The Demon Queller and the Art of Qiu Ying (Ch’iu Ying) Stephen Little Artibus Asiae, Vol. 46, No, 1/2. (1985), pp. 5-128, Stable URL hitp:/flinks.jstor-org/sici sici=0004-3648% 281985%2946%3 1% 2F2%3C5%3ATDQATAG3I COW3B2-L Artibus Asiae is currently published by Artibus Asiae Publishers, Your use of the ISTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at hup:/www,jstororglabout/terms.hml. ISTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at hupulwww.jstor.org/journalvartibus. html ch copy of any part of'a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the sereen or printed page of such transmission, ISTOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support @ jstor.org. hupulwww jstor.org/ Sat Jun 17 16:29:54 2006STEPHEN LITTLE THE DEMON QUELLER AND THE ART OF QIU YING (CH’IU YING) 1. Qin Ying’s “Zhong Kui? (“Chang K’nei”) of 1344 ‘n the lunar New Year’s Eve of the year guimao in the Ming dynasty reign of Jiajing (January 23, 1544), the artists Wen Jia (Wen Chia) (1501-1583), Wang Guxiang (Wang Ku-hsiang) (1501-1568), and Lu Zhi (Lu Chik) (1496-1576) visited the home of the painter Qui Ying (c. 1495-1552/3) in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.' During their visit Qiu Ying brought out a painting of Zhong Kui, the Daoist Demon Queller, that he had completed.” As the evening progressed, a landscape background was added to the painting by Lu Zhi. The party then went to the home of Wen Zhengming (1470-1559), Wen Jia’s father, and one of the leading literati (wenren) artists of the sixteenth century.3 On seeing the Zhong Kui painting, Wen Zhengming inscribed a poem by the Yuan dynasty collector- connoisseur Zhou Mi (1232-1298) at the top. Thirty years later, when Wen Jia once again saw the scroll at a friend’s house, he inscribed a colophon at the bottom recording the events surrounding the work’s inception and the precise date of its execution (Fig. 1). The painting then passed into obscurity for over two centuries, until its mention in a mid-Qing * L would like to thank my teacher, Professor Jonathan Chaves ofthe George Washington University, for his exticism and insights with regard to the tanslations of colophons and related texts, and Mr. Hun Lee of San Francisco for his transcriptions ofthe cursive script texts; without thei genezous asisance this paper would not have been realized, | For discussions of these artists see James Cahill, Parting at the Shore: Chinese Painting of the Early and Midae Ming Dynater, 1364-1380 (New York & Tokyo, 1978), pp. 248-249 (Wen Jia), pp. 239-244 (Ls Zhi), pp.aor-at0 (Qa Ying). On Wang Guxiang, see Mare F. Wilson & Kwan $. Wong, Friendsof Wen Cheng-ming: A Vite from the Cranford Galleon (New York, 1974), pp- 115-115. In addition, see Alice Rosemary Meerill, Wen fiz (1so1-1y83)2 Derivation «and Innovation (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan, 1981), Louise Yuhas, Tbe Landicpe Art of La Zbi (1496-1776) (PhD. Dissertation, University of Michigan, 1975), and Martie W. Young, The Painting of CB'in Yin. ‘A Preliminary Serv (Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvatd University, 1961). For other discussions of Qiu ing see Osvald Siréo, Chinese Painting: Leading Master and Priniples (London, 197%), pp. 328-3313 Wilson & Wong, pp. 100-103; Laurence Sickman & Alexander C. Soper, The Art and Architecture of China (Baltimore, 1971) pp. 338-331; Xo Bangdk’s article on Qiu Ying in Zonggne ba, vol. x (1957); Wen Zhaotong, “Qui Shizhou” in Mingda sida bugia (Hong Kong, 1960); Jiang Zhaoshen, “Qiu Ying” in Sbuengxi bua sibi (Taipei, 1977), pp. 146-148; Xiao Yani, “Qui Ving he 8 di mozio “Zhongxing ruiying tu", Gngng Baron yuanbon 1983/2, pp. 45-4; Shan Guogiang, “Qi Ying ji qi ‘Renwu gush’ ci", Gagong Bovaynan yuonken 1983)3, pp. 49-51; Zhao Chun’ gui, “Qiu Ying “Taoyuan xian jing ta show" Wen Wa 1975/4, P85 2.On Zhong Kui, ee section Il ofthis atile. By the middle Ming dynasty the painting of the Demon Quelle on the lunar New Year's Eve was atime honored tradition, > For recent studies on Wen Zhengming, see Wilson & Wong; Anne DeCoussey Clapp, Wen Chongming: The Ming “Artes and Antignty (Ascona, 1975); Richard Edwards, The Art of Wen Cherg-ming (Ann Arbor, 1976); and Cabill, pp-ati-asg~dynasty miscellany on painting, Zhu Fengtai’s Woyou suilu (preface dated 1798).* Subse- quently the painting was described in Pei Jingfu’s Zbuangtao ge shu bua In (preface dated 1924). The scroll then disappeared once again, only to surface in New York in 1982.6 Its reappearance provides an opportunity to examine the development of the Zhong Kui theme in Chinese art from the Tang through Ming dynasties, and to briefly discuss the relationship of the Wu School artist Qiu Ying to the literati circle of Wen Zhengming. Qui Ying’s painting, a hanging scroll executed in ink on silk, measures 141 by 36.3 centimeters (Fig. 1). The work is in excellent condition, with the exception of the replace- ment of several pieces of silk at the top and slight abrasion in certain areas. ‘The painting depicts the Demon Queller, Zhong Kui, standing alone on a snow-covered hillside next to a grove of wintry deciduous trees. The figure is delineated in swift, unhesitating brushstrokes in the baimiao (uncolored line drawing, or “plain-outline”) technique (Fig. 2). Zhong Kui is shown as a tall, massive figure (as he is traditionally described), huddled over in the cold with his hands folded inside his robe. He wears official boots, and has on his head a Tang dynasty scholar-official’s cap. Strapped to his back is the official’s tablet of rank, the bu. In contrast to the minimal brushwork that delineates his voluminous robes, his head and face are depicted in greater detail.’ Zhong Kui’s face sports the thick moustache and beard by which he is usually recognized, and the fine brushwork in these details, as well as in the eyes, ears, and nose, is fluid and meticulous. The handling of the figure reveals a confident mastery of the baimiao technique, one style (among many others) for which the versatile Qiu Ying was well known, ‘The landscape background comprises a grove of deciduous trees, mostly leafless, on a steep hillside. The ground is partially covered with snow, and among the trees are a few short bushes. The pictorial space is relatively shallow, with an unarticulated void beyond the sharply inclined hillside. This void has been given a subtle wash of dilute ink, effectively suggesting a thin layer of snow on the hillside. The same wash surrounds the figure of Zhong Kui, setting off the lighter tonality of his robe against that of the background. The wash extends uniformly to the top of the hanging scroll. In certain areas, the surface of the hillside has been lightly textured with darker washes of ink and dry, scumbled brushstrokes that suggest patches of bare earth. The trees are depicted with sturdy trunks and contorted roots that sink like claws into the ground. The trunks are outlined in dark and medium tonalities of ink, and textured with thick ropelike brush- strokes that turn with the twisting motions of the branches. Above Zhong Kui's head these branches proliferate into a dense screen of smaller branches, twigs, and leaves. The twigs are painted with blunt, staccato brushstrokes in a range of tonalities from black to light grey. The spontaneous movement of the brush and the bold transitions in ink tonality are 4 See note 6x 5 See note 66. « Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc. (New York), Chinst Furniture and Decorations (June 5, 1982), Lot 1 7 This is'« common feature of the haimigs technique. For an excellent discussion of the early development of baimize painting, se Richard M. Barnhart, Li Kenglin's“Flsiao Ching 4”, “Iasrations ofthe Clasic of Filial Piety” (Ph.D. Dissertation, Princeton University, 1967), pp. 159-164,a result of the painting’s spirited execution at Qiu Ying’s New Year's Eve party, as is testified in Wen Jia’s colophon of 1574 (quoted below). ‘The interaction of the figure with its background is, nonetheless, effectively construct- ed. The landscape is dominated by the strong diagonals of ground lines and tree trunks moving from the bottom of the scroll upwards. In the midst of these diagonal movements the figure of the Demon Queller is fixed in the center of the composition. The slight arch of the compact mass of his body and the upward tilt of his head complement the movements around him. Zhong Kui’s huddled posture and the desolate, snowy setting suggest the frigid atmosphere of a quiet winter day. The isolation of the figure in this stage-like setting, itself isolated in space against a void of undefined dimensions, gives the painting a sense of ambiguous locus. Thus, while the scroll obviously depicts a day in winter, it is unclear whether the scene is in the real or the imaginary world. While the painting is unsigned, the artists’ seals appear respectively in the lower right and left corners. Qiu Ying’s seal, situated just below Wen Jia’s colophon, is square with two characters in relief reading, “Qiu Ying” (Fig. 3).8 Lu Zhi’s two seals are square with intaglio characters reading, “Lu Shuping shi” and “Baoshanzi” (Fig. 4).? Several of Qiu Ying’s surviving baimiao figure paintings are comparable in style and technique to his “Zhong Kui”. The closest example known to me is the handscroll in the Arthur M. Sackler Collection entitled, “A Donkey for Mr. Zhu” (Figs. 5, 6).!° In this scroll the portrait of the scholar Zhu Cunli is executed in ink on paper in the tradition of such Song and Yuan dynasty baimiao paintings as the “Five Horses and Grooms” by Li Gonglin (c. 1049-1106)!" and the “Portrait of Yang Zhuxi” by Wang Yi (1333~c. 1362), with its landscape background by Ni Zan (1301-1374), in the Palace Museum, Peking.!? Qiu Ying’s debt to the Northern Song baimiao tradition of Li Gonglin has been demonstrated by Marilyn and Shen Fu.13 In terms of brush technique, the figures of Zhong Kui and Zhu Cunli (Figs. 2,6) are treated in a nearly identical manner: the larger part of both figures is portrayed as loose, voluminous robes in spare, fluid brushstrokes, while the faces are more carefully detailed, with extremely thin, parallel brushstrokes forming the eyebrows and beards. It is also * Qiu Ying’s seal is unrecorded. This is not unusual; see Jean-Pierte Dubose, “A Letter and Pan Painting by Chiu Ying”, Areives of Asion Art, vol. XVI (1974-75), p.112. For an example of another unique Qiv Ying seal impression (on a well-known painting) se the square rlief seal reading, “Shizhou” (Qiu's har) onthe Taipei National Palace Museum's “Conversation in the Shade of Wutong Trees” (eeproduced in National Palace Museum, Signatarer and Seale on Painting and Calligraphy (Hong Kong, 1964), vol-Il, p-6) °CE. Vieworia Contag & Wang Chicch'ien, Seals of Painters and Collectors of the Ming ard CB'ing Dynasties (Hong, Kong, 1960), p-343, 80-11, and p. 693, n0-21. Shuping was Lu Zhi's hae, Baoshan his ¢ 10 This sero is discussed a length in Marlyn and Shen Fu, Stadt i Connoinarship (Princeton, 973), pp- 86-95 " Published ia Sirén, vol I, pls 193-193, and Kinjrd Harada, ed. The Pageant of Chise Painting (Tokyo, 1936), pls. 83-87, "Published in Sign minhin igs taikan (Tokyo, 1931), pl. G4 Kokyt akabutzin (Tokyo, 1995), pl. 179, and Wan-go Weng & Yang Boda, The Paice Museum, Peking (New York, 1983), 0 19. It is noteworthy that Wang Vi's “Portsit of Yang Zhuxi" was in te eolection of Xiang Yuanbian (1325-1390), one of Qiu Ying’s key patrons. In addition, Wang Yi was the author of the Xie ian, mi jue (Secret of Portrait Painting) a mana on figore painting with which Qiu Ving was undoubtedly familia. Ths manual has been translated by Herbert Franke in “Two Yan ‘Treatises on the Technique of Porte Painting”, Oriental Art (0.8), vol Ill, 90.1 (1950), pp-27-32 Fu & Fu, pp. 90-92significant that both figures are perceptively characterized.'* While Zhu Cunli is shown as a refined and cultivated individual with an expression of amusement at the predicament of his servant, Zhong Kui is depicted with a sly and ambiguously droll expression of self-satisfaction as he glances heavenward, fully aware that he has accomplished his appointed task of quelling demons for the night. Through the most economical means, both figures have been rendered by Qiu Ying in similar brushwork as completely different types, and are instantly recognizable as such — one the retiring scholar who accepts with humble gratitude the gift of a donkey from his friends, the other a Daoist god who, exhausted from a night of demon hunting, rests by a grove of trees. A third figure painting by Qiu Ying that is stylistically comparable to these works is the Central Asian groom in the Boston Museum of Fine Art's “Horse and Groom” (Fig. 7; discussed in greater detail below).!5 In addition, it is instructive to compare Qiu Ying’s Zhong Kui figure to his album of “Illustrations of Traditional Texts Written by Six Ming Calligraphers” in the Freer Gallery of Art (Fig. 8, a8cb).!© This baimiao album is an important document in its own right of Qiu’s relationship to the literati artists of Suzhou, and provides critical evidence towards the determination of the approximate date of Qiu’s death."” The album (now mounted as a handscroll) comprises six leaves with adjoining classical texts inscribed by the calligra- phers Zhu Yunming (1461-1527), Wen Zhengming, Wang Chong (1494-1533), Cai Yu (d. 1541), Lu Shidao (1511-1574), and Peng Nian (1505—1566). The six texts and illustra- tions are respectively the Huangting Jing and Laozi; the Lanting Xu and Xiao Yi with the hapless monk Biancai; the Cao E Stele Inscription and the filial daughter Cao E; the Xiang Jun and Xiang Furen poems from the Nine Songs and a joint depiction of the two goddesses of the Xiang River; the Memorial to Ma Gu and Ma Gu (a female immortal); and the Laoshen Fu and the Goddess of the Luo River. A colophon by Zhou Tiangiu (1514-1595) dated 1574 recounts that he asked Qiu Ying to illustrate the six texts which he had collected over the years, As Thomas Lawton has pointed out in his discussion of this work, the date of Peng Nian’s inscription (corresponding to August 8, 1551), indicates that the album is one of Qiu Ying’s last paintings, as it has been established by Xu Bangda that Qiu died between this date and the twelfth month of the year rengi (December 16, 1552 ~ January 13,1553), the date of Peng Nian’s colophon to Qiu’s “Tribute Bearers” handscroll discussed below. ‘The figures of the Freer album are painted in thin, elegant lines of great elasticity, with occasional additions of ink wash. While more detailed than the figure of Zhong Kui of 1544, they reveal the brilliant technical mastery and wide range of psychological charac- terizations which are features of Qiu Ying’s mature work of the 1540s and first years of "id. p90. 