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Mar 29, 2011

Beggars and Street Characters

流氓圖

1516

Zhou Chen 周臣

(Chinese, c. 1450-c. 1536)

China, Ming dynasty

(1368–1644)

Handscroll; ink and light color on paper

Overall: 31.9 x 244.5 cm (12 9/16 x 96 1/4 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1964.94

Location

not on view

Did you know?

Although Zhou Chen's original composition was an album of 24 figures, today it is mounted as two handscrolls, one in the Cleveland collection and one in the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Description

This painting demonstrates Zhou Chen’s masterful skill in rendering impoverished people from his memories of figures in the street. It also bears an empathetic inscription to stir awareness of the poverty and suffering of the wretched souls.

Famine, natural disasters, rapidly expanding urbanization, and population growth may have increased the visibility and number of beggars, social outcasts, and street entertainers during the artist’s lifetime, something he mentions in the painting’s inscription.

This painting may depict a typical scene at the end of the lunar year, when a city’s less fortunate dressed up like ghosts and demons and performed exorcism dances in the streets to drive out threatening malevolent forces for a fresh start to the new year.

Inscriptions

Inscription

題: 周臣流氓圖. 古堇趙鶴琴 [印] 老鶴臨池; 鵝池軒

Inscription Translation

Title on frontispiece by Zhao Heqin 趙鶴琴 (1895-1971): Zhou Chen Liu Mang Tu [seal] Lao he lin chi; E chi xuan

Inscription

正德丙子秋七月，閒窗無事，偶記素見市道丐者種種態度。乘筆硯之便，率爾圖寫。雖無足觀，亦可以助警勵世俗云。東邨周臣記 [印]東邨; 舜卿; 鵝場散人

Inscription Translation

Artist's inscription, signature, and 3 seals, at end of scroll: In the autumn season, the seventh month of the year bingzi during the Zhengde reign [1516], I was sitting by the window without much to do. By chance I remembered what I had seen in our city’s streets, the many different sorts of beggars and their appearances. Taking advantage of a ready brush and the inkstone around me, I casually sketched [their appearances]. Even though the results were not worthy, they could still be of some use in alerting people about their presence. Recorded by Dongcun, Zhou Chen. [seals] Dongcun; Shunqing; E chang san ren.

Inscription

吳中東邨周君，善丹青，尤長於人物。此圖其所見盛市丐者之狀種種，各盡其態，觀者絕倒。嗟乎，今之晝夜乞哀以求富貴者，安得起周君而貌之耶。臥雲徵君出示，余漫題其後。甲子歲十月吳門黃姬水 [印] 士雅山人; 另一印不詳

Inscription Translation

1 colophon, dated 1564, and 2 seals of Huang Jishui 黃姬水 (1509-1574): Master Zhou Dongcun [Zhou Chen] of the Wu district was skilled at painting. He was especially skilled at figural subjects. This scroll depicts an assortment of beggars in their differing appearances in a comprehensive manner. Viewers fall completely under the [artist’s] beguiling portrayals. Alas, there are those who night and day seek their fortunes, where could they find another Master Zhou to have their portraits done? The distinguished gentleman Woyun brought out the painting to show me. I casually wrote a few words on it. The tenth month of the jiazi year [1564]. [seal] Shi ya shan ren; another seal undecipherable.

Inscription

是冊凡數種。其飢寒流離疲癃殘疾之狀，種種之異。觀此而不惻然心傷者，非仁人也。計正德丙子逆瑾之流毒已數年。而[江]彬 [錢] 寧輩肆虐方熾。意分符剖竹諸君，亦鮮有能撫字其民者。然則舜卿此作，殆與鄭君流民圖同意。其有補於治道者不淺，要不可以墨戲忽之也。長洲張風翼題

Inscription Translation

1 colophon and 3 seals of Zhang Fengyi 張風翼 (1527-1613): This album(s) contains several sets of figures. They revealed the varied condition of these vagabonds, suffering from hunger, cold, fatigue, sickness, and crippling conditions. Those who view it without feeling sympathy are not men of kind hearts. Considering the year of 1516, it was when the treacherous Liu Jin’s ill-effects lingered on for several more years, and when Jiang Bin and Qian Ning were at their apogee. Even those with power and authority could hardly impart any justice to the populace at large. By this reckoning, could it be that Shunqing [Zhou Chen] painted this along the same idea as Zheng Xia’s Rootless Migrants? [If so], it too could have given assistance to those ruling parties, and should not be merely deemed as worthless inkplay! Inscribed by Zhang Fengyi of Changzhou.

Inscription

東村此筆，蓋圖寫飢寒乞丐之態，以警世俗耳。而質山 [黃姬水]欲其寫昏夜乞哀，而靈墟[張鳳翼]則擬之於安上門圖。二君之見，其各有所指哉。昔唐六如每見周筆，輒稱曰：周先生！蓋深服其神妙之不可及。若此冊者，信非他人可能而有符於六如之心伏矣。豈易得耶。若黃、張之指，則又論於畫之外，不在於形似筆墨之旨也。萬歷丁丑十二月三日茂苑文嘉

Inscription Translation

1 colophon, dated 1577, and 1 seal of Wen Jia 文嘉 (1501-1583): This painting by Dongcun [Zhou Chen], which portrays the beggars suffering from cold and hunger, was to alert social consciousness. By contrast, Huang Jishui demanded a further portrayal of those seeking wealth and fortune night and day; whereas Zheng Fengyi compared it to a work presented all the way to the imperial might. These two gentlemen obviously had their own opinions. [However], in the past, when Tang Yin encountered Zhen Chen’s paintings, he [could not help] but exclaim: “Ah, Master Zhou!” This was because he truly admired those paintings [by his teacher], which often attained the height of being divine and wondrous, far beyond what he himself could accomplish. As far as this album is [these albums are] concerned, it simply is not possible that any other artist could have done this in the way that caused Tang Yin’s unfaltering admiration. Such an album is [albums are] truly rare! As far as Zhang and Huang are concerned, what they talked about are extrinsic to painting, and lie beyond the aim of brush and ink. The third day, twelfth month of dingchou year of Wanli [1577].

