scroll
The style in any case compact tree groups,
Kung-lin. of mist,
painting, whatever
its
date,
is
of
transmitting to us an important aspect of T'ang dynasty land-
scape, the scholar-artist's very personal view of scenes that were familiar to
him
;
it
also reflects an early stage
in
the development of ink
monochrome
painting. It
has been
in
the collections of Hsiang YiJan-pien (1525-1590) and Kao Shih-
ch'i (1645-1704).
39
5-5
AMONG RED MAPLES AUTUMN FOREST
I^EER
DEER
IN
Anonymous, Five Dynasties Hanging
and colors on
scrolls in Ink
(906-960)
silk,
5:
46%
25%
in.
(118.5x64.6 cm)
6:
46%x25%
In.
(118.4x63.8 cm)
x
Both pictures probably were parts of a larger composition, perhaps of a screen. In
the
all
first
look
aware
its
head while the hinds and fawns
direction, poised for flight.
Perhaps they have just become
panel, the stag
the
in
same
is
proudly raising
an approaching danger.
of
antlers forward as
if
to threaten an
In
the other picture, the hart thrusts
unseen
rival,
or
in
its
order to rub them on a
The rest of the herd is resting orfeeding. Both groups of animals, superbly drawn with subtle shading in wet ink, are placed in a well-related composition. The remainder of the pictures is almost entirely filled with colorful foliage in red, pink, white and green blue is used for shading the white leaf areas, and small colored birch trees are painted over the ink-drawing the latter have no outlines, but a fine horizontal ink-dot pattern imitating the bark texture. Green moss spots and many-colored lichens enliven trees and rocks.
tree.
;
;
These unusual pictures
recall "mille-fleurs" tapestries or
"horror vacui" and abundant coloring.
In their
secondary
role of the ink-line are archaic features
dynasty the use of lighter trees ;
painting.
We
The treatment
in
front of dark
Persian miniatures
The strong shading and the which stem from the T'ang
ones
is
a device of tenth century
of the rocks also points to the latter date.
can attribute the paintings to the Liao dynasty (907-1125) and to the tenth
century.
The
Liao empire
was established in Inner Mongolia, Manchuria and Mongol tribe. They made raids into
parts of North China, by the Khitan, a
China proper as
far as
Kaifeng (then Pienliang the northern capital) which
was sacked in 946. In their sculpture and pottery they continued the T'ang style, and seem to have done so also in their painting. Both pictures bear two Mongol imperial seals relating to the period between 1329 and 1340, and others of a seventeenth century Manchu collector.
(Only No.
40
5,
"Deer among Red Maples,"
is illustrated.)
41
,^fc^J^^« v**''
=.#;4i3%^,^.;
mi
7-8
.:-ii<.IW*fiiSi^k***^^''
•«
HUNTERS WITH GREYHOUNDS HUNTERS WITH EAGLES Attributed to Album
leaves
in
Hu Huai ink
(ca. 930, Five Dynasties, Later
and colors on
silk,
T'ang)
7:
13!4x18J^
in.
(34.2x46.9 cm)
8:
12Xx17%
in.
(32.9x44.3 cm)
Khitan horsemen are hunting with eagles and falcons, an(d with hounds which they carry on horseback while they scan the horizon for game.
One
of the
eagles has already struck a yellow fox-like animal. Their ponies are very different
from the blooded horses which Han Kan painted, and
their caparisons.
We
The men wear long coats and
felt
left
thighs.
boots. They have taken off their fur-brimmed
hats to reveal their shaved heads and pigtails.
42
fur skins are
also notice a peculiar brand on the horses'
They are attributed to Hu Huai who himself was and famous for his pictures of nomad tribal life. He is said to have used a brush of wolf's hair. His son is reported to have worked in the same manner. The contour-lines are very fine, the folds moderately angular, with
The
pictures are not signed.
a Khitan
some The
slight shading.
hills
have a very
composition
of both
Manes and light outline,
groups
tails
are fuzzed out
the slopes
of hunters is well organized;
sized by leaving the ground around
them
figures and animals and the barely sketched
the attribution.
In
in
hair-fme strokes.
it
is
further
empha-
Fine but firm brushwork on
steppe-landscape frame support
any case, the pictures are no
and can, more precisely, be attributed
They have been
free. in
in
some wet wash-shading. The
later
to the Liao
than the Northern Sung
dynasty (907-1125).
the collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
43
WU AND
THE PARTING OF SU Attributed to
Chou Wen-chu
LING
LI
(ca. 970, Five Dynasties,
Southern T'ang-
Sung dynasty) Handscroll
Li
Ling
in ink
was
and colors on
silli,
a brilliant general
the Hsiung-nu or
13^x35%
in
in.
(33.3x89.9 cm)
the wars of the
Huns (second century
B.C.).
Han emperor Wu-ti against
When
at last taken prisoner
by
the Khan, he entered the latter's service, married his daughter and spent the last
twenty years of his
life
the steppe. His friend
in
Su
100 B.C.) to the Hsiung-nu court on a peace mission. revolted
he
l^iiled
and
tried to
Wu When
was dispatched
(In
Su's fellow envoys
persuade him to enter the Khan's service with them,
several and finally attempted suicide. After he had recovered, the
Hsiung-nu sent him
to the far north to tend
to mal
swerve
the tearful parting of the old friends.
Su
Wu
Li Ling was ordered The picture illustrates was returned to China
sheep. Later
his loyalty, but failed.
eventually
after nineteen years of captivity.
The
scroll is attributed to
the Nanking region
44
who
Chou Wen-chij,
a painter of courtly scenes from
served the last ruler of the Southern T'ang kingdom
and followed
(961-975)
The
(Kaifeng).
captive patron to the
his
signature, however,
is
doubtless a
Sung court later addition
at
Pienliang
and neither
the subject matter nor the style of the painting supports the attribution.
other hand, both are close to the paintings by
Hu Huai (Nos.
7-8)
On
the
and point
to the Liao tradition.
Very fine
line
drawing characterizes the expressive faces as well as the The outlines of the
pattern of the clothes; the fold-lines are not angular.
rocks suggest a Northern in
color;
compact
Sung
date. Figures
and horses are done
entirely
note the shading of the pink faces and the green horse.
we
initial
group
of the
groom
The
leaning on a furled banner, with the capa-
risoned horses, leads to the dramatic climax of the emotional parting and
is
composition and story-content, by the lonely herdsman surrounded by sheep and goats. The desolate dunes of the steppe-landscape provide a loose frame for the figure-composition around which the ground is
then balanced,
in
not indicated.
The in
old
title
of the painting,
"Herding Sheep", was written by Ch'eng Nan-yiJn
the Yung-lo period (1403-1422).
late thirteenth
The
last
colophon
(907-1125).
It
The
first
colophons are by scholars of the whom we mention Yu Chi.
and fourteenth centuries, among
was
is
in
dated 1383.
Some
attribute the scroll to the Liao dynasty
the collection of Keng
Chao-chung
(1640-1686).
45
'10
PALACE CONCERT Anonymous, Hanging
Five Dynasties (906-960)
scroll In Ink
Ten court listening
ladies
and color on
silk,
\9%x27y.
In.
(48.7x69.5 cm)
and two maids are grouped around a table making music or
and drinking
heartily.
The
dignified lady with the elaborate headdress,
holding a fan, perhaps represents the empress herself.
A
dog sleeps under
the table.
The instruments
are,
from
right to
left,
a vertical flute (kuan), lute (p'i-p'a),
mouth-organ (sheng) and clappers (ch'ung-tu). The drinking cups and the wine bowl seem to be made of porcelain or stoneware; the small zither fse),
dishes of red and black lacquer; the others as well as the long ladle of silver, two with gold or gilded rims. The plumpness of the ladies as well as their make-up, hairdo and costume put the scene into the T'ang period, as do the furniture and its ornamentation and the fact that the p'i-p'a is played with its neck held downward. It is possible, however, that at the Southern T'ang court these traditions still were preserved.
The is
lines are fine
and not too angular nor accented, while the
This painting, which attributed to the
until
recently
(ca. 800).
was given
to the
Southern T'ang period (937-975).
school of Chou Wen-chu (No.
46
overall
emphasis
on color.
9),
It
Yuan dynasty, can be
probably belongs to the
a follower of the T'ang painter
Chou Fang
47
1^
EIGHT GENTLEMEN ON A SPRING OUTING Chao Yen
Attributed to Hanging
Eight
scroll In ink
and color on
horsemen on
are grouped
asserts
itself
rock done vertical
in
a
in
(died 922, Five Dynasties, Later Liang) 63^^x40%
In.
(161.9x102 cm)
their prancing steeds, crisply
pleasantly
more than soft,
silk,
in
drawn and
in
brilliant colors,
balanced composition. The landscape frame
the Liao paintings discussed above.
The
large
wet ink contrasts with the sharply drawn balustrade. The
accent of the large trees and the horizontal division by a balustrade
are devices of the Five Dynasties.
Chao Yen was
a native of
Honan and a son-in-law of the Emperor He was known for his
(reigned 907-912) of the Later Liang dynasty. of figures
and horses, and
The picture is not signed, we can assign the painting i.e. It
life.
but the attribution to the Five
seems
plausible. In any case,
Dynasties or the early Northern Sung,
the tenth century.
carries the seals of a mid-seventeenth century collector.
(Illustration
48
for his lavish
cropped
at
top and bottom.)
T'ai-tsu
pictures
te-
% ^. -S,
'
M^ iiri^
l^r
^ m m'\\
mi-
v
49
ti^V
12
SNOW ON THE
EARLY
Attributed to Handscroll
in ink
Chao Kan and colors on
I
r
RIVER
(ca. 970, Five Dynasties, Soutliern silk,
10%
x
148X
T'ang)
(25.9x376.5 cm)
in.
we move along a river, back and forth between banks, and rocks covered with reeds or trees, viewing these always
In unrolling this scroll
among
islets
from an elevation.
The genre element
is
still
strong. Travellers on donkeys
direction in which the scroll unrolls In
and the
river flows.
move
against the
Fishermen engaged
various activities further enliven the scene. Their boats, rafts and nets are same as those we can see in use today so are the wheel-barrow, the paper
the
;
umbrella and the wheel used to raise the
flame of a
sense
of
fire,
humor
near the end,
is
beam
of the net.
The smoke and
rendered with engaging realism. The
lively
with which the fishermen are depicted extends also to the
and even to their donkeys. The lines have a free, and are not angular; there is no emphasis on outlines. The trees are realistically painted with soft brushwork; banks and rocks have wet washshading in ink and color. Color washes cover and soften the outlines. The main color areas are in the yellow reeds, the green of the trees, and the blue
expressions
of the travellers,
natural flow
river,
50
dotted with white specks of snow.
te^-^^
Chao Kan was a native of Nanking who served in the so-called Painting Academy of the last Southern T'ang ruler, the poet and patron of the arts Li Yij (961-975). He is said to have been skillful in the rendering of aquatic subjects.
The
painting
is
not signed.
The
inscription with
title
and attribution was written
by the Chin emperor Chang-tsung (reigned 1190-1208). plausible.
A
painting by
Chao Kan
with this
title,
The
attribution
seems
very probably the present
was already in the collection of the Sung emperor Hui-tsung, i.e. before The colophons, of which the first is dated 1329, include K'o Chiu-ssu, Yu Chi and many Mongol officials. There are several seals of Emperor Changtsung of Chin and others of the Mongol emperor Wen-tsung whose collection picture,
1125.
it
entered
in
1329,
and
of
K'o Chiu-ssu (No.
79),
as well as the palace inventory
between 1373 and 1384. The scroll was Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691) and An Ch'i (born 1683). seal of the years
in
the collections of
51
13
TRAVELLERS
Hanging
IN
THE MOUNTAINS
Kuan T'ung
Attributed to
scroll In Ink
and some
(ca. 920, Five Dynasties, Later Liang) on
light color
up
From
a monastery high
leads
down and across the
in
silk,
56%x22>i
(144.4x56.8 cm)
In.
the mountains, under a towering peal<, a path
where a
river,
approaching a modest
traveller is
hamlet. People are drinking, children are playing; there are pigs
chickens, donkeys and dogs.
The
in their sty,
scale and relative importance of
beings and landscape, however, have changed, and the genre scene
reduced to a
detail of
human now is
the entire picture. early type of architecture.
The low, straight temple roofs represent an is some light color in the buildings.
There
Strong, irregular, partly broken outlines of varying width and with accents of a pressed-down brush delineate the powerful mountains and rocks.
comma-like accents are used also
short, black
Some
rendered by shaded washes and wash strokes. are repeated
in
rich black ink.
The
for texture
A
few
which otherwise
is
of the inner rock outlines
wet, shaded texture strokes and the
way
the trees stand out against a misty background are comparable to the work of Fan K'uan (No. 18). The mountain tops are strongly three-dimensional and the picture has depth and distance.
Kuan T'ung,
Changan, was active in Nanking under the Later He was a pupil of the great Taoist landscapist Ching
a native of
Liang dynasty (907-923).
Hao. Kuo Jo-hsiJ
(ca. 1070) calls
the three masters of landscape.
hardness
of rock
antique elegance
human
his
him (with
forms; a luxurious density his terraces
in
figures"
read that "most of
(tr.
all
it
Ch'eng and Fan K'uan) one
Li
Kuo mentions as in
his
combinations
and pavilions; and a
A. Soper).
In
of trees;
autumn
an
lovely peacefulness in
the catalogue of Emperor Hui-tsung
delighted him to paint
of
characteristics "a crystalline
hills
we
and winter forests,
with groups of cottages, river crossings, hermits, recluses, fishermen selling their catch,
The
mountain hostelries..."
painting
believe that
is it
Ssu-tao (died
not signed.
We
(tr.
A. Waley).
attribute
it
to
was painted during the tenth 1276), of Emperor Wen-tsung
Kuan T'ung
century.
It
or a follower,
and
carries seals of Chia
(1328-1330),
and
of a
son of the
Ming emperor (fourteenth century), as well as the palace inventory seal the years between 1373 and 1384. There is a highly appreciative inscription
first
of
by
Wang
1683).
52
To, dated 1625. The painting was
In
the collection of
An
Ch'i (born
53
54
14
TAOIST TEMPLE Attributed to Hanging
A
Tung
scroll In Ink
IN
THE MOUNTAINS
Yiian (ca. 950, Five Dynasties, Southern T'ang)
and colors on
silk,
72%
x
48%
In. (183.2 x
121.2
cm)
majestic landscape of rounded forest-clad mountains and rocks
covered by clouds which also conceal
all
is
partly
but the curved roofs of the temples
upswept corners. The few human beings on the overhanging path at the right have, in scale and significance, been reduced much further than in the preceding picture attributed to Kuan T'ung. Tung Yiian, a native of Nanking, served as an official at the Southern T'ang court. With his pupil Chij-jan (No. 15) he apparently was responsible for the creation of a new landscape style which was to become highly influential during the Yuan dynasty and following centuries. The picture is not signed and the attribution Is based upon the inscription of Wang To (1592-1652) mounted above the picture. Some authorities note differences in spirit and style between this painting and others attributed to Tung Yiian, and place the picture in a later period. with their
and bridge
55
'Ig
ASKING ABOUT THE TAO
THE AUTUMN MOUNTAINS
IN
Attributed to Chii-jan (ca. 975, Five Dynasties, Southern
T'ang-Sung
dynasty) Hanging
scroll In Ink
Two men
and some very
are engaged
in
light color
conversation
the center of the picture.
In
the valley
is
the landscape.
in
It
on
silk,
61%x30Ji
in tlie little
The
real
In.
(156.2x77.2 cm)
thatched lodge half-hidden
subject of the painting clearly
has acquired a somevs/hat abstract character the mountains ;
are built up of rounded boulders, hillocks and
hills,
interrupted by
horizontal
flat
banks and table-lands. The foliage patterns are free and simplified
;
the scale
The long elegant reeds The modelling of hills, slopes and rocks— which completed with the help of washes and wet, long
of the vegetation is carefully adjusted to the distance.
are
full
of tensile strength.
have hardly any outlines— is texture strokes.
The nervous splashed and spattered black dots no longer serve
the sole purpose of representing vegetation but are consciously employed for accent. Sky and water are covered with a light blue wash.
The
priest Chu-jan,
from Nanking, was a pupil
of
Tung Yuan (No.
14).
When
the last Southern T'ang ruler went to Pienliang (Kaifeng) as a prisoner
(in
Chu-jan followed him and entered a monastery. Kuo Jo-hsii (ca. 1070) writes that he was "a skillful landscape painter, whose brush and ink were
975),
fair
and mostly
rich.
He was good
at
doing misty atmospheric effects, and
high and spacious views of mountains and rivers..."
The
picture
is
not signed.
Ching (1046-1126) which
There also
The
is
painting
It
is
(tr.
A. Soper).
carries a seal of Hui-tsung's chancellor Ts'ai
accepted as authentic by the Chinese experts.
the palace inventory seal of the years between 1373 and 1384. is
so advanced
in style
that the authenticity of the Ts'ai
Ching
becomes most important for assigning it to the tenth century. It is the most famous and probably the best of all the existing paintings attributed to ChiJ-jan. It was in the collection of Wang To's brother Wang Lung (ca. 1650). seal
56
"'l^aat'.
i'
'
"7
«J.
'
-.
•.
>
,.,*r'.5
57
'? ii -t
/
^
tf
I
^ T
•f,
»r-
rt
^ #
»•
^
o.
«
I* S.
t
* M M'k
t\
*^
^
58
^
f% :^A ^IW.!,BI
«« 4 M t
/if:#..ij,M
J
1.
* « H *.
I
;^
i 4\ % U'
-4-
t^'
Ai
!
>1
^«
•fg
PHEASANT AND SPARROWS AMONG ROCKS AND SHRUBS Huang
Attributed to
Chu-ts'ai
Five
(933-993,
Dynasties, Later Shu-
Sung dynasty) Hanging
A
scroll In ink
colorful
and colors on
pheasant
Is
are chirping and flying
silk,
38% x21X
in.
(99x53.6 cm)
about to drink from a brook while other
lively
birds
among thorny shrubs and bamboo. The somewhat
concave outlines of the rocks are unbroken the rocks are shaded in wet brushwork; leaves and reeds are strongly outlined. Huang Chu-ts'ai was the youngest son of the famous bird and flower painter ;
Huang Ch'uan. at Pienliang
The
picture
(Kaifeng). is
not signed but has, on an old part of the mounting, an inscrip-
tion written by the
painting
Shu court in Chengtu worked under the Sung emperors T'ai-tsu and T'ai-tsung
Like his father, he first served the Later
(929-965); later he
is, in
Sung emperor Hui-tsung
any case, no
there are several imperial
later
Sung
with
title
and
attribution.
than the early Northern Sung dynasty.
The
On
it
seals including those of Hui-tsung (1101-1126)
and Li-tsung (1225-1264) and the palace inventory seal
of the years
between
1373 and 1384.
59
;
^7
FISHING
ON A WINTRY RIVER
Attributed to Li Ch'eng (died 967, Five Dynasties, Later
Chou-Sung
dynasty) Hanging
A
on
scroll In Ink
one nearly
66J^ x
40%
In.
man angles from
solitary old
gnarled trees.
silk,
A
(170x101.9 cm)
his boat,
among
bleak,
waterfall is visible over the mist, in the
snowy crags and
snow-clad mountains
feels the frosty air.
Ch'eng, a descendant of the T'ang imperial family, grew up in Shantung. Educated as a scholar and poet, he declined all honors and positions and Li
under the patronage of the Later Chou minister Wang P'o as Honan where he happily drank himself to death. Kuo Jo-hsu (ca. 1070) who calls him "a most excellent painter of landscapes with wintry forests", ranks him among "the three masters of landscape" (with Kuan T'ung and Fan K'uan). Kuo also points out that in Li Ch'eng's paintings "the atmospheric effects have a sublime openness, the misty woods a pure spaciouslived until 959
a recluse in
ness
;
And,
his brush-point is distinguished, "in misty
woods and
and
his
use of ink exquisitely subtle."
level distances, the
wondrous was
first
attained
Ch'eng" (tr. A. Soper). Li Ch'eng was the founder of an important school of landscape which includes HsiJ Tao-ning (No. 19), Yen Wen-kuei and Kuo HsI (No. 20), and continued in North China after the fall of the Northern Sung, under the Chin dynasty. It was revived under the Yuan by artists such as Li K'an, Ts'ao Chih-po, Chu Te-jun and T'ang Ti (Nos. 75, 82, 83). The painting is not signed; it has two poetic inscriptions attributed to the Southern Sung dynasty. On the other hand the broad wet outlines, the mushy texture of the rocks, the "baroque" knobs and knots of the trees, the commashaped strong dots emerging from the trees, the dark "abstract" plant in the right center, the end-hooks of the twigs and bushes— all seem to point to a Yuan date. Mi Fu (1051-1107) already remarked that he had seen only two by
Li
Li Ch'eng. Of the paintings in the Palace Museum Collecwhich are attributed to the master, this very "painterly" picture is, in our
genuine works of tion
opinion, the best.
60
It
was
in
the collection of Pi
Yuan
(1730-1797).
61
-)g
TRAVELLERS AMONG MOUNTAINS AND STREAMS By Fan K'uan Hanging
and colors on
The composition, dominated is of majestic simplicity. The a sense of depth in silhouette
Sung dynasty)
(early eleventh century,
scroll in ink
is
silk,
My,
BV/, x
in.
(206.3 x 103.3
cm)
by the heavy bulk of the towering mountain, vegetation
scaled dovirn to the distance, and
is
created by placing rocks ortree clumps of the middle ground
against a very light ink
wosh suggesting
mist. In a similar way,
the foreground rocks are silhouetted against the mountain stream fed by the bold and simple waterfall in the distance. The roofs of a temple are just visible above a densely wooded hill they are low with only a slight curve, and two layers of supporting brackets. A monk carrying a pack is just rounding a corner in the left center of the picture his straw hat is of a T'ang type still seen in Japan. ;
;
On
the right two
men
are driving loaded donkeys towards the stream. In scale
and importance, the figures are reduced to insignificance. Powerful outlines, done in thick, jagged brushstrokes, delineate mountains and rocks their irregular accents sometimes stick out like hooks. The interior drawing consists of jabbed dots and innumerable short, wet parallel strokes ;
which vary
in
variety. Plain
accent, color and shape but belong to the so-called "raindrop"
washes
are used for the roofs and the dark background of the
waterfall; the misty areas are gradually
and
skillfully
shaded. The trees again
have strong outlines and wet grey texture strokes. Foliage patterns are differentiated
some
;
are colored.
Fan K'uan probably was born about the middle of the tenth century and was still alive in 1026. He was a northerner from Shensi province and a Taoist.
We
most of which he apparently spent in the mounLi Ch'eng before he developed his own manner. Kuo Jo-hsLJ (ca. 1070) tells us that "K'uan's manner and appearance had an antique severity; his behavior was rude and rustic; it was his nature to crave wine and to love the (Taoist) way". Kuo Jo-hsu classifies him (with Kuan T'ung and Li Ch'eng) as one of the three masters of landscape. "His works include
know
tains.
a
full
As
little
about his
massiveness
of
a natural simplicity century)
in
his
alive,
under
(tr.
virile
strength...
people and buildings". Liu Tao-ch'un (eleventh are real
rocks and ancient trees which thrust
his brush.
goes beyond the surface
beauty" In
peaks and summits, and general effects of
comments: "They
themselves up, that
life,
a painter, he followed
finds in him a spirit consonance and an indifference to ornamental
One
of things,
A. Soper). The signature, hidden
at the
lower right, was discovered
1958 after having been "lost" for at least two hundred years. There
is
the
palace inventory seal of the years between 1373 and 1384. The painting has,
on the mounting, an inscription by Tung Ch'i-ch'ang (1555-1636) with attribution and title. It has been in the collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
62
63
64
19
FISHING ON A
SNOWY
RIVER
Attributed to Hsij Tao-ning Hanging
A
scroll in ink
on
lonely fisherman
silk,
(first
66>^x43%
In.
half eleventh century,
Sung dynasty)
(169x110 cm)
under an umbrella angles on a wintry stream; snowy
peaks tower high over the
valley
which fades
Into the mist.
The composition The painting
leads our eyes diagonally back and forth into the veiled distance.
has good scale as well as depth and atmosphere. The temple architecture of
is
an early type. Broad, modulated outlines are combined with a delicate in washes and in long, wet texture strokes which often The outlines of the foreground and center rocks are and accented, those of the high peaks more flowing, though
modelling, done mainly flow into the washes.
more still
irregular
hesitant.
Hsu Tao-ning was a native of Hopei, and originally an herb-medicine peddler in Changan. As a painter, he followed Li Ch'eng. He was somewhat younger than Fan K'uan (No.
18).
"With peaks that rose abrupt and sheer, and forest
trees that were strong and unyielding, he created a special school and form of his
The not
own" (Kuo
painting fall
is
Jo-hsCi, ca. 1070,
tr.
A. Soper).
signed and dated, but the cyclical date chia-shen (1044) does
within the Ching-yu reign (1034-1038).
The
inscription
is
thus shown
to be a later addition.
Hence the
attribution to
Hsu Tao-ning
is
open
to doubt, but
we can accept
the painting as the work of a highly accomplished arlist of a slightly later period, toward the end of Northern Sung.
The
picture
was
in
the collection of Pien Yung-yij (1645-1702).
65
20
EARLY SPRING By Kuo Hanging
Hsi (dated 1072,
scroll in ink
and some
Sung dynasty) light colors
on
62Xx42%
silk,
in.
(158.3x108.1 cm)
mountain landscape of romantic grandeur the human beings—fishermen disembarking— have become totally insignificant. This is also true of the temple buildings which have low, slightly curved roofs with straight eaves. Some light color is used in both figures and buildings. The coiling, writhing masses of earth and rock seem to move and pulsate with cosmic rhythm. The composition is fantastic in all-over design but realistic in detail. Broad, wet outlines in a In this
nervous, modulated brushstroke are balanced by varied wet texture-strokes in ink values. Bank by bank, the valley The sense of depth is heightened by the use of ever lighter shades of ink for more distant areas the impression of height is increased by masking the bases of the cliffs in mist. The spidery trees show the influence of Li Ch'eng, but there is less emphasis on the ends of twigs and dry branches. The ink-blob foliage of the leafy trees seems to be a new development. Some trees again stand out in front of lighter areas of mist
and washes on the
left
of
an extraordinary richness
leads us into the distance.
;
or water. There
executed
in
is
as yet
little
emphasis on pure line-work, and the picture
is
a very painterly fashion.
Kuo Hsi was
Honan province.
a native of
In 1068,
he was
summoned
to paint
a screen for the imperial palace, and subsequently served in the Painting
Academy. A follower
of Li
critics
17), he became the outstanding reprewas without an equal in his time. Contemporary
Ch'eng (No.
sentative of this school and
acclaimed his creativity and spontaneity
in
composition and design,
as well as the dexterity and versatility of his flawless brushwork. Kuo Hsi also
was the author
of the
most important Chinese
value of landscape painting, for him, lay
as
if
The
he were
really in
painting
bears the
in its
treatise
capacity to
on landscape. The
make the viewer
feel
the place depicted. seal
of
the Chin
emperor Chang-tsung (reigned
1190-1208) and the palace inventory seal of the years between 1373 and 1384. It
66
has been
in
the collection of Keng Chao-chung (1640-1686).
r
fe.
V-
i
*.
-fe
:|
fit
X.
i«.
7.
-ii,
;i
1
67
sriiKrt/iti
21
MARKET VILLAGE BY THE RIVER Anonymous, eleventh Handscroll
in ink
century,
and colors on paper,
A
river
in
the finest of
Sung dynasty
11Xx17%
in.
(28.6x44.1 cm)
landscape provides the setting for an interesting genre scene
A
line.
barge carrying a trader or traveller
the shore. Similar boats are moored already; laundry
The
one
of the masts.
lers
having a meal
riverside village is alive with
the inn; an old
in
man
is
is
strung on a line from
animated figures two :
The
a high pole with turning top and streamers indicates a festival. of a
camel caravan are barely
The
bulky weathered bluff with
Fan K'uan (No.
18)
;
the
Tung Yuan
right, the
flat
A
in
at
hills in
There also
Yen Wen-kuei
silhouettes
is
at
the
left,
recalls
the distance, at the
a definite relationship
(ca. 1010), likewise in the
Palace
wave
pattern
may be seen on Yamato-e
paintings of the Fujiwara
Japan. Water and sky are covered with blue washes.
In
the mountains,
some dry brushwork is used in addition to wet ink and color. The painting bears an imperial seal of the Shao-hsing era (1131-1161) as as the palace inventory seal of the years between 1373 and 1384. collection of Hsiang YiJan-pien (1525-1590).
68
boy
where
the right.
scrubby vegetation,
tradition (No. 14).
hill
Collection.
similar
period
pass
bank and the rounded
with a mountain landscape by
Museum
visible in the its
travel-
talking to a kneeling servant; a
donkey; a gentleman climbing toward the temple by the
driving a
drav^rn
sailing tow/ard
It
was
in
well
the
:—T-
I I
/'
c^
n
j^' li
\v yfTc
iw^y' .Mi.'raJ
i.i:';i=
22
MANDARIN DUCKS
IN
AUTUMN
Attributed to Hui-ch'ung (early eleventh century, Album
Two
leaf in ink
and colors on paper,
colorful ducks, on the
leaves and reeds.
and charm. Pairs
bank
10}i x
10X
in. (27.4 x 26.4
of a rivulet, are
The small world
Sung dynasty)
cm)
surrounded by withered lotus
of the water fowl is depicted with sensitivity
of ducks often symbolize conjugal harmony in China, and may have such a connotation here. Hui-ch'ung was a monk-painter from Fukien province who became known for his paintings of water-birds. The painting is not signed and stylistically is difficult to fit into so early a period. Some would say it was painted about the time of Emperor Hui-tsung's Academy or during the early Southern Sung period. While it is (ess arranged and more freely composed than the Academy's nature studies, this may be the residue of an earlier tradition. It carries the seals of a late Sung or early Yuan scholar and of the painter Shen Chou (1427-1509) and was in the collections of Hsiang YiJan-pien (15251590) and Keng Chao-chung (1640-1686).
they
23
MAGPIES AND HARE By
Ts'ui
Hanging
Po
(dated 1061,
scroll in ink
The two magpie
Sung dynasty)
and colors on
jays,
silk,
40%
76>^ x
considered by the Chinese to be harbingers of
are scolding a hare which looks up at
wet contours
(193.7x103.4 cm)
in,
of the earth
them with some
surprise.
banl< contrast with the fine hairs of the fur,
with fine drawing of other elements: green outlines for the lines, partly filled with color, for
double tree,
of dry,
bamboo;
and
ink out-
reeds and oak leaves; precise drawing,
lines, for the veins of the leaves.
and the rendition
joy,
The broad,
The
soft, knotty
in
contours of the old
rough texture without any formalized stroke
patterns, contribute to the remarkable sense of naturalness that pervades the picture.