'S See note 29. A fourth figure that is comparable isthe fisherman in Qiu Ying’s “Fishing Boat by a Willow Bank” in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (published in Cahill, pl 107). ‘w This album and its accompanying calligraphic texts are discussed in Thomas Lawton, Chinese Figure Painting (Washington, D.C., 1973), pp- 8-695 it is recorded in Lu Xinyuan, Rangli quan guoyan Iu (1891), ch. 19:3b-9. " Lawton, p.65the 15508. The album further corroborates James Cahill’s observation that the finest baimiao paintings after the Song dynasty were those executed by professional artists.'® ‘The inscription at the top of Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” consists of a poem written by Wen Zhengming in xingshu (running or semi-cursive script; Fig. 9): ‘The long void is packed with snow, a low wind rises, Without anger the flakes group together, jumping like crazed demons. Upending his three-foot sword when the Yellow River turns to ice, Blood is scattered on the lotus flowers like dancing Autumn waters. In its towering nest among black shadows, a horned owl cries, Flying fireflies’ lights contend, the bright moon is ashamed. In green robe and black cap he hurries to his task, Lifting our their brains and ripping up their bowels, even Heaven is in grief. In the midst of this are great phantoms he is unable to punish, ‘Together they ride with whirling wheels, driving the thunder before them. Why does he put his hands in his sleeves, suddenly at peace with the world? In a moment the East will already have become light. SATE BA © HUMIRA AIR RLTER © RIKI « RE RIK © Sr AFELEREIARAA sf TERE HC. © AN HERA © FSO OAD © mera RBH FRAP ADL © ERT © Composed by Caochuang xiansheng, inscribed by Zhengming in the year guimao RURAL te © BESTADA A © “Caochuang” was the gi of the famous late Song and early Yuan poet and connoisseur Zhou Mi (1252-1298), a close friend of Zhao Mengfu.'® The poem does not appear among Zhou Mi’s collected literary works. Judging from its theme, however, it may have originally been composed as a colophon by Zhou Mi and appended to an even earlier painting of Zhong Kui. In his Yanan guoyan lu, Zhou mentions having once seen a “Portrait of Zhong Kui” by the tenth century artist Zhou Wenju It is unknown whether ‘Zhou Mi inscribed this painting. Another painting of Zhong Kui by Zhou Wenju is listed in the Xuanhe bua pu, but it appears only by its title with no further information?! the same °8 James Cahill, Hille Beyond a River: Chinee Painting ofthe Yaar Dynasty 1279-1368 (New York & Tokyo, 1976), P- 154 °° Zhou Mi was the individual for whom Zhao Mengfu painted the famous “Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains" handscrollin the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Fora discussion of this painting, see Chu-tsing Li, he Antumn Colors on the Cia and Hua Montane: A Landicepe by Chao Meng.fx (Ascona, 1965). On Zhou Mi, see Richard M.Barnhart, Marriage ofthe Lard ofthe River: A Ltt Landvape by Tig Yin (Ascona, 1972). PP. 11,46 ® Zhou Mi, Yuriy guar le (acc late thirtenth century; Taipei reprint, 1963), p. 7b. According to Zhou Mi, Zhow ‘Wenju’s painting was in the colleetion of Zhao Yugin, prefect of Lin'an (Hangzhou) in the Southern Song Jani reign (1257-1242). Zhao, who was related to the Song imperial hous, had a large and excellent collection of ancient paintings; itis possible that he was Zhao Mengta’s uncle (Banhart, Marriage, p51, 8.168) 1 Keanbe bua pu (preface dated 1120), ch.y2b,is true of a Zhou Wenju painting of “Zhong Kui with his Younger Sister” also recorded in the Xuanbe hua pu.2 It is likely that the poem was one that Wen Zhengming had seen on an old painting of Zhong Kui with an appended colophon by Zhou Mi. The poem is here followed by two seals, both square with intaglio characters. The first reads, “Wen Zhengming yin”; the second, “Tingyun guan”, the name of Wen’s studio in Suzhou. As noted above, Wen’s colophon has suffered the loss of twelve characters along the top due to the loss of several sections of silk. These sections have been carefully replaced with silk of similar weave, and the damaged characters reproduced with both the shuang _gou tian mo method (literally, “double-hook (-contour) and filling in”, or “outline tracing and filling in”) and freely brushed characters (Fig, 10).* This suggests that what remained of the damaged sections were temporarily retained by an earlier restorer to use as the model for copying. The patching together of different pieces of silk was expertly accomplished, and several of the joins are not immediately noticeable. ‘The original characters of Wen’s inscription are stylistically consistent with other ‘examples of his xingshu dating from the final decades of his career. As Mare Wilson and Kwan S, Wong have shown, Wen Zhengming’s normal xingshu was based on that of the great Eastern Jin dynasty calligrapher Wang Xizhi (307-365).2° Wen based his style most closely on the characters of the Ji Wang shengjiao xu, a transcription by the seventh century monk Huairen of a preface to the teachings of Xuanzang composed by Tang Taizong (£.626~649).26 This transcription was executed in xingshu characters taken from works by ‘Wang Xizhi in the Tang imperial collection in Chang’an (Xi’an), and was engraved onto a stone stele in 672.27 Wilson and Wong have demonstrated the extent to which Wen Zhengming was indebted to rubbings of this stele inscription. Wen’s colophon on Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” lies between the highly polished examples of his finest xingshw inscriptions and his most relaxed and spontaneous creations.” His characteristic combina- tion of strength and elegance is visible throughout. At the same time, there is a clear spontaneity and even deliberate awkwardness visible in the structure and proportions of the individual characters, and in the rhythms of the brushwork and overall spacing. There is considerable variety in the tonality of the ink (despite the somewhat abraded surface), 2 Ibid, ch. 740. 2 CE Contag & Wang, p20, 20.12, and p.636, no. 49; also p. 653, 20.57. In addition, see Signatures and Seals, vo. I, p.21. An identical impression of the first seal, “Wen Zhengming yin”, appears on Wen's undated “Hermit fisherman fon a Green Cliff", a banging scroll on silk in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (published in National Palace ‘Museum, Wpai bua sinc nian zhan (Ninety Years of Wa School Painting) (Taipei, 1975), 90.78, p. 202). On this technique see Lothar Ledderose, Mi Fa and the Classical Tradition of Chinse Caligraply (Princeton, 1979), pp. 34-35, and Shen Fu, Traces of the Bruch (New Haven, 1976), P . % Wilson & Wong, pp. 93-94. % Ihid., p.93. CE. Shods genbi (1958-63), vol 8, pp. 50-56 2 Por a discussion of the Ji Wang shenjio xu, tee Leddetose, p.14. As Ledderose points out, the original stone stele into which the text wat cut in the year 67 still stands in the Bei Lin (Forest of Stele) in Xi'an, 2 Wilson & Wong, p.93: this includes the way in which Wen wrote his signature: “The character zheng of his name... perfectly mirrors the first ghmg appearing in Huairen’s Ji Wang sbenjiao For a more polished example see Edwards, no. LXI, pp. 206-208 (the “Record of the Garden for Solitary Enjoyment (Dule yuan)” of 1558 in the Cleveland Museum of Art); for a rougher, more spontaneous creation, see Wen's “Listening to the Bamboo” in the same museum, published in Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkine Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, 1980), 20.173 Toand the points at which Wen reloaded his brush are clearly visible. As in the relatively few paintings by Wen Zhengming on silk, the brushstrokes occasionally have rough edges due to the non-absorbent sizing of the silk ground. Wen’s characters are nevertheless well-balanced and evenly spaced overall. There is a freedom of movement that imparts a relaxed feeling to the calligraphy, a characteristic in keeping with the atmosphere of an impromptu New Year’s Eve gathering of relatives and friends. A. character-by-character comparison of Wen Zhengming’s inscription with other works of the 1540s and 15508 corroborates its date and authenticity. The character san (“three;” the seventh character in the second line, hereafter 2:7) is identical in the spacing of the three component brushstrokes, and the manner in which each thickens rapidly at the center but tapers at the end, to the same character in the fifth line of Wen Zhengming’s colophon of 1546 to Qiu Ying’s handscroll illustrating the Xiao Jing (Classic of Filial Piety) in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Fig. 11/ 5:6). At the same time it is worth noting that in the Xiao Jing colophon (translated below), Wen varies the way in which he inscribes the character san. This first appears in the third line (Fig. 11/ 3:7); here the lowermost stroke is blunter and heavier than in the sam of the fifth line. This type of variation is praised by Mi Fu (1051-1107) in the Northern Song dynasty 9 In studying calligraphy one has to observe well the handling of the brush; that is to say, the brush has to be held with ease, and the palm should curve spontaneously. The movements should come swiftly with a natural perfection and emerge unintentionally. This is the reason why in the calligraphy of the old masters identical characters never resemble each other. When they are all alike, it is the writing of slaves... Also, no stroke should resemble the other. In the character “three” (san), the three horizontal strokes are different, and they should be executed differently. The pressure on the brush should not be the same, and the differences should appear naturally and spontaneously. This dictum is observed by Wen Zhengming in his inscription on Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui”, For example, the character ming (“bright”), which appears twice (4:9 and 10:4, the latter in his signature), is written in an alternate form each time. This is true of the same character in a letter Wen wrote to the collector Hua Yun (1488-1560) in 1549 (Fig. 12] 1335, 16:7, and 19:2).3 % Similar observations have been made of Wen Zhengming’s hanging scroll entitled, “Brewing Tea on a Spring Evening” in the Mary Burke Collection, New York (Edwards, no, XXII, pp. 144-185): “The Burke painting is on sill rather than paper and thus inevitably has a crispness, even hardness, of execution that is not part of the softer touch of the “Farewell [2t Tingyun]” (Wen's farewell painting for Wang Chong (1494-1533) of 1531 in the Vannotti Collection, Muzzano; Edwards, no. XVI, pp. 112-113)". % Previously published in Wupwi, n0.153, pp. 171, 274-276; translated below in section IIL. In the following analysis have used the system devised by Ledderose in Mi Fu: the frst numeral refers to the lin in the text (reading from right to lefi); the second numeral refers to the character in that line (reading from top to bottom). Thus, Fig. 11/s:6 refers to the sixth character in the fifth line of the text illustrated in Fig. 11 % Ledderose,p. 58. Ledderose notes that Wang Xizhi’s “Lanting xu” (“Preface tothe Gathering atthe Orchid Pavilion”) was praised in the eighth century for similar reasons: “.. the characters which oceur more than once in the text show always a different form”. (p. 19) % Previously published in Wilson & Wong, no. 15, p.9o, and Edwards, no. XLVI, pp. 162-164. Wilson & Wong have cloquently described the letter to Hua Yun (p. 90): “The calligraphy of the letter and the address on the envelope are rare examples of spontancous, stylistically unpremeditated writing from Wen’s hand. The angle of the brush shifts naturally from side to side and produces squared strokes with the brush tip exposed. Textural color appears effortlessly, and sometimes successive characters ate even linked” WnSimilar variation in Wen’s writing is illustrated by the character sa (“to scatter”), which, appears in the third line of the “Zhong Kui” colophon (Fig. 10/ 3:2), and in the second line of the Xiao Jing colophon of 1546 (Fig. 11/ 2:6). Here Wen employs two different cursive forms of the same character. The character shui (“water”, Fig. 10/ 3:7) is identical in structure to the same character in Wen’s transcription of Su Shi’s Second Prose-poem on the Red Cliff dated 1558 (Fig. 13/ 1)4 In both cases the character begins with a slight hook at the very top of the central vertical stroke. This stroke ends with a sharp hook to the left that leads into the second stroke; the brush is lifted slightly before the beginning of the next stroke. The final stroke crosses diagonally over the first vertical stroke, and ends with a quickly repeated curving hook to the left. While the angles between the brush-strokes vary slightly, the proportions and movements of the brush are identical. Yue (“moon”, Fig. 10] 4:10) appears three times in the section from the Red Cliff transcription of 1558 illustrated here (Fig. 13/ 2:6,6:4, and 7:7). In each case the first vertical stroke (on the left) begins with a miniscule hook at the upper left. The only differences are the points at which the long hooks at the bottom of the righthand vertical elements touch the lefthand vertical elements as they arc up to the two inner strokes. As in the other characters discussed here, the overall structural elements, proportions, and thythms are identical. The variations possible within these parameters are indicated by comparison of these four yue characters with a fifth yue at the end of the colophon to the Xiao Jing handscroll (Fig. 11/ 8:6), in which the same hook at the bottom right curves up. to the outside of the lefthand vertical element before crossing over to the interior space. The characters rube (“how” or “why”) in the seventh line of the “Zhong Kui” inscription (Fig. 10/ 7:7-8), joined by a ligature, are mirrored in the letter to Hua Yun. (Fig. 12/9:1-2). There are only ewo small differences: first, in the character ru of the “Zhong Kui” inscription, the first stroke in the lefthand (ma) element is joined to the second stroke by an extremely fine ligature, and second, Wen has added an extra loop in the righthand (ou) element (both modes ate standard cursive variants of the character r#) Show (“head”) in line eight (Fig. 10/ 8:5) is comparable in its structure to the same character in the salutation of the letter to Hua Yun and its envelope (Fig. 12/ 13:7 and 19:4). The following character of the “Zhong Kui” inscription, dong (“cast”), displays a long sharp hook on the lower left diagonal (pie) stroke. This is a characteristic that often appears in Wen Zhengming’s xingshu writings, for example, in the character shi (“stone”) in the Xiao Jing colophon (Fig. 11/ 2:8) ‘A second case of two joined characters is the term xiansheng (“Mister”) in line nine (Fig. 10/ 9:34). The proportioning of the characters and the manner in which they are joined by a heavy, curving ligature appear twice in an identical fashion in the letter to Hua Yun of 1549 (Fig. 11/14:3-4 and 18:5~6). 