Artwork Page for Poem by Wang Wei in the Cursive Script Style

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Poem by Wang Wei in the Cursive Script Style

王維詩

1256

Song Lizong 宋理宗

(Chinese, 1205–1264)
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Culture
China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)
Medium
Album leaf; ink on silk
Measurements
Image: 25.1 x 25.3 cm (9 7/8 x 9 15/16 in.); with mat: 33.3 x 40.5 cm (13 1/8 x 15 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 1961.421.2
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

Emperor Lizong had little interest in governmental affairs, but he was perhaps the finest calligrapher among the Song emperors.

Description

Poem and painting, once mounted together as one fan, exemplify the collaboration between imperial patron and court painter. Emperor Lizong’s calligraphy cites a verse from Wang Wei’s (701–761) poem, Walking to where the water ends, I sit and watch when clouds arise.

Ma Lin’s response is this painting. At the water’s edge, a scholar reclines by a large rock. The view leads across the empty middle ground to a distant mountain. With sparse ink and subtly graded washes, Ma Lin visualizes the poetic verse. The painting suggests the impact of Chan aesthetics through interaction between the palace, literati-officials, and monasteries around Hangzhou.

The leaf facing Emperor Lizong’s calligraphy has an inscription by Zhang Daqian (1899–1983).
An album leaf features two vertical rows of black-inked Chinese calligraphy on a circular tan silk surface. The fluid, cursive characters are flanked on the left by a shorter inscription and two red stamps: one gourd-shaped and one square. The tan circle, showing a fine woven texture, is centered on a plain off-white rectangular leaf. The dark ink creates a bold contrast against the warm, golden-brown silk.

Poem by Wang Wei in the Cursive Script Style

1256

Song Lizong

(Chinese, 1205–1264)
China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)

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