Provenance

“Wo Yun 卧雲”, probably Feng Zilü 馮子履 [1539–1596]

Chen Xin 陳新 [life dates unknown]

Walter Hochstadter [1914-2007], New York, NY

?-1964

(N. V. Hammer, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1964-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Yang, Xin 楊新. “Zhou Chen de Qishi tu” 周臣的乞食圖 [Zhou Chen’s Beggars] , Meishu yanjiu 美術研究, 2, pp. 85–88.

Sirén, Osvald. Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles. New York: Ronald Press, 1956. Mentioned: VII, Lists, 177

“Acquisitions of Works of Art by Museums and Galleries: Supplement.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 107, no. 744, 1965, pp. 159–167. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 162-163, figs. 77-79 www.jstor.org

“Annual Report for 1964.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 52, no. 6, 1965, pp. 141–166. Mentioned: p. 153 www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 264 archive.org

Lee, Sherman E. “Literati and Professionals: Four Ming Painters.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 53, no. 1, 1966, pp. 2–25. Reproduced: pp. 9, 10, fig. 3. www.jstor.org

Lawton, Thomas. "Scholar and servants." National Palace Museum Bulletin 國立故宮博物院, Vol. 1, no. 5 (Nov. 1966), p. 8-10 Reproduced: pp. 8 and 10

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 264 archive.org

Lee, Sherman E. "The Water and the Moon in Chinese and Modern Painting." Art international, vol. 14 (1970), no. 1, pp. 47-59. Mentioned: p. 56, Reproduced: p. 27

Lee, Sherman E. “Varieties of Portraiture in Chinese and Japanese Art.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 64, no. 4, 1977, pp. 118–136. Reproduced: pp. 133, 134, figs. 21, 22 www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 350 archive.org

Cahill, James. Parting at the Shore: Chinese Painting of the Early and Middle Ming Dynasty, 1368-1580. New York: Weatherhill, 1978. p. 191

Ho, Wai-kam, Sherman E. Lee, Laurence Sickman, and Marc F. Wilson. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1980. Reproduced: cat. no. 160, pp. 194-195

Siggstedt, Mette. Zhou Chen: The Life and Paintings of a Ming Professional Artist. [Stockholm]: [Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities], 1983.

Cleveland Museum of Art. Images of the Mind. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1987. Reproduced: [p. 8 - 9]

Clunas, Craig. Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China. London: Reaktion Books, 1997. Reproduced: p. 87, no. 47

Time-Life Books. What Life Was Like in the Land of the Dragon: Imperial China, AD 960-1368. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1998. Reproduced: p. 1

Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華 : 特别展 : クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから = Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Reproduced: p. 59, cat. no. 35

Murphey, Rhoads. A History of Asia. New York: Longman, 1999. Reproduced: p. 204

Thorp, Robert L., and Richard Ellis Vinograd. Chinese Art & Culture. New York: Abrams, 2001. Reproduced: p. 311

Murck, Alfreda. "Images that Amonish." Orientations, vol. 32, number 6 (June 2001), pp. 52-57. Reproduced: p. 53, fig. 2

Hyūman imēji: wareware wa ningen o dono yōni hyōgenshite kita no ka?: tokubetsu tenrankai [ヒューマン・イメージ : われわれは人間をどのように表現してきたのか？: 特別展覧会 = Human images]. Kyoto: Kyōto Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2001. Reproduced: p. 212, cat. no. 96

Mair, Victor H., Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, and Paul Rakita Goldin. Hawai'i reader in traditional Chinese culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2005. Reproduced: pl. 99

Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: pp. 264-269

Bianchi, Alice. Ghost-Like Beggars in Chinese Painting: The Case of Zhou Chen In: Fantômes dans l'Extrême-Orient d'hier et d'aujourd'hui - Tome 1 [online]. Paris: Presses de l’Inalco, 2017. Mentioned and Reproduced: figs. 13, 15, and 17 books.openedition.org

Park, J. P. A New Middle Kingdom: Painting and Cultural Politics in Late Chosŏn Korea (1700-1850). Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2018. Reproduced: p. 95, fig 2.19

Exhibition history

Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 10-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 122). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 23-October 27, 2003).

Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1964-January 31, 1965).

Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).

Images of the Mind. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 7-August 30, 1987).

Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).

Human Images. Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, Japan (organizer) (October 23-November 25, 2001).

Ji Yunfei: Last Days of Village Wen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 12-July 31, 2016).

Facing the Ancestors: Chinese Portraits and Figure Painting – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 12, 2019-February 2, 2020).

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{{cite web|title=Beggars and Street Characters|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.94|author=Zhou Chen|year=1516|access-date=29 May 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Beggars and Street Characters

Beggars and Street Characters

流氓圖

Zhou Chen 周臣

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