The diagonal composition
is
well balanced,
and conveys an impres-
sion of spontaneity and movement. Ts'ui Po, a native of
and
birds,
Anhwei province, was known
which he drew without the benefit
for his paintings of fiowers
of preliminary charcoal
sketches.
was summoned to paint a screen for the imperial audience hall, and subsequently was appointed to the Painting Academy. The compilers of the Ch'ien-lung emperor's catalogue did not discover the In
1068 he
signature and date which are hidden
in
the tree trunk, and listed the painting
as "anonymous".
The
painting carries seals of the
Sung emperor
not prior to 1233, and of a son of the
as well as the palace inventory seal of
70
Li-tsung (1225-1264), from a year
Ming emperor (fourteenth century), the years between 1373 and 1384.
first
71
24
MONKEYS
A LOQUAT TREE
IN
Anonymous, eleventh century (Sung dynasty) Hanging
and colors on
scroll in ink
A monkey
is
silk, 65'/J x
42>i in. (165x107.9
cm)
swinging from the branch of a loquator p'i-p'a tree (Eriobotrya
japonica) while another sits on the trunk, looking up at him. Their shaded
faces are alive and expressive; the fur lively
animals are portrayed
in
their
is
done with a very fine brush. The habitat and behavior, keenly
natural
observed but not sentimentalized or so aloof from pictures.
Po
The composition
picture (No. 23).
contours; there
is
is
interrelated in a
Rocks and
tree trunk
reality
as
in
the later Academy
manner comparable
to the Ts'ui
have soft rounded or angular
some wet shading and irregular interior drawing, and the The drawing of the tree relates to tenth
colored leaves have fine ink outlines. century traditions.
The painting bears a Yuan dynasty imperial seal from a period beginning It was in the collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
72
1340.
25
MONKEY AND CATS By
I
Yijan-chi (died ca. 1065,
Handscroll
in ink
The focus
and colors on
sills,
12%x22V^
of this sophisticated
leashed to a post and holding a
lines
The
in
very
leash
is
In.
(31.9x57.2 cm)
and unsymmetrical composition is a monkey arms another tsitten turned toward
kitten in its
is at
the
left.
animals are portrayed with keen observation
The ground
is
not indicated and they
visible earth by the leash I
;
The animals are painted without outfine brushstrokes that make every hair of the fur stand out. elegantly drawn and slightly shaded, as is the post. The lively
monkey and mewing,
the
Sung dynasty)
seem
of nature, to float in
of
humor.
and post only.
Yuan-chi was a painter from Hunan province
He
and a sense
space, related to a not-
died shortly after having been
summoned
who
specialized
in
animals.
to the capital by imperial order
composition of "One Hundred Apes". The painting is not signed, but has an inscription in the handwriting of the Sung emperor Hui-tsung with attribution and title, as well as several of his seals. It is recorded in Hui-tsung's catalogue (ca. 1120). The first colophon in the collections of Liang is by Chao Meng-fu (1254-1322). The scroll was Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691) and Pi Lung (eighteenth century).
to paint a
73
26 NOBLE SCHOLAR UNDER A WILLOW Anonymous, eleventh Sung dynasty Hanging
scroll in ink
century,
and colors on
silk,
25^
x
his
garden
15%
in.
(65.4x40.2 cm)
A
gentleman-scholar relaxes
in
with a bowl of wine, on a leopard skin, under
weeping willow. The summer heat, or the made him slip his outer garment from his shoulders his head
a
flush of the wine, has
;
has sunk on the chest, and the narrowed eyes express a pensive, withdrawn mood.
The
scroll of
paper
is
poem he
receive the
still
is
blank, ready to
composing
in
his
mind. The personage probably represents the poet T'ao Ch'ien (Yiian-ming, 365-427)
who
retired
from
official
life
enjoy the
to
pleasures of the country. He became, for ages, the ideal
later
of
the
independent
gentleman-scholar-artist.
The
self-contained attitude of the figure
Is
emphasized by the curved frame of the willow tree. The lines of the robe are thin and not modulated. The contours trunk recall the outlines used
Sung landscapes
;
The The Sun
in ink
outline with
The leaves
two shades
its
are
of green.
black areas of hat and robe are shaded. picture has been in the collections of
Ch'eng-tse
(1592-1676)
Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
74
Northern
the texture strokes on
surface are long and hairy.
done
of the tree
in
and
Liang
27
BAMBOO Wen
Attributed to Hanging
A
scroll In Ink
on
single branch of
left
to lower right.
T'ung (died silk,
52x4i;^
in.
1079,
Sung dynasty)
(132.6x105.4 cm)
bamboo sweeps down The leaves are done in
in
a reverse "s" curve from upper
several shades of ink; the darkest
tones are used for the upper surfaces of the leaves, the lighter for the undersides and for leaves
stem.
In
in
a further plane of depth.
bamboo
China, the
is
the
Wet shading
symbol par excellence
is
used on the
of
the perfect
scholar-gentleman. Bamboo-painting therefore became a particular hobby of
such men. The similarity of the bamboo-leaf to certain calligraphic strokes added to its appeal. The bamboo is painted or "written" the way it grows, from the root to the top and from the stem to the tips of the leaves. Wen T'ung, a native of Szechwan, became a high official at the capital and a close friend of Su Shih (No. 115). He is considered the patriarch of bamboo painting
the
in Ink.
artist.
The
The
painting
is
not signed, but carries a seal with the
they were written by two scholars of the Yung-lo period (1403-1422). tion
seems
plausible, although
painting actually
painters
who
name
of
laudatory inscriptions on the mounting also speak of him;
is
by
Wen
it
is
The
attribu-
impossible to determine whether the
T'ung or by one
of the great
Yuan dynasty bamboo
imitated him.
75
23
PINES
AND MOUNTAINS
SPRING
IN
Sung dynasty)
Attributed to Mi Fu (1051-1107, Hanging
A
scroll in ink
and colors on paper,
13%x17%
in.
(35x44.1 cm)
simple thatched shelter beside a group of pines
separated from the
is
green and pink peaks by a sea of mist. The heavy color especially
in
the horizontal black and blue-green dots.
is
applied
in
layers,
The needle-clusters
are depicted with round areas of blue-green color, covering the ink drawing.
Mi Fu (often called Mi Fei) was a well-known painter, calligrapher (No. 117), antiquarian, official and, especially,
As
critic.
a painter, he
originated an impressionist style of overlaying ink to obtain soft, misty effects, with
He was rediscovered during
the
little
washes
is in
said to have
graded tones
use of contour or other lineament.
Yuan period when
his
style
became
very
influential.
The
picture bears a signature
are considered by the Palace tion
on
the
mounting,
by
and seal with the name
Museum
to
be
of the artist, but
Emperor Kao-tsung
these
The
poetic inscrip-
(1106-1187),
supports the
later additions.
attribution.
The is
style of the picture
therefore be
The
76
goes back
to Mi Fu, but the particular color
scheme
an innovation of the Yuan period. The question of the actual date must
picture
left
was
open. in
the collection of
Huang
Lin (ca. 1500).
IK
:^^<
^
r:^
Hs &' f
n'
L,
.^^^ r.^,>*
^^
29
KUO
^'
TZU-I RECEIVING
Attributed to Handscroll
in ink
Li
THE HOMAGE OF THE UIGURS
Kung-lin (died 1106,
on paper, 12% x 88%
in. (32.3 x
Sung dynasty)
223.8
cm)
The subject of the story is an exploit of the famous and ever-victorious general Kuo Tzu-i (697-781) of the T'ang dynasty. In 765, he was faced by an invasion of the Uigurs and another Central Asian tribe, who were numerically far superior to his forces. He decided to go, without arms and armor, into the camp of the Uigurs whose leaders once had served under him. When they recognized him, they dismounted and paid him obeisance. Together they repelled the other invaders.
The dramatic scene unrolls in a superb composition. At the beginning, on all is movement and forward thrust. The Uigur horsemen move in,
the right,
from behind a cloud, from above and below the picture, with the speed of in a raid. The forward movement is arrested by the group of stand-
the wind, as ing horses
78
and
flying
banners; then picked up again, more slowly, by the
^
f
/*^ lO ;L ^^
*^
4i?
'^
f^. f^
[M?
in
't'
^»?*,^
S^. .^3^
*.*'lMfiri X
dismounted chieftains, kneeling and leaning forward. Their leader
is
knees, while the Chinese general
hand and
helps him
On
all
with the general's steed
calm and
is
next
;
comes
The first accent is the groom compact group of dismounted officers
dignity.
the
their horses; then the rest of the escort,
flying— as they Li
fly
owing
on horseback, with banners
on the ramparts of the besieged
Kung-lin (Lung-mien)
history.
on his
rise.
the Chinese side,
and
his flowing robe holds out his
in
Born about 1040
to illness in 1100
was one in
of the
Anhwei, he rose
and died
in 1106.
city, at
the
left.
most famous painters
in
Chinese
to high official rank, but retired
He was
particularly appreciated for
his figure painting.
The signature may unlike that of
(No.
4).
The
Li
well be a later addition.
The
style of the painting is quite
Kung-lin as represented by other works attributed to him
original
colophons are
1367 telling the story of the subject.
century scholars; one,
who
died
lost,
The
and there
is
only a postscript dated
seals include those of two fifteenth
in 1457, is
said to have inherited
it
from
his
great-grandfather, the prince of Chin-ning (fourteenth century).
We
can attribute the painting to an unknown master of the Sung dynasty.
79
30
THE ISLES OF THE IMMORTALS Wang Shen (dated 1064
Atiributed to Handscroll
The
and colors on
In ink
silk,
Isles of the Immortals,
9%
x
57
somewhere
Sung dynasty)
or 1124,
in. (24.5 x 145.1
cm)
the eastern sea, belong to an old
In
Taolst legend. According to the Inscription, the
artist
painted what he
saw
a dream.
In
The blue-and-green landscape back to
Li
Ssu-hsun and
Li
tradition to
Chao-tao (No.
which
2)
belongs goes
this picture
and was very much
alive as late
as Ch'iu Ying (No. 102). Mountains and rocks have no texture strokes, only
angular outline drawing
;
the trees are executed
in
various greens and browns,
The twigs and branches show the influence of There are some sparsely placed dots. Long wet wash
with different leaf patterns.
Ch'eng (No.
Li
17).
strokes extend from the banks into the water.
peaks
light
in
wash
blue
In
the
first part,
Wang Shen— official,
are visible.
artist
signed and dated
;
the rather long inscription
mountains near the end. However,
The date on
the painting,
father-in-law
was born
too
The
in
first
its
is
Emperor painting
hidden on one of the distant
authenticity has been doubted by
taken as 1064, seems very early for a
of the painting, dated 1088,
is
some.
man whose 1124, seems
recorded as having
the seventeenth century.
colophon
is
dated 1127, the third 1137/8; there are also seals of Chia
Ssu-tao (died 1276) and of two scholars of the Yuan dynasty.
and the
115).
1031, but the only other possible date,
in
Another version
late.
existed
if
of
The
and collector— was the son-in-law
Ying-tsung (1031-1067) and a younger friend of Su Shih (No. is
with the fishermen
shore and trees vanish into the mist above which distant
in their boats, the far
label
A further colophon
were written by Tung Ch'i-ch'ang, before 1614. As
for the style
of the painting, the treatment of the misty distance is reminiscent of
Chao
Ling-jang (ca. 1100) while the handling of the archaizing mountain landscape is
very similar to certain landscapes attributed to Ch'ien HsiJan (No. 68).
The
collector
jang,
The
Chao scroll
An
Ch'i already pointed out the stylistic relations to
has been
in
Ling-
the collections of Hsiang Tu-shou (late sixteenth
century), Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691) and
are the seals of Ch'en
80
Chao
Po-chiJ and Ch'ien HsiJan.
To
An
Ch'i (born 1683)
(early sixteenth century).
;
on the seams
L.#LJtt
81
31
A LITERARY GATHERING Attributed to Emperor Hui-tsung (reigned 1101-1125, Hanging
scroll in ink
Twelve men
and colors on
laid with
in. (184.4 x 123.9
and drinking, and
of letters, talking
around a table
72^x48%
silk,
Sung dynasty) cm)
their attendants are
ceramic and lacquer vessels
grouped
T'ang and Sung shapes,
in
ewers and artificial flowers. On a rock table in the background we see books and a musical instrument (ch'in) with its cover-wrap. In the foreground, attendants are busy heating the wine and preparing the dishes. The group is placed under a large mango tree, enlaced by a vine, and a weeping silver
willow;
bamboo and
rocks complete the garden, which
enclosed by an
is
elegant railing. This composition, using a vertical tree-group and two horizontal banisters connected at right angles picture follows a
The
model
the center, suggests that the
in
of the tenth century (cf.
figures are well-drawn, especially
in
No.
11).
the hands and faces;
some shading
used. The fold-lines of the garments are moderately angular but mainly follow the natural flow of the cloth. The trees are carefully built up, leaf by is
leaf,
with outlines even for the willow tendrils,
The treatment
of the tree trunks
rendering of texture.
The bank
and rocks
is
done
is
in different
soft
in soft
and
outline
shades
and wash.
Hui-tsung (1082-1135) wa,s a weak and unfortunate emperor life
of green.
delicate, with a realistic
who ended
his
as a prisoner of the Chin Tartars when they conquered the north of China
in 1127.
He was, however,
of rank (No. 118)
dominated the
a great patron of the arts, and himself a calligrapher
and a major painter
of birds
activities of the Painting
and flowers. His favorite subject
Academy which, under
his control, rose
was to maintain until the end of the dynasty. commanding position The emphasis now was on literal rendering of the real appearance of things.
to the
it
However, instead
of clinging to a
photographic realism, the court
their subjects to the status of ideal
artists raised
specimens.
The painting bears the cipher of the emperor Hui-tsung and is inscribed with a poem by him. Since the subject is not among Hui-tsung's known specialties, it has been suggested that the painting was done by one of the court artists and inscribed by the emperor. The rhymes of the emperor's verses are employed also
in
another
poem on
the painting, written by Hui-tsung's notorious minister
Ts'ai Ching.
The picture has been in the collections Keng Chao-chung (1640-1686).
82
of
Hsiang YiJan-pien (1525-1590) and
<^ '^
i
^ r •
^
^ I* I.
t i
^^
'^'
^^(^
4S P ^ ^' -
JK-
\£
4
->
1*1
-i^
/>^
i^
«l
> I
V "W^H
,^:
83
I'M
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>i-r
i'l'-^--^^
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84
^
^Tt
32
AUTUMN OVER
HILLS
AND RIVER Sung dynasty)
Attributed to Emperor Hui-tsung (reigned 1101-1125, Hanging
and
scroll in ink
Wooded
light colors
peaks are seen
the valley and haze.
The
mist.
Some
its village.
on paper, 38;^
x 21
autumn
rising out of the
The pagoda
of a
temple
53
cm)
mist,
which
is faintly
veils
visible
most
color tinges the
autumn
foliage and
some
is
used
in
of
through the
trees fade into ever lighter shades of ink until they disappear
boats and background peaks. For the most in
in. (97 x
in
the
the figures,
part, hov\/ever, the picture is
done
shades of w/et ink, with little emphasis on line and contour. The drawing on tree trunks and rocks is realistically painted. The soft
delicate
interior
outlines of the trunks disappear in washes. The human figures are carefully and precisely handled. The hazy, atmospheric quality of the whole scene, sensitively captured, gives a poetic aura to the painting.
The
picture
is
signed with the emperor's cipher and seal, but the style of the
painting suggests a thirteenth century)
;
somewhat and
later date,
this is not
one
probably Southern Sung (twelfth-
of the types of
work usually associated
with the emperor.
The
painting bears the palace inventory seal of the years between 1373-1384
and
later
was
in
the collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
85
33 BIRDS
BAMBOO
A THICKET OF
IN
AND PRUNUS Anonymous, ^^^_^
scroll in ink
W^^^Pf^^
(258.4 X
08.4
The
1
Sung dynasty
ca. 1100-1125,
Hanging
and colors on
silk,
101%x42%in.
cm)
static birds are
latticeworl<
of
branches and
placed within an intricate
bamboo
and plumage
blooming
stalks,
briers.
tall
Every
detail
of
drawn with an extraordinary refinement, and is the result of
foliage
is
patient observation.
compositions relationship
is
which perch
in
In
contrast to earlier
Po No.
T'sui
(cf.
23),
no
implied between the birds, isolation, in their
assigned
places.
The
outline of the foreground bank
is
broad,
wavering and partly broken, of uneven width
;
the tree trunk has an irregular, soft, knotty
contour.
Bamboo
drawn
thin
in
brier stalks. tifully
leaves
and
outline as are
The
birds'
reeds
some
plumage
is
are
of the
beau-
individualized.
The painting can probably be ascribed to some member of the Painting Academy of Emperor Hui-tsung. The picture bears Mongol imperial seals of the T'ien-li period (1328-1329), of the K'uei-chang Ko Academy (1329-1340)
and the palace inventory seal
of the years
between 1373-1384.
in
the collections of
and
86
his
Sung
Later,
it
was
Ch'iJan (1598-1652)
son Sung Lao (1634-1713).
34
SHRIKE By
Li
Album
The
An-chung leaf in ink
exquisitely
Sung dynasty)
(ca. 1110,
and color .on
silk,
10
drawn shrike
is
x 10'/i
in.
(25.4 x 26.9
cm)
perched on a dry twig over outlined bamboo.
and
a sense of perfection, the bird is "distilled" own, separate reality, in an elegant and timeless
Depicted with crystalline
clarity
from nature and creates
its
arrangement. Li
An-chung
first
served
in
the Painting
Academy
of
After the defeat by the Chin Tartars (1127), the court
the Painting
Academy was
re-established
in
the
new
Hui-tsung at Pienliang.
moved
to the south,
capital, first at
and
Nanking
later at Hangchow. Li An-chung was an official also of the Hangchow Academy, where he was decorated with the "Golden Belt". The painting is signed by the artist, who uses a title he received some time before 1119 when he was promoted. The remaining half of an official seal
and
carries a date corresponding to 1107-1110.
There also
is
the seal of a Ming
dynasty collector.
87
35
CLOUDS AND MIST
MOUNTAINS
IN
By Mi Yu-jen
(before 1135,
Handscroll
in ink
The rhythmic
on paper, 10%
x
83%
flow of verdant
Sung dynasty) 212.6
in. (27.2 x
and
hills
cm)
rolling
clouds builds up to a climax
marked by the pagoda on the highest peak, and then ebbs out gracefully. The sparse details of trees and houses are sketched in the most essential way. Soft, wet, horizontal dots give accent to the blurred and hazy shapes, produced by painting with very watery ink on
dampened
paper.
Mi Yu-jen (1086-1165), son of the famous Mi Fu (No. 28), was a scholar-official, calligrapher and painter. his father, piling
use of contour or other
88
He painted
up layers
of ink
line.
in
the impressionist style inaugurated by
tones to obtain soft misty effects, with
little
.^'^'
The
painting
is
not signed, but
lias
tions finding this worl< of his in the
The
early history of this scroll
century. is
painting
is
house
in
which he men-
of a friend in 1135.
cannot be established beyond the seventeenth
representative of the artist's style and the attribution
entirely plausible.
The the is
The
a postscript by the artist
picture carries
Hung-wu
two seals attributed one of a
era (ca. 1368), and
a colophon by
Tseng
Southern Sung period one of Ming collector (Wu T'ing). There
to the later
;
Ti (1162) attributing the picture to Mi
Fu
;
another
Wu
K'uan (1503); others by Tung Ch'i-ch'ang (1555-1636) and Lou Chien (1598) several by Ta Chung-kuang (between 1681 and 1684) and Kao Shih-ch'i (1690). The history of the early inscriptions is confused. The scroll
signed
;
was
in
the collections of
Ta Chung-kuang and Kao
Shih-ch'i.
89
36
WHISPERING PINES By
T'ang (dated
Li
Hanging
A
scroll in
]nV.
IN
1124,
and colors on
THE MOUNTAINS Sung dynasty) silk,
powerful rocky mountain dominates
(No. 18).
The same
cm)
x 55 in. (188.7 x 139.8
74X
tlie
way recalling Fan K'uan way the mountain is crowned
picture in a
tradition is also evident in the
by scrubby vegetation and certain tree groups stand out the clouds, as well as
in
silhouette against
in
the thin silvery bands of waterfalls
in
front of
somber,
shadowed gorges. The whole composition has been moved closer
to the
observer.
The
texture strokes
show
the most conspicuous change. Fan K'uan's "rain-
drop" dabs have developed into
Li
T'ang's characteristic, somewhat mannered
"axe-cut" strokes which are applied with the brush held
Slender peaks is
used
in
in light
the trees,
blue and grey rise
some
pink and
brown
in
an inclined position.
the distance. Green and blue color
in
the rocks and tree trunks. Broad,
in
strong, nearly unbroken outlines of slightly varying width and with
sure accents hold
cliffs
Li
T'ang
of
Emperor Hui-tsung
(ca. 1050-1130), a native of at
some
pres-
and rocks together.
Honan
province, served
Pienliang (Kaifeng).
A
in
Academy
the
year or two after the exodus
T'ang managed to follow, and was awarded the highest and honors, including the "Golden Belt". Though nearly eighty, he
to the south (1127) Li titles
dominated the new Academy and imposed until
the end of the dynasty.
The
painting
is
his style
on
it
in
a way that lasted
signed and dated (on one of the distant pinnacles).
the seal of Chia Ssu-tao (died 1276) and a Southern
Sung palace
as the palace inventory seal of the years between 1373-1384. Later, collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
90
It
carries
seal as well it
was
in
the
91
37
MOUNTAINS BY THE RIVER By
Li
T'ang
Handscroll
in ink
(ca. 1050-1130,
Sung dynasty)
and colors on
^9%x^3'A
At the beginning
slll(,
hills
from the opposite shore
introduce a slowly unrolling river landscape.
wooded
follow the path threading through the
l^nolls of
We
the foreground. Beyond
a vast expanse of water enlivened by the sailing boats.
The
roofs of the temple buildings are of the early type,
out the pronounced curvature that
Sung and
later paintings.
There
and green on the rocks and color for the
92
(49.7x186.7 cm)
of the scroll, a spit of land extending
and some distant blue is
in.
more
is
is
flat
and
straight, with-
characteristic of temples in Southern
blue color on the roofs and yellow, brown
cliffs;
distant trees, with
the richly varied foliage patterns are
some
ink for the foreground ones.
in
Tree
trunks and rocks have strongly drawn contours which are slightly modulated and have longish sections. At the same time, the graded washes, the feathery drawing of foliage, the concentration on mass and texture, soften the whole and give it a more painterly aspect. The texture strokes are of the same "axe-
cut" pattern we recognized on the previous picture, but less formalized or mannered. The whole mountain landscape is tightly built up and richly shaded in ink and color, contrasting with the unlimited space of water and sky behind. Boats with their masts and ropes are freely drawn, without a ruler. The waves are done
drawn
The
in
in
painting
has been cut is
A
an archaizing fish-net pattern with the right side of each wave
a double line. is
not signed— an entire section including the signature probably and made into a separate scroll. The artist's hand, however,
off
unmistakable
in all details.
long appreciation by
Tung Ch'i-ch'ang is dated 1633; a colophon by the who later owned the painting was written in 1660. the collection of Sung Lao (1634-1713).
painter Ch'eng Cheng-k'uei
The
scroll also
was
in
%
93
38
TEMPLE BY THE CLIFF PASS By Chia Shih-ku Album
In
leaf in ink
(ca. 1150,
and color on
a scene of dusk, a
silk,
Sung dynasty)
\0y, x
dense group
10%
in.
(26.4
of pines
which two bearers approach from the
right.
x26 cm)
firs surmounts the rocky knoll Temple buildings are visible in the
and
distance behind the trees. Using a device very popular during the Southern
Sung
period, the composition
is concentrated in one corner of the picture empty space, broken only by a single distant hill painted in dilute blue-grey wash. The format of the album leaf fits the new tendency toward a more intimate character in the landscape. Stylistically, the painting is very close to Li T'ang (Nos. 36-37), but the rock texture is elaborated in a more mannerist way, with furry growths of long grass adding to the feeling of density and compression.
while the rest
is
Chia Shih-ku, a native of Pienliang (Kaifeng) served as an
Academy The
at
painting
Hangchow is
signed.
official in
the Painting
during the Shao-hsing period (1131-1161). It
carries an official seal, probably of the Yiian dynasty
;
the palace inventory seal of the years between 1373 and 1384; and another official seal of
94
the Ming dynasty.
39
CAT By
Li
Album
Ti (dated 1174, leaf in
color on
silk,
Sung dynasty) 9%
x
9%
in.
(23.6x24.1
This portrait of a ginger colored cat
which seems
to
show
is
cm)
painted
in
an unbelievably fine
detail
every single hair of the animal's fur. In spite of the meti-
culous treatment, the artist has managed to convey the sensuous and feline charm, the essential character of the cat to a point where the "idea" of a cat is
actually portrayed.
The
picture
is
signed and dated.
was a native of Honan province. During the Shao-hsing era (1131-1161) he became Assistant Director of the later Painting Academy at Hangchow, and was awarded the "Golden Belt". He was apparently still alive in 1197. Li
Ti
95
4Q
HERDBOYS AND BUFFALOES By
Li
Ti (dated 1174,
Hanging
Two
scroll in ink
THE RAINSTORM
IN
Sung dynasty)
and colors on
silk,
*T/,xW/,
in.
(120.7x102.8 cm)
herdboys on water buffaloes are rushing homeward, fleeing the sudden is lashing the old willow tree; one of the boys holds onto
storm. The wind
his hat the other has already lost his, and is about to jump down to retrieve it. The genre element is rendered with a definite sense of humor. The buffaloes are carefully drawn in fine brushwork that shows each hair. The competently painted landscape setting, with its suggestions of murky atmosphere in sky and ground, captures well the mood of the rainstorm. The ;
foreground bank
is
depicted mainly
in
rocks have stronger, broad contours. trunks, where
some
A
washes, with a
light outline,
broad, blunt brush
ink is applied fairly dry.
is
used
while the
for the tree
Dense green covers the weeping
willow.
The
picture
is
signed and dated to the same year as the previous work. The
painting, was written by Emperor Li-tsung between 1234 and 1264. On the painting are several seals of a son of the first Ming emperor (fourteenth century), and the palace inventory seal of the years
inscription,
mounted above the
between 1373-1384.
96
97
^ 2 S
98
a *i i fit x f « * A t ^ * * -ft
•
41
CHILDREN AT PLAY By Su Han-ch'en Hanging
Two
(first
half twelfth century,
and colors on
scroll In Ink
silk,
77%
x
42%
Sung dynasty)
In. (197.5 x 108.7
princely children are playing with a toy balance
Another
cm)
made
of jujube fruits.
two mounted archers spinning around, is placed on the second stool. There is also a small shrine in the form of a stupa, and bowls made of red lacquer. The eight auspicious symbols ornament a board and the toy, with
The stools are decorated in silver, imitating lacquer work, in chrysanthemum and vine pattern. A gold design adorns the red robe, and the children wear gold ornaments. All these details are delicately drawn, as are the hair and hands of the children and their lively eyes. The fold lines
tray of the toy.
a stylized
of their robes are moderately angular, with
are heightened
in
The ground
indicated only by
is
angular rock
some
"nail-head" strokes;
some
white.
done
some
long grass around the rock.
The
tall,
shaded washes, and with a few longlsh texture strokes. The flowers are shaded in pink and white, with very fine outlines; leaves and stems are executed in the same manner. The large format used for this genre motif gives the picture a strongly decorais
in
wet ink with
slightly
tive character.
Su Han-ch'en was
a native of the northern capital,
tsung's Painting Academy. Later, he was again an court under Kao-tsung and
He was famous
was
still
where he served official
at the
in
Hui-
southern
active under Hsiao-tsung (after 1063).
for his figure paintings,
and especially
for
scenes
of playing
children.
The
painting
attribution.
It
no reason to doubt the traditional
is
not signed, but there
is
the best of several paintings of this subject
Museum which
are attributed to
is
in
the Palace
Su Han-ch'en.
99
42
THE HAN PALACE Chao
Attributed to Fan-shaped album (24.5
leaf
Po-chij (ca. 1150,
(mounted as a hanging
Sung dynasty)
scroll) in Ink
and colors on
silk,
diameter
9'/, in.
cm)
This twilight scene takes place on the day of the Double Seven (seventh day of the seventh
moon), the autumn
During the night, the legendary
festival.
meeting of the herdsman and the spinning maid (Altair and Vega) place In
when she crosses
the Milky
Way
take
will
on a bridge of magpies.
the foreground courtyard, servants and retainers are gathered with oxen
and
carts, saddled
tion, a long
horses and banners. Beyond the temporary, tent-like
parti-
procession of court ladies moves from the lamplit palace through
a natural tunnel in the fantastically eroded rock toward a tower in the upper
Musicians and a sheep precede the empress and her maids, who hold
The
last light is fading,
and they
tall
left.
fans.
ascend the tower to engage in the tramoon. The details of architecture
will
ditional pastime of this evening, gazing at the
and furniture give us a fascinating glimpse
of the material
life
of the
Sung
aristocracy.
Chao
Sung emperor, grew up in Hangchow where he became a favorite
Po-chiJ, a distant relative of the
but followed the court to
Emperor Kao-tsung (reigned 1127-1162) and a for his archaizing
T'ang dynasty
The
painting
is
of the subject
(cf.
Tung Ch'i-ch'ang
in
2).
not signed.
account
painter of
He was known the manner of the
military official.
blue-and-green pictures of palaces
No.
the north,
The archaic
flavor of the
for the attribution to
composition and the nature
Chao Po-chu, which was made
by
above the painting. However, the picture differs in style from other works attributed to Chao Po-chiJ. Certain features such as the twisted plum trees and the blue mountains
beyond agree
The
100
picture
(1555-1636) in his inscription
Ma Yuan (Nos. Keng Chao-chung
better with the school of
was
in
the collection of
51-61).
(1640-1686).