4 Preer Gallery of Art, accession no, #o.114. Wen Zhengming’s transcription of 1538 follows a painting of “The Red Cig" by Xie Shichen (1487~ after 1567); it too is dated 1558. 2Finally, the characters of Wen’s signature, Zhengming, are identical to many others on. his known works.°5 Although Wen often varied the way in which he wrote his name, the stroke order, balance, and proportions visible here are key elements of his calligraphic style, Furthermore, the character shu (“inscribed”) which follows the signature is nearly identical to those in the same position in the Xiao Jing colophon (Fig. 11/8:11) and in Wen’s colophon of 1540 to Qiu Ying’s “Two Thoroughbreds” (Fig. 45). ‘Wen Jia’s colophon of 1574 to Qiu’s “Zhong Kui” is inscribed along the lower right border of the painting (Fig. 14). It is written in Wen Jia’s characteristically clear and polished Aaishw (standard script): On New Year's Eve of the year guimao (January 23,1544], I visited Master Qiu Shifu's residence with Wang Luzhi [Wang Guxiang] and Lu Shuping (Lu Zhi]. Shifu showed Luzhi a Zhong Kui that he had sketched. Luzhi praised it without letting go of it; then Shifu gave it to him. At that time Shuping also took advantage of the enthusiasm of the moment; subsequently he added the scenery in the background for him. Taking hold of it, we showed it to my late father [Wen Zhengming]. When he saw it, he laughed out loud with delight. ‘Therefore he inscribed it at the top. This was all accomplished in thirty Ae, moreover, the three perfections®” were all completely arranged. Indeed, it is a remarkable sight of its time. Now Huang Shunzhi has obtained this.2® One can say that it has found its proper resting place Looking back and recalling the old days, I am overcome by feelings of the past and present. 1 casually inscribed this in order to record it with sadness. In the year guiyon of Wanli,® on the fifteenth of the twelfth month, Wen Jia. SODA AREA RAS ELIE ACI 0 PE SLL ASN © TR PALL Z © ALARA 0 ARISES © HET © FRUML AAR © PRB © FRE RMU © ABE © HERZ © BIRR OTIS 0 TBMEMEB © ARB ELAR o MORAL ANE © BY ACHE T AN EME © SCHR © The date of Wen Jia’s colophon corresponds to January 7,1574. The colophon thus documents the coming together of four of the leading artists of the Wu School in Suzhou at the residence of Qiu Ying in order to celebrate the New Year in 1544, and the fact that the group took the painting that resulted to Wen Zhengming, who inscribed Zhou Mi’s 8 CE Signatures and Seals, vol Il, p. 20, line 5]4 and 4)1 & 43 also Wilson & Wong, p. 8p (a similar signature on the “Magnolia” of 1549 in the John M. Crawford Collection, New York). 26 A Ae can be interpreted to mean both “an instant” and a “quarter hour” (originaly referring to the notches cut into the wooden gauge of a water clock or clepsydra). The later meaning is appropriate here: Wen Jia indicates that the ‘complete work took seven and one half hours from beginning to end, Wen Zhengming makes’ similar notation in the inscription on his “After Li Cheng’s ‘Winter Woods’” of 1542 in the British Museum, London: “In completing this, forty Ae [ie., ten hours) had slipped by”. (Edwards, no. XL, p. 148). See also Clapp, p. 82. » Poetry, calligraphy, and painting. % Huang Shunzhi remains unidentified. He may, however, have been related to the calligrapher Huang Jishui (1309-1574, 2 student of Wen Zhengming), whose elements of the style seen in the background of Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” continue to appear in his later works, for example, the well-known “Autumn Colors at Xunyang” of 1554 in the Freer Gallery of Art.‘ That this was a style frequently practiced by Wen Zhengming is evident from such works as “Heavy Snow in the Mountain Pass” of 1528-32 in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,’ “Early © See Lu Zhi's “Portrait of Tao Yuanming” of 1525 (album leaf, ink and light colors on papet) in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, which also portrays a single figure on a steeply inclined hillside; published in Cahill, Parting, pl. 119, and Wupai, pl.g. Iti also worth noting the similarities in the handling of the tree roots between this painting and the landscape background of Qiu Ying's “Zhong Kui" of 1544. * See the hanging scrolls “Brewing ‘Tea on a Spring Evening” in the Mary Burke Collection, New York (Edwards, no. XXVID, and “Verdant Pine by a Clear Stream” of 1542 in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Wapai, pl 147 and Cahill, Parting, pl. 114). 5! Previously published in Wapai, pl. r1o. As Yubas has observed, “...‘Reading the Yi Jitg by a Snowy Window" does introduce brush techniques which would become part of Lu’s mature style, particularly in the fine textures of bare tree branches and the angular contours of rock masses”, (Yuhas, pp: 83-84) ' Previously published in Pageant, pl. Gxo, and Yuhas, cat. XXXVI, p. 372. The scroll is painted in nk and light colors ‘on paper, and has a colophon by Wen Jia's patron Zhang Fengyi (1527-1613). See also the very similar trees in ia Zhi's “Planting Chrysanthemums” (c. 1550) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (published in Richard M. Barnhart, Peach Bloom Spring: Gardens and Flowers in Chinere Paintings (New York, 1983), No. 27) © See Cahill's discussion of Lu Zhi's landscape style in Parting, pp.241-244. In addition, see Eight Dynasties, Nos. 181-185, pp. 321-235, and Helmut Brinker & Eberhaed Fischer, Treavares from the Rietherg Museum (New York, 1980), No. 57, pp. 151-152 4 Published in John Pope & Thomas Lawton, Freer Gallery of Art: China (Vol. 1) (Tokyo, 1972), pl 68. % Wapai, pl. 119, Yuhas writes, “Even those elements which seem most personal’ to Lu Zhi and most distant from Wen Zhengming’s taste do occasionally sutface in Wen's painting. For example, the fine black tree branch patterns and. rectangular rock forms first seen in Lu Zhi’s ‘Reading the Yi Jing by a Snowy Window’ and found in most of his paintings, seem to form a part of the sixteenth century idea of the winter landscape style of Wang Wei, and Wen uses them in one of his most beautiful handscrolls, painted from 1328-1533". (Yuhas, pl. 118, p.257)- While T would dlisagece that these landscape elements are “most distant” from Wen Zhengming’s style (similar modes of brushwork appear, for example, in Wen's “Thatched Cottage in a Seattered Grove” of 1514 and “Deep Snow over Streams and. 16Snow along the River” of 1534 (a fan painting in the same collection),® an undated “Snow Landscape” in the Palace Museum, Peking,°? and “Seeking a Phrase in an Empty Grove” of 1545, in Taipei (Fig. 20).%8 During the 1530s and 1540s this was a clearly established mode of painting trees and earth forms among Wen Zhengming’s circle of artists in Suzhou, and can itself be traced back to the art of Shen Zhou (1427-1 509)*° and such Yuan dynasty painters as Sheng Mou (active c. 1310-1360) and Wang Meng (1308-1385). Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” was recorded during the Qing dynasty in the poet Zhu Fengtai’s Woyon suilu (preface dated 1798). While little is known about Zhu Fengtai, he is recorded as having come from Wujiang, Jiangsu province (about thirty kilometers south, of Suzhou). His exact dates are unknown, but the preface of 1798 to the Woyou suilu suggests that he was active during the late Qianlong (1736-1795) and early Jiaging (1796-1820) reigns. One source mentions that he was active as late as the mid-nineteenth century, but this is unconfirmed. Zhu Fengtai’s zi was Junchang; his hao Liutang (“Willow Pond”). In addition to having been known as a poet, he is also recorded as having been a calligrapher and a landscape painter. The Woyon suilu records over one hundred paintings that Zhu had seen, ranging in date from Northern Song to mid-Qing dynasty. His entry on Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” reads: Qiu Shifu’s method of painting was divine and marvelous. Even if those who copied him could reproduce his outer form, in essence it was difficult to obtain his bone marrow [inner strength]. Of those [forgeries] Ihave seen, the “Palaces on the Immortals’ Mountains”, “Spring. Morning in the Han Palace”, “Avoiding the Summer Heat in a Mountain Retreat”, and other paintings ~ no less than ten or so scrolls ~ theit positioning of pavilions, terraces, towers, halls, and ornamental adornment of figures, trees, and rocks, does not go beyond mere painting craftsmanship. One glance and one knows they are forgeries. In the winter of the year rengi [1792], Zhang Yuecun'® returned from the prefectural city [Suzhou] and brought and showed me the “Zhong Kui” hanging scroll that Shifu painted. It Mountains” of 1517, both in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and published in Wap, pl.82 and go), Yuhas is correct is stating that this type of brushwork was widespread in early sixteenth century painting (but particulary in Suzhou). 6 Wapa, ple 38 57 Edmund Capon & Mae Aona Pang, Chine Paintings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties: Fourtenth— Tventieth Centuries (Clayton, Vietora, 1981), 20. Previously published in Mpa pl. 151 CE.Shen Zhou's “Snow Scene” of 1486, with its “extremely vigorous and blunt" brushwork (Wapa pl. 51) se also the tes in Shen Zhou's “Silent Angler in an Autumn Wood!” of 1473 inthe Joha M. Crawford Collection, New York (Wilson & Wong, No.1, pp-39-40) © CE Sheng Mou's"Wintry Trees by & Lake” io the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Cahil, il, pl. 25) and Wang Meng’s “Dwelling in the Qinghian Mountains” of 1566, inthe Shanghai Museum (Hil, pls. 53-55) Zina Fengeai, Woon ila (preface dated 1798), ch. 1:1b-8a. This record has been discussed in Young, p. 40 and n. 6s. Young cites the passage in Zhu Fengta's catalogue as proof that Qiu Ying, at at least one point, maitained a studio of his own in Sushou (as opposed to working as an artistinresdence atthe homes of his patrons as he is also known to have done) 6 Ys Jianha, Zbomgrno mit rem ming cdion (Shanghai, 198), p. 236. 6 Shang Chengruo, Zhomgae lida su ba zhuan ke ji zi bao sin (Peking, 1960), voll, p. 863. % Zh Fengtai, ch. 3b28 & Zhang Yuecun is apparently uncecorded. 7is exceedingly fine and of great subtlety, and I am certain itis genuine, without any doubt. It has, in addition, Lu Baoshan’s added scenery and a poem inscribed by Wen Hengshan. It is worthy of being praised as a rare world treasure LIC SC SCARE RD © RE MEARE READ SEAL» SERA LC BN 0 FSD, [LAE | (ARB) [UNE | CT = SCE I eS LeeOH © —SRimTAD IES © EFA AA AO 0 FEAT aM RENE © HR Ali © PS ORE AE © 5 9D SCALIA © EAB HL © ‘Zhu Fengtai then quotes Wen Jia’s colophon in its entirety. Qui Ying’s “Zhong Kui” is also recorded in Pei Jingfu’s catalogue, Zhuangtao ge shu Jua Iu (preface dated 1924).% Pei Jingfu (1865-1937) was a collector of painting and calligraphy (including ink rubbings of ancient inscriptions) from Huogiu, Anhui province.*” He attained the jinshi degree during the Guangxu reign, in 1894, and during the early Republic was the secretary of Ni Sichong, the military governor of Anhui and a supporter of Yuan Shikai.‘ In the Zéuangtao ge shu bua lu Pei lists the scroll’s title, materials, and size, and also transcribes the colophons of Wen Zhengming and Wen Jia. ‘The significance of Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” with respect to Wen Jia is further emphasized by two paintings by the latter artist that portray the Demon Queller. The first is dated to the New Year’s Eve of the year mushen (corresponding to January 28, 1549), and is entitled, “Zhong Kui in a Snowy Grove” (Fig. 21)." The scroll presents a second variation on Wen Zhengming’s “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove” of 1535 (Fig. 17), and is painted in a similar technique. Unlike the figure in Wen Zhengming’s painting, however, Wen Jia’s Zhong Kui is shown standing with his feet apart. Here Wen Jia appears to have taken Qiu Ying’s figure as his model, for Zhong Kui’s robe is outlined in fluid, curvilinear brushstrokes of varying width, unlike the thin and angular brushstrokes of Wen Zheng- © Pei Jingtu, Zango ge shu bua lu (preface dated 1924), ch. 10:612-b. © Yu Jianhua, p. 1267; Hin-cheung Lovell, dn Ansotated Bibliography of Chinese Painting Catalogues and Related Texts (Ann Arbor, 1973), pp. 115-116. Howard L. Boorman & Richard C. Howard, eds., Biggrophical Dictionary of Republican China (New York, 1967), vol. I, p.287, © Pei Jingfu's measurements correspond exactly to those of Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui" 7 Merrill, p. 5154, 211~215, pl7. The painting is recorded in Li Ribua (1565-1635), Lisyan zhai bij, ch. 12gb~sa, and has previously been published in Sirén, vol. VI, pl. 216. Li Rihua’s comments on this work are worth quoting as they illuminate the way in which such paintings functioned and were perceived during New Year's festivities in the late Ming: (On the New Year's Eve of the year sazher in the Jisjing reign (January 28, 1549], Wen Xiucheng [Wen Jia] painted “Zhong Kui in a Snowy Grove” and gave it to his friend whose dao was Shaochun. [In the painting] chaotic shadows criss-cross; clouds are dark and somber. He has completely achieved the atmosphere of ghosts, spirits, and gloomy cold. The origin of the entire painting's inherent brilliance lies in the manifestation of his ideas; only then could he alone capture it. [Li Rihua then transcribes Wen Jia inseription.] Since the poem moves fluidly, it makes one joyful ‘The calligraphy is also above average; strong and quick. From each time I encounter the La festival until spring returns, my family arranges pine basins with spices and eypress boughs, and we always hang up this sceoll in the central hall in order to add to the season's joy. I have never experienced this without being moved. Alas! ~ the former zgeneration is dispersed. Wetting my brush, I complete my enjoyment. 18ming’s version, Nevertheless, Wen Jia has retained the stream (although it flows along the right side of the painting) and banks of mist of Wen Zhengming’s 1535 scroll.” As in his father’s painting, Wen Jia depicts trees and foliage that are more abundant than in Lu Zhi’s landscape background to Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” of 1544. At the same time, Wen Jia’s figure of Zhong Kui remains at the precise center of the composition, as in Qiu Ying’s painting. That Wen Jia’s composition contains elements derived from the paintings of Wen Zhengming and Qiu Ying suggests that he had both antecedents in mind when he painted his work of 1549. This is clear from a comparison of the foliage in all three works, which shares the same blunt twigs and ropelike texture strokes of the tree trunks. ‘The upper half of Wen Jia’s hanging scroll is taken up by a poem inscribed by the artist in xcingshu:7 ‘The North Wind blows sand, eyes are almost blinded, ‘The official willows shake their golden branches, the plum trees’ buds split open. ‘The jinshi from Zhongnan (Zhong Kui) eminently arises, With belt and blue robe, his boots expose his heels. His hand pulls forth a piece of yinghuang paper," on which he writes a charm, As if it said, “Shang Di, bestow your blessings”, With beards bristling like hedgehogs’ spines and mouths filled with frightful teeth, Gesturing with chin and hand, guarding the gate are [Shen] Shu and [Yu] Lu.”