The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 15, 2025

Listening to the Qin

late 1400s–early 1500s

attributed to Tang Yin

(Chinese, 1470–1523)
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
hanging scroll, ink and light color on silk
Overall with knobs: 118 x 45 cm (46 7/16 x 17 11/16 in.); Painting: 35.8 x 29.1 cm (14 1/8 x 11 7/16 in.)
Gift of Herbert F. Leisy in memory of his wife, Helen Stamp Leisy 1977.199
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The painting is mounted in a Japanese-style three-tier format with futai.

Description

The painting alludes to a legendary incident from the life of Ji Kang 嵇康 (AD 223–262), a guqin player who belonged to a group of 3rd-century eccentric intellectuals. Ji Kang is known as the author of a Guangling San (廣陵散; Melody from Guangling), a composition for the guqin so haunting that it aroused spirits to visit him. The painting depicts the moment when one of the spirits––disguised as a human––is helped by another to emerge from the ground, while others are drawn to the musician playing in his cottage under the full moon.
  • (Howard C. Hollis [1899–1985], Cleveland, OH, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Leisy)
    ?–1977
    Mr. Herbert F. [1900–1977] and Mrs. Helen Stamp Leisy [1906–1975], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1977–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • 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. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 161, p. 197
    Tang, Yin 唐寅, Xu Wei 徐渭, and Qiu Ying 仇英. Ming Hua Quan Ji 明畫全集. Hangzhou: Zhejiang da xue chu ban she, 2017. Mentioned and reproduced: Vol. 20, pt. 2, pp. 222-223, 317
    Peng, Wei 彭薇, and Clarissa von Spee. Migrations of Memory: The Poetry and Power of Music by Chinese Artist Peng Wei in Collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art = 平沙落雁—音樂的詩意與力量: 中國藝術家彭薇與克利夫蘭藝術博物館合作. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2021. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 13
  • Migrations of Memory—The Poetry and Power of Music. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 19, 2021-May 8, 2022).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 16-October 28, 2003).
    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).
  • {{cite web|title=Listening to the Qin|url=false|author=Tang Yin|year=late 1400s–early 1500s|access-date=15 March 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1977.199