^^e.^.-J'i
101
^ f ^
102
3^
!(*
J t
if in it
6
«
i
It 1$
I
43
SNOWY MOUNTAINS AT DUSK Anonymous Hanging
(twelfth century, and some color on
scroll in ink
The landscape has the
Sung dynasty) silk,
40>ix22
In. (102.1 x
intimate character which
55.9
cm)
we encounter
in
compositions
from the same period. The poetic atmosphere is enhanced by the hazy middle distance animated by a flight of birds. This area shows the influence of Chao Ling-jang (ca. 1100) while the sparse wet "axe-cut" texture of smaller size
strokes are In
(No. 36) at
in
manner
the
of Li
T'ang (Nos. 36-37). The
fairly
prominent pinnacle
the center, topped by pines, preserves something of the
one
thern
in
side, giving the picture the diagonally divided
Sung
latter time,
period.
as
is
ink
In
T'ang design
The large areas given over warm and poetic feeling.
is
placed
composition of the Sou-
to mist also are a feature of the
the
The banks have darker
Li
the tradition of Fan K'uan (No. 18). But the tallest mountain
light,
slightly
the distant vales.
Some
hesitant contours; the
color (green and brown)
washes over sky and water make the white
wash shading turns in
the trees, and the
stand out
hills
in
delicately
handled contrast.
The temple
Japan they are nearly straight, slope, and the characteristic outer reinforcements appear above the principal rafters which terminate, at both ends of the ridge, in bird-headed finials facing inward. The painting has been in the collection of An Ch'i (born 1683). roofs remind us of the Toshodaiji
with only the suspicion of a curve
in
the
in
;
downward
103
44
BREAKING THE BALUSTRADE Anonymous Hanging
(twelfth century,
scroll in ink
and colors on
silk,
Sung dynasty)
68>$ x
40X
(173.9x101.8 cm)
in.
The painting illustrates an edifying historical anecdote concerned with the Han emperor Ch'eng-ti (reigned 46-5 B.C.), his loyal magistrate Chu YiJn, and the marquis Chang Yii of An-ch'ang. Chu YiJn's indignation against the and insincere marquis overcame his prudence, and he asked permission to put him to death with the Imperial sword. The emperor, outraged by this arrogant demand, ordered instead that Chu YiJn himself be beheaded,
flattering
and asked to be killed on the spot, as another The emperor was moved by Chu's courage, and by the pleas of his general, Hsin Ch'ing-chi; he relented, cancelled the death sentence for Chu, and commanded that the balustrade, broken in the scuffle, be left unrepaired as a memorial to the event. The tense and dramatic scene is shown in a well interrelated composition: but
Chu clung
loyal
to a balustrade
subject had once been executed.
the pleading
official in
the foreground center between the static group of the
scowling, booted emperor and his attendants including the cringing
Chang
Yii
and Chu YiJn struggling against two officers on the left. The trunk and branches of a tall pine frame the main group at the right both groups are reinforced by large ornamental rocks. Some white heightening is used along the fold lines of the robes which are on the
right,
;
and rather angular, with small "nail-head" ends. The fantastic rocks have concave contours the cavities are shaded in black and grey. Bamboo and other leaves have ink outlines the feathery green needle clusters are done in color only. Some long, wet texture strokes are used in the shading
fine
irregular, broken,
;
;
of the bank.
104
.
ilVi"
*-
105
..:.^^1?!'-saiM:..
V K >
m -.^-
4
'^^
1
A. I *W
tS: ^<^'~<^
45
BUDDHIST IMAGES By Chang Sheng-wen Handscroll
In ink,
(inscribed in the year 1180,
colors and gold on paper,
12x635%
in.
Sung dynasty)
(30.4x1881.4 cm)
at one time cut up and made into an album; later It was remounted as a handscroll. Consequently, some parts are missing while others
This scroll was
have been wrongly placed. first scene depicts an imperial procession. The emperor, wearing a tiaracrown and carrying incense burner and rosary, is surrounded by officials, priests, umbrella and standard bearers and barefooted warriors. Identified by
The like
his reign
name
Li-chen, he
is
Hsiian-tsung (personal name: Tuan Chih-hsing)
Kingdom of Yunnan from 1172 to 1200. The numerous scenes following show the Buddhist pantheon in which the Bodhisattva AvalokiteSvara, in his many aspects, plays a prominent role. The Sixteen
who
ruled over the later Ta-li
Arhats and the Sixteen Patriarchs
of the
Ch'an (Zen) sect are also depicted.
Portraits of the Sixteen Great Kings (Devas) form the
The
plate illustrates the
Buddha
end section of the enthroned
of Healing (Bhaisajyaguru),
scroll. in
the
center of a group of Bodhlsattvas, disciples and guardian kings. In
to
some
of the sections, the attendant figures
represent historical
(Yunnan).
106
wear
local
costume and seem of Nan-chao
personalities from the earlier history
Some charming
genre elements are apparent
in
the Hariti scene,
The ink landscapes in The heavenly landscapes are more stylized and archaizing the figures are directly descended from T'ang painting. The delicacy of the lines and the refinement of the faces are enhanced by the many subtle shades of color. We also notice the technique of applying finely cut gold strips, known in Japan as kirigane. While the gentle faces and the elaborate festoons and ribbons show contemporary influences, the with a mother nursing her baby and children playing.
the background
show
the mountains of Yunnan. ;
painting really
an exquisite end product of T'ang
is
art,
kept alive within the
archaism. There are interest-
religious tradition,
and not a conscious
intellectual
ing parallels with
Japanese paintings
of the late Fujiwara period.
The was
painting
is
painted by the otherwise
monk
called Miao-kuang who tells us that unknown Chang Sheng-wen. The inscription
inscribed by a
dated 1180— during the reign of the king
who
it
is
leads the procession at the begin-
ning of the scroll.
Miao-kuang's inscription
who
is
followed by a colophon of
mistakenly interprets the date as 1240.
1378, 1379,
and
The
Sung
Lien (1310-1381),
next colophons are dated
1459.
107
46
THE RED CLIFF
Wu
Atiributed to Handscroll
in ink
Yiian-chih (ca. 1195, Chin dynasty)
on paper,
20x53%
in.
(50.8x136.4 cm)
The picture illustrates the famous prose-poem by Su Shih; for a copy of the poem in Su Shih's own calligraphy, see No. 115. Su tells of embarking with two friends in a small boat on the Yangtze River, one moonlit night in autumn and drifting past the Red Cliff. One of the friends plays a melancholy air on his flute when Su asks the reason, the friend reminds him of a great battle fought there eight centuries before. They sip wine and muse on vanished glory as the ;
night passes. In
the picture, the poet's boat
towering right,
cliffs,
the river
is
just passing a
bend
of the river
beneath the
which continue toward the left, over mist and rapids. On the widens and calms, leading us into the far distance. The moun-
tains are outlined in broken wet strokes, sharply accented. In addition to
some
and irregular, wash-like texture drawing there is much diagonal hatching which reminds us of western ink-drawing. The distant hill-
long, wet texture strokes
108
W^-
:^
^•*«M?^-*
'^^||i^
tops and rocks are done
in
a reserve of the texture stroke
technique which uses
an ink wash leaving stroke-like areas blank and untouched. The variety of ink tone used in the trees adds to the sense of depth. This very painterly picture,
done
entirely in
wet
ink,
conveys a strong sense
sphere. There are memories of twisted, gnarled pines, and of
Li
of
space, depth and atmo-
Ch'eng and Kuo Hsi (Nos. 17, 20) in the T'ang (Nos. 36, 37) in the shrub-capped cliffs Li
and the silhouetted tree groups surrounded by dense grass. Altogether, however, the landscape has become more poetic and emotionally appealing, in a
development which seems to parallel that picture is not signed. Attached to it is
The
by the Chin calligrapher
Yuan-pien attributed the
in
the south.
of the Red Cliff poem written Chao Ping-wen, dated 1228. The collector Hsiang painting to Chu Jui, an artist who worked at both a
copy
the northern and southern Painting Academies. Recently, the writings of the
Chin scholar Yuan Hao-wen (1190-1257) yielded painting of the
Red
Cliff
the poem, written by
by
Wu
a notice that the writer
saw
a
YCian-chih to which a calligraphic version of
Chao Ping-wen, was attached. The
painting has since
been attributed to the amateur painter Wu YiJan-chih, a prominent scholarofficial of the 1190's, who worked under the Chin Tartars in the north of China. The scroll was in the collection of Hsiang YiJan-pien (1525-1590), who tells us In
a postscript that he paid 150 taels
(ch/n) of
gold for
it.
109
110
47
SNOW
CLEARING AFTER Anonymous Hanging
On
the
scroll in ink
left,
IN
(twelfth century, and some
THE MIN MOUNTAINS Sung dynasty) on
light color
high mountains
a group of temple buildings.
in
silk,
fantastic
The
45>i x
39%
in. (115.1 x
100.7
cm)
shapes enclose a misty gorge with widens as it leads us diagonally
river valley
surmounted by distant hilltops a splendid tree group balances Two horsemen and their servants have just crossed the foreground bridge, coming, perhaps, from the house over the brook. Mountains and rocks have strong, broad outlines. The whole picture is very painterly, done in wet-brush shading and texture strokes with strong ink values in the style of Kuo Hsi (No. 20). The waterfall disappearing into mist and some into a hazy plain,
;
the composition.
details of rocks
and trees are related to the painting attributed
(No. 17). There also (No. 19), especially the picture
is
is
in
to Li
Ch'eng
a similarity to the painting attributed to Hsii Tao-ning
the diagonal composition. Here, a
much
larger area of
given over to the hazy void, and the rocks and other details are
much more "baroque". The temple architecture is of an early type, with completely straight roofs. The picture belongs to the northern tradition of Li Ch'eng and Kuo Hsi which in the Southern Sung period had declined to the status of a minor local tradition, carried on chiefly in the north under the Chin. The title
referring to the
Min mountains
in
Szechwan need
not be the original one.
Ill
48
WEN-CHI'S RETURN TO CHINA By Ch'en Chij-chung Hanging
scroll in ink
(ca. 1205,
and colors on
silk,
Sung dynasty) 58x42%
in.
(147.4x107.7 cm)
Lady Wen-chi was the daughter of a well-known scholar of the second century. While on her way to Kansu, she was taken prisoner by Hsiung-nu raiders and spent twelve years picture she
in captivity in
shown
Mongolia before she was ransomed.
parting from her Hsiung-nu
husband and her Chinese emissary and his escort are waiting. Wen-chi and her husband, seated on a richly patterned rug, are about to share a last drink which is poured from a golden phoenix-ewer. The children are clinging to their In this
is
children, while the
mother, and refuse to listen to the entreaties of a nurse who wants to lead them away. At a little distance, the Chinese envoy is seated on a separate rug, attended by his Chinese and Mongol entourage. The well-drawn group of
saddled horses In
which
in
a laden
the lower left is balanced by another group in the upper right. camel stands out. The Hsiung-nu are depicted in the robes,
boots and hairdo of the Mongols contemporary with the artist, who soon were conquer the North and, eventually, all of China. The gold ornaments of their
to
costumes are applied
in cut gold-strips (Japanese: kirigane); the caparisons ponies are also richly decorated— viz. the golden goose on the one in the foreground. The bundles carried by the camel are wrapped in rugs of the same geometric design as the one the couple is seated on. Robes, arms and
of the
ponies, as well as the whole subject and
its
setting
frame, recall the earlier Liao tradition (Nos.7,8,9). The in
a sparse landscape tradition is evident
the way the Mongols and their horses are drawn, with angular, accented fold-
lines
and
in
somewhat
stiff
postures.
The flowing robes
on the other hand, represent the tradition trees that of the Southern
and 1204; he specialized
The
painting
is
of the
Chinese envoy,
of Li Kung-lin (No. 29)
and the gnarled
Academy. The
emotions which underlie the subject. Ch'en ChiJ-chung became an official
112
in
same
lively
faces express the conflicting
at the Painting
Academy between
Mongol horsemen and camp scenes. not signed, but the attribution seems entirely plausible. in
1201
%ir
^^
^ if, W'M
m
9Tl4l
r
*f
'sf**A
-^^,
/
i
113
49
LOHAN By
Sung dynasty)
Liu Sung-nien (dated 1207,
Hanging
One
scroll In ink
and colors on
silk,
46x22
of the legendary disciples
of the
(Stewartia pseudo-camellia) while his
from one of a pair
of
monkeys.
in.
(117x55.8
cm
Buddha leans against
young acolyte
Two
is
deer standing
a sha-lo tree
just receiving a in
peach
front are looking up
affectionately.
The
picture
is
one
of a set of three
;
originally, there
were probably more paint-
ings depicting the whole series of Sixteen (or Eighteen) Lohan or Arhats. The shaded, broad leaves, the tangled branches and knotty trunk of the tree; the way the Arhat leans on composed around him— all suggest an earlier prototype, probably of the tenth century. The same tradition is evident in the corresponding section of the Chang Sheng-wen scroll (No. 45). Liu Sung-nien was a southerner, a native of Hangchow. He served in the Hangchow Painting Academy as a student (about 1180), then as an official
the archaic arrangement of the deer and monkeys the tree, which
(after
1190),
;
is
and received the "Golden Belt" under Emperor Ning-tsung
(reigned 1195-1224).
The
painting
is
signed and dated.
the early fourteenth century.
114
It
bears two seals of a Mongol princess of
}l
115
50
KNICK-KNACK PEDDLER By
Li
Sung
The three
Sung dynasty)
(dated 1210,
Fan-shaped album
leaf in ink
and
tiny characters
light colors
on the
The astonishing
matched by a most
a
(25.8x27.6 cm)
draftsmanship,
in
the finest of lines,
little
one
of the children
The peddler
is
lool
help himself to the
boy wants to follow this example and beckons to
demands the attention of their harassed mother, The mother patiently nurses the baby who reaches out for toy without interrupting his suckling. The fitth brother contentedly munches fruit which, judging by his sly glance, also came from the peddler's load,
his brother
tugging a
who
In.
characterization of the figures.
warily over his shoulder, watching
merchandise; another
10^x10%
meaning "Five Hundred Articles", refer number of objects drawn in the peddler's
display of
lively
silk,
tree,
with understandable pride to the
pack.
on
at
her
forcefully
skirt.
while yet another offspring, not empty-handed either, just appears behind the
pack Li
at the right.
Sung was born
in
the south,
in
Hangchow, where he
carpenter before he was adopted by an older himself a
member
of the Painting
Academy
in
Academy
started his painter.
life
as a
He became
which he served under three
emperors, Kuang-tsung, Ning-tsung and Li-tsung, approximately between 1190
116
and
1220.
The
painting
is
signed and dated.
It
was
in
the collection of
An
Ch'i (born 1683).
4,
51
1*
THE HANGCHOW BORE By
Li
Sung
(ca. 1210,
Fan-shaped album
leaf In ink
From the terrace
IN
MOONLIGHT
Sung dynasty) and colors on
silk,
8%
x
8%
an elegant pavilion, placed
of
in.
in
(22.3x22 cm)
one corner
several ladies are gazing at the bore roaring up the river.
moon. the mouth of the Ch'ien-t'ang
of the
A
composition, in
the
f\o\Ns into the
bay
boat sails
distance, under the
The scene of
is
which
river,
Hangchowr.
The "one-corner" composition,
the distant blue ridge, the transparent, angular
trees, the romantic moonlight
mood
the Ma-Hsia school. The double
—
of the picture
line
all
are characteristic of
wave pattern (No.
37)
survives
in
an
altered, freer form.
The eaves of the pavilion are turned up at the corners with the pronounced movement characteristic of the south and decorated with the imperial emblems, dragons and phoenixes.
Sung, who also was famous for his architectural poem, by Yang Mei-tzu (Elder Sister Yang), the sister-in-law of Emperor Ning-tsung (reigned 1195-1224): "Leave word not to lock the double doors— the nightly tide is waiting to be viewed
The
painting
paintings.
It
is
signed by
is
inscribed, with a short
Li
under the moon".
The
painting
was
in
the collection of
An
Ch'i (born 1683).
117
w. /'
i
52
ON A MOUNTAIN PATH By Ma Yuan Album
A
leaf in ink
and
IN
ca. 1190-1225,
(fl.
light colors
on
SPRING Sung dynasty)
silk,
10}ix17
(27.4x43.1 cm)
In.
scholar, followed by his servant carrying a ch'in (zither), walks on a path
along a stream bank
blown willow. wild flowers
A
;
he stops for a
verse couplet
dance
in
moment
to
watch two orioles
written at the right
:
"Brushed by
Is
a distillation of
mood, everything
to the production of a well defined effect. Everything that
been eliminated from the composition artist
envelops his subject
in
In
Is
is
in
it
subservient
not essential has
order to stress the poetic mood. The
diagonally divided composition of the
but the subject
the wind-
his sleeves,
an aura of feeling with an extreme economy of
means, relying upon the emotional associations power of the emptiness surrounding them.
The
in
the wind; fleeing from him the hidden birds cut short
songs". The picture
their
is
brought closer, the
Li
of the
images and the evocative
T'ang school (No. 38) is used, narrowed. The majestic
field of vision
and awesome aspect of nature in the Northern Sung landscapes has given way to a tamed and idealized poetic frame. The wet "axe-cut" strokes also show the influence of Li T'ang (No. 36), but there is now more stress on angularity, especially in the fold lines of the robes which have been called "rat-tail" lines.
the fourth generation member of a family of painters which came from Shansi province; he probably lived from about 1150 to 1225 and, like his ancestors, served in the Painting Academy, where he eventually was awarded the "Golden Belt".
Ma Yuan was
originally
118
;
He and Hsia Kuei (No.
57) were the outstanding representatives of a school Chinese landscape painting which became most popular in Japan and, chiefly by way of that country, most familiar to the west. The works of their followers carried to Korea and Japan and imitated there, eventually created the standard occidental image of Chinese painting. Most Chinese critics, by contrast, have admired the productions of the Ma-Hsia school only moderately,
of
preferring the landscapes of the preceding Northern
Yuan dynasty. The
painting
is
Sung and
written by a member of the imperial family. The album was in the collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao
53
of the following
signed; the poetic inscription probably was (1620-1691).
THROUGH SNOWY MOUNTAINS AT DAWN By Ma Yuan Album
leaf In ink
(fl.
ca. 1190-1225,
and white on
silk,
10%
Sung dynasty) x ^5'/. in. (27.6 x
40 cm)
An
old man is seen driving two donkeys, loaded with charcoal and firewood he carries a dead pheasant hanging from a pole. A few trees with angular branches, several rocks and some masterly "axe-stroke" texture on the slopes
provide the essentials of a landscape frame which otherwise consists of
snow
and cold.
The
painting
is
signed; the album was
in
the collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao
(1620-1691).
119
54
APRICOT BLOSSOMS By Ma Yiian (f1. ca. 1190-1225, Sung Album
A
and color on
leaf in ink
silk,
10 x
branch of blossoming apricot
W/,
dynasty)
in. (25.8 x 27.3
cm)
placed against the void— "leaning", as the
is
original caption says, "against a cloud".
The essence
or spirit of the flowers
way which perhaps inspired the attribute hsien (immortal) the caption. The branch grows out of a corner of the picture, leaving the rest Is
caught
a
in
the surface to space,
The
attention
and
lifted to
In
is
in
a composition similar to the landscapes of this school.
concentrated on a small segment of
a higher plane,
where
reality
which
is
idealized
represents and evokes the whole of nature
it
Spring.
The
painting
is
signed by the
artist
and inscribed with a verse couplet by Yang
Mei-tzu (see No. 51): "Meeting the wind, they offer their artful
from the dew, they boast
The
120
in
of
painting
was
in
their pink beauty".
the collection of
An
Ch'i (born 1683).
charm— ,wet
55 PLAYING THE LUTE Attributed to
Ma
IN
Yiian
(f1.
MOONLIGHT ca. 1190-1225,
Sung dynasty) Hanging
scroll in ink
and
light
colors on
silk,
44 x 21
in.
(111.5x53.1 cm.)
The typical "one-corner"composition shows a scholar playing the yuan-hsien, a lute-like
instrument similar to the
p'i-p'a, in front of
his simple, thatched lodge,
under bamboo
and rocks, above a stream.
A
him company. At the
right, a
crane keeps
clouded
moon
shines over distant hilltops.
The tion
painting
seems
is
not signed, but the attribu-
plausible.
The
seals of a son of the
picture has several
first
Ming emperor
(fourteenth century), and the palace inventory seal It
is
of the years
between 1373-1384.
the best and earliest of
paintings
Palace
attributed
Museum
to
all
the large
Ma Yuan
in
the
Collection.
121
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122
55
BANQUET BY LANTERN-LIGHT Anonymous Hanging
An
(ca. 1200-1225,
scroll In ink
Sung dynasty)
and some color on
imperial banquet
sillt,
being served
is
44x21
in
In.
(111.9x53.5 cm)
the spacious
courtyard, surrounded by gnarled prunus trees
performing a lantern dance. Behind the
bamboo
the dusky
The poem
but no guests are
fiali,
attendants seen through the curtains.
visible, only four
hall,
a
in
In
the foreground
blossom, sixteen
tall,
girls are
angular pine towers over
grove. Far away, blue hilltops rise above the mist.
inscribed at the top by an unidentified writer reads:
Back from court, pages proclaim imperial summons Father and son, serving together, are honored to attend a banquet. :
Wine
is
offered
Music
is
heard
in
in
Of prunus buds
To
I
K'uan's goblet,— we pray for great blessings
in
Han palace,— we
;
are stirred by joyful sound.
precious vases, a thousand branches are opening
;
colored lanterns of jade and coral, ten thousand lamps are shining.
In
A
I
the
feel the
urge for verses,
it
cloud bank holds back the
is
said
rain,
we must wait for rain poem is in fact complete. ;
but the
K'uan (died 102 B.C.) was a poor scholar who made
laborer. Eventually, he
reference to the rain
in
became
his
living
as a farm
a high official and reformed the calendar.
relation to versifying is taken
The
from a poem by Tu Fu
(712-770).
The
picture
is
not signed, and the seal under the long poetic inscription
legible. Every detail of style
(No. 52) to of Liang
whom we
and composition points
can attribute
this painting.
It
to the
hand
has been
in
of
is
not
Ma Yuan
the collection
Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
The Palace Museum owns another somewhat has an interpolated Ma Yuan signature.
later version of this picture
which
123
57
PURE AND REMOTE VIEW OF STREAM AND HILLS By Hsia Kuei Handscroll
In a
in ink
(fl.
ca. 1190-1225,
on paper, 18%
continuous diorama
x
390
in.
of river
Sung dynasty)
(46.5 x 889.1
cm)
and mountain scenery the changing motifs
merge into one another as do the parts of a symphonic composition. The amazing variety of ink values moves from the subtlest washes to the richest black. The brushwork is equally brilliant: dry strokes applied with a slanting brush for the rock surface; the foliage done with a split brush; the figures and buildings drawn in a line that is firm, but not stiff. Spontaneous staccato strokes and splashed dots of a tremendous power are balanced by misty areas which are handled in a tender and poetic way. The eye is led in and out, from solid to space and back, each segment existing in itself as a brief, crystalline visual statement. This scroll is, perhaps, the supreme masterpiece of the whole Ma-Hsia school. Hsia Kuei, a native of Chekiang province, was the outstanding painter of this school, probably surpassing Ma Yuan (No. 52). He served in the Painting Academy under Emperor Ning-tsung (reigned 1195-1224) who awarded him the "Golden Belt". Contemporary and later Chinese critics have commented on the glowing richness of his ink, the originality and boldness of his brushwork, and the terseness of his abbreviated compositions.
The
painting
sistency of is
its
is
not signed, but the brilliance of
style
seem
The who was
a seal of the prince of Chin-ning (fourteenth century).
dated 1378. The next was written by a poet-ofFicial prince of Chin-ning and a friend of the painter scroll
124
execution and the con-
its
to justify the attribution to this great master.
was
in
the collection of
Sung Lao
Wang
(1634-1713).
first
There
colophon
is
a prot6g6 of the
Fu (No. 91). Later, the
'
;f
i^
/
t
J^
'^
-^^
i'
?
.-^j?'
^^'^
J -.-^J!
125
58
CONVERSATION UNDER THE Attributed to Hsia Kuei Album
Two
leaf In Ink
and color on
silk,
PINE-CLIFF
ca. 1190-1225,
(fl.
^0%x^5'/,
In.
Sung dynasty)
(27x39 cm)
gentlemen are conversing on a steep bank beside a stream. Above them,
pine-trees are hanging from a towering
cliff
which disappears
The "one-corner" composition, the angular branches,
into the haze.
the "axe-cut" strokes
and shaded washes, the delicate atmospheric effects, all are typical of the Ma-Hsia school. The painting is listed as "unsigned"; there is, however, an obliterated and illegible
signature at the
The album was
126
in
left.
the collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
59
FRAGRANT SPRING: CLEARING AFTER RAIN By Ma Album
Lin (ca. 1246,
leaf In ink
Trees,
and
Sung dynasty)
light colors
bamboo and
on
silk,
^0%K^6y,
in.
(27.5x41.6 cm)
growing
in disorderly profusion on the banl
briers are
of a stream. Mists drift over the
The
Ma Lin, son of Ma Yuan (No. 52), who followed the Academy. Perhaps it is a fragment of a handscroll expresa series of seasonal moods, which would have bearing upon the composiThe title has been inscribed by Yang Mei-tzu (see No. 51). "Fragrant
painting
Is
signed by
family tradition in the
sing tion.
Spring" in
is
Chinese
a poetic term referring to the flowering climax of this season, which, literature, nearly
always has the connotation of nostalgia for the
fleeting character of beauty.
The album was
in
the collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
127
60
LISTENING TO THE WIND By Ma Hanging
Lin (dated 1246,
scroll in Ink
IN
THE PINES
Sung dynasty)
and colors on
silk,
89y,x*3y,
In.
(226.6x110.3 cm)
The "romantic" emotional relationship between man and nature, favorite subject of the Southern Sung Academy and most familiar from small and intimate compositions, here is expressed in very large size. The scholarly aesthete, somewhat self-conscious, sits in a tense listening pose, casting a sly, sideward glance at his boy attendant. The elegant lines of the rocks, stream and distant mountains, the refinement
of
form
the twisted and gnarled pine
in
trees with their long, wild texture strokes, belong to a world which exists within his mind.
He
is
surrounded,
in
the picture, not by nature
a projection of his emotional response to
The
painting
indicates that
one
is it
signed: "Painted by (Your Majesty's) servitor
was painted
of his seals gives
for the
128
painting
was
in
but by
Ma
Lin",
which
emperor. Li-tsung himself wrote the
us the date. There also
is
a palace seal of the
emperor.
The
itself,
it.
the collection of
Sung Lao
(1634-1713).
title;
same
51
WAITING FOR GUESTS BY LAMPLIGHT
Ma
By
Album
As
Lin (ca. leaf
1246, Sung dynasty)
ink
in
and
twilight falls
entrance to a
colors on
9^4 x 10
silk,
in.
(24.8 x 25.2 cm.)
a palace courtyard, a nobleman
in
Servants
pavilion.
outside
stand
at the
sits
ready
to
light
candles along the path between flowering hai-t'ang (cherry-apple) trees. Color is used with unusual effectiveness in imparting the
moment: a yellow moon in a dusky blue-green sky, a glow of yellow lamplight under the eaves, pale green
feeling of this
blue
hills,
and
leaves
The
given above follows the Chinese label but does not seem
title
apply
to
blossoms on the trees.
violet
a banquet could hardly be held com-
to the painting:
fortably
such a
in
small
and
building,
the
nobleman
dressed
is
too informally to receive guests.
because of
labeled
The picture was probably misresemblance to the anonymous painting,
its
No. 56, which does in fact depict the preparations for a night banquet. A very convincing suggestion, made by Dr. Li Lin-ts'an of the National Central
Museum,
is
that this
is
Ma
version
Lin's
of a composition recorded as having been painted by his father
Ma
Yuan,
illustrating
"Fearing that in
in
a couplet:
the depth of night the blossoms will close
sleep.
He has
tall
silver
candles burned,
to
light
their
fragile
beauty."
Such a theme must have suited the in
these
brief,
it
last
spirit
of the
declining decades of the dynasty:
suggests,
we must
light
candles and
Hangchow since
make
life
the
court is
too
most of
the hours of darkness.
The painting bears the same signature as the preceding; there is also the fragment of a palace seal. It has been in the collection of
An
Ch'i (born
1683).
insert at
page 128
129
r
rf%> ^o«!^l|<:
C^ .-•.-»:2'
62
CLOTHES FOR THE WARRIORS By Mou
I
Handscroll
in ink
(dated 1238-1240,
Sung dynasty)
on paper, 10Xx185
in. (27.1 x
266.4
cm)
The scroll illustrates a poem by Hsieh Hui-llen (397-433). Ladies are washing, mending and sewing clothes for their absent husbands, as winter is approaching. The figures are carefully drawn with a soft, sensitive brush, in groups that are well interrelated and spaced. The angular lines of the folds are softened and subdued postures and robes move in a gentle and elegant rhythm. The ;
drawn faces are full of expression. Straight lines and right angles of architecture and furniture provide a contrasting frame for the melodious flow of the figure composition. Large ink landscape screens are imbued with the same poetic and gently sad mood that is expressed in the figures the painting on the second screen shows the influence of Chao Ling-jang. In a consciously archaistic manner the ground is barely suggested by a few light wash strokes the chrysanthemum bushes in light and dark ink are placed in a manner reminiscent of the early Yamato-e painting of Japan. The archaizing aspect extends to the costumes and to details such as the T'ang style
finely
;
;
130
ftk^u«ft<*4.^
yy-
^^
\>^;Y"t:"""^'''
'*\-«.*
V
f xsir^-
r"
scissors and valise.
The
leaves have fine brush outlines
broken and accented contours in style, firmly
drawing
in
is
filled
within the tradition of
marked contrast
;
the tree trunks, softly
The painting belongs, Kung-lin (No. 29). The cool and chaste
with shaded washes. Li
to the
style
of the
contemporary Academy
painters.
Mou
I,
he
Szechwan, was a scholar and amateur painter who came under Emperor Li-tsung (reigned 1225-1264). The text of the poem
a native of
to the court
illustrates is inscribed, at the
a friend of the artist and the
which he
tells us that the scroll was begun in 1238 and finished colophons are by scholars of the Hung-wu period (1368-1398), being dated 1391 a later one has the date 1422.
artist follows, in in 1240.
The
the third
The in
end of the painting, by the scholar Tung Shih, owner of the painting. A postscript by the
first
scroll
first
;
was
in
the collections of Kao Shih-ch'i (1645-1704)
1689 for 140 taels (gold), and of
An
who acquired
it
Ch'i (born 1683).
131
63
A SAGE By Liang Album
K'ai (ca. 1250,
leaf In Ink
The grotesque
on paper,
Sung dynasty)
19^x10%
In.
(48.7x27.7 cm)
one
figure probably represents
sages
of the legendary
of the
Buddhist Ch'an (Zen) sect, such as Pu-tai. Very roughly and loosely painted with a brush heavily loaded with picture
the only representative of the "splashed-ink" technique
is
Museum
in
ink, this
the Palace
Collection. Broad, scratchy, wet strokes are allowed to flow into
washes or wet areas in an only partially controlled process. The the belt adds an accent to the diagonal, forward movement. Liang K'ai, a pupil of Chia Shih-ku (see No. 38) and a follower of
rich black of
Li
Kung-lin
became an official in the Painting Academy between 1201 and 1204 and eventually was awarded the "Golden Belt". He left the court and the Academy at Hangchow for the solitude of a nearby Ch'an monastery, the Liu-t'ung-ssu. The rough and abbreviated style of this painting would put it into the second (No. 29),
or Ch'an phase of his artistic activity.
The
132
painting
is
signed, but the signature and also the style are slightly different
but one of his works preserved
from
all
"Old
Man
with a Bottle", formerly
in
in
Japan, the exception being the
the Sakai Collection.
64
A GENTLEMAN WITH HIS PORTRAIT Anonymous Album
A
(ca. 1100-1125,
leaf in ink
and colors on
gentleman-scholar
sits
Sung dynasty) 11J-ix11 in. (29x27.8
silk,
on
his k'ang (dais)
cm) front of a large screen
in
on
which are painted ducks among reeds on a marshy bank. Suspended from the top of the screen is a hanging scroll with the portrait of the gentleman himself.
An
attendant pours wine, and the kettle
brazier
in
the background.
On
books, scrolls and a ch'in antiques or porcelain vessels
(zither); ;
(365-427), or else the author of the
how
the personage
picture of the milieu
is in
to
being heated
in
a lotus-shaped
at
the
left,
three boxes
may contain
a flower stand occupies the foreground.
been suggested that we have here an of
is
the other side of the couch, on a side-table, are
ideal portrait of the poet
Book
of Tea,
It
has
T'ao Ch'ien
Lu Yu (died 804). Regardless
be identified, the painting gives us an intimate genre
which the paintings we are describing were produced
and appreciated.
The
painting
is
not signed. There are seals accepted as genuine by Chinese
Cheng-ho (1111-1118), Hsuan-ho (1119-1125) and Shao-hsing The river scene on the screen is of the type painted by Southern Sung period followers of Chao Ling-jang (ca. 1100). The fold-lines in the garments of the two figures, however, do not show the pronounced and accented angularity associated with the Southern Sung Academy. All this would seem to warrant an attribution to the early twelfth century. On the other authorities of the (1131-1162) eras.
hand, a certain feature of the mounting of the portrait hanging scroll appears to
suggest an early Ming date.
133
65
THOUSAND-ARMED KUAN-YIN Anonymous Hanging
(thirteenth century,
scroll in ink
and colors on
silk,
Sung dynasty)
69^^x31%
(176.8x79.2 cm)
in.
The Bodhisattva Avalokite^vara (Chinese: Kuan-yin) sand-armed and thousand-eyed" aspect. The halo, in the bo-tree,
is filled
with the innumerable
hands and
ponding dhyani-Buddha (an esoteric Buddha
is
shown
in
the "thou-
the shape of the leaf of attributes.
The
corres-
Amitabha floats above the many-headed crown. Above the halo we see a Buddha enthroned, accompanied by five seated figures on either side— probably the ten dhyaniBodhisattvas.
The
lotus throne of Kuan-yin
is
of meditation)
supported by four
the Four Heavenly Kings are standing right and
who have emerged from ones on the
scroll by
134
in
some
Chang Sheng-wen (No. in
Demon
Kings
;
while eight Dragon Kings,
the waves to worship, are seen
Iconographically, these images differ
and the crown as well as
left
in
the foreground.
respects from corresponding
45), i.e. in the
shape
the attributes and attendant figures.
of the halo
66
THE TATHAGATHA PREACHING THE LAW Anonymous Hanging
(thirteenth century,
scroll in ink
and some
Sung dynasty)
light colors on
silk,
74 x
43%
in. (188.1 x 111 .3
cm)
A
Buddha, with a flaming round halo, is seated upon an elaborate lotus throne. At his sides, we see two heavenly kings or guardians, two disciples (Arhats) and two Bodhisattvas standing next to an Incense burner and offering flowers to the Buddha. All the accompanying figures wear round halos and stand on lotus flowers. The round faces and twisted figures still show T'ang traditions of the Wu Tao-tzu school, as does the shaded ink wash on halo and clothes. The details of the brocade robes and of the throne ornaments recall Japanese religious paintings of the Kamakura period, i.e. of the Takuma school (thirteenth century). The drawing is unusually lively and strong and makes this scroll
one
of the best
remaining examples of
late
Sung Buddhist
painting.
135
67
THREE WINTER FRIENDS By Chao Meng-chien Album
The
leaf in ink
(1199-1295,
on paper, 12X
"three friends
in
x
21X
in.
Sung-Yiian dynasties)
(32.2 x 53.4
cm)
bamboo and
the cold season", branches of pine,
soming prunus, are gathered
in
blos-
an elegant spray. Both subject and style
Yuan dynasty literati painters, who Yuan painting some decades later. Chao Meng-chien, a distant relative of the Sung emperor, rose to high official rank in the late Sung administration in 1260, he became president of the Han-lin Literary Academy. When the dynasty fell, he retired from public life and, unlike his younger cousin Chao Meng-fu (No. 69), refused to serve the
typify the taste of the late
opened the way
for the
Sung and
full
early
maturity of
;
Mongols.
The
painting
tion of
136
is
not signed but has two seals of the
Hsiang Yuan-pien (1525-1590).
artist.
It
was
in
the collec-
68
SQUIRREL ON A PEACH BRANCH By Ch'ien HsiJan Handscroll
A
in ink
Sung-Yuan dynasties)
(ca. 1235-1301,
and colors on paper,
squirrel is leaping onto a
10%x17%
in.
(26.3x44,3 cm)
branch that bears ripe peaches
have not yet gained a firm hold. The animal strokes.
Twigs and leaves are done
leaves are drawn
The
texture of the bark
in
drawn
in ink,
rendered
is
in
;
its
hind feet
with fine brush
color, without outline; the veins of the
The pink-cheeked peaches have
color.
in
is
color
in
fine color contours.
a characteristic technique which
leaves white rings or stripes blank and untouched, thus giving the effect of the glossy areas typical of the bark of peach and
Ch'ien HsiJan, a native of official.
After the
fall
in
of the dynasty,
with his friend and pupil
under the Mongols.
Wuhsing
A man
some
other
fruit trees.
Chekiang province, was a scholar and he
retired
Chao Meng-fu (No.
69)
from public
life
who decided
of cultivated taste also in poetry
and broke
to take office
and music, Ch'ien
HsiJan as a painter developed an archaizing style based upon models of the tenth century (for animals and flowers) and of the middle
The is
painting
is
not signed but bears two seals of the artist.
dated 1581. The scroll was
in
the collection
of
Chu
Sung period. The first colophon Chih-ch'ih
(Ming
dynasty).
10» ..
!
^
:f!
^
T5V
s
i
137
go
AUTUMN COLORS ON THE CH'IAO AND HUA MOUNTAINS (dated 1295, Yiian dynasty)
By Chao Meng-fu Handscroll
in ink
and coiors on paper,
The two oddly shaped above a
flat,
marshy
dition (No. 14), as
uy.xXy,
in.
(28.4x93.2 cm)
famous landmarks of Shantung province, The compositional plan recalls the Tung Yiian
rise
ground-lines and the miniature figures.
The
hills,
plain.
do the
v>/avy
disregard for correct size relationship
is
tra-
another conscious archaism; so are
the stylized, feathery reeds and bamboos.
The
trees are drawn
in
a loose,
almost sketchy way and with a marked disregard for outward beauty and charm. The romanticism of the Southern Sung Academy landscape has been replaced by a cool and intellectual mood, an austerity that harks back to the spirit of The graded washes have disappeared, and there is little sense
the antique. of
space and no atmosphere. The use of blue (in addition to Ink) for the mounhandled in a very individual manner, relates the picture to
tains, although
the "blue-and-green" landscape tradition (No.
2).
Chao Meng-fu (1254-1322) was a scion of the Sung imperial family, a relative of Chao Meng-chien (No. 67) and a younger friend of Ch'ien Hsiian (No. 68) like the latter, he was born in Wuhsing (Chekiang). A brilliant scholar, artist and official, Chao first went into retirement after the Mongol conquest (1276), but ten'years later he responded to an appeal by Khubilai Khan for scholars
He made a distinguished career
to join his court.
the administration and
in
was
awarded the highest academic honors (he ended as one of the presidents of the Han-lin Academy), but some more conservative Chinese scholars, such as his former friend Ch'ien HsiJan, broke with him, regarding him as a collaborator.
For a
brilliant painting of
rocks and
bamboo see No.
a handscroll by his wife, Lady Kuan.
calligraphy also
The
picture
friend
The
Chou Mi
first
is
included
in this
(1232-ca. 1308), a well
artist tells
known
(1344),
ch'ang (1602, (1662) It
a,
us that he painted
it
for his
poet, writer and connoisseur.
comments
by
Chang
Yij
(No. 86) and
were written by Fan Kuo (1329), Ch'ien P'u (1446), Tung Ch'i1605, 1629, 1630) who had first seen it in 1582, Wu Ching-yun
and Tsao Jung.
has been
(1498-1573),
in the collections of Ou-yang Hsuan (1273-1357), Hsiang Yuan-pien (1525-1590), Chang Jo-ch'i (ca.
Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691) and Na-lan Hsing-te (ca. 1710).
138
which also contains
Chao Meng-fu's famous
colophon, dated 1297, was written by Yang Tsai, a scholarly friend
of the artist. Others, containing poetic
Yu Chi
90
of
exhibition (No. 120).
signed and dated; the
is
An example
Wen
P'eng
1640),
Liang
>i
4q
/.
f
-*-
f.
^
-*;
§:
ic
/H»4-\ ! ^^!
139
70
VERDANT PEAKS ABOVE THE CLOUDS By Kao K'o-kung Hanging
scroll in Ink
(inscribed 1309, Yiian dynasty)
and color on
^^y,x^2y,
silk,
in.
(182.3x106.7 cm)
of the mountain landscape with its rounded hills is softened by the effects of clouds and mists; the foreground trees are sketchy and rough.
The majesty
Bold horizontal dots suggest vegetation on the distant hilltops.
Kao K'o-kung, who was born about 1245 and died in 1310, was the son of a whose ancestors had come from Turkestan. Beginning his official career in 1275, he rose to high government posts in the administration, serving as Minister in the Board of Punishments, and Civil scholar from Tatung (Shansi)
Governor
of
two provinces. The
latter position
was always
held,
under the Yiian
dynasty, by a non-Chinese, even though the actual head of a province
was
the Mongol Military Governor.
As
a painter,
and
later
Kao
worked
in
revived the tradition of Mi Fu
the style of
Tung
and Mi Yu-jen (Nos.
28, 35)
Yiian (No. 14). Both influences are clearly
in this picture. Like the landscapes of Ch'ien HsiJan and Chao Meng-fu, his are the product of an attempt to create, out of a mixture of old styles and sheer originality, something that satisfied both the archaist taste
apparent
and the expressive needs
of his
own
time.
not signed, but bears two contemporary Inscriptions, attributing it to him, by the scholar-official Teng Wen-yiian (1258-1328) and the painterofficial Li K'an (1245-1320) the latter is dated 1309. There are also two inscrip-
The
painting
is
;
tions by
Wang
To, dated 1646. The picture has been
Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691) and
140
An
Ch'i (born 1683).
in
the collections of Liang
1
'^^
141
'
[
71
?''{
A,:
'f
I
CLOUDY MOUNTAINS Anonymous Hanging
(early fourteenth century, Yiian dynasty)
scroll in ink
The composition
and
Is
light color
on paper,
22Xx13X
in,
(57x35.3 cm)
very similar to that of the preceding item, but
Is
smaller
and considerably simplified. The fungus-like clouds are shaped with graded washes, without outlines. Hills and rocks are done in grey wash, with a few vertical strokes and well-placed blunt, rounded dots. The trees are rough and sketchy, blobs of dark over light ink indicating the in
scale, softer in effect,
foliage. In
addition to blue color on the distant peaks and sky, the ink areas carry an
all-over bluish tone
houses.
The
In
some
painting
is
tradition of the It
142
has been
in
which
is
parts, white
not signed.
two Mi (Nos.
It
balanced by pink-buff washes
may have been mixed evidently
the bridge and
a painting of the Yiian period, in the
and belongs to the school of Kao K'o-kung. Hsiang Sheng-mo (1597-1658).
28, 35),
the collection of
is
in
with the ink.
72
DUCK ON A RIVERBANK By Ch'en Hanging
Lin (dated 1301, Yiian dynasty)
scroll In ink
and some color on paper, My,x18y,
The strong contours
of
In.
(35.7x47^ cm)
bank and leaves and the broad, wavy
with the fine brush detail of the upper wing feathers. is
found
in
the
inl<
tone and
very rich pictorial texture.
in
w/aterlines contrast
The same wide
the brushworl<, wet and dry,
Some
color
is
all
variation
resulting in a
applied to the eye which looks at us
with a quizzical expression.
Ch'en
Lin
was the son
of
an
official
This picture, however, places him
in
at
the
Hangchow
Painting
Academy.
quite a different group, that of the Literati
Chao Meng-chien (No. 67) in the strong, Chao Meng-fu (No. 90a), in other features. inscribed by Chao Meng-fu (No. 69) who tells
Painters: note the resemblances to outlined grasses and flowers, and to
The
painting
is
not signed.
It is
us that Ch'en Lin did this picture "in play", and that generation cannot reach him.
An
inscription by the
all
the painters of that
contemporary poet Ch'iu
in the autumn of 1301 Ch'en Chao Meng-fu and produced this picture for him, "bringing Ts'ui Po and Ai HsiJan back to life". The reference to Ts'ui Po (No. 23) is understandable when we compare the outlines of bank and leaves. Like Ch'ien HsiJan and Chao Meng-fu, Ch'en Lin turned to an earlier tradition, disavowing the preceding Southern Sung period. There also is a poetic Inscription by K'o Chiu-ssu (No. 79). The painting was In the collection of Keng Chao-chung (1640-1686).
Yuan, mounted above the painting, states that Lin visited with
143
73
DRAGON-BOAT REGATTA By Wang Chen-p'eng Handscroll
in ink
The Spring on an
on
silk ,12 x
(dated 1323, 96
in. (30.2 x
Yuan dynasty)
243.8
cm)
Festival is being celebrated in the traditional
artificial
dragon-boat regatta
lake near Kaifeng, the old capital of the Northern
Sung. Along
the shore are a group of splendid palaces and pavilions, reaching out into the water.
Men standing on
the dragon-prows of the boats swing banners with
each other's flags, as in a kite game. At the goal, strings of cash and rolls of silk hang from a pole. A large dragon-shaped pleasure-boat, carrying a storied pavilion, is propelled by many oarsmen. Tumblers and acrobats perform on other boats; birds are being set free in the background, while a religious ceremony takes place in the large building at the end. The roofs, supported by double and triple brackets, are slightly curved, with the corners swinging strongly upwards. Roofs, walls and boats are carefully shaded in wet ink as are trees and rocks. Very fine, accented outlines delineate figures, architectural details and plants. Like the Knick-knack Peddler (No. 50) of Li Sung, who himself specialized in the fine-line architectural drawing called by the Chinese chieb-hua or "boundary painting", flying streamers, apparently trying to catch flying
this is essentially a tour-de-force of meticulous draftsmanship.
meticulousness seems more an end
in itself,
But here the
and the forms have less
and individual characterization. Wang Chen-p'eng was a well-known architect and painter
of solidity
of architectural
was Battalion Commander in a unit guarding the water transport (on the Grand Canal) of tribute rice to the capital. The painting is signed and has, on the same piece of silk, a long inscription by the artist which contains the date and the dedication to the emperor's sister. He refers to another picture of the same subject which he painted in 1310. The latter and also two more versions are in the Palace Museum Collection, and at least two others are known to exist. So far it has not been possible to determine which, subjects.
if
He
also
any, of these scrolls are by the hand of the master.
There are seals with
titles
or
names
of the
emperor's
sister, of the prince of
Chin-ning (fourteenth century) and of his great-grandson, as well as of a sixteenth century scholar.
144
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145
74
DWELLING
IN
THE FU-CH'UN MOUNTAINS
By Huang Kung-wang (dated Handscroll
In
ink
on paper, 12%
x 251
1350,
in.
Yuan dynasty)
(33x636.9 cm)
panorama of the Fu-ch'un mountains, west of Hangchow, unrolls magnificent symphony. Beginning with a vast expanse of river scenery, we move into the mountains and hills, then back to areas of river and marsh which are terminated by a high conical hill, and finally come to the end of our
An
ideal
in a
wandering as the landscape ebbs out beautifully and melodiously in the distant ink-wash hills over the water. The entire design was laid out in dilute ink and then finished with successive applications of darker and drier brushwork.
Sometimes shapes were slightly altered, contours strengthened, texture strokes or tree groups added here and there. Finally, the dots were distributed as nearly abstract accents. In parts, the ink may have been mixed with white color. Buildings, tree limbs
nature
Huang
and foliage are reduced
to the simplest
translated into terms of brushstrokes and ink-values. Kung-wang (1269-1354), a native of Chekiang province,
forms;
is
was a man
of
great learning, devoted to the arts of music, poetry and painting. As a painter, he worked in the tradition of Tung Yuan and Chii-jan (Nos. 14, 15). Owing to an
he lost his position as a junior clerk in the Court of Examiners. Afterwards, he became a Taoist priest and opened a School of the Three irregularity
146
I.
-J^'V
Doctrines
in
in particular In
Soochow. He spent the
rest of his
life in
the
hills
near Hangchow,
the Fu-ch'un Mountains.
his inscription at the
end the artist tells us that after having laid out the one burst of creation, unconscious of fatigue, he worked on and on, whenever the mood was right, during the three years
entire design in
the picture
off
from 1347 to 1350, when he Taoist friend,
finally decided it was finished. He painted it for a Wu-yung Shih— "Master Useless"— with whom he was then
staying.
The colophons were
Wen Chou
P'eng
in
written by the painters
1570, by the poet-critic
Wang
Shen Chou (No. Ch'ih-teng
in
94) in 1488
and
1571, the painter
T'ien-ch'iu (1514-1595), the painter-critic
Tung Ch'i-ch'ang (1596), the Tsou Chih-lin (ca. 1625), and others. The scroll was owned by Shen Chou (who made a free copy of it), by the Ming dynasty bamboo-painter poet-collector
An
Shao-fang, by
Wu
Chih-chu, by
Shih-ch'i (1675-1740) and by
An
Wang
Hung-hsCi
(1645-1723), by
The original opening passage of the scroll has been cut off. The was badly burned when the dying collector Wu Chih-chu threw it
it
Kao
Ch'l (born 1683). story
Is
that
into the fire.
147
y5
CLEARING AFTER By Ts'ao Chih-po Hanging
scroll in ink
SNOW ON THE MOUNTAIN PEAKS
(dated 1350,
Yuan dynasty)
on paper. 51%x22>i
Majestic, snow-clad mountains rise
brushstrokes give
some
in.
in
(129.7x56.4 cm)
a simple, rhythmic composition. Very dry
texture and shading to the slopes.
The sky and water
are covered with light grey wash, leaving only a narrow rim along the banks.
Gnarled foreground trees belong to the 19, 20) while the sloping
neatly
bank
recalls
Li Ch'eng-Kuo Hsi tradition (Nos. 17, Huang Kung-wang. The buildings are
drawn with straight roofs and prominent eaves. An atmosphere
loneliness and serenity
is
perfectly expressed
In
of
this consciously simplified
landscape.
Ts'ao Chih-po (1272-1355) was a native of Huating (Kiangsu). Like his friend Huang Kung-wang, he abandoned his official position in order to devote himself to Taoist studies and painting.
The picture is signed by the artist. Another inscription by his friend Huang Kung-wang (No. 74) gives us the date and tells us that the painter then was seventy-eight years old, or three years younger than Huang himself. The painting was in the collection of Keng Chao-chung (1640-1686) and his son, and of a Manchu collector.
148
fs
I
47
Sfl
149
76
THE OLD FISHERMAN By
Wu
Hanging
A
Chen (dated on
scroll in ink
dynasty)
1342, Yiian
silk,
69%x3T/,
in.
(176.1 x 95.6
cm)
very simple river landscape, seen by moonlight,
painting.
The
man
old
sitting in
the
bow
of a boat
is
the real subject of this
rowed by
not a true rustic, but an amateur fisherman and nature lover.
by a calm expanse of
his attendant is
He
is
surrounded
broken by a few strong reeds and rocks, framed
vi^ater,
by a tree-group and some modest hills. The entire painting is done in broad, wet strokes and sensitive washes of varying ink shades powerful vertical dots accent the soft rhythm of hills and boulders. Wu Chen (1280-1354) was a poor and unsociable eccentric who made his ;
living first
as a diviner and
by painting— not selling, but giving away his
later
paintings to friends and receiving presents post, but lived the
life
of a Taoist recluse.
he followed Chii-jan (No. 15)
in his
in return.
An
He never
held any official
outstanding poet and calligrapher,
landscape paintings. (For another landscape,
see No. 90d).
The
picture
is
Blue
poem
signed and inscribed with a melancholy
The west wind blows,
press on the
hills
by the artist:
with soughing sound, beneath the leaves of trees river
shore, ten thousandfold
in
;
depth.
Against the sorrow of old age, the pleasure of rod and line How often, in plaited-grass coat and hat, have waited through wind I
and
The
rain
!
fisher lad claps his oar, heedless of west or east;
His song goes forth to the ripple of waves, wind
The
night
is
Clouds disperse, the sky
The
150
picture
was
in
in
the tassels of reeds.
deep; behind the boat, fish break the surface, plash; is clear,
the collection of
the misty waters stretch on.
Keng Chao-chung
(1640-1686).
1 l'»
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151
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78
BAMBOO GROVE Attributed to Handscroll
On
in ink
Kuo
IN
SNOW
Pi (1280-1335, Yiian dynasty)
on paper, 12%
57%
x
in.
the banks of a brook, next to
arranged
In
(31 .8 x 145.2
some
cm)
bamboo down by the bamboo stalks
rocks and an old tree, clumps of
a rhythmic and melodious composition are weighted
snow. Like the ideal scholar-gentleman in adverse times, the bend but do not break. Sky and water are covered with grey ink-washes, leaving the snowy areas white; stems and leaves of the bamboos are sensitively and elegantly drawn in wet ink. Everything combines to produce a poetic and contemplative
Kuo
Pi,
(No. 28) and
became
well
known as a
ced by Chao Meng-fu (No. in
mood.
a native of Kiangsu, painted landscapes
69).
a Taoist temple near his
in
the tradition of Mi Fu
bamboos. He also was influenthat he executed many wall paintings
painter of
We are told
home town.
The signature may be interpolated, and the painting, which seems unrelated known style of Kuo Pi, a work of some other Yuan dynasty artist, more accomplished in some respects than Kuo himself, and working perhaps a generation or so after Kuo's time. The attached colophons are by Teng Wenyuan (1258-1328), Cheng Yuan-yu (1292-1364), Yii Chi (1272-1348), Kao Ch'i (1336-1374) and Tung Ch'i-ch'ang (1555-1636); however, none of their seals to the
appear on the painting.
153
79
BAMBOO AND CHRYSANTHEMUM By K'o Chiu-ssu Hanging
scroll in ink
Yuan dynasty)
(1290-1343,
on paper, 49%
x
29%
in.
(126.3 x 75.2
cm)
elegant bamboo, flanked by a chrysanthemum and some thorny twigs rises above a grassy rock. Long, wet, grey strokes give texture and shading to the rock and indicate the ground. The lines that depict the grass are full of tensile strength. The flower is painted in grey Ink, with black veins on the leaves;
An
the twigs are grey with black thorns, the small berries are outlined.
bamboo
dark shading marks the joints. is
The
leaves are black on the top surface, grey on the reverse side. Wet,
The
entire picture is
done
in
wet ink the bamboo ;
painted with spontaneity and strength from root to top and from the stem
to the
leaves— just as bamboo grows.
A
few
large,
horizontal dots accent
the rocks.
K'o Chiu-ssu, son of a scholar from Cheklang, was a
man
of letters
and an
and keeper of the imperial collection he was much favored by the Yuan emperor Wen-tsung. The ensuing jealousies brought about his downfall, and he spent the rest of his life in retirement in Kiangsu. He was one of the outstanding bamboo painters of his time, much appreciated by his friend Ni Tsan (Nos. 84, 85).
academic
official.
As
librarian
The painting Is signed by the artist; he painted it for a high Mongol dignitary whose seal is also on the scroll. There Is an inscription by Yu Chi (1272-1348). The picture was in the collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
154
155
•jffsbfif^.
80
BOATING
IN
AUTUMN
By Sheng Mou Handscroll
A
(ca. 1350, Yiian dynasty)
and colors on paper, 9%
in ink
colorful tree
x
43%
in. (24.7 x 111
cm)
group with red vines hanging from gnarled branches, leads
our eye to the boating gentlemen who,
we may presume,
are busy exchanging
poetry. Distant blue hills rise over the haze on the water.
takes us back to the green shore where trees, to a
hills
A flight
of waterfowl
and distant peaks continue
harmonious ending.
Every tree, every leaf
is full of
same loose "hemp-fibre" Sensitively placed dots
character and
vitality. Hills
and rocks show the
veins that appear on the hanging scroll (No. 81).
enhance the rhythm
of this lovely
and serene autumn
scene.
Sheng Mou, the son Ch'en in
the tradition
The
156
from Chekiang province, was a pupil of and contemporary of Wu Chen (Nos. 76, 77). He painted of Tung Yiian and Chu-jan (Nos. 14, 15). signed by the artist. There are eight contemporary inscriptions of a painter
Lin (see No. 72)
painting
is
of
which the
is
dated 1361.
last,
by the painter Wei Chiu-t'ing, an old friend of the
artist,
81
NOBLE SCHOLAR
AN AUTUMN
IN
GROVE By Sheng Mou Hanging
(ca. 1350, Yiian dynasty)
scroll In ink
53y.x23y.
in.
and some color on
silk,
M'%
(135.3x59 cm)
A
This simple but powerful landscape compobreathes an
air of serenity.
tary scholar's red
gown provides
sition
The
soli-
a strong
color accent over the naturally flowing lines
which set him
shades varied
off
from the wet brush ink
foliage
formalized
is
short-hand patterns
;
in
different
long, elastic reeds are
of tensile strength.
full
The dense and
of the landscape.
A
sensitively handled
area of mist and clouds, allowing a glimpse of
marsh and bushes, leads
and
strokes.
The
wet texture
naturalistic proportion of the
figure in relation to the grove of a
to the clear
solid peaks, with their long
number
works
of features
—another
is
the
and
in
hills is
one
Sheng Mou's
blue
hills
in
the
previous painting (No. 80)— that are carried over from the preceding
nervous
line
used
for tree
Sung
period.
The
and rock contours
gives a kind of vibrancy to the brushwork,
which contrasts with the sense of repose general
in
Yiian paintings.
signed by the
The
painting
is
artist.
157
82
MUSIC UNDER THE TREES By Chu Te-jun
(ca. 1350,
Hanging
and some
scroll in ink
Three gentlemen are
Yuan dynasty)
light colors
sitting
on a
the ch'in (zither) and singing.
An
on
silk,
river
48x22%
in.
(120.8x58 cm)
bank under a group
of trees, playing
attendant, scooping water for tea, turns
song of his master; a fisherman in his boat has stopped workand enjoys the concert. The trees stand out in silhouette against the expanse of the water over which a flight of birds leads us to the far bank with its sketchy hills and trees. The whole painting is done in wet brushwork. Banks and rocks, trees and twigs strongly resemble the style of Kuo Hsi (No. 20). The broad, flowing contour of the banks, the elastic bending reeds,
to listen to the
ing
the spongy texture strokes of the rocks are characteristic of the of rendering that
Yuan manner
Northern Sung tradition.
Chu Te-jun (1294-1365) was a native of Honan and an outstanding man of letters. Upon recommendation by Chao Meng-fu (No. 69) he became Commissioner for Confucian Studies with a Government-General
in
Manchuria. After
he retired from public life and lived in Kiangsu. As a painter, he followed the tradition of Kuo Hsi, and also was influenced by Chao Meng-fu. Both elements are visible in this painting.
the murder of Emperor Ying-tsung
The
picture
is
signed by the
fourteenth century writer.
158
in 1323,
artist,
and there
is
a poetic inscription by a
^ '-li.j
.u^^^:^^ ''a^ -»^
159
g3
FISHERMEN RETURNING ON A FROSTY BANK By T'ang Hanging
A
scroll in Ink
clump
The
Ti (dated 1338, and colors on
of gnarled pines
Yuan dynasty) silk,
56%
x
35%
in. (144 x 89.7
cm)
and various deciduous trees dominates the
returning fishermen, carrying their gear, are extremely lively in
picture.
movement
and expression. Dry and wet ink, in varying shades, is used in combination vi/ith color— some blue-green on the needle clusters and pink on other leaves. The banks are outlined and shaded in a typical Yuan manner; the interior drawing has the same somewhat tangled and mushy aspect that we noticed with
Chu
Te-jun.
The
trees again are
in
the tradition of
Kuo Hsi (No.
20),
but
the exaggerated dry twigs and branches as well as the "baroque" knobs and
knots of the tree trunks are contemporary
T'ang Ti (1296-1340) was a native first literary
of
traits.
Wuhsing
in
Chekiang. Already after his
examination, he was appointed magistrate.
We
are told that he
was a Confucian scholar of some renown. As a painter, he studied the works of Kuo Hsi and was a disciple of Chao Meng-fu (No. 69). He Is known to have executed wall paintings
The
in
the imperial palace.
picture is signed by the artist.
years between 1373-1384 and later (1620-1691).
160
It
was
has the palace inventory seal of the in the collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao
161
84 ,
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MOUNTAINS SEEN FROM A RIVER BANK -^
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By
Tsan (dated
Ni
1363,
Yuan dynasty)
jt
Hanging
on paper, 37X
scroll in ink
x
17X
in- (94.7 x
43.7
cm)
*|"»
-^'i:^.->,^From
a rocky
shore with two trees, some bushes and an empty
we gaze across
river. The distant mounThe composition, although simple and sketchy, has depth and perspective. The distant bank with Its small trees and the shadow lines extending Into the water recall the work of the artist's olderfrlend Huang Kungwang (No. 74), as does the very abbreviated and simplified rendering of nature. Some white may have been mixed with
thatched shelter,
the
tains rise abruptly from the far shore.
^
is diluted to a variety of light and soft tones. There are some long texture strokes done in both wet and dry brushwork, and a few flat, horizontal dots. Most of the details
the ink, which
g3^^T--'-.-
i..-.
----
-
are executed
in
dry brush over lighter wet strokes.
and austere quality sensitivity
which
of this
landscape
Is
The
lonely
expressed with a noble
reflects the character of the artist.
Tsan (1301-1374), son of a wealthy merchant family of Wuhsi (near Soochow), was a bibliophile and collector, "amateur" poet and painter. He also was an eccentric, almost morbid Ni
in
his passion for cleanliness
The
lonely,
obviously
from any
is
cool
and horror
of
and chaste atmosphere
human of
his
vulgarity.
landscape
an expression of these Inclinations. He kept aloof
official
of the rebellions
commitment. Sensing the imminent outbreak and disorders which eventually put an end to
the reigning Mongol dynasty, he distributed his property
among
and friends and lived for many years on a small houseboat, wandering up and down the streams and lakes of southeastern Kiangsu, or lodging In temporary abodes. He wore relatives
the yellow cap of a Taoist priest and rustic clothes, to conceal himself
among
in
order
the poor country folk.
The painting is signed and inscribed with a poem by the artist who presented it to his friend, the painter Ch'en Ju-yen. There also are poetic inscriptions by three contemporaries.
been
in
Pien Yung-yii (1645-1702).
162
It
has
the collections of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691) and
85
MOUNTAIN SCENERY WITH RIVER LODGE By
Tsan (dated
Ni
Hanging
Yuan dynasty)
1372,
on paper, 37%
scroll in ink
x
17%
in.
(94.7x43.7 cm)
Once more,
a
few trees and a simple thatched
lodge are placed on a rocky shore
foreground, and mountains
in
the
beyond the
rise
vast expanse of water, interrupted by spits
and rocks.
of land
The same general compositional pattern was used by the artist for most of his landscapes.
Its
elements are loosely spaced, and
same economy
the
detail.
of
There are few
means
is
applied to
dots; otherwise,
flat
the painting consists of dry brushwork over
wet strokes done
a sketchy, seemingly
in
manner which conceals its strength and discipline. The ink, perhaps mixed with white, is soft and silvery in tone. The forecareless
ground hut again at
an occasional
mood
austere
is
empty, and only hints
visit
by
breathes
some
recluse.
through
a
An
cool,
grey day.
The
painting
dedicated of
his
it
is
signed by the
to a Taoist physician
artist
who
and recluse
acquaintance. He also inscribed
poem. was in the
it
with a lengthy
The picture Chao-chung collector.
collection of
(1640-1686) and of a
Keng
Manchu
'^-m
163
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.
PORTRAIT OF
Nl
TSAN
Anonymous
(ca. 1340, Yiian
Handscroll
and colors on paper, 11%x24
Ni
Tsan
in ink
is
shown
dynasty) in.
time (before 1341)
at a
(28.2x60.9 cm)
when he
still
lived
surrounded by
books and antiques in his immaculate study, which he called "Pavilion of Pure Solitude". Bronzes and ceramics are lying on a side table, a bundle of scrolls on the k'ang (dais). A servant boy holds a feather broom, ready to dust at any moment, while a lovely girl carries a bowl and a container his beloved
of water for the is
master to wash his hands. The
about to write a poem
;
he looks
artist,
at his portraitist,
holding brush and paper,
somewhat
self-consciously.
Behind him, a typical Yuan landscape adorns a large screen. The painting is not signed. It has a long inscription by the famous Taoist (1277-1348) who also was a friend of Chao Meng-fu (No. 69). There are several colophons by well-known critics and artists who saw the painting in the collection of Chang Feng-i between 1559 and 1568. Later, it was
Chang Yu
in
164
the collection of
Sung Lao
(1634-1713).
87 »i-
AUTUMN MOUNTAINS By Chu Shu-chung
(dated 1365,
Yiian dynasty) Hanging
scroll in
ZlYjXWy,
A
in.
inli
and
colors on paper
light
(69.5x26.4 cm)
range of piled-up peaks, seen
eye view, zigzagging distance.
higher
The
The clouds
and
higher
pattern of the peaks
ed by the trees
bird's
in
out of a sea of clouds,
rises
in
into is
the
repeat-
the misty middle distance.
are set off by light grey
washes
;
and perhaps blue may have been
white
mixed with
parts
ink, in
buff-pink
;
washes
are used to color the peaks and light blue for the
Strong, rounded dots give
trees.
accent to the nearly abstract composition.
No
dry
brushwork
is
used
;
wet inks and
combined in strong shading which produces an effect of great depth and colors
are
gives monumentality to the small picture.
The
style of the
painting
is
derived from
way of Kao K'o-kung (No. 70). Chu Shu-chung was a Confucian scholar
that of the
two Mi (Nos.
28, 35) by
and poet from Kiangsu.
The
painting
is
signed by the
artist.
165
88
THATCHED LODGE
AUTUMN
IN
By Wang Meng
(died 1385,
Hanging
and
A
scroll in
mountain
steeper as
it
inli
Yuan dynasty)
light colors
moves
on paper, 48J^x21%
slopes running
cinain, its
HILLS
down
(123.3x54.8 cm)
in.
to a river shore,
becomes ever
into the distance, culminating in a nearly perpendicular
among
peak. Cottages and lodges are half hidden
the foreground trees and
rocks; a fisherman w/atches his net, another angles from a boat, a scholar reading a scroll at his w/indow.
The composition
is
organized
in
is
a sv\/eeping
curve leading into the distance.
Dry brush texture strokes over leaves
;
light
washes
grey
vary with wet ink areas of
Dry black lines reinforce the tree trunks and outline the
different shades.
huts and figures are drawn with precise, dry lines.
On mountains and
banks, broken, short, dry brushstrokes form the outlines, sometimes becoming
rows
of dots.
The
extraordinary richness
use of color. Blue
other trees, tan on the roofs, brown
both getting lighter
in ink
values
in
becoming well scaled
is
;
sparse and firm ink dots are
lighter in the distance.
detail,
the pictur-e
perfectly unified through the rhythmic flow of lines
masses. The technical
size of the
more
is
clearly organized
and the balance
and
of the
subdued by the sensitive use of ink and more serene and less austere than in the landscapes
brilliance is
The mood
Tsan (Nos.
of Ni
The
down.
Despite the exuberant richness of
color values.
of
the distance. Color dots are used on the mountain
in
for accent, also
distant vegetation
matched by the subtle
the reeds alternating with ink strokes,
slopes which are modelled by their accumulation
used
is
used over willows and bamboo, pink for the foliage
is
84, 85),
is
which technically as well represent a
radically different
approach.
Wang Meng was law secretary hill
in
a
nephew
of
Chao Meng-fu (No.
69).
Having
first
served as
near Hangchow,
when
the disorders began which led to the
fall
dynasty. Under the Ming, he once more entered public service and prefect of a district 1380,
Crane"
a provincial administration, he retired to the "Yellow
in
Shantung. After the
Wang was thrown
looked at paintings
in
fall
of the
of the
became
mighty Hu Wei-yung
in
once had he died of cold and
into prison for "guilt by association", as he
Hu's house. After
five
years
in jail,
hunger.
The
painting
(1525-1590).
166
is
signed by the
artist.
It
was
in
the collection of Hsiang Yuan-pien
167
39
IMMORTAL MOUNTAINS AND LUMINOUS WOODS By Fang Ts'ung-i (dated Hanging
scroll in ink
dynasty)
1365, Yiian
and colors on paper, 47}^
22X
x
in.
(120.3x55.7 cm)
The rugged mountain thrusts powerfully upward from a river valley, seeming more like a living thing in motion than a static mass. The magnificent pines, painted with violent slanting strokes, add to the impression of force and unrest,
as do the writhing foreground trees. Strong, splashed slanted dots continue this
movement on
the foreground banks and on the slopes and ridge of the
mountain. Blue may have been added to the
and
cliffs.
ink, especially in
Sky and water are covered with
well-drawn roofs
is filled
T'ang (Nos.
18, 36),
light
blue washes.
in
a
manner
in
Kiangsi.
picture
is
recalling
As
of his
a painter he followed Mi Fu
signed by the
dated by way of an obscure
artist
who
literary
painted
quotation,
life
in
sil-
Fan K'uan and
while the brushwork reminds us of the two Mi and of
K'o-kung (Nos. 28, 35, 70). Fang Ts'ung-i was a Taoist who spent most temple
The gorge above the
with mist against which the towering pines are
houetted, leaning toward the void,
The
the trees and dots,
the shady recesses of the peaks which contrast with the tan slopes and
in
LI
Kao
the Shang-ch'ing
and Kao K'o-kung. it
in
and
is
the year 1365. That year
is
for a Taoist friend,
one of "great calamity" Chu Yuan-chang,thefounder of the Ming dynasty, had made himself King of Wu and had risen against the Mongols, and death, destruction and famine were rampant. The painting was in the collection of Keng Chao-chung (1640-1686) and of a
further characterized as
Manchu
168
collector.
:
169
90
COLLECTIVE HANDSCROLL OF YOAN DYNASTY ARTISTS The
An a.
was formerly in the collections of Hsiang YiJan-pien Chao-heng (f1. 1630-1647), Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691) and
entire scroll
(1525-1590), Li
Ch'i (born 1683).
ROCKS, BAMBOO AND DRY SHRUBS
By Chao Meng-fu Handscroll
in ink
(1254-1322)
on paper, W/,%Ziy,
in.
(25.9x69.2 cm)
drawn with a flowing movement that continues even where the brushline breaks (to produce what is called In calligraphy the "flying white" stroke), and the long veins that are laid, along with some dry strokes, over grey ink-wash on the rock surfaces, contrast with the crisp drawing of bamboo and grass in deepest black. A few long strokes, wet and
The broad contours
dry, indicate the
of the rocks,
ground. Neither the rocks nor the stubby bare tree
with any air of beauty or elegance. is
one
BAMBOO GROVE
By Kuan Tao-sheng Handscroll
Clumps
in ink
of
IN
on paper, 9;^
in a
which
is
is
depicted
signed by the
artist,
artist,
see No.
69.
MIST AND RAIN
(dated 1308) x 44>i in. (23.1 x 113.7
bamboo growing on
are grouped
painting,
renderings of this motif, an especially popular one
of the best extant
during the Yilan period. For the
b.
The
cm)
a rocky bank, interwoven with
simple and lovely composition. The
mood
bands
of mist,
of the picture is
tender and poetic. The rounded rocks recall Chao Meng-fu (No. 90a) but are
more
softly
84, 85).
some
170
flat dots remind us of Ni Tsan (Nos. and the well written inscription have, according to been added by Chao Meng-fu.
rendered; the freely spaced
The
critics,
crisp grasses
Kuan Tao-sheng
(1262-1319)
was
right.
She has signed the
painted
in
picture,
Chao Meng-fu (No. 69) and a bamboo and flowers— in her own
the wife of
respectable poet and painter— especially of
and added a note informing us that
it
was
a boat on Lake Pilang, for another lady of high position, probably
her sister.
LODGE ON THE RIVER BANK
c.
By
Ni
Tsan
Handscroll
(1301-1374)
in ink
on paper, 10x28>i
In.
(25.4x71.6 cm)
an extremely simple composition, a distant chain of
hills is
separated by
a river from a lodge on the rocl^y foreshore under a few trees.
Done mainly
In
dry brush over wet outlines and washes, the painting
in
Some
nature.
The
is
By
Wu
Handscroll
may have been mixed
inscribed with a
on paper,
in
by the artist (No. 84).
1336)
10%x35%
mountain peak stands
fall
poem
AMONG MOUNTAINS
Chen (dated in ink
with the ink. Sparse dots, flat on
round on the trees, give the necessary accents.
A MOUNTAIN
d.
A
white
hills,
painting
example
a fine
"abbreviated" way of rendering a cool and intellectual vision of
of the artist's
shore and
is
rhythmic flow.
A
in
in.
(26.4x90.7 cm)
the center of a ring of lower
dense forest
of
fir
hills,
which
rise
trees lies at the foot of the
Broad wet outlines and washes are overlaid with darker strokes
in
and hills.
which the
ink possibly is mixed with white. Strong, blunt, vertical dots in rich black ink
accent the soft and melodious movement of the composition. This very relaxed
and unassuming picture tion" of nature.
It
is
is
perhaps the best example
signed and dated by the
artist
of
Wu
Chen's "abstrac-
(No. 76).
171
QQ
SPRING HILLS AFTER RAIN By Ma Wan (dated 1366)
e.
Handscroll
in
Ink
on paper,
10%x40%
In.
(27x102.5 cm)
Verdant mountain scenery opens toward a marshy
winding around
river
a
bamboo grove. The mountains rise again to steep cliffs; further down the slope we see a splendid lodge built on a high stone masonry foundation. Distant
hills in
grey and black
however, the style of
such
washes recall Wu Chen (Nos. Huang Kung-wang (No. 74)
closer to
is
masters as Chu-jan (No.
earlier
76, 90d)
;
altogether,
with distant echoes
and Chiang Ts'an.
15)
Yang Wei-chen (1296-1370) as a painter he was a follower of Huang Kung-wang, without, however, sharing the latter's economy of means. At the beginning of the new Ming dynasty, he became prefect of a district in Kiangsi. The painting is signed by the artist.
Ma Wan
studied the classics with
;
Lu yO brewing tea By Chao Yiian (fourteenth century)
f.
Handscroll
Lu
We
Yij
In Ink
and
(died 804)
see him
light colors
on paper, 10%
sitting in a
in. (27 x
come from Hupeh
for his
and washes
Wang Meng
a style recalling
dots accent the distant
Chao Yuan, a native Ni Tsan (No. 84). At
"Book
of
Tea".
province. ;
comma-shaped
Dry brushstrokes overlie wet strokes
resilient.
summoned
cm)
trees are abbreviated to free foliage patterns
grass and reeds are strong and in
78
thatched lodge while his servant boils the water— which
should, according to Lu's work,
The surrounding
30%
x
was a T'ang dynasty hermit famous
(No. 88). Strong and free vertical
beyond the vast expanse of water. Shantung who resided in Soochow, was a
hills
of
the beginning of the
to the court by the
worthies of previous dynasties.
Hung-wu
emperor and ordered
Chao
friend
period (1368-1398) he
of
was
to paint portraits of the
either refused or otherwise incurred the
wrath of the emperor and was executed.
A ^
4f
'
t
it ft
<«
111
« 1 ^i n ^
*,
172
i^'u
"SK'
^'«
J?-
'1-
fe
i-'i
iAt
It If
-
)t|-.
%
"V-
.5- /.
«:
*b i»
.1 .^
<4
i
-
ON A
g.
By
THE RIVER
CLIFF BY
Lin ChiJan-a (dated 1373)
Handscroll
In ink
on paper, 10% x24%
(25.8x61.5 cm)
in.
are conversing on a cliff overhanging a river bank, v\/hile a approaching from belovK. Tree-clad hills rise across the river and out of the clouds In the distance. A fisherman is returning home in his boat. The rich variety of ink values and the very freely painted trees add a particular
Two gentlemen
third is
charm
to the painting.
was a disciple of the Taoist Fang Ts'ung-i (No. 89) and of the Chang Shuai, and a friend of the painters Ni Tsan and Chao Yuan (Nos.84 and 90f). He is supposed to have studied the style of Kuo Hsi (No. 20), and some trace of that perhaps shows In the outline of the foreground cliff. The Lin ChiJan-a
poet
Inscribed and signed by the artist,
painting
is
memory
of a
who
tells
us that he did
it
in
day when Ni Tsan and Chao Yuan exchanged paintings and poems
with the recipient of this picture.
h.
SCHOLAR APPROACHING
By Chuang Handscroll
A
HIS LODGE
Lin (fourteenth century)
in ink
and some
light color
on paper, W/,x25y,
simple thatched lodge by a brook
ing the bridge. Loosely painted in
dry brush overlay, the poetic scene
in.
(26.2x65.4 cm)
approached by an elderly scholar crosswashes and broad wet strokes with some is
is
a typical work of the literary taste of the
Yuan dynasty. Blue and white may have been mixed with the ink; some pink Is added to the face. Chuang Lin lived at the same place in Kiangsu as Kuo Pi (No. 78). The painting has a poetic inscription by the artist who tells us that he was inspired by a painting of ChiJ-jan (No. 15). There
Tung Ch'i-ch'ang
is
also an Inscription by
(1555-1636).
?,
e
m ih
^#
.4-
It
i '11 1
6
4-
t
•I
HjLi-— -rJ^'^Wv4, B.:,«;»i-,
173
A '^
p%.
ff^
174
91
LITERARY GATHERING By Wang Fu (dated Hanging
scroll in ink
and
1404,
A MOUNTAIN LODGE
IN
Ming dynasty)
light colors
on paper,
51%x20X
in.
(129.5x51.4 cm)
A thatched
lodge surrounded by trees is perched on the rocks over a waterfall. Three scholars are seated inside, and more guests are arriving on foot and by boat. The river winds through a steep gorge, sending up mists in the middle distance which set off the trees around a temple, in the manner of Fang Ts'ung-i (No. 89). Beyond rise steep
Painted mainly
in
cliffs,
with distant blue peaks
in
the background.
dry brushwork laid over wet strokes and washes, the powerful
mountain landscape
recalls the
work
of
Wang Meng and Sheng Mou
(Nos. 88,
80). Elastic
grasses and reeds, strong simplified trees, rugged, veined moun-
tains blend
in
a wild
and powerful setting
for the scholarly
exchange
of poetry
and music.
Wang who,
Fu (1361-1415) was a poet-painter from Wuhsi (Kiangsu), an eccentric
like Ni
(1403-1422) Literary
Tsan, hated the
Academy
he received the
in
and powerful. But during the Yung-lo period
title
made
a
member
of
the Han-lin
respect for his eminence as a calligrapher. Subsequently of Imperial Secretary.
bamboo in the manner The painting is signed by artist Hu Yen (1361-1443). of
rich
he was called to the court and
Wang was
also a renowned painter
T'ung and Wu Chen (Nos. the artist. There is a seal attributed of
Wen
27, 77).
to the scholar-
175
92
RETURNING LATE FROM A SPRING OUTING By Tai Chin Hanging
(ca. 1430,
scroll in ink
Ming dynasty)
and some
light colors
on
silk,
66y,x32y,
in.
(167.9x83.1 cm)
A
servant carrying a lantern hurries to open a gate, outside which a gentleman
is
waiting. Other attendants hold his
donkey and carry
angular pines tower over the gate. Evening mist return along a dike to their hut
among
is veiling
his provisions.
the willows where a
the distance, a temple tower and verdant
Tall,
the valley, and farmers
woman
is
feeding
above the mist. The sensitive graded washes and flamboyant "axe-cut" strokes are derived from Ma Yuan and Hsia Kuei and their school (Nos. 51-61) so is the emphasis on atmospheric values. At the same time, a more decorative quality and a more chickens.
In
hills rise
;
descriptive and narrative character has replaced the intimate and
sceneries of the Southern
Sung Academy
Tai Chin (ca. 1390-1460), a native of Chekiang,
was
called to the court In the
Hsuan-te reign (1426-1435) by Emperor Hsiian-tsung, who was
amateur painter. Through jealousy
evocative
style.
of other court officials he lost the
favor and returned home, where he tried to
make a
living
himself an
emperor's
as a professional
painter. He died in poverty. The Ma-Hsia style of the Southern Sung Academy had remained alive as a local tradition in Chekiang. This style was revitalized by Tai Chin who therefore came to be regarded as the founder of the Che school. The painting is not signed, but is the best of the Palace Museum paintings
attributed to Tai Chin,
by the artist.
176
and agrees
in
style with
signed and accepted works
177
178
93
WILD GEESE AND PEONIES By Lu Chi Hanging
(ca. 1500,
and colors on
scroll in ink
IN
silk,
69%
Reeds and tree-peonies grow on
One is moon. The front
MOONLIGHT
Ming dynasty) x 42 in. (177.2 x 107.3
profiles of the
where four wild geese have where autumn mists veil the full
a rocky bank
calling out over the water
alighted.
cm)
two nearest geese are heightened by the
skillful
treatment of the white neck and breast feathers. Delicate graded washes pro-
duce subtle atmospheric effects of moonlight and mist, and the colors are skillfully shaded and subdued. This poetic picture is a splendid example of the decorative academic art of the period. LiJ Chi, a native of Ningpo (Chekiang), studied bird and flower painting under painter named Pien Wen-chin. During the Hung-chih period was summoned to the court by Emperor Hsiao-tsung and was made Commander of the Guard of the Gold Embroidered Robes, a very high
another
Academy
(1488-1505) he
honor.
The
painting
is
signed by the
artist.
179
94
LOFTY MT. LU By Shen Chou (dated Hanging
A
scroll In ink
and
1467,
Ming dynasty)
light colors
on paper, 76>^x38%
grandiose view of this famous mountain
picture with writhing trees, over
which the high peaks
of ink values is
the
cliffs
and moving shapes
in
In.
and peaks. The color helps
fills the huge and rocks, clouds and
Kiangsi province
of slopes
rise in the distance.
enhanced by the subtle use
(193,8x98.1 cm)
The
extraordinary richness
and some of dense and complex compo-
of colors in the trees
to organize the
tion of
The woolly texture strokes, in particular, place the painting in the tradiWang Meng (No. 88) which here, however, is handled in a highly indi-
vidual
manner. Strong accent dots are scattered over the mountain top and
sition.
the foreground rocks from which a scholar gazes over the
Shen Chou
river.
was born into a distinguished and well-to-do family of Soochow scholars and artists. He did not seek an official career in government, (1427-1509)
but chose a quiet life devoted to his interests in poetry, painting and calligraphy, and to his mother who lived to be almost 100 years old. Shen enjoyed the friendship of the most outstanding scholar-officials of his time. In his art as well as in his
life
the contrast with the academic painters of the
such as Tai Chin and
Lij
Che school
Chi (Nos. 92, 93) could not be greater. He studied and
followed the tradition of the great Yuan dynasty landscapists and through the latter, of
Tung
Yiian and Chij-jan (Nos. 14, 15).
who then was 40 years He painted it for the birthday of his teacher Ch'en K'uan, grandson of the Yuan dynasty painter Ch'en Ju-yen. It has been in the collections of Keng Chao-chung (1640-1686) and An Ch'i (born 1683). The old.
180
painting has a long poetic inscription by the artist
181
95
WALKING WITH A STAFF By Shen Chou
(ca. 1500,
Hanging
scroll in ink
An
man walks
old
water, bare Is
hills
Ming dynasty)
on paper, W/,xiS,y,
clearly that of Nl
Tsan (Nos.
to the flat dots scattered over
in Ni
The
artist
himself— is something not to be seen
of the earlier painter
more mellow and serene.
The painting has a poetic inscription by the artist. It was in the collection of Keng Chao-chung (1640-1686).
182
is
and the long, somewhat wavy lines covering from Ni Tsan's texture strokes. Also, the figure
scholar— perhaps the is
and simple picture
from the basic composition elements
mountains and rocks. However, the whole
Tsan's landscapes. The austerity
the atmosphere
style of this great
84, 85),
tightly knit,
the slopes are quite different of the elderly
(159.1x72.2 cm)
over a dam, out of a grove of trees. Beyond an expanse of
rise to the sky.
more compact and
in.
has vanished and
:
-^
*
J3 ^>
t i *
^^^
>tW^
4y
183
gg
STUDIES OF FLOWERS AND ANIMALS By Shen Chou (dated Album
The
of sixteen leaves In Ink
1494,
Ming dynasty)
on paper,
13%x22X
In.
(34.7x55.4 cm)
album depict a magnolia branch, cockscomb, chrysanthemum, crab and shrimp, oyster and clam shells, a crab, pigeon, cock, duck, cat and donkey. The brilliant display of brushwork, based upon keen observation of nature, shows the great and eclectic artist at his best. Quite different from the animal and flower paintings of the Sung Academy or from the bamboo studies of the Yuan literati, they illustrate a fresh and more informal approach to nature and an
lively
iris,
a
and spontaneous studies (hemerocallls), lotus and
lily
In this
frog, a grape-vine, amaranth,
self-expression.
The album has
a poetic inscription by the artist in which he expresses
his
He was then 67 years old. Chu Chih-ch'ih (seventeenth century); Li It has been in the collections of Chao-heng (seventeenth century, son of Li Jih-hua 1565-1635); Keng Chaochung (1640-1686); An Ch'i (born 1683); Kao Shih-ch'i (1645-1704). satisfaction with this work.
184
:.^
185
97 SPRING
IN
KIANGNAN
By Wen Cheng-ming (dated Hanging
n -...•
A
and
scroll in ink
scholar
is
boating
among
south of the Yangtze
1547,
Ming dynasty) 41%x12
colors on paper,
llgtit
river.
In.
(106x30 cm)
the many waterways of the region The peach blossoms are out and
the elegant willows, beside blue juniper trees, are covered •-/•Mt*rJUt_.
~-.-^
The splendid high foreground
with the light foliage of spring.
^
trees, with their delicate
and individual
axis to the composition
which
beyond the horizontal planes
foliage, give a vertical
echoed by the distant hill banks and islands. Light blue is
of
dots are scattered over the banl<;
blue reeds alternate
light
brown ones. Carefully and sensitively done in light graded shades of ink and color, this lyrical scene conveys a poignant mood. Wen Pi or Wen Cheng-ming (1470-1559) belonged to a Soochow family of scholar-officials descended from the Sung dynasty with
national hero in
Wen
T'ien-hsiang
;
his father served as prefect
member some time
Chekiang. Cheng-ming himself became a
Academy and
Literary (Han-lin)
served for
and editor
capital as a compiler
life
in
the
of the official history of the
preceding dynasty. But he soon returned the rest of his long
of the
home and devoted
to poetry, calligraphy
(For a specimen of his calligraphy, see No. 121
.)
and painting.
He was
closely
associated with the outstanding artists and scholars of his day,
who admired him
for his
austere character.
As
by Shen
Chou
work as
As
tradition
a painter he of the
and
was much influenced
(No. 94) but his loyalty and friendship also
extended to T'ang Yin (No. plary.
well as for his noble
a young man, he
whose
99)
worked
in
life
different
was
far
from exem-
manners,
all
in
the
Yuan masters. His descendants include
a
number of prominent painters and calligraphers. The painting has a poetic inscription by the artist who was It
guished by
as his "fine" style. The picture was
critics
collection of
186
an excellent example of what
then 77 years old.
is
Keng Chao-chung
(1640-1686).
is distin-
in
the
98 OLD TREES BY A COLD WATERFALL By Wen Cheng-ming (dated Hanging
A
scroll in Ink
and colors on
dense and tangled mass
junipers climbs to waterfall,
tlie
dropping
1549,
silk,
Ming dynasty)
76y,x23'/, In. (194.1 x59.3
and writhing pines and
of twisting
top of
tlie tall,
over the
rocky
cm)
narrow picture. cliff
comma-like grasses, cuts the composition
between like
A
simple
hanging,
a sabre.
The
and light touch of the preceding picture is here replaced by boldness and forcefulness in a brilliant display of calligraphic brushwork. Open space has been drastically reduced to a tiny delicate
corner at the top of the picture.
The
painting
It Is
Inscribed by the artist
is
a splendid example of
who was
Wen's "rough"
style.
then 79 years old.
187
gg
FIGURES
T'ANG STYLE
IN
By T'ang Yin Hanging
(1470-1523)
scroll in Ink
and colors on paper, 58Xx26
In.
This illustrates a story of the T'ang period.
courtesan in
Tuan-tuan,
Li
which he spoke
a scroll,
is
who
;
It
concerns the beautiful Yangchow
on a poet and was presented with a poem
peony". The poet, who grasps The courtesan, holding a white peony, stands in
of her as "the walking white
just getting up.
front of him
called
(149.3x65.9 cm)
her maid
is
carrying a pot of wine. Both the poet and the maid
are gazing at the beauty with her flower.
A
wide screen with bamboo, rock and dry tree painted on
k'ang (dais); two
design of rocks and
more screens—one a two-panel
waves— protect
this corner of the
it
stands behind the
folding
screen
with
a
garden from the wind
and indiscreet eyes. An angular flowering tree reaches over the screens; a mushrooming garden rock and tree peonies adorn the foreground. The angular
drawn figures. The artist, like more interested in lines and their rhythm than in anatomic realism. Make-up and costume are those of the T'ang dynasty. T'ang Yin was the son of a small Soochow merchant, but enjoyed the protection of the father of Wen Cheng-ming (No. 97) whose house was the center of the local artistic and scholarly society. He passed the provincial examinations brilliantly, and also the state examination in the capital which determined a scholar's government career. After the last examination, however, it became known that a rich fellow-student and friend had obtained advance information of the subjects through bribery. T'ang was involved in the scandal, although perhaps innocently, and his chances for an official career were ruined. His poverty forced him to live by his paintings his sense of depression drove him into a life of drink and dissipation in the taverns and pleasure houses of Soochow, interrupted by periods of seclusion and Ch'an meditation in Buddhist monasteries. Thus he became a romantic figure about whom many admiring stories were told. The painting is inscribed by the artist, who was especially famous in his day lines of the furniture contrast with the freely
other Chinese painters,
is
;
as a painter of beautiful
women.
189
i
*^
-jQQ
WHISPERING PINES ON A MOUNTAIN PATH By T'ang Yin Hanging
In
(1470-1523,
scroll in ink
and
Ming dynasty)
light colors
on
slllt,
76>Jx40%
In.
(194.5x102.8 cm)
a majestic landscape setting, a scholar, followed by a servant carrying
a zither, has stopped on the bridge under a magnificent group of twisted pines, hung with tangled creepers. Mountains and rocl
animate the water. The monumental landscape follows, as in
in
details of drawing, the tradition of Li
in
the landscape styles of T'ang Yin and his teacher
composition as well
which was revived Chou Ch'en. The bold
T'ang (No.
36)
and free execution, full of verve, is typical of the artist's period and school which is closer to the Che School academicians such as Tai Chin (No. 92) than to Wen Cheng-ming and the other gentlemen-painters of the Wu school, and very far removed from the intellectual climate of the great Yuan masters.
The
painting has a poetic inscription and dedication by the artist.
It
was
in
the
collection of Liang Ch'ing-piao (1620-1691).
191
^Q'l
SECLUDED FISHERMEN ON AN AUTUMN RIVER By T'ang Yin Handscroll
A
and colors on
In Ink
Ming dynasty)
silk,
^^%x 138%
In. (29.4 x 351
group of pines and other trees growing on a
to the river, In
(1470-1523,
and
to the first of the
cm)
rocl^y
shore introduces us
amateur fishermen who are boating on
Autumn
a thatched lodge two gentlemen are chatting and drinking.
it.
leaves
on the water. Further along, two other scholars have stopped their boats
float
by a waterfall other
;
one
Is
playing the flute and dangling his feet
in
the water; the
By a rather elegant lodge an old watching from a terrace over the
l^eeping time by clapping his hands.
is
gentleman walks
in
water, while a third
the garden is
;
another
is
angling from another boat.
A
final tree
group brings us
back to the shore. in a rich and harmonious way. Autumn foliage and fallen leaves washes of blue-green and red-brown tones help to give substance to the rocks. The texture of the rocks is rendered by "axe-cut" strokes with a partly dry "squeezed brush" in the manner of Li T'ang (No. 36). Elsewhere,
Color
is
are red
in
used
;
a kind of reversed texture stroke technique, the artist has applied darker
washes and wash-like strokes in such a way as to leave lighter areas between them in shapes which resemble brushstrokes. The drawing is strong but elegant; the poetic atmosphere of the leisurely scene
is
rendered with precision and taste. Thus, the painting
content than
The The
painting
in its style to is
the works of the artist's
inscribed with a
Wang
by the
is
closer
in its
friends.
artist.
is
dated 1523; others are by Ch'eng
Ta-lun, Lu Chih (1496-1576), Ku Te-yu and
Chu Chieh— all artists and scholars whose seal appears on the
first
colophon, by
Ch'ung,
of the sixteenth century, as is
painting.
192
poem
literati
Ho
Liang-tsun,
193
1Q2
WAITING FOR THE FERRY By
Ch'iu Ying
Hanging
In a
scroll in ink
(first
AUTUMN
half sixteenth century,
and colors on
harmonious and
IN
silk, 61 x
52%
In. (155.4 x
Ming dynasty) 133.4
cm)
well balanced composition, rocky shores
land interrupt the expanse of the river and lead our eyes to the distance v\/here high
mountains
rise
in
and spits of
a zigzag
movement
above the mist. Red maples alternate
with pines and other trees, interspersed with
bamboo.
In
the foreground
a group of people waiting for the boat; the figures are well drawn, with
is
some
white highlights along the fold-lines. Fine, outlined reeds grow along the bank the greyish-green rocks with accented contours are modelled with darker
washes and "axe-cut" strokes in the manner of Li T'ang (No. 36). Every detail is carefully drawn with great precision yet the whole composition has atmo;
sphere and depth, and breathes a serene
mood
undisturbed by the narrative
element.
man of very humble origin, Soochow where he worked as a painter's apprentice. He was discovered by T'ang Yin's teacher, Chou Ch'en, who took him on as a disciple. Ch'iu Ying was a proficient copyist of T'ang and Sung masters and a figurepainter and illustrator, like T'ang Yin. Both were much influenced by Li T'ang, in whose tradition their teacher Chou Ch'en worked. Ch'iu Ying betrays this influence particularly in his landscapes. He enjoyed the patronage of the Ch'iu Ying, a native of the Shanghai region and a
moved
to
collector Hsiang Yuan-pien, and, despite the fact that he
was considered an
artisan, the appreciation of the literati painters of his time.
The
painting bears several seals of the artist.
YiJan-pien (1525-1590) and
194
An
It
was
Ch'i (born 1683).
in
the collection of Hsiang
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195
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196
1Q3
CONVERSATION UNDER FIRMIANA TREES By
Ch'iu Ying
Hanging
Two
(first
scroll in ink
and
half sixteenth century,
light colors
on paper, llOy,
x
39%
scholars and their boy attendant stand
in
Ming dynasty)
in.
The
off
In
the foreground, a large
the garden scene giving the conversation
more
privacy.
wash, contrasts sharply with strong outlines and bold, black modelling.
tree, delicately colored in light blue-green
the dark and powerful rocks with their
Blue
cm)
the shade of an old wu-t'ung
(Firmiana Simplex) tree, beneath a towering rock.
boulder closes
(279.5 x 100
is
used also for some
of the
bamboo. The somewhat mannered lines Sung Academy.
of
the figures recall the Ma-Hsia school of the Southern
The subject it
of this painting
as well as
its
rather bold and fluid execution bring
within the realm of the "literary" taste of the period. Every detail
elegance and technical competence which characterizes the
shows
artist's
the
work
regardless of the manner employed.
The
painting
is
signed and sealed.
It
was
in
the collection of Hsiang Yuan-pien
(1525-1590).
197
1Q4
IN
THE SHADE OF SUMMER TREES
By Tung Ch'i-ch'ang Hanging
A
(1555-1636,
on paper, 126%
scroll In Ink
mountain landscape
is
x
W/,
Ming dynasty)
In. (321 .9 x 102.3
cm)
here piled into a powerful and grandiose composition
rounded conical rocks, boulders, and slopes which are echoed in the conical, simplified pines. Foreground vegetation is done in broad, wet Ink built of
strokes, along with the foliage of the large tree group
are drawn with strong, sure contours.
;
the trunks and branches
The reduction
of natural
shapes
nearly abstract pattern corresponds well with the cool and intellectual of the picture. Classical traditions are discernible, but
to a
mood
have been thoroughly
transformed; here we can trace memories of Tung Yuan, Mi Fu and Kao
K'o-kung (Nos.
14, 28, 70).
Tung Ch'i-ch'ang, (Shanghai), made
a
member home
of a distinguished gentry family
from Huating
Sungchiang (Kiangsu). He was a brilliant scholar, a prominent official (he rose to be President of the Board of Ceremonies), an outstanding calligrapher (No. 122) and the foremost authority on painting, both during his lifetime and for centuries after.
The
painting
is
his
artist, who felt inspired by the memory of a Tung Yuan (No. 14) which had opened his eyes to an Huang Kung-wang (No. 74).
inscribed by the
painting attributed to
understanding of
198
at
^
i t
f
i^
^
199
m^..Uri
...
105
SIXTEEN SCENES FROM A HERMIT'S
LIFE
By Ch'en Hung-shou (dated 1651, Ming-Ch'ing dynasty) Album
The
in ink
and colors on paper, B'A
activities of the
x
11%
in.
(24.3x31.1 cm)
secluded scholarly gentleman, as portrayed
album,
in this
are centered around books and poetry, writing and painting, rubbings and
music, drinking and the enjoyment of nature and of beauty— of a flower as woman. Fittingly, they end with the reading of the Sutras.
well as of a
The
figures are playfully distorted,
in
a highly personal style based upon the
study of T'ang and even earlier painting. in
The
archaizing element
is
evident
the continuously flowing lines of the robes, unrelated to the body;
fine,
even lineament and the
light
shading
in ink
or color washes.
The
in
the
particular
rhythm of the lines, which seem to have a life of their own, the elegance of drawing combined with a conscious awkwardness, the exaggeration of the
200
iSiSSi-t*
ugly as well as of the beautiful to a point close to
and sensitive mood— all are products and of his time.
tfie
grotesque, the withdrawn
of the sophisticated taste of the artist
Ch'en Hung-shou (1599-1652), from a gentry family of Chekiang, was a gifted poet, calligrapher and painter. He accepted an honorary academic title, but fall of the dynasty, he was associated became a Buddhist monk. by the artist, who painted it for Shen Hao, another
refused that of a court painter. After the with loyalist outlaws and artists and
The album
is
inscribed
poet-painter and kindred It
was
in
spirit.
the collection of
Chu Chih-ch'ih (seventeenth
century).
201
-|Qg
VERDANT PEAKS By Wang Shih-min Hanging
A
scroll In Ink
(dated 1672, Ch'ing dynasty)
and colors on
silk,
64%
x 39 In. (163.4 x 99.1
majestic landscape of olive-green and brown
cm)
hills
and slopes, rocks and
and spaced, is built up around the river and over the clouds on which the peaks appear to float. Long, wet Ink strokes and piled-up horizontal dots are used for texture and modelling clouds and
tree groups, carefully balanced
;
water have no interior drawing and are
on
line,
especially
in
We
the contours.
left
blank. There
very
little
Chij-jan as transmitted by the great
we
emphasis
Tung
Ch'i-
also see reflections of
Tung
recognize the influence of
ch'ang's "abstract" constructions (No. 104);
Yuan and
is
Yuan masters. There
is
a remark-
able technical consistency throughout the whole picture.
Wang to a
Shih-min (1592-1680), the oldest of the so-called Four Wangs, belonged
prominent family of Kiangsu scholars. His grandfather had been a Prime
Minister; his father a Compiler
Wang
of Sacrificial
the
fall
in
the Literary
Academy and
a dramatist.
Shih-min served as Keeper of Seals and as Sub-director of the Court
Worship, but
of the dynasty.
retired
He was
because
of
ill
health several years before
a distinguished scholar
and man
of letters,
and
was much influenced by his teacher, Tung Ch'i-ch'ang, and the latter's friends. He also followed Tung in his preference for the Yuan painters, in particular Huang Kung-wang (No. 74). The painting is signed by the artist—then 81 years old— who tells us that he painted it after a picture by Huang Kung-wang. It obviously is not a copy, but a free creation inspired by the spirit of the great Yuan painter to whom he pays homage.
202
^
I
'(
*-
203
jjf.
204
^
I'i
4
ii'o
"107
LANDSCAPE AFTER HUANG KUNG-WANG By Wang Chien Hanging
scroll In ink
(1598-1677,
Ch'ing dynasty)
and colors on paper,
Another landscape
31 x
^5%
in.
(78.8 x 38.8
cm)
Huang Kung-wang (No. 74), and likewise shows the influence of Tung Ch'i-ch'ang (No. 104). The details of the execution illustrate how the same general elements may be translated in a different way and with a different result. The piled-up flat dots are used more freely and loosely; foliage patterns are more boldly simplified; contours of tree trunks and cliffs more roughly sketched. Buff pink, light blue and light green washes in
the tradition of the great
way
this is constructed in a
similar to the preceding one,
cover rocks and slopes; the highest peak
Wang was
a distant relative of
at the
is
done
Chien, great-grandson of the scholar-artist
same
place and
Wang
Shih-min (No.
became close
grey and pink.
in
Wang
106).
Shih-chen (1526-1590),
They
lived for
some
time
passed the literary Kwangtung, under the last
friends. After having
Wang Chien served as a prefect in Ming emperor. As a painter, he was inspired by exactly the same Wang Shih-min between him and the latter there was a good deal
examinations,
;
artists
of
as
mutual
appreciation, as well as influence.
The
painting has a poetic inscription by the artist.
appreciative inscriptions by the painter critic
Wang Wen-chih
Huang
On
the mounting are highly
Jih-ch'i, dated 1728,
and the
(1730-1802).
205
206
1Q3
COUNTLESS PEAKS AND VALES By Wang Hui Hanging
(dated 1693, Ch'ing dynasty)
scroll in ink
and
light colors
on paper, 99y,
This truly monumental landscape
and
style
is
x
40%
In. (254.1 x
103
cm)
executed with perfect consistency of
quality, in a brilliant display of technique. Carefully
higher and higher above the clouds
modelled peaks
way from vale From the foreground rocks the river leads us, in a zigzagging diagonal movement, far into the distance. On the right, a group of temple buildings are placed on tree-clad hills. Ink and color washes are carefully graded; the rise
;
a waterfall threads
its
to vale.
size of the vegetation to the distant groves.
and
Wang
is
well scaled
Rows
down from the splendid foreground trees manner reminiscent of Wang Shih-min
of dots, in a
Chlen, accent the contours of the foreground rocks and the far-off
hilltops.
Wang
Hui (1632-1720), son and grandson of professional painters, was accepted
as a disciple by
Wang
Chien and
Wang
Shih-min, and became a diligent
student of the old masters. His copies were famous, and his paintings
in
the
were highly time. They brought
styles of various old masters, selected in a rather catholic way,
appreciated by the scholarly gentlemen-painters of his
him a considerable fortune. The output large It
is
and
of varying quality.
inscribed by the artist
T'ang poem about in
the style of
This painting
who
tells
of his long is
and industrious
life
is
of his best.
us that he was inspired by a certain
a waterfall near a Taoist
Tung Yuan and
one
monastery, and that he painted
Chij-jan (Nos. 14,15).
Wang
Hui stamped
it
it
with a special seal which indicates that he himself considered the painting
a masterpiece.
207
109
LANDSCAPE By
Yijn Shou-p'ing (dated 1678, Ch'ing dynasty)
Hanging
scroll in ink
on paper, 33%
x
19%
in. (86.1 x
The simple but powerful composition
is
49.4
cm)
balanced by the long poetic inscription
above. Strong and solid trees and rocks are done mainly
some
dry, darker texture strokes
black ink which
is
;
A
the inscription, the artist
Tung Yuan and
Washes
of
tells
are used only on the roofs and dis-
us that he painted this picture
Chij-jan (Nos. 14, 15)
of the great
Huang Kung-wang (No.
YiJn
a very rich
in the manner once more we realize the degree to these tenth century painters was conceived through the
In
to
wet ink with
in
solitary scholar sits in the lodge overlooking the water.
of
which the style eyes and works
in light,
are reinforced
also used for the dots and distant trees that have taken on
the appearance of musical notes. tant hilltops.
some contours
;
Yuan masters. This
painting
is,
in fact,
closest
74).
Shou-p'ing (1633-1690) came from an impoverished gentry family
Kiangsu. His father was an ardent Ming
in
and the son did not want to enterthe service of the new dynasty. He studied poetry, calligraphy and painting, and by selling the products of his art barely managed to support himself and loyalist,
When he died, the expenses of his burial were met by his intimate Wang Hui (No. 108). It is said that YiJn gave up landscape painting having realized that he could not surpass Wang Hui, and thereafter
his father.
friend, after
specialized
in
the painting of flowers and insects.
The present
painting
him, nevertheless, to have been an accomplished landscapist.
the artist himself, Yij-shao. Later,
208
It
A
shows
favorite of
it was acquired by his older friend, the poet-painter T'ang was in the collection of An Ch'i (born 1683).
.li it.
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it
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to
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it
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i'.
J:
--H:,,
j^^-
209
FLOWERS AND LANDSCAPES
11Q
By
Yiin Shou-p'ing and
Album
Wang
Hui (dated
and/or colors on paper, ca. 11%
(12 leaves) in ink
The flower studies
1672, x 17 in.
Ch'ing dynasty) (28.5x43 cm.)
depict magnolia and cherry, tree-peony, hemerocallis,
poppy, begonia, and narcissus. Nos. 2-5 are done
any ink; the veins of the leaves are either artist tells
us
in his
left
inscriptions that the first
in
colors only, without
blank or painted
was done
in
the
in
color.
manner
of
The Hsu
Ch'ung-ssu (eleventh century). The narcissus flowers in ink are, according Wang Hui, in the style of Chao Meng-chien (No. 67). Other leaves also are inscribed by Wang Hui who invokes the memories of tenth and eleventh
to
century artists and of
landscapes by
Wang
2.
Chao Meng-fu Kao K'o-kung
3.
Li
4.
Fan K'uan
5.
Ts'ao Chih-po
6.
Wang Wei
1.
Ch'eng
Chao Meng-fu (No. 69). The following done in the manner of Chao Po-chii (ink and colors)
after (ink)
(ink)
and colors)
(ink
after
Lu Hung
(ink)
(ink)
All these leaves bear witness to the
to the brilliant
six leaves are
Hui,
skill
of
Wang
wide
Hui. However,
historical
more
knowledge as well as
attention is paid to the general
design and appearance of the model that he evokes than to the more intimate individual features of style. It reminds us of the manner in which a motif from in music may be used for modern variations. album are inscribed or sealed by the artists.
a classical composition All the leaves of the
^4 * t f
Jlp
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4^ i*
f
•w ffr
1*
5.
» 5
A
^t ! ti
210
n
7
<&
111
landscapes after sung and yUan masters By Wu Li (1632-1718, Ch'ing dynasty) Album
(10 leaves) in ink
and/or colors, IS'/jxIOJiin.
(39.7x26.8 cm)
The album, ostensibly in homageto the old masters whose compositional devices are used or suggested in the manner of an intellectual exercise, in fact displays nearly everywhere the individual style of the artist himself. The curiously leaning conical peaks and slopes, derived from Tung Ch'i-ch'ang (No. 104), are quite typical so is the insistent repetition of rows of flat dots along the contours of rocks and trees in a manner related to the style of Wang Shih-min and Wang Hui (Nos. 106, 108). The brushwork is crisp and brilliant throughout. Wu Li was the descendant of a Kiangsu gentry family, a scholar-poet and musician who studied painting under Wang Shih-min and Wang Chien (No. 107) and became an intimate friend of Wang Hui. Around 1679 he was converted to Christianity and baptized under the name Simon-Xavier a few years later he entered the Jesuit order. In 1688, in Macao, he was ordained a priest and took the surname "a Cunha". The rest of his life was ;
;
devoted to missionary work around Nanking and Shanghai. His friendship with they hardly
saw each other any more. There
The album
is
inscribed by the artist
;
is
no trace
of
western influence
there are postscripts by
Wang
Wang
in his
Hui continued, though
painting.
Hsiian (seventeenth century) and Pi Lung
(1781).
211
']']2
AUTUMN MOUNTAINS AFTER HUANG KUNG-WANG By Wang Hanging
The
YiJan-ch'i (dated 1707, Ch'ing dynasty) and
scroll in ink
on paper, 32%
19%
x
in. (81 .3 x 50.2
cm)
forms and techniques in fresh once more evident. The dry brush-
painters' tradition of using old
literary
ways and
light colors
for
new
expressions
pictorial
is
strokes which reinforce and model the lighter wet under-drawing, the gradual
accumulation of strokes held together by limited areas of wash, the subtle color scheme, are
modern and
all
derived from the Yiian painters, but employed
individual way.
The weightiest masses
have been shifted back to the middle and
Wang
outward likeness
more
A
The rows
a
Rocks and mountains manner recalling Tung 106) but even further removed from repeated flat dots have become a
of
in
a
painterly device; the accent dots are placed in a highly arbitrary way.
cool rhythm
moves through the arrangement
water), which are held
Wang
Wang
his
masses and space
(including
"Four Wangs", was the grandson He entered the civil service and became censor, a member, and finally Chancellor of the Literary last years, he was Senior Vice-President of the Board
Shih-min (No.
turn a magistrate, a
Academy. During
of
a precarious balance.
in
Yuan-ch'i (1642-1715), the
and pupil of in
Shih-min (Nos. 104,
to nature.
in
landscape
far distance.
are built up by a repetition of abstract shapes
Ch'i-ch'ang and
of this imaginary
last of the
106).
of Finance.
He was
highly appreciated as a painter and often
imperial palace.
He
also
was one
of the
summoned
to paint in the
compilers and editors of the encyclo-
pedia of calligraphy and painting commissioned by the emperor.
The
picture
is
212
artist, who once had heard Huang Kung-wang.
inscribed by the
praise such a painting by
his grand-father
\jt fi
^
i«
213
^1^1 113
EULOGY ON PIED WAGTAILS By the T'ang Emperor Hsiian-tsung Calligraphy
The seen
in
writer
handscroll form,
is
the
in ink
on paper, 9%
(reigned 713-755) x 72"/i, in. (24.5 x 184.9
cm)
same emperor, posthumously named Ming-huang, who
is
Emperor Mir)g-huang's Journey to Shu (No. 2). He was an amateur painter himself, and a distinguished calligrapher, besides in
the
painting
titled
being a patron of poets and artists. The present work
is in
the Running script
(hsing-shu), with the individual characters quite close to their standard (k'ai)
forms but rendered
The
eulogy,
in
in
more
fluid brush-line.
the form of a prose-poem,
Kuang-ch'eng, presumably a court poet. relates
how, while he and
his five brothers
was composed by
In
his
were enjoying a reunion
palaces, a flock of a thousand pied wagtails perched
in
is
Wei
signed with a flourish-writing
of
in
one
of the
the trees outside.
poem composed
This sight so touched the emperor that he ordered the
commemorate it. The calligraphy
a certain
prose preface, the emperor
to
the character ch'ih,
"imperial writing", and furnished with a seal of the K'ai-yiJan era (713-741).
There are also seals
of the
Sung emperor Hui-tsung,
several Ming dynasty
palace seals, and those of a number of private collectors. The noted scholar
Wang Wen-chih
214
(1730-1802) has contributed a colophon.
114
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY By the Monk Huai-su
(dated 777, T'ang dynasty)
Calligraphy in handscroll form,
In Ink
Born tine
in
725 of a poor family
Buddtiist order early
in
his
on paper. 11*^K295^i
In
in.
(28.3x755 cm)
Changsha (Hunan province), Huai-su entered He was passionately fond of calligraphy, and,
life.
money to buy enough paper for the constant practice required, planted banana palms and used their broad leaves instead. Eventually he was able to travel to the capital, Changan, and learn from the great calligraphers of his day. He died in 785. The essay written here is an account of his development, with some comments on earlier masters and quotations of praise for Huai-su's own writing, which his contemporaries called "the calligraphy of the Drunken Monk." This work is a rare early example of the "Wild" Draft script (K'uang-ts'ao) of which the eighth century Chang HsiJ, called "the Sage of the Draft Script" lacking
and reportedly Huai-su's model, was the all-time master. The characters are composed with great freedom, and executed with a fluency and fervor that suggest both the untrammeled nature of the writer and the state of drunkenness he was probably
Among
the
in
many
when he
wrote.
inscriptions attached to the scroll
is
a record of
its
having
Southern T'ang emperor Lieh-tsu in 940. There are eleven colophons and short notes by Sung writers, dated from 1010 to 1133, and others by later writers, including the famous collectors Hsiang been remounted
at the court of the
YiJan-pien (1525-1590) and
Kao Shih-ch'i
(1645-1704). Seals include those of
the Chin emperor Chang-tsung (reigned 1190-1209) and of the palace inventory of the years 1373-1384.
215
THE RED CLIFF
115
By Su Shih (dated
1083,
Sung dynasty)
Calligraphy in handscroll form, in ink on paper. 9'/uX 101X
The
writer,
most
Su Shih
brilliant
and
(1036-1101), better
versatile
men
in
in.
(24x258.5 cm)
known as Su Tung-p'o, was one
Chinese
of the
history, distinguishing himself in
poetry and prose composition, painting, calligraphy, scholarship, and politics,
among
other fields. Along with several outstanding painters
who were
his close
accomplished a revolution in the theory and practice of painting, laying the foundations for the wen-jen hua or "literati painting" school. Among his literary productions, the best known by far is his prose-poem The Red Cliff
friends, he
which most educated Chinese memorize illustration of
it,
see No.
in
childhood. For a
summary and
46.
This manuscript of the prose-poem was copied by the poet himself. posttace appended to
it,
In a
prose
he writes that since he composed the poem the year
shown it to more than one or two people. Ch'in-chih (or Ch'uan Yao-yii, d. 1091, a famous scholar and calligrapher himself) has asked him for an example of his recent writing, so he has written this manuscript of the poem to send to him. He asks Ch'in-chih to keep it safely, and not show it to everyone. He has also composed a second Red Cliff ode, he writes in conclusion, but his brush is tired, and he can't copy it out now— he will send before he hasn't
it
with a later letter.
The writing is classified as being in the Running (hsing) script which was Su Shih's speciality among the script styles, but is actually very close to the k'ai or Standard script. The brushstrokes are full-bodied and sure. The writer signs with his given name "Shih". The Ming dynasty calligrapher and painter
Wen Cheng-mi ng
has added a few lines that were missing from the text because damage. His seals are on the scroll, along with those of his contemporary Chia Shih-tao, his son Wen P'eng (1498-1573), and Hsiang YiJan-pien (1525of
1590).
'iijL
216
-5L
There
is
t- k'
a colophon by
Tung Ch'i-ch'ang
1^
(1555-1636) (No. 122).
^ ^ 4-
--Jii
^^M # ^^
A
1 *'"-t
116
*
J
THE HALL OF PINES AND WIND By Huang T'ing-chien Calligraphy
in
handscroll form,
Huang T'ing-chien
Is
(1045-1105, in ink
Sung dynasty)
on paper. 12"/ii
counted, along
witli
Su Shih, Ml
Fu, and Ts'ai Hsiang,
as one of the four great calllgraphers of the Sung dynasty.
Su Shih, he reached high rank political
He
excelled
In
at the imperial court,
which, the Chinese maintain.
Integrity,
both the Running and Draft scripts
poem
Is ;
As
a prot6g6 of
and was noted
reflected
In
for his
his writing.
the present scroll
is In
the
Huang composed around the year 1100 on the theme of the Hall of Pines and Wind at Hul-chou In Kuangtung province. Su Shih had visited this tower, and had made it the subject of a poem of his own. Huang's calligraphy Is in his usual bold manner and firm brushwork; the
former
style.
The
cm)
x 86'/,e in. (32.8 x 219.2
text Is a
formation of the characters
Is
that
and Interesting without suggesting
original
willful eccentricity.
The
first
colophon
Is
Sung
by an unidentified
writer, dated 1212.
that although the materials used by the calllgrapher Ideally suited to
defect.
The
(d. 1275),
each other, the quality
scroll
was
later
of
owned by the
phons composed
for
It
by a
number
of
and Ink— were not the calligraphy compensates for this
late
and by the Princess Ta-ch'ang
He comments
— brush
Sung prime minister Chia Ssu-tao Yuan dynasty, who had colo-
of the
noted scholars and
officials, the first
dated 1323. Seals on the scroll Include those of the Ming dynasty painter Ch'lu Ying (No. 102) and his patron Hsiang YiJan-pien (1525-1590), and the
Ch'Ing collectors Sun Ch'eng-tse (1592-1676), Plen Yung-yu (1645-1702) and
An
Ch'i (born 1683).
217
118
Po^""
By the Sung Emperor Hui-tsung Calligraphy
The
In
handscroll form
text consists of a
"Executed
in
In ink
on
poem
silk.
(reigned 1101-1125) 10>^x ^0A%
A
i.e.
gourd-shaped seal
is
satility
;
is
distinguished for
and
is
signed:
by the emperor during the HsiJan-ho
impressed over
For information about the aesthetic and calligrapher, he
(27.2x265.9 cm.)
of eight five-character verses,
the Hsiian-ho Palace",
era (1119-1125).
In.
ill-fated
skill
this.
emperor, see No.
and elegance rather than
31.
As
a
for ver-
he created a special script style known as "slender gold script" (shou-
chin shu) and used
it
for virtually
all
his writing.
The characters
are
composed
and thinning gracefully. Some strokes taper evenly to points, while the ends of others are emphasized by thick, diagonally placed accents, where the movement of the brush was reversed before it was lifted. The shapes of some downward strokes are remarkably like those used of taut, attenuated lines, swelling
by the Chinese
The
in
painting the leaves of the epidendrum, or Chinese orchid.
result has a special reedy strength
and considerable beauty, although
it
verges on preciousness.
There
is
a short
colophon by Ch'en Pang-yen (1603-1647). Collectors' seals
include those of Keng Chao-chung (1640-1686).
219
®
i^'l
"^
ii ff
^ ^ 1
^
'^^
t
Ji,
Ilifit "
1^
?l
!>-*;* ii
-^
4
^
^ 'lig
'i
^f
J*
*H
^ * n
'J^
^
t
ii^
<&
i
-^
t
'I
^
t
ic
^?f
;*
'I
,-i
m
'z -K -^ ^^
^ 4 ^
i.
-ST
•?'
^"
ii
/4
*^ J-
'i
^"^
IMPERIAL ORDER TO GENERAL YO FEI By the Sung Emperor Kao-tsung (reigned 1127-1162) Calligraphy in handscroll form
in ink
on paper. 14>j
x 24'/,,
in. (36.7 x
Kao-tsung, the ninth son of Hui-tsung, was the
Sung
period and the one
who
first
61.5
cm)
emperor
re-established the capital at
of the
Southern
Hangchow
after the
north of China had been invaded by the Chin Tartars. Like his father, he proficient as a poet, calligrapher
and connoisseur, and
connpetent painter as well, although none of his works
As
is
was
said to have been a
in this
medium
survives.
began by studying the style of Huang T'ing-chien (No. 116), but later turned to the more remote past and imitated Wang Hsi-chih (321-379). He worked in three of the main scripts— Standard, Running, and Draft— and was the author of an essay on calligraphy. The writing of the present scroll is classified as "Running-Standard" (hsing-k'ai shu); the individual characters vary considerably in their degree of cursiveness. The name of the recipient and the emperor's cipher follow the text proper. The "Imperial Order" is actually in the form of a personal letter sent to Yo Fei in the field, in which Kao-tsung expresses his gratitude to the general for his unceasing efforts and endurance of hardships in protecting the now-diminished Sung territory. Yo Fei (1103-1141) was one of China's greatest military leaders, and it was largely due to his achievements that Kao-tsung was able to retain control of the area south of the Yangtze River. Eventually, with a shift in patronage, Yo Fei fell Into disfavor, was recalled, imprisoned and executed. He has been revered ever since, and those responsible for his death reviled. Part of the value of this letter for Chinese connoisseurs arises from Its poignant a
calligrapher, he
associations.
220
?^
^^
^ «
'
^
^^
120
TWO ODES ON THE By Chao Meng-fu Yuan dynasty) Calligraphy ink
RED CLIFF
(dated 1301,
the form of an album of 21
in
onpaper. Each
leaf
about 11% X
leaves, in
4% in.(27 .2x11.1 cm)
The text consists of the prose-poems by Su Shih concerned with his two visits to the Red Cliff. For a r6sum6 of the first, see No. 46. The second outing tool< place on a winter night in the following year, 1083. On this occasion, Su climbs to the top of the cliff, then descends and embarks once more on the Yangtze River with
A
crane
the Red
who recognizes him he had seen earlier
Chao Meng-fu
is
in
a
dream
to
in
a
Su,
as the Taoist immortal in
the guise of a crane.
known
best
as a painter (Nos.
Chinese
two friends.
Later that night a figure
Cliff.
feathered cloak appears
were
his
over their boat as they pass
flies
90a),
69,
in
the west
but for the
achievements as a calligrapher
his
equally
The
great.
present
scroll
includes a minor sample of Chao's painting, a portrait of
The
Su Shih mounted as the first
calligraphy
is in
(hsing-k'ai) script ticular brilliance.
leaf.
the Running-Standard
which Chao used with par-
The
writer's seals follow
both odes, and one seal, reading simply
"Chao",
is
impressed above the
Chao has added ponding
to
at
February
following note
:
portrait.
the end a date corres17,
"My young
1301,
friend
and
the
Ming-yuan
me this paper and asked me to two odes on it. have written them him in my Pines and Snow Studio, and
has given write the for
also first
I
made
a portrait of
page."
He signs
Su Tung-p'o on the with his style (tzu),
"Tzu-ang."
There
is
a colophon by another
famous
calli-
grapher of the time, Hsien-yiJ Shu (12561301), dated
tember T'ang
Chao many
7,
1301
in ,
correspondence with Sep-
and others by the landscapist
Ti (No. 83) I,
and Chao Meng-fu's son 1357. There are
the latter dated
collectors' seals.
221
0:1
fA
^ -^ n V
# i^ fc ^
>^ -^
i?u'
^^
^
^
0) ^^
^
'5-
*
-?
^
i
m^ K ^
MiiWM- f t
123 DOVES ON A FLOWERING PEACH BRANCH Attributed to
Shen Tzu-fan, Sung dynasty
Silk tapestry fk'o-ssuj
Some
37%
x
15%
in.
(96x38.5 cm)
uncertainty surrounds the beginning of the tapestry technique
generally agree that
it
was
used
first
in
western Asia and then
the Uighurs of Central Asia about the eleventh century. Earlier
Buddhist sites of Central Asia were probably made elaborated
;
this
were continued
Chinese hands the technique was refined and
and variations
of that style
became
a
medium
for
copying
all
In
were used
it
later.
mass
for sutra covers, robe decorations,
and
the case of wall hangings another trend developed, and
the subjects customarily found
began, but although the traditional Chinese attribution places this piece
are inclined to consider
224
;
hangings down Into Ming and Ch'ing times.
the tapestry
China, but students of the subject
the early all-over patterns of birds and flowers that covered the whole area with a dense
of rich colors
wall
locally. In
in
borrowed by the Chinese, perhaps from examples, such as those unearthed in the
later
in
in
It is not clear when Sung dynasty, westerners
painting.
the
124
LANDSCAPE Attributed to
Shen Tzu-fan, Sung dynasty
Silk tapestry (k'o-ssu)
Here on a
jutting
31%
x 14 '/n In. (96 x 37.5
cm)
foreground of rock a scholar
is
seated
in
a pavilion sheltered
by two trees. Across the water and beyond a small pine-covered tain
peak rises from the misty valleys of the surrounding
is in
effect a
seals.
woven facsimile
Again the
of a
islet,
hills.
a
The
mounpicture
landscape painting complete with collectors'
traditional attribution to
Sung
is
not altogether convincing.
225
125
IMMORTALS
IN
Attributed to an Silk tapestry (k'o-ssu;
In
A MOUNTAIN PALACE anonymous
10Vix13'/i.
In.
artist of
the
Sung dynasty
(25.5x41 cm)
a palace surrounded by mountain peaks, clouds, and flying storks, people
The foreground mountains among which are birds and
are eating and drinking and enjoying the view. are covered with flowering and fruiting trees
monkeys. Evidently the scene represents a Taoist paradise; and the densely crowded composition and formal stylization of the mountains, trees, clouds, etc., true to the tapestry medium in which they are rendered, and quite unlike a painting, suggest that this piece may well be earlier than Nos. 123 and 124.
226
126
EAGLE ON A PERCH Attributed to an Silk
anonymous
embroidery. 42>ix21%
In.
the
Sung dynasty
(109x55 cm)
A
hunting eagle fastened to
is
embroidered
in
artist of
white and
its
perch with elaborate leash, swivel, and jesses
some
colored silks on a dark blue ground. Seals
are seen around the upper edges and on the mount.
The Sung
attribution
reminds us that the Emperor Hui-tsung (1107-1127) was traditionally famous for his paintings of eagles, but this embroidery is probably later.
227
127
SMALL BRONZE TRIPOD Shang dynasty, before Type
li.
H. 4
in. (10.5
1028 B.C.
cm)
Tripods with hollow legs, the type called peculiar to that country. This one tion
and seems closely related
are very ancient
//,
simple but strong
is
in
China and are
in
both form and decora-
both respects to the pottery prototypes of
in
prehistoric times. Cast on the inside are the three characters shu-fu-ting,
"Uncle Ting", the name of the ancestor to
128
whom
the vessel
was dedicated.
LARGE RECTANGULAR BRONZE VASE Shang
or Early
Type fang
tsun.
H.
Chou dynasty,
17%
In. (45
ca. eleventh century B.C.
cm)
This large vessel for ceremonial wine
is
cast very thin for
patination of the bronze has a curious yellowish of the metal
brown
its
size,
and the
tinge. Both the quality
and the rather flat character of the relief places it in a small group on the Shang tradition, may have been made later and far
that, while carrying
to the south of the site of the style of certain
of a
elements
like
at
of
:
the crested birds at the four corners recall
Changsha
in
Hunan
;
and the birds that swoop
each side have triangular heads with bulging
those of the frogs that
and Tonkin a thousand years
228
Shang Kingdom in the Yellow River Valley. The seems further to support the theory
the design
southern origin for the piece
some that were excavated downwards in the middle eyes
in
sit
later.
atop the bronze drums of South China
There
is
no inscription.
229
^29
CEREMONIAL TRIPOD Chou dynasty, Reign Type
ting.
H.
20%
in. (53.5
King Hsiian
of
(827-781 B.C.)
cm)
The
only decoration on this vessel is the single band of horizontal scale pattern around the top of the deep, more than hemispherical, bowl. Two handles stand strongly on the thick rim, and the vessel
is
supported on three sturdily curved
legs. Inside is an inscription of 497 characters arranged in 32 lines.
This, the longest bronze text to have
come
to light in China, records gratitude
Duke
of
Mao, and the vessel has always been known as the Mao-kung Ting, the tripod of the Duke of Mao. It was dug up in Ch'i-shan Hsien in Shensi in the last years of the Tao-kuang reign (1821-
for favors received by a certain Yin,
1850)
and remained
to the
in private
Chinese Government
text of the inscription
that time a
a
relic of
was
good many
hands in
first
for
1948 by
about a century before its last
published
of the leading
in
all
was presented
1896 by
Wu
Shih-fen, and since
Chinese epigraphers have considered
the time of King Ch'eng, the second ruler of the
of the fact that, as is
it
owner, Mr. Yeh Kung-tso. The
Chou
dynasty,
in
it
spite
too often the case, the subject matter of the inscription
provides no solid evidence for dating. Evidently these early scholars were
convinced by the very size of the vessel and by the magnificent long inscription
must have been made in the golden age following the founding of the In recent decades further study has shown that both the style of the script and of the vessel itself are those of the second half of Western Chou, and a period about the time of King Hsiian (827-781 B.C.) seems to be indicated.
that
it
dynasty.
230
231
130
CEREMONIAL BRONZE BASIN Chou dynasty, Reign Type
p'on.
The
large shallow basin
D. 25
in. (64.5
of
King
Li (861-827
B.C.)
cm) with handles
Is supported on a broad circular foot flaring outward base two plain handles protrude from the sides and curve up to above the level of the rim. Basin and foot alike are decorated with relief designs cast
at the
in
;
the bold style
known as "Middle Chou".
Inside the basin
is
cast an inscription
of 357 characters in 19 lines.
One
of the great historical
documents
of ancient China, this bronze,
the San P'an, records the settlement of a states of vince.
San and Nieh which were
As
usual, the inscription
that the events recorded
probably
in
Sometime It
lay in
Li
known as
dispute between the feudal
the western part of modern Shensi pro-
undated, but internal evidence indicates
must have taken place
the reign of King
in
the ninth century B.C. and
(861-827 B.C.).
we have no some two and
was was brought
clue as to the date, the piece
buried.
a half millennia until
to light
thereafter,
the ground
in
is
territorial
it
the Ch'ien-lung reign of the Ch'ing dynasty about A.D. 1770, and thereafter passed through the hands of a series of private collectors whom it attracted not only because of its great size and remarkable condition but even more by the length and interest of its inscription. The text immediately occupied in
the attention of antiquarians, and the
modern
script
first
published attempt to render
was made by the celebrated scholar Juan Yuan
chai-cbung-ting-i-chi-k'uan-shih which
first
appeared
in his
in 1804. Five
it
into
Chi-ku-
years later
the Governor of the Kiangnan Provinces (Kiangsi, Kiangsu, Anhui) presented it to the Emperor Jen-tsung (Chia-ch'ing reign 1797-1820) on his fittieth birthday and thus it entered the Ch'ing imperial collection. Since then the inscription has been studied by almost every Chinese epigraphist of any stature, and may be found in most of the principal books on bronze inscriptions. The text is also a landmark in the history of western sinology for its publication in 1906 by the Rev. Frank H. Chalfant in his Early Chinese Writing (Memoirs of the
Carnegie
Institute, Vol. VI,
No.
1)
marks the
first
attempt by a westerner to
undertake the translation and interpretation of a document
232
in
archaic Chinese.
131
LARGE BELL Chou dynasty, Reign Type chung. H. 27%
in. (70
The instrument consists shank
at
;
of a hollow elliptical bell
the lower end of which
upper part nipples
of King Li (861-827 B.C.)
cm)
each face of the
of
is
surmounted by a
a flange with a ring for
bell are
vertical
suspension. On the
two rectangular areas each framing nine
the horizontal panels between each row of three nipples, and also
in
on top of the
bell
are cast relief designs
in
the "Middle
Chou"
style;
two
coiled dragon patterns appear in the bottom center of each side, and incised
designs and protruding eyes are seen on the ring flange. in
the center panel are cast 32 characters
are 57 characters ters
in
Ave
lines.
in
eight lines
;
in
four lines
and on the back
at
;
On
the front of the bell
below, on the
lett
side
the lower right are 33 charac-
Taken together these three groups make up
a single inscription
of 122 characters.
There seems
of the bell, but it was known Juan Yuan who published the inscription and attempted modern Chinese in 1804. His interpretation of the text led him
to be
no record of the discovery
to the great epigrapher to render
it
into
and in this he was followed by more than a century. But since the 1950's such scholars Kuo Mo-jo and Jung Keng have found various grounds for the reign of King Li (861-827 B.C.), a period much more in
to place the bell in the early part of the dynasty,
most scholars as Sun l-jang, assigning
it
to
for
keeping with the style of the ornament.
233
132
WINGED BEAST Han dynasty Carved jade.
This
ward
in
ancient times.
off evil".
carved
cm)
a miniature version of the large winged lions used as
is
dians
L. 6 in. (15.5
in
On
A.D.
purposes has
famous beasts overlooked
;
The Chinese
the chest
1774.
133
might be
traditionally
them
poem
p'i-hsieh
tomb guar-
which means "to
of the Ch'ien-lung
emperor
copy made for ornamental been called Han, the stylistic resemblance to the this small jade
Liang imperial tombs near Nanking
at the
and although later
an imperial
Although
as late as the stone lions it
is
called
is
too striking to be
this is not positive evidence for dating the jade beast (i.e. in
the sixth century A.D.),
it
does suggest that
than Han.
LEAF-SHAPED CUP Han dynasty Carved jade.
Carved
cup
is
of
L. 6 in. (15.5
cm)
brown jade
in
the form of a curled-up lotus leaf with
for rinsing the ink from brushes. In spite of
of
stem, this
The wooden stand is also in lotus form. Han and the acknowledged difficulty after the Han dynasty, we feel that the
the traditional attribution to
dating jade carvings precisely
naturalistic representation of this piece
point to a later date.
234
its
described as a washer, and may have been used on a scholar's desk
and the
realistic
softness of the carving
134 SMALL VASE OF BRONZE FORM Sung dynasty Carved jade. H.A'/,
The white jade sacrificial
in. (11
vessel
bronze
cm)
is
carved
in
of the type chih,
the form of a
Shang dynasty
and the surface
is
covered
with low relief patterns suggesting those found on the ancient
prototypes. Inscribed on the
wooden stand
are two simulated
seals of Hsiang Yiian-pien (1525-1590), and under the stand is
an inscription dated
in
the eighth
moon
of 1555 referring
to the collection of the T'ing-yCin-kuan. This of the celebrated painter
Wen Cheng-ming
was
the studio
(Nos. 97, 98, 121)
who owned it at one time. On the side of the stand are the words Wen Fu chih, indicating that the stand itself was carved by
Wen
Fu.
135
ROUND SHALLOW DISH Sung dynasty Carved jade. D. 5}J
The
in. {14
cm)
small dish, described as a brush
washer, has an uneven edge which
upon closer inspection proves to be little dragons and phoenixes carved in relief around the rim. Underneath are the two the backs of a series of
characters Hsuan-ho, carved seal style of that of
the
and
in
the
referring to the period
name (1119-1126) in the reign Sung Emperor Hui-tsung.
235
136 LEAPING FISH Ming dynasty Carved jade. H. 6><
In. (16
cm)
The
fish is carved in such a way that the body is largely white while the blackish outer crust of the stone has been used to accent the tail, dorsal fin, horn, eyes, lips, etc. A small hornless dragon clings to the fish's belly.
The accompanying wooden stand
carved to represent waves.
is
No doubt
the whole composition
Is
to be
regarded as the symbol of scholarly success: the carp leaping above the waves.
137 HEAD FOR A STAFF Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Carved jade. H. 6
in. (15.5
The carving shows curling horns.
dated
in
A
cm)
a rock pigeon on an arching perch which rises from a base in the form of a beast with
socket
the year 1774
is
In
the latter
incised
is
in tiny
designed to receive the end of a
staff.
An
imperial Ch'ien-lung
poem
characters on the perch.
Ever since Han times the Chinese have regarded the carrying of a staff as one of the prerogatives of an elderly
gentleman
and the figure of a pigeon, usually carved
;
such a
finial for
staff.
in
jade but sometimes cast
because pigeons are omnivorous and appear able
belief that
in
bronze, was the appropriate
Explanations of the origin of this custom are various. Most generally accepted
is
the
to digest everything they eat, the figure of the
pigeon expresses the wish that the old gentleman may continue to enjoy unimpaired digestion with advancing years.
138 SQUARE VESSEL WITH COVER Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) White
jade.
H.
5%
in. (13
The square form
cm)
with cylinder-shaped corners terminating
the cover; and the whole thing
is in
Ch' ien-lung-fang-ku telling us that
it
in
small feet has a dragon carved
the shape of an ancient bronze.
was made
in
Ch'ien-lung times
in
On
the bottom
is
in
the round on
inscribed Ta Ch'ing
imitation of an antique.
139 BELT
HOOK
Ch'ing dynasty Carved jade.
The
L.
brilliant
3%
in. (8
cm)
green of parts of this piece
is
the color
known by the Chinese as
ts'ui,
"kingfisher",
and
is
what
westerners normally expect when they hear the term jade.
Ancient
belt
hooks, or garment hooks as they are commonly called, are known
in
bronze usually embellished
with inlay of precious metals or turquoise, jade, glass, crystal, etc., but almost invariably the part that receives
the hook
is
missing. This eighteenth century version elaborately carved with dragons, gives an idea
may have functioned.
how
they
237
140
DOUBLE VASE Ch'ing dynasty Carved iade. H.
Two
4X
in. (10.5
cm)
small covered vases are carved out of a single block of yellow jade without
separation. By
way
dragons are carved
of decoration, small
in
relief
on the
surfaces.
'141
SCHOLARS SEAL Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Carved Ch'ang-hua stone. H.
In
3%
In. (8
cm)
the miniature landscape carved on this seal, a boat with three passengers
and a boatman
floats
on a turbulent
Sung dynasty poet Su Tung-po and
river
beneath a towering
companions
cliff.
This
is
the
Red Cliff on the Yangtze River, an outing that inspired him to write the famous prose-poem (fu) of that name (see also Nos. 46, 115, and 120). Inscribed on the seal are some lines about the Red Cliff by an unidentified man who signs himself "the retired scholar Ch'ang-ch'un", and another inscription dates the seal in the year 1737 and gives the name of the carver, Shih T'len-chang. Ch'ang-hua stone comes from the district of that name in Chekiang province and was highly esteemed by seal carvers for Its color and texture.
238
his
visiting the historic
142
BOWL Sung dynasty 8%
ChiJn ware. D.
The
A
In. (22.5
rim of the bowl
cm)
is
cut to resemble the tips of lotus petals and the sides are slightly moulded to match.
thick blue-grey glaze covers the surface,
showing
slightly yellowish
number impressed on the base represent the best early Chun type.
the rich purple coloring and the
bowl may,
this
in
fact,
where
it
runs thin near the rim. Lacking
that are generally associated with Chiin wares,
143 VASE Sung dynasty Ju ware. H.
6^
The shape,
in. (16.5
cm)
imitating an archaic bronze tsun,
hasa high
rounded belly, flaring rim, and four thin vertical flanges on each section a fine crackle covers the greenish blue glaze; incised on the base are the two foot,
;
in Sung times; fengname of the pavilion occupied by one of the concubines of the Sung Emperor Kao-Tsung who established the southern court at Hangchow and
characters feng-hua, probably cut
hua
is
said to have been the
reigned there from 1127 to 1162.
239
144 VASE Sung dynasty J u ware. H.
The
8X
In. (22.5
cm)
vessel of paper beater form
a cracl
is
covered with
blue glaze, and the
lip
is
bound in copper; on the base are Inscribed the two characters feng-hua, probably cut in Sung times (see No. 143), and around these in radial columns is
poem of 56 characters was carved, corresponding the month between 26 May and 24 June 1778,
an imperial Ch'ien-lung
plus the date to
when
it
signature and seals.
145 NARCISSUS POT Sung dynasty Ju ware.
L. 9 In. (23
The shallow
cm)
oval
flaring sides rests six buff
dish
with
gently
on four low feet;
colored spurmarks appear on
the base, and the piece
an uncrackied
is
light bluish
covered with green glaze.
Although described as Kuan yao in an undated imperial Ch'ien-lung poem of 56 characters incised this is believed to
on the base,
be one of the two
of Ju sent as samples to Chingtechen in 1729 by the Yung-
pieces
cheng emperor with orders potters glaze.
240
there
reproduce
that the
this
rare
146
LOTUS BOWL Sung dynasty Ju ware. D.
The
rim
is
6%
in. (16.5
cm)
deeply scalloped, and the high sides are moulded into nine corres-
ponding lobes; the greenish blue glaze
is finely
crackled
all
over.
241
147
BRUSH WASHER Sung dynasty Ju ware.
A
L.
5X
in. (14
cm)
shallow oval dish covered
w/ith
a crackled glaze of the color traditionally
described by the Chinese as "egg blue"
;
the reference, of course,
is
to
duck
eggs rather than chicken eggs.
148
PYRAMIDAL VASE Sung dynasty Kuan ware. H.
A
4J< in. (12
cm)
rectangular vessel on a low foot, this piece consists of three tiers of diminish-
ing size
topped by a short
lip;
the light greenish grey glaze
large irregular crackle; on the base of 40 characters plus the date
between
242
21
when
it
is
is
covered with
incised an imperial Ch'ien-lung
was carved, corresponding
to the
February and 23 March 1773, signature and two seals.
poem month
149
SQUARE INCENSE BURNER Sung dynasty Kuan ware. W. 5%
in. (15
cm)
Four scrolled feet support this vessel which with large crackle
was
150
;
the imperial Ch'ien-lung
incised between 9 February and
11
is
covered with a grey-green glaze
poem
March
of 90 characters
on the base
1785.
FLOWER RECEPTACLE Sung dynasty Kuan ware. H. 6%
The
In. (15.5
cm)
slender, beaker-shaped vase
glaze interrupted by a bulging
roll
is
covered with a thick glossy greenish blue
(over a flanged ring ?) near the base
bottom an imperial Ch'ien-lung poem
summer
of 27
characters was incised
;
on the in
the
of 1778.
*-fc^
243
151
BRUSH BARREL Sung dynasty Kuan ware, H. 3%
Of
cylindrical
In. (9.5
shape with low
blue glaze with
lung
poem
cm)
some areas
foot, this piece is
of large crackle
;
covered with glossy greenish
on the base
of fifty-six characters inscribed in the
is
an imperial Ch'ien-
month between
2 February
and 3 March 1783.
152
NARCISSUS POT Sung dynasty Kuan ware,
L. 9 in. (23
The shallow light
cm)
oval dish on four low feet, like No. 145,
is
covered with uncrackled
grey-blue glaze of the color described by the Chinese as "sky blue"
imperial Ch'ien-lung
poem
of eighty-four characters
;
the
was on the base sometime
between 26 May and 24 June 1778. The important difference between this piece 145, which is classified as Ju ware, is that the latter shows light buffcolored clay in the six spurmarks while on this piece they are black.
and No.
244
153
VASE Sung dynasty Chiao-tan Kuan ware, H. T/,
The vessel
of
in. (18.5
cm)
gourd shape (usually, but redundantly, called "double gourd")
rests on a low, finely cut, black foot; the glaze, described by the
"ash blue", has an even medium crackle
"suburban
altar" of the
all
Southern Sung capital
over. Chiao-tan at
is
Chinese as
the so-called
Hangchow. Wares
of this type
have been identified by comparison with fragments recovered from the
154
site.
ROUND BRUSH WASHER Sung dynasty Chiao-tan Kuan ware, D.
6'/i in.
(15.5
cm)
This shallow dish with straight sides and slightly incurving
base with
five
lip
spurmarks, and no foot; the crackled blue glaze
has a convex is
the shade
described by the Chinese as "ash blue".
245
^55
*-^^ °^^^
Sung dynasty Chiao-tan Kuan ware, D. 6y,
The
circular dish,
in. (17.5
cm)
perhaps a brush washer, has
flaring sides and rests on brown rim; the glaze is pale bluish grey with large the base is the character chia, evidently numbering the
a low foot with chocolate
crackle; carved
in
piece as one of a series.
Igg
SQUARE DISH Sung dynasty Chl Chou ware,
The
W. 5%
has a
foliated rim
design of rams white,
in. (14
scroll pattern in relief
among clouds
mat glaze
is
imperial Ch'ien-lung
Chou was
cm)
in
low
relief
on the flattened top and a moulded
appears
in
the bottom
;
the greyish
the color described by the Chinese as "ash white"; an
poem
of twenty-eight characters is incised
on the base.
town In southern Kiangsi province that was famous in Sung times for its white wares and brown wares. Many of the former were copies of Ting wares from the north, and distinctive white wares like this were also made in very fine quality. The Chi Chou brown wares often imitated the Chien wares of Fukien. These two copies of other wares are often described in the literature as Chi-an or Kian Ting and Kian Temmoku. Chi
246
a
VASE
157
Ming dynasty, Yu-li-hung ware, H.
late fourteenth 12'/, In. (32
century (Hung-wu)*
cm)
This bottle-shaped vase, of the type called yu-hu-ch'un by the Chinese, glaze, but
Beginning
because at
of imperfectly controlled firing
is
painted
conditions the design
in
copper oxide under the
came out grey
instead
of
red.
the top, the horizontal bands of decoration include plantain leaves, thunder pattern, fungus scroll,
rocks and plants (banana, orchid, bamboo,
etc.), lotus
panels, and classic scroll around the strongly cut foot.
Ming and Ch'ing porcelains made at Chingtechen under the several reign names whether they bear the reign marks or not. In this catalogue we have followed the Western practice of assigning them to definite periods only when they are so marked; unmarked pieces are given approximate chronological dates, and the reign classification of the Chinese follows •Traditionally the Chinese classify
in
ail
parenthesis.
LARGE BOWL
158
Ming dynasty, Yu-li-hung ware, D.
late fourteenth
century (Hung-wu)
cm)
16'/i. In. (41
Like No. 157 this piece was decorated with copper oxide under the glaze, but here the firing was more successful and some of the design came out in red inside the rim is a border of fungus scrolls above the main design of scrolling lotus; on the outside are waves, peony scrolls, lotus panels, and thunder pattern in that order ;
from
lip
to foot.
247
159
TEAPOT Ming dynasty, early White ware, H. 4%
A
In. (11.5
fifteenth century (Yung-lo) cm)
and around it on the shoulder are three segmented to simulate bamboo this shade described by the Chinese as t'ien pai, "sv\^eet" or "pleasant"
cap-like cover fits over the opening
small vertical loops of white
is
;
the handle
is
;
white.
160
WIDE BOWL Ming dynasty, Yung-lo reign White ware, D. 8%
In. (22
(1403-1424)
cm)
So
thin is the clay in this ware that the Chinese call it t'o-t'o/, "bodiless" under the glaze the Eight Treasures of Buddhism are drawn in slip in the
technique known as an-hua, "hidden decoration", and four-character mark of the period
the bowl.
248
is
drawn
in
in
the
same medium the
archaic script
in
the bottom of
161
STEMCUP Ming dynasty, Yung-lo reign White ware. D.
4%
in. (11
Not quite as thin as the bowl, by the Chinese
who
(1403-1424)
cm)
this
stemcup
is
called pan-t'o-t'ai, "semi bodiless",
describe the tone as t'ien-pai, "sweet white"; the an-hua
decoration inside the bowl consists of two dragons, and the four-character
mark
162
of the period is written in archaic script in the bottom.
STEMCUP Ming dynasty, Yung-lo reign Red ware, D.
6y,
in. (16.5
(1403-1424)
cm)
This deep red glaze which the Chinese called chi-hung, "sacrificial red", was
one
of the great
to imitate
it,
triumphs of the early fitteenth century potter;
although they produced
lang-yao, invariably
fell
some wonderful
short of the early prototypes.
chasing a pearl and the four-character mark
in
reds In this
like
later
attempts
the K'ang-hsi
cup two dragons
archaic script are drawn
in
the
an-hua technique and remain almost invisible under the glaze.
249
163
MONK'S HAT JUG Ming dynasty, early Red ware, H. 7%
Named from
in. (20
fifteenth century (HsiJan-te)
cm)
the shape of
nese ceramics
;
the color
its lid,
in this
this jug is a type relatively
instance
is
stone red" or "ruby red", by the Chinese today. lung
poem
Emperor
cut
calls
in it
the glaze under the base chu-sha, a term that
now
in
uncommon
called pao-shih-hung, In
in
Chi-
"precious
the forty-character Ch'len-
the spring of 1775, however, the
translates our
word cinnabar; he
too identifies the shape with that of a monk's hat.
164
BOWL Ming dynasty, early Red ware, D. 8%
in. (20.5
fifteenth century (HsiJan-te)
cm)
Another example this
of the red ware called pao-shih-hung by the modern Chinese, bowl bears an Imperial Ch'ien-lung poem of twenty-eight characters
incised on the base
In
the spring of 1777
in
which the Emperor uses the word
tan-sha, another term used today for cinnabar.
250
165
OCTAGONAL BOWL Ming dynasty, early Red ware, D. 6
in. (15.5
fifteenth century (Hsiian-te)
cm)
This bowl, also covered with the glaze currently called pao-shih-hung, has no
mark or inscription but is attributed by the Chinese (1426-1435) and may well have been made at that time.
'155
to the HsiJan-te reign
STEMCUP Ming dynasty, early Red ware, D.
6
Much
No. 162
glaze is
like is
in. (15.5
fifteenth century (Hsiian-te)
cm)
in
general proportion, this cup
described as chi-hung, "sacrificial red".
is
also similar
In this
a dragon inside and two dragons chasing pearls
in
that the
case, however, there
among clouds on
the
outside with conventional cloud and scroll forms below. These decorations are executed
In
a flat bluish grey by
some technique that has yet to be
explained.
251
-Igy
SAUCE POT Ming dynasty, Hsiian-te reign Red ware, H. 4X
The
In. (10
is decorated with four rows of and covered v\/ith a glaze of "sacrificial red". base is the six-character Hsuan-te mark in under-
small covered pot with spout and handle
lotus petals carved In relief
Underneath on the glaze blue.
252
(1426-1435)
cm)
vifhite
253
168 SAUCE POT Ming dynasty, HsiJan-te reign Blue ware, H.
i'/. In.
This
is
pot
(10
like
the
preceding
respect except that the glaze of the
shade the Chinese
"clearing sky blue".
169 STEMCUP Ming dynasty, HsiJan-te reign Yu-li-hung ware, D.
The with
small stemcup
three
peach)
bowl
4%
is
in
fruits
is
(1426-1435)
cm)
decorated on the outside
(pomegranate,
apple,
and
underglaze copper red. Inside the
the
six-character
underglaze blue.
254
in. (12
HsCian-te
mark
in
(1426-1435)
cm)
is
call
in
every
dark blue chi-ch'ing,
170
COVERED VASE Ming dynasty,
fifteenth century (HsiJan-te)
Blue and white ware, H. 14%
The vase
is
In. (36.5
cm)
of the type called mei-p'ing or
"prunus vase". The decoration
underglaze blue, produced by painting on the clay with an of cobalt oxide in
lid,
lotus
in
mixture
blossoms
cloud-collar frames on the shoulder, and peony scrolls on the main design.
If
the Chinese attribution of this unmarked piece to the Hsuan-te reign
it
dates from the very end of that period
ed that
171
and water, includes fungus scrolls on the
inl<-like
it
was made
a
decade or two
;
and the
later,
possibility
is right,
cannot be overlook-
not far from the middle of the century.
FLASK Ming dynasty, early
fifteenth century (Hsiian-te)
Blue and white ware, H. 11%
in. (29.5
cm)
Vessels of this shape are called pien-hu, p'ing,
"moon vases". The decoration on
well painted
one
of
"flat
vases", or sometimes yijeh
this piece
is
unusual
in
showing a
landscape which serves as the setting for three Mongolian figures,
whom dances
known only on
to the
accompaniment of flute and tambourine, a scene in the Topkapu Sarayi museum in Istanbul.
a similar flask
255
"72
FLASK
"I
Ming dynasty,
fifteenth century (HsiJan-te)
Blue and white ware, H. 13
A
In. (33
cm)
variant of the preceding form,
thiis flasl< is still
called pien-hu by the
Chinese
because of its characteristic flatness. Like No. 170 it sits rather uneasily in the Hsuan-te reign to which the Chinese have assigned it and may v/eW have been
made somewhat
173
nearer the mid-century.
FLASK Ming dynasty, early Blue and white ware, H. 9>^
Still
fifteenth century (Hsiian-te) In. (24
cm)
another variant of the pien-hu form, this flask stands on a low flaring foot
and has a bulbous mouth the main decoration of rectilinear panels symmetrically disposed around a central six-pointed star and serving as frames for ;
waves and
floral
and geometric motifs
on the potters of early Ming.
256
reflects the influence of Islamic
designs
174 COVERED GOBLET Ming dynasty, Hsijan-te reign Blue and white ware, H.
5%
In. (14.5
(1426-1435)
cm)
This small covered vessel Imitates the shape of the ceremonial bronze tou of late
Chou times;
the six-character marl^ of the period in
a horizontal line on
is
written
one side above the main
decoration of scrolling vines.
175
BOWL Ming dynasty, Ch'eng-hua reign
(1465-1487)
cm)
Yu-li-hung ware, D.
8X
The broad bowl
with slightly flaring rim
in. (20.5
is
deco-
rated on the outside with three fish painted in
underglaze copper red
;
under the base
six-character mark of the period
in
is
the
underglaze
blue.
257
176
BOWL Ming dynasty, Ch'eng-hua reign Blue and white ware, D.
8%
In. (21
cm)
Inside the slightly flaring rim with phoenixes flying
among
is
a scroll band, and the outside
lotus scrolls with a
the six-character Ch'eng-hua mark
177
(1465-1487)
is
is
decorated
of lotus panels
below;
written on the base.
BOWL Ming dynasty, Ch'eng-hua reign Blue and white ware, D. T/,
Around the
In. (19.5
(1465-1487)
cm)
slightly flaring rim is a
wave border, and the main design is of the six-character mark of the period
sea beasts flying over tumultuous waves is
258
row
written under the base.
;
17g
STEMCUP Ming dynasty,
late fifteenth
Blue and white ware. D.
7 in. (18
century (Ch'eng-hua)
cm)
The two mythical animals painted on dragon
;
the
latter,
this
stemcup are the
ch'i-lin
and the
quite unlike the normal Chinese dragon, has a proboscidian
snout, small wings, a lotus spray growing from the
tip of the tongue, no hind and an enormously long and elaborately foliated tail. Dragons of this small but distinctive family seem to appear most often on late fifteenth century porcelains; and this fact combined with the superb quality of the pottery, the
feet,
drawing, and the blue on this unmarked stemcup suggest the attribution to
Ch'eng-hua.
179
STEMCUP Ming dynasty,
late fifteenth century
Blue and wliite ware. D.
Inside this
in. (16.5
(Ch'eng-hua)
cm)
stemcup are egrets
on the branches of
second
6%
fruit trees.
in
a lotus pond, and outside are birds perched
The
quality of the
half of the fifteenth century,
work points
to a date in the
perhaps Ch'eng-hua.
259
180
SAUCE POT Ming dynasty,
late fifteenth
Blue and white ware, H. 5
The decoration
181
cm)
of this small covered pot with wildly cavorting
tumultuous waves of the porcelain
In. (13
century (Ch'eng-hua)
is
and
related in spirit to that of the
dragons over
on the bowl No. 177, and the quality
workmanship suggests
a
comparable date.
SAUCE POT Ming dynasty, Enamelled ware, H.
late fifteenth
4%
On
in. (12
century (Ch'eng-hua)
cm)
this pot the usual blue and white technique has been supplemented in the main design where the wave pattern has been incised in the clay, and the dragons have also been incised and then covered with a green enamel fired
on over the glaze.
260
182
PAIR OF CHICKEN CUPS Ming dynasty, Ch'eng-hua reign Enamelled ware, D. y/,
in. (8
(1465-1487)
cm)
This well-known design of cock and hen with chicks beside a rock and flowering plants
was
outlined
first In
underglaze blue and then,
with the delicate enamel colors
known
to
In
a
second
firing,
covered
the Chinese as tou-ts'ai, often
mistranslated "fighting colors" but no doubt using the second meaning of
which is "agreeable" or "harmonious". The six-character Ch'eng-hua mark Is characteristically written in underglaze blue in a double square on
tou
the bases.
183
WIDE BOWL Ch'ing dynasty, K'ang-hsi reign (1662-1722) White ware, D. 8
in. (20.5
cm)
So famous were the "bodiless" bowls they were frequently copied
in later
of the
times. This
Yung-lo reign Is
decorated again with the Eight Treasures drawn
in
in
Ming that
the an-hua technique and
bearing the six-character K'ang-hsi mark also written
under the glaze
in early
a K'ang-hsi version of No. 160
in slip in
archaic script
the center of the bowl.
261
184
LARGE DISH Ch'ing dynasty, K'ang-hsi reign (1662-1722) Yellow ware. D. 15%
in. (40.5
cm)
This large dish with flattened rim
is
the clay under the pale yellow glaze with dragons
sprays
185
;
among
decorated entirely with designs Incised ;
in
the rim and the central area are covered
clouds, and the cavetto
is
filled
with flower and fruit
under the base the six-character mark of the period
is
similarly incised.
COVERED JAR Ch'ing dynasty, K'ang-hsi reign (1662-1722) Enamelled ware. H.
The
262
of
in- (14
cm)
drawn dragon and phoenix are in overglaze iron red while the rest of is in underglaze blue and tou-ts'ai enamels; the six-character the period is written under the base.
finely
the decoration
mark
5%
186
SMALL DISH Ch'ing dynasty, marked K'ang-hsi (1662-1722) Enamelled ware, D.
The outside
A%
In. (12
cm)
of this dish is solidly
covered with enamels, white for the back-
ground, and colors (green, blue, pink,
Chinese
this
technique
is
etc.) for the
called fa-lang-ts'ai,
flowers and foliage.
and the same term
is
In
used for
enamels painted on copper and for cloisonne. As a result there is some confusion when, in translation, this ware is described as cloisonn6. That word is properly used only for metal objects on which wire c/o/sons are applied to
On the base is the four-character imperial mark K'ang-hsi-yU-chih written inside a double square in red enamel implying that the piece was made under imperial order in the K'ang-hsi reign. But the technique of making pink enamel which came from Europe does not seem to have reached China before 1717 when it first appeared in crude form on copper separate the colored enamels.
grounds. Such a highly refined pink as we see on this dish was not perfected until later.
For this reason a late Ch'ien-lung date
seems more
likely for extre-
mely sophisticated enamelling of this kind.
187
BOWL Ch'ing dynasty, marked K'ang-hsi (1662-1722) Enamelled ware, D. 6
Solidly decorated in
In. (15.5
in
cm)
enamel colors on the outside,
this
bowl has lotus flowers
green panels separated by large leaves on a pink ground. The four-character
imperial K'ang-hsi
too
it
mark
is
written
seems more reasonable
on the base as on No.
186, but in this
case
to assign the piece to the latter part of the Ch'ien-
lung period.
263
188 PAIR OF
BOWLS
Ch'ing dynasty, Yung-cheng reign (1723-1735) Enamelled ware, D.
6'/, in.
The decoration
in
overglaze enamels shows rocl
by a poetic couplet period
is
cm)
(16
black with two simulated seals
In
in
red
;
is
accompanied
under the base the four-character mark of the
written in blue enamel.
189 PAIR OF
BOWLS
Ch'ing dynasty, Yung-cheng reign (1723-1735) Enamelled ware, D. BY,
In. (16.5
cm)
Here the decoration includes sparrows among bamboo trees again accompanied by poems and seals.
group
of
wares the colored enamels contrast with the white
used on No. cloisonn6.
186, but here too the
Chinese use the term
The four-character Yung-cheng mark
In
of the porcelain itself instead of the white
fa-lang-ts'ai although the
blue enamel
Is
technique
is
In this
enamel
nothing
like
under the base.
190 PAIR OF
BOWLS
Ch'ing dynasty, Yung-cheng reign (1723-1735) Enamelled ware, D. iy.
cm)
In. (15
Yung-cheng enamelled wares In this group, these two bowls are decorated in monochrome in sepia enamel and fired over the transparent glaze producing a result Chinese ink painting. The four-character mark of the period is written in blue enamel on the base.
Unlike the other
rocks and peonies alike are drawn similar to
191 PAIR OF WINECUPS Ch'ing dynasty, Yung-cheng reign (1723-1735) Enamelled ware, D.
1J< In. (4.5
of
pair of ter
cm)
in colored enamels on these two small cups is like that on the bowls No. 190 a poetic inscription and simulated seals accompany the decoration, and the four-characmark of the period appears on the base in blue enamel.
The decoration
sparrows among bamboos ;
192 PAIR OF WINECUPS Ch'ing dynasty, Yung-cheng reign (1723-1735) Enamelled ware, D.
1%
In. (4
These small cups are another favorite
cm)
like
in this
the preceding pair, and the decoration of
period.
The usual Yung-cheng mark
is
mynahs amid
written in blue
bright red
maple leaves
enamel on the base.
is
265
193
TEAPOT Ch'ing dynasty, Yung-cheng reign (1723-1735) Enamelled ware, H.
4%
in. (11
cm)
a ground pattern of dense sepia floral scrolls are reserved two panels; on one side are two quail among rice ears, peonies, and chrysanthemums, and on the other two magpies with bamboo trees, roses and chrysanthemums. In each panel is a small poem in black followed by a simulated seal in red. On the base Is the four-character mark of the period in blue enamel. In
194
TEAPOT Ch'ing dynasty, Yung-cheng reign (1723-1735) Enamelled ware, H.
On
3%
this teapot the
in. (9
cm)
dense ground pattern
is
done
In
colors, and the reserved
panel on each side of the pot frames a landscape scene minutely painted blue enamel with a line of poetry and a simulated seal of each.
The customary four-character mark
on the base.
266
in
in
the upper front corner
of the period is in blue
enamel
195
LARGE VASE Ch'ing dynasty, Yung-cheng reign (1723-1735) Blue and white ware, H.
cm)
in. (71
Most
of the decoration, finely
blue,
is in
scrolls
with
the Chinese taste
on the shoulder,
Rococo Europe.
China on Europe a vase like this, of
Rouen
glaze blue
196
21%
faience. in
it
and precisely painted
reflect the fact that the
made
Chinese court was
in
touch
in
such an intermingling
of styles that
of porcelain, could easily be taken for a piece
The four-character mark
seal script
deep underglaze
the influence of Europe on China and that of
time resulted
not
in rich,
but certain details, such as the elaborate pendent
In fact,
at this
were
;
of the period is written in under-
under the base.
LARGE VASE Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-iung reign (1736-1796) Blue and white ware, H. 25>i
In. (66
cm)
Hexagonal
in section with tall neck and flaring lip, this vase is finely painted deep underglaze blue; the decoration, like that on No. 195 which must be very close to this in date, combines several Chinese motifs with others which reveal the Chinese knowledge of and interest in designs from contemporary in
Europe. The six-character mark of the period
in
seal style
is
written in under-
glaze blue on the base.
267
>68
197
LARGE VASE Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Monochrome ware,
The shape
H.
17%
in. (45
cm)
based on that of an ancient ceremonial bronze and two pendent rings are indicated In relief as though hanging
of this vessel is
of the type hu,
from the handles. The
light
grey glaze with stained crackle
is
described by the
Chinese as simulating the Ko ware ("elder brother" ware) traditionally included In the lists of Sung dynasty ceramics. But It should be noted that In actual no certainty about the identification of that ware among the Sung known today. Under the base the six-character Ch'ien-lung mark is
fact there Is
porcelains
written In underglaze blue.
198
LARGE VASE Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Monochrome ware,
H.
20%
in. (50.5
The shape
cm)
of this vessel is similar to that of No. 197; there is strapwork in around the body, and the handles are modelled in the shape of animal heads. A thick even glaze of the greenish brown color called "teadust" covers the surface, and the six-character mark of the period In seal style is impressed relief
in
the clay under the base.
199
TEAPOT Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Enamelled ware, H.
5%
A
ground pattern
finely painted
in. (14.5
cm)
of lotus scrolls in coral red
two reserved panels, one with lotus imperial in
200
in
poem. The six-character mark
and gold surrounds
colored enamels, the other with an of the period is written in red
enamel
seal script.
PAIR OF STEMCUPS Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Enamelled ware, H.
The
3%
In. (9
cm)
painting of a pair of quail amid roses and
chrysanthemums
is
particularly
delicate; and the birds constitute a rebus, for the phrase shuang-an ("double quail")
is
homophonic
with the phrase "double peace".
each cup the four-character mark
in
underglaze blue
aperture of the stem reading top to bottom and right to
is
Under the foot of around the
written
left.
269
201
VASE Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Enamelled ware, H. BY,
Like the pair of
in. (20.5
cm)
cups (No.
192) this vase is also decorated with black
mynahs
dominated by red accents, but in this case the latter is provided by the prunus blossoms. A poetic couplet in black and simulated seals in red complete the composition. The four-character mark of the period appears in in
a setting
blue enamel on the base.
202
VASE Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Enamelled ware, H.
This vase
is
6%
in. (17.5
cm)
topped by a bulbous mouth of lobed form, of the type the Chinese
lip. Birds and trees again make up the decorabamboo, peach, and weeping willow providing the setting for magpies and orioles; and the scene is accompanied by the usual poetic couplet and simulated seals. On the base is the four-character Ch'ien-lung mark in a double
call "garlic
tion
v\/ith
square
270
mouth", and a short
in
blue enamel.
203 TOOTHPICK CASES Ch'ing dynasty, eighteenth century (Ch'ien-lung) Enamelled ware,
L.
3%
Each case slides
in. (9.5
cm) closed
into a sheath-like cover,
and the two parts are held together by a silken cord
fitted with coral
beads, seed pearls, etc. The porcelain enameller reaches the peak of his virtuosity (albeit a peak just short of it
decadence
I)
in
these wares where, not content with merely decorating the glazed surface, he transforms
into a realistic imitation of silk
brocade as a setting
for the floral
and calligraphic subjects
in
the panels.
204 TINDER BOXES Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Enamelled ware, H. ca.
2%
The Chinese term
huo-lien-tai, literally translated "fire chain
carrying
flint
and costly
made
and
in. (6.5
steel
and
lighters are the
for wealthy noble
cm) average
boxes", describes these elegant cases used for
tinder, the ancient prototype of the pocket lighter of today.
work
of gold-
and aristocratic
and silversmiths and jewelers, so these clients by the
Nos. 203 and 205) they have displayed their virtuosity
in
most
skillful
porcelain workers
of
the
most elaborate
;
boxes were
and here again
(cf.
The boxes resemble gold on one of them
the simulation of other materials.
single-case Japanese inro and the surface texture imitates sharkskin embellished with is
As
early fire chain
;
European figures and a Christian church minutely painted In enamel colors. On the base each the six-character Chien-lung mark is written in the seal script in red enamel.
a landscape with
271
205
THUMB RINGS Ch'ing dynasty, eighteenth century (Ch'ien-lung) Enamelled ware, D. ca. ^y,
These ornamental
In. (3
rings
cm) each
made
of porcelain but imitating
wood, stone,
inlaid
bronze, lacquer, etc. represent the last manifestations of an ancient tradition. In
Asia the bowstring was drawn with the thumb curled under the
fingers of the right
hand and with
its tip
first
held against the side of the third.
protection against the tension of the draw and whip of the cord at the
two
As
moment
thumb of the Asiatic archer was encased in a ring of horn, some other hard material. The forms varied through the centuries
of release, the ivory, jade, or
and across the continent from Turkey to Japan and the thick cylindrical type shown here has been current in Eastern Asia for most of the Christian era. Elaborate imitations of other materials executed in porcelain were for the most ;
part
used as jewelry by Manchu princes who, in the midst of the elegant luxury life of Peking, wanted always to be reminded that
and decadence of the court their hard-riding
272
nomadic ancestors were,
first
and
last,
archers.
SMALL GLASS VASE
206
Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Enamels on glass, H.
4X
in. (10.5
cm)
Although glass appears to have been known and nnade in China for some two millennia, it never achieved the artistic or commercial importance in the Far East that it did in the Near East or in Europe. One possible explanation of this is that the Chinese did not need glass because from very early times they developed such great
skill
with high-fired ceramic wares, particularly porcelain.
many ways
And
porcelain, which
more durable and more
was unknown
in
Europe
same purpose—the manufacture of vessels for the storage of liquids and for the serving of food and drink. The richly colored opaque glass that was carved at Peking in the Ch'ing dynasty is known by the name of that city, and the opaque white glass with delicate painting in enamels on the surface was largely Inspired by the European contacts that played such an important part in the Chinese culture of the period. The scene on this small vase shows a woman reading to a child in an autumn landscape, and while the subject matter and the personages are Chinese they are rendered in a European style of painting that became popular in China at this time. The until
the eighteenth century,
is in
four-character mark of the period
is
a finer,
written in a double square in blue
versatile material serving the
enamel on the base.
SNUFF BOTTLE
207
Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Enamels on glass, H. 2%
This small rectangular bottle in
the
same
in
in. (7
cm)
opaque white glass
style as the painting
is decorated on two sides with a Chinese girl and baske on the vase No. 206, and on the othertwo sides with landscapes including
European buildings. The four-character mark
of the
period
is
written
in
blue enamel within a double
square on the base.
273
208-209
'*'^"'
°^ VASES
Ch'ing dynasty, marked K'ang-hsi (1662-1722) Enamel on copper, H. 5%
On
a main
In. (13.5
cm)
background color
of strong yellow for the
body and
lighit
blue for
the neck, these vases are decorated with floral patterns and ornamental scrolls
;
("Buddha's hand citron", pomegranate, lichee nuts, peaches) together with flowers of the four seasons; the other has grapes, melons, lotus, and apple blossoms. The eight seal characters in the medallions with jeweled pendants are read together as a
one carries four
different auspicious fruits
may be rendered in English: May your longevity be like that of the mountains and the peaks. May your happiness be as vast as the seas and the heavens.
couplet of good wishes which
The
imperial K'ang-hsi
the bottom of each
and
187, these
century.
274
;
mark
but as
seem more
in
in
four characters
is
written
in
blue enamel on
the case of the enamelled porcelains Nos. 186
likely to
date from the later decades of the eighteenth
210
TEAPOT Ch'ing dynasty, marked K'ang-hsi (1662-1722) Enamel on copper. W, 6%
In. (16.5
cm)
Like the vases this teapot has a background of strong yellow, but the decoration
consists entirely of chrysanthemums raised medallions on the four sides.
period
is
written in blue
shown on vines, separately, and in large The imperial four character mark of the
enamel on the base; but the piece
is
probably
late
Ch'ien-lung.
MA
SQUAT VASE Ch'ing dynasty, marked K'ang-hsi (1662-1722) Enamel on copper. H. 3
In. (7.5
cm)
The decoration here consists
of
peony blossoms and
scrolls densely
disposed
over the strong yellow ground. Again the four character imperial mark of the K'ang-hsi reign
is
probably an interpolation on a piece
made some
fifty
years
later.
275
212
TALL VASE WITH HANDLES Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Enamel on gold. H.
8'/, in. (21
cm)
ground pattern densely covered with floral scrolls, which the Chinese "brocade pattern", are reserved lour panels in ornamental frames. Around the neck, between the dragon shaped gold handles are two swallows on apricot branches on one side, and two birds among plums and bamboos on the other. The two main panels on the body frame landscapes with European figures and
On
a
call
buildings.
213
On
the base
is
the four-character mark of the reign.
SMALL COVERED JAR Ch'ing dynasty, Cti'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Cloisonne enamel on gold. H.
The colored enamels
3%
in. (8.5
cm)
are kept from running together by metal wires (cloisons)
soldered to the surface of the vessel; this
is
the true cloisonn6 technique.
ground surrounds four panels on the vessel and four on the cover In which are painted landscape scenes with European figures. A coral bead serves as finial, and the four-character mark of the reign is on
On
this piece the cloisonn6
the base.
276
214 EWER WITH CUP AND CUPSTAND dynasty,
Ch'ing
Ch'ien-lung
reign
(1736-17%) Champlevi enamel on gold. H. (ewer) 7%
Here the compartments are sunk
in
In. (19
cm)
enamel
for the
the body of the metal leaving
the raised surface (chomp/eve) divider; the technique
is
itself
as the
the opposite of
cloisonne. Painted enamel panels depict-
European subjects are reserved on
ing
each piece; a coral bead serves as
ewer
finial
and the four-character Ch'ien-lung marks are on all three bases.
to the
lid;
215 CHUEH AND STAND Ch'ing dynasty, Ch'ien-lung reign (1736-1796) Cloisonne enamels on copper. H. SV,
This
century
eighteenth
bronze
ceremonial originated
in
center
the
version
form,
in
of
made and
in
a
that pro-
is
the form of a saucer
which
domical
a
is
protuberance with three recesses to the legs of the tripod.
cm)
of
chueh,
Shang dynasty
the
vided with a stand in
in. (17.5
Such
fit
sets were also
porcelain and both early Ming
eighteenth
known. The
century
fact that
examples
are
form
the chiieh
disappeared from the bronze caster's repertory about the end
of the
dynasty and only reappeared materials later
some
twenty-four
other
centuries
has not yet been explained.
The cloisonn6 enameling on is
Shang
in
extremely fine
in
quality,
this piece
and serves
as the background for panels framing
enamel paintings
of floral
scenes and
landscapes with European figures. The four-character Ch'ien-lung
mark
is
in-
cised on the base of both pieces.
277
216-217
TWO
CYLINDRICAL BOXES
Ming dynasty, early Carved lacquer, 216
:
D. T/,
fifteenth century (Yung-lo) In. (18.5
cm)
217: D.9y,\n. (25 cm)
Both boxes have dense peony patterns on the covers and
floral
peony, lotus, mallow, and chrysanthemum on the sides.
In
box
a Ch'ien-lung
is
interior,
been scratched as
The making and
poem dated
and on the black bases if
1782 written
in
gold lacquer on the black
of both the six-character
Yung-lo mark has
with a needle.
of these fine early lacquers required an
immense amount
labor. After the sap of the lacquer tree (Rhus vernicifera)
strained, purified
bands Including
the top of the large
and colored by the addition of iron sulphate
of care
had been boiled,
for black, mercuric
sulphide (cinnabar) for red, trisulphide of arsenic (orpiment) for yellow,
etc.,
was brushed on to a light wooden base in many thin layers. When this coating was complete, the design was carved through, and in the finished product the layers are clearly visible through an ordinary pocket glass; as many as fifty, or even more, may be present on the best early Ming pieces. The ground it
coat on those with
floral
often faded to buff, as a
decoration
is
usually yellow, and this
background color
in
is
revealed,
the deeply carved design. Near the
bottom, in these red wares, a black layer has been inserted, presumably to warn the carver that he was approaching his lowest level, and this runs like a topographical contour line all through the design. Lacquers for ordinary use were made with far fewer layers, and cheap Imitations were (and still are)
made by moulding red paste or by painting a single coat over a design carved in wood to simulate the early technique. But these latter deceive only the most unwary. Many problems remain
Some
to be solved in the dating of early carved lacquers.
thought to be Yuan; but though the names of two famous Yiian carvers, Chang Ch'eng and Yang Mao, are recorded and a few superb pieces bearing one name or the other are known, these attributions are
of the finest pieces are
still
treated with the utmost caution. In the Ming dynasty, tradition holds
that Yung-lo
carved and
marks were scratched with a needle and Hsiian-te marks were lacquered on gold. But the nature of the
material
makes
it
possible to add both kinds of marks to any piece, and the presence on certain
ones
of
Hsuan-te marks carved and lacquered on top of scratched Yung-lo of questions that are not easy to answer. Style and
marks raises a number quality are the
most
reliable
guides
;
and whether the Yung-lo marks on these
four pieces (Nos. 216-219) were put on
in
that reign or not, this type
accepted as dating from the early fifteenth century
if
not earlier.
Is
widely
''";!'
t-^
V-
279
218
BOTTLE-SHAPED VASE Ming dynasty, early 6%
Carved lacquer, H.
The shape a
scrolls
The
cm)
of this vase,
beater form seen lip is
fifteenth century (Yung-lo)
in. (17
band
of
In
uncommon
in
lacquer, recalls the well-known paper-
the celadons and other wares of the
Sung
dynasty.
On
the
thunder pattern, and the neck and body are covered with peony
among which
are an occasional lotus, mallow, and chrysanthemums.
six-character Yung-lo mark scratched on the glossy black lacquer of the
base may or may not have been written
in
that reign, but the piece
is
undoubt-
edly early.
219
SMALL DISH Ming dynasty, early Carved lacquer, D.
5%
fifteenth century (Yung-lo)
In. (15
cm)
chrysanthemum blossoms dominate the decoration of this dish; among the leaves, stems, and buds while one smaller flower is seen from the side. Again the six-character Yung-lo mark scratched in the glossy black base must be accepted with reserve even though Five large
they are symmetrically disposed
the dish
280
is early.
220
OVAL DISH Ming dynasty, early Carved lacquer,
fifteenth century (Hsijan-te)
L. 10 in. (25.5
cm)
The grape and grapevine pattern that entirely covers the surface of this dish is carved in higher and more uneven relief than that on the pieces with Yung-lo marks and some details are even undercut. Although it is impossible to be precise about the date, the free and
lively style of this
design tends to support
the HsiJan-te attribution implied by the six-character mark on the base
problems outlined
221
in
the notes on Nos. 216-217
;
but the
must not be forgotten.
FOLIATED BLACK DISH Ming dynasty, early Carved lacquer, D. 10%
fifteenth century (HsiJan-te)
in. (27
cm)
Black lacquer was more
commonly used
in
the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries for pieces inlaid with mother of pearl and other materials, but a
few examples of early fitteenth century carving are known.
member
of that small group, the design of peafowl
In
this typical
among peonies
is
cut
through the many layers of black lacquer to a reddish brown ground. The four character Hsiian-te mark on the base it
in
is
may
or
may
not be contemporary; but
worth noting that the peacock and peony pattern appears on porcelain
the fourteenth century and
is
used
all
through
IVIing.
281
222
CIRCULAR DISH Ming dynasty, Chia-ching reign Carved lacquer, D. 7%
(1522-1566)
cm)
in. (19.5
fierce five-clawed dragon among clouds in the center and the four small dragons chasing around the cavetto are carved in red against a ground of mustard yellow, and the claws and the tips of some of the cloud scrolls are
The
accented
There are four similar small dragons on the back.
in black.
this piece is perfectly consistent with the six-character Chia-ching
In style
mark on
the base.
223
QUATREFOIL DISH Ming dynasty Carved lacquer,
L.
10%
in. (26.5
cm)
This distinctive style of carving
Japanese, and the date of lacquer carver
is
abstract design, In
by no
in this
is
its first
means
known as
guri, a
appearance
certain.
The
in
effect is achieved by carving
case an elaborate arrangement
lines of uniform width
No doubt
term borrowed from the
the repertory of the Chinese
an
of stylized cloud patterns,
and depth, through alternating layers
of red
and
was done in Ming times, and while accurate dating has not thus far been possible, it seems likely that it was done In the latter part of the dynasty. This piece carries no reign mark, and the name Li Chi black lacquer.
written
282
it
on the base has so
far
thrown no
light
on
its
date or place of origin.
SMALL BRUSH POT
224
Ming dynasty Carved bamboo, H.
This pi-t'ung,
literally
5%
in. (14
"brusli tube",
cm)
was decorated by carving away
part of the shiny outer skin of a section
bamboo leaving the figures in low relief further details were then carved on both the higher and lower surfaces as required. The work was done while the bamboo was still green. Carefully controlled drying and staining were the final stages. Bamboo carving, like lacquer work, was originally and essentially a Chinese art and most of
;
of the products
were
articles for
use on the scholar's desk: brush pots to hold the brushes used
or painting, water droppers to wet the inkstone, armrests to give freedom of
A number
of artists in this field are
recorded
and the signature San-sung on
in
writing
to the writing hand, etc.
name of known about him beyond carvers working in the Ming
this piece is the given
Chu San-sung who achieved some degree of fame in this field. Little that both he and his father Chu Hsiao-sung were distinguished bamboo
a certain the fact
;
movement is
dynasty.
225
LARGE BRUSH POT Ming dynasty Carved bamboo, H.
6%
cm)
In. (16
Larger and more deeply carved than the
last, this brush pot is decorated with an elaborate and complex scene T'ung trees (Pawlonia), bananas, and bamboo form the setting for a small studio which is rendered in some detail at the window is a lady standing by a table with a scroll open before her. Beside the scroll is an inkstone, and the lady holds a brush in her hand, about to write. A man stands with folded hands watching her while a servant boy bearing a covered bowl enters by the side door.
composed and carved
with great
skill.
;
226
WATER CONTAINER Ming dynasty Carved bamboo,
A
L. A'/, In. (11.5
cm)
single withered lotus leaf with a
blossom beside
container for a scholar's desk. Although a
227
work
of
it
is
it
makes up
this water
unsigned, the Chinese
feel that
such very great refinement must come from a famous hand.
SCHOLAR'S ARMREST Ming dynasty Carved boxwood,
L. 6'/, in. (22
cm)
As the form of the armrest the carver has taken a segment of a rotted branch and carved a spray of prunus blossoms on the hollow side. On the rounded surface are carved three poems one in seal script, one In the clerical style, and one in the running hand. Each is accompanied by a signature and simulated ;
seal, but the writers
284
have not been identified.
228 BOAT-SHAPED CUP Ming dynasty Carved rhinoceros horn,
L.
^0%
in. (27
cm)
This intricate carving represents the story of Chang Ch'ien, the Han dynasty statesman and traveller, floating
down
the Yangtze River
log) is a
poem
in a
boat that
is really
written by the Ch'ien-lung
inscription of uncertain
no more than a hollow
emperor
in
1782
meaning signed by a man who
;
at the
log. Inside the
back of the boat
cup (which
is
is
the hollow
written a five-character
calls himself Yu-t'ung.
229 SMALL BRUSH POT Ch'ing dynasty Carved bamboo, H.
In
the
with a
while
6%
in. (15.5
cm)
same style as No. 224, this brush pot is decorated groom holding a rope and watching his charge it rolls. The carving is signed Wu Chih-fan.
285
230 SMALL BRUSH POT Ch'ing dynasty Carved boxwood, H. AY,
The shape
is
cm)
In. (12.5
irregular
lilte
a short log wider at the top
is a gnarled prunus branch blossoms on it and at the left are small twigs on the of bamboo on which perch two parakeets other side is a pine tree in which are four gibbons holding peaches of immortality. The pine, the prunus, and the bamboo are known as "the three cold weather friends" because they are the three plants that flourish
carved
in relief
on one side
with
;
In
231
ARMREST Ch'ing dynasty Carved
ivory, L.
The armrest is
of
^^%
in
in. (29.5
cm)
the usual form of a long half cylinder
decorated on the inside with the legendary scene the
mostly
Eight in
Immortals crossing the sea, carved
the round.
On
the outside,
in
low
portrayed Shou-lao, the god of longevity.
286
relief, is
winter (see No. 67).
This catalogue was designed and produced by Editions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, Switzerland. Ttie black and white plates were printed by the heliogravure department of
Roto-Sadag S. A., Geneva, the color plates by the
Color Studios at Imprimeries Riunles, Lausanne. Finished the thirtieth day of April,
nineteen
hundred
and
sixty-one.
Color plates engraved by Guezelle & Renouard, Paris.
The black and white
Illustrations
were made from negatives
supplied by the Joint Administration of the National Palace
and Central Museums
in
Taiwan, with the exception
a few that were supplied by Henry B. Beville,
and by the Freer Gallery
Printed
in
of Art.
Switzerland
of
Washington,
^^