* Would they be willing to release the phantom fox, to shake its nine tails? With one sound of bamboo firecrackers everyone scatters. ‘Tomorrow the light of Spring will shine for more than ten thousand i. ‘On the New Year's Eve of Jiajing wushen (January 28, 1549], I wrote and painted this and gave it to elder brother Shaochun [unidentified]. Wen Jia, samok> KOK so F aeih © ‘ran ote © rr © ‘SEROMA © WARING JURE © ‘PAAEIOMEE © Rea AM» FURR RK o 8 ER © E12 SRD MIR AEE © 3H © 1 Merrill, in discussing this painting, also points out the greater spatial depth than in Wen Zhengming’s painting of 4535 (Mera, pp. 32-54). ° For a somewhat different translation, see Merrill, pp. 211-212, The poem was originally writen by the late Yuan ~ carly Ming poet Ling Yunhan (Ling Zhexian; jnsh 1559) Ie is recorded in Chen Bangyan, Lide i ua sil (1708), ch. 66 72-b. A very similar poem is also recorded on a painting of 1543 attributed to Wen Zhengming of “Zhong. Kui in a Wintry Grove” (sce note 48). The substitution of certain characters suggests that this painting, recorded in 1776 by Lu Shihua, may have been « copy after Wen Jia's painting of 1549 (Fig 20. On yinghnang paper, see Fu, Trees, p-s, and van Gul, p. 137. 1 Shen Shu and Yu Lu are the two door guardians of the Han dynasty; see Dirk Bodde, Festivals in Classical China (Princeton, 1975), pp. #2, 128-129; see also E.T.C. Werner, Dictionary of Chinere Mytblogy ‘Shanghai, 1932), p. 420. 19‘A second painting by Wen Jia of the Demon Queller is even more significant as corroborating evidence for the authenticity of Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” of 1544. This is a hanging scroll entitled, “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove” in the Nanjing Museum (Fig. 22)." The painting is in ink on paper; the paper itself bears a six-character seal reading, “‘Jinsu Shan cang jing zhi”, and was made during the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) for the transcription of sutras at the Jinsu Shan Si, a Buddhist temple at the base of Mount Jinsu in Zhejiang province.” By the sixteenth century this paper was over four hundred years old, and was greatly favored by painters and calligraphers for its highly sized surface. Wen Jia’s scroll is inscribed, “Painting of Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove, sketched by Wen Jia in the twelfth month of the year guiyow of Wanli”. The date corresponds to December 24, 1573 — January 22, 1574, the same month in which Wen Jia inscribed his colophon on Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” of 1544. The scroll bears four of Wen’s seals.”” A colophon inscribed at the upper left is by Wen Jia’s patron Zhang Fengyi (1527-1613):78 ‘The partially blind you render capable of secing; ‘There are none whose eyes are brighter than yours. HWE © SUBIAIA ° ‘The lame you render eapable of walking; HERERE © SLEELZ 0 ‘There are none whose feet are as nimble as yours. = RATER © Straight you hold your tablet, SSR 95 0 RTE Noble is your robe. AOR TB © HES TFS © You do not conduct rituals with your peachwood,? OEM ALT © your pe You do not explode your bamboo firecrackers. SPR « RRRBERIK © Expelling those packs of oppressors, ERNE » CIBIGAR You induce these hundred fortunes. My hands having been bathed, My hair having been washed, All of this goodness will accumulate the highest blessings; BIRI May you consider this prayer Bulogized by Zhang Fengyi, > Previously published ia Nayjing Borner cnghe(Shangha 981), p27; rconded in Pang Yuan (©1865-1949) De gating an (iy th 20 ve Por iscanion ofthis pape, sec Eight Dati, 319, nd van Gli, ps0: 1. Qiu Ying’ “Gathering atthe Orchid Pelion” in the Nena Palace Museum, Tape spine onthe sue sues paper as Wen Jas “Zhong Kurin 2 Winery Grove” of 1374 n Nanjing (publahed in Part, pos7y and Richard M. Banhart, “Survival Reva and the Clase Tadion of Chinese Figure Painting” Praedgofthe sternal Smporonon Chins Pantin (Tae 1972), p37). He ecco sal the fe let comer is that of ang Yuan (61865-1949, and reads, “Xu thai shening” "Transeribed in ang Yuan Xb ming un has. Zang Reng and his iy ae discussed in Merl prt Se ako Liv Linens biography of Zhang Feng in LC. Goodrich & Fang Chao-yng, Dion of Mig Digraphy New York, 1970, ol pp. 8-64 1 Aeros tothe se of penchwood Higres and charms in ancient exorcist se Bodde, pp 151-152, 196-197 & Prcrschers were also uted in exorcise practices to expel demons, set Bod, pp =19-230: “Prior othe invention znd development of guapowder and Gctacker (most Song dynasty onward the practice in edcvl Cina had ite to tp azeions of bamboo into a bonite so they wou become heted and explode. The purpose, a6 we ae Slctely old in he sch century Rawdf te cml Stara m Cra Chins, ws, he eave ofthe [La] Exorcism, todive awry evil demons" 20‘The calligeaphy of Zhang’s colophon is an excellent example of his dynamic and fluid xingshu, and is comparable to the colophon on the famous album by Zhou Chen (c. 1450-€. 1535) entitled, “Beggars and Street Characters” (Fig. 23) in the Cleveland Museum of Act (this album also bears a colophon by Wen Jia dated 1577).* Wen Jia’s “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove” in Nanjing has, in addition, appended colophons by the calligrapher Wang Zhideng (1535-1612) and the painter Ju Jie (active ©. 1531-€. 1583), both friends (and the latter a painting student) of Wen Jia:® ‘The wind soughs through the grove, roosting crows are disturbed, RHSREAL HR © In the setting sun his beard dances like Moye BETES > ‘The mountain demons’ nation is dead, hidden and invisible, UWRIMER EL © ‘A hint of Spring’s brilliance lies in the plum blossoms. t of Spring’s brilliance lies in the pl er ‘On the twenty-seventh day of the second month of winter in the year xinsi (1581), Wang Zhideng. SONA ERS» ‘The Zhongnan jinshi has become one with Moye, FE MIE— $0 © Bamboo firecrackers and peachwood charms together ward off evil HEE ICE © A hundred fortunes are spontaneously born a he eradicates evil and BG Ean © destruction, : ‘And Spring completely surrounds the households of good men. tA BS Inscribed by Ju Jie. Eewe Wen Jia’s painting is a free but clearly derived variation on Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” of 1544 and the Wen Zhengming painting of 1535. In Wen Jia’s painting, the small, nervous figure of the Demon Queller stands on the sloping bank of a river or lake. The hilly islands in the distance do not appear in either Wen Zhengming’s painting of 1535 (Fig. 17), Lu Zhi’s background to Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” of 1544 (Fig. 1), or Wen Jia’s “Zhong Kui in a Snowy Grove” of 1549 (Fig. 21). Instead, the landscape in the Nanjing hanging scroll is borrowed directly from Wen Jia’s “Landscape after Ni Zan”, a fan painting of 1571.8 Nonetheless, the trees growing among the rocks in the right fore- ground are painted in the same technique as those in the earlier paintings. This is evident in the higher branches and twigs, which manifest the blunt, staccato brushstrokes seen in Lu Zhi’s trees of the 1544 “Zhong Kui” scroll. © Previously published in Siggstedt, pp. 109-1123 see also Eight Dynastis, no. 160, pp. 194-195 2 Pang Yuanji, ch. 2:2rb (see note 73). The information that Ju Jie stadied painting with Wen Jia (beginning in 1541) ‘comes from a colophon by Zhou Tiangiu on Wen Zhengming’s “Clearing Weather over Mountains and Lakes"; translated in Clapp, p.22 (see also Mertil, pp. 25,36, 0.30). © Moye was the name of a famous sword of King Helu (c. 514-496 B.C.) of the state of Wu during the late Spring and ‘Autumn Period. See Ztongwen da cidion, vol. 9, p.827; also Burton Watson, The Compete Works of Chuang Tzu (New York, 1968), p.85 The relationship between the Wen Jia and Wen Zhengming paintings is discussed in Merrill, pp. 1~106. * Published in Gagorg zhonkan, vol. 11, p- 243 ("Landscape after Ni Zan”, ink on gold-flecked paper), and Merrill, pl: 25, pp.239-240. As shown by Merrill, the two paintings share 2 mode of brushwork characterized by “blunt outlining” land the suggestion of volume in the earth forms through judicious shading (Merrill, pp. 106, 152). a1The coinciding date of Wen Jia’s inscription on the Nanjing painting and his colophon. on Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” suggests that he was inspired to paint the former when he again saw and inscribed Qiu Ying’s painting after an interval of thirty years. This is supported by the fact that paintings of Zhong Kui by Wen Jia are neither recorded nor extant from the period between 1549 and 1574. Indeed, Wen Jia was not known as a figure painter, and his two depictions of Zhong Kui are among the only works from his hand which focus on a single figure. To sum up, Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” of January 23, 1544 is an important art historical document for three reasons. First, it is one of the very few paintings by Qiu that can be dated with great precision. As such it functions as an invaluable fixed reference point in our knowledge of Qiu Ying’s chronological development as an artist. Second, it reflects anovel perception in Suzhou’s leading literati circle of Zhong Kui as a sympathetic scholar (as opposed to the more popular, and occasionally sardonic, image of an ugly, frightening deity borne aloft and pandered to by obseqious demons). Third, in its degree of specificity, the painting is a unique record of Qiu Ying’s participation in the artistic and cultural activities of Wen Zhengming’s immediate circle. In the sections that follow, I will briefly discuss the early history of the Zhong Kui theme in Chinese painting and poetry, and examine in greater detail Qiu Ying’s relationship to several of the leading literati artists of early sixteenth century Suzhou. II. The Zhong Kui Theme in Chinese Art In order to more fully understand the symbolism of Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” of 1544, it is worthwhile examining its historical position in the context of earlier paintings on the theme of the Demon Queller. Because most pre-Ming paintings of Zhong Kui are no longer extant, an examination of the history of the theme depends to a great extent on literary evidence. Most of this evidence comprises poetic colophons written on works that are now lost. ‘The story of Zhong Kui has its traditional origins in the Tang dynasty: ‘One afternoon in the Kaiyuan era [713-742], Minghuang [the emperor Xuanzong}, feeling ill after he had returned from a round of bow-and-arrow practice on Li Shan, fell asleep. He soon saw in a dream a small-size demon, wearing only knee-length trousers and one shoe ~ the other being tied at his waist ~ and holding a bamboo fan, in the act of stealing the favorite consort’s embroidered perfume-bag and his own jade flute. Then, instead of escaping, the strange being began frolicking around the palace grounds with the loot. Minghuang therefore approached him and demanded an explanation. ‘The demon respectfully replied that his name was Xu Hao and explained that “Xu” stood for “stealing indiscriminately for the sake of fun” % Mary H. Fong, “A Probable Second ‘Chung K’uei” by Emperor Shun-chih of the Ch'ing Dynasty”, Oriental Art, vol. XXII, no. 4 (Winter, 1977), pp-427-428 (quoting Chen Wenzhu’s Tianhongyi (189), which in tusn quotes 2 lost text entitled Tang ysh) 22and “Hao” for “replacing man’s joys with sorrows”. Hearing this, the emperor became angry and wanted to call for his bodyguards. But at that very moment, a large-size demon, wearing a tattered hat, blue robe, horn waist-belt, and black boots appeared and nabbed the thief. Immediately afterwards, he proceeded first 0 gouge out the vietim’s eyes, then tore him to pieces and finally ate him. When the emperor asked him who he was, the Demon Queller introduced himself as Zhong Kui, a jisbi from Zhongnan, who ashamed at having failed the next higher degree of examination during the Wude era (618-627), had committed suicide by dashing his head against the palace steps. He further mentioned that because the emperor Gaozu awarded him an honorable burial of a court official of the green-robe rank, he had vowed to rid the world of mischievous demons like Xu Hao. At these words, Minghuang awoke and found himself fully recovered. Without delay he summoned Wu Daozi and requested him to paint a portrait of the Demon Queller as he had seen him in his dream. When it was finished, the emperor examined it carefully and said, “You and I must have had a similar vision!” And he awarded Wu one hundred taels of gold By the early ninth century it had become a common practice for court artists to paint Zhong Kui’s image at New Yeat’s, and for the emperor to present such paintings to his courtiers.” From at least as early as the fourteenth century, dramas and novels based on. the Zhong Kui legend appeared, and a Zhong Kui cult developed in Chinese folk religion by the end of the Ming dynasty (1368~1644).* As a protective deity, Zhong Kui took on many of the attributes and exorcistic powers of the ancient Han dynasty (206 B.C. ~ 220 A.D.) door guardians Yu Lu and Shen Shu. He never completely supplanted these gods, however; by the thirteenth century they themselves had been replaced by the early Tang. palace guardians Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao.” In later times both Zhong Kui and paired door guardians continued to be painted, their images hung up to protect households from demons and other malign influences. The history of Zhong Kui in Chinese art thus inevitably begins with the great Wu Daozi’s painting, done at the behest of Minghuang in the early eighth century.%? This © Ibid, p28. ' For a discussion of dramas and novels based on the Zhong Kui story see the essays on the Demon Queller in Ero of Things Chinese (Taipei), vo. 6, 0.73 Danielle Eiasberg, Le Roman du Poarfendear des Demons, Memoires de I'stiute des Hautes Eeudes Chinoises, vol. IV (Paris, 976); and Tom Gee, Stores of Chinese Opera (Taipei, 1978), pp. #10111. There are a number of temples dedicated to Zhong Kui today in Taiwan; see Ruan Changrut, Zbuangyan di sh (Taipei, 1982), vol Il, p. 5:52. Two of these are the Kaishan Miao in Yunlin xian, and the Guangl Miao in Zhugi, JJiayt For an excellent description of the exorcistic Dance of Zhong Kui as practiced in modern Taiwan, