Reminiscences of Qinhuai River

This album leaf was probably created in 1695 for a friend Shitao had traveled with to visit ancient sites along the Qinhuai River from the Six Dynasties period. A tiny figure in a boat looks up in awe toward rising mountain masses that form an overhanging cliff, perhaps an image for the overwhelming history of Nanjing.

Shitao was born two years before the Ming dynasty fell. A descendant of the first Ming emperor, he later lived in Nanjing, Yangzhou, and Anhui province. Despite his affiliation with the Ming imperial family, he met the Qing dynasty Kangxi emperor twice.

A painting in ink and color depicts a steep mountain with prominent vertical ridges in muted peach and gray. In the lower center, a small figure in a white robe stands on a narrow boat navigating a pale river past sparse, leafless trees. Columns of Chinese calligraphy occupy the upper left, while several red square seals are stamped in the corners and along the margins.

Reminiscences of Qinhuai River

1642–1707

Shitao

(Chinese, 1642–1707)

China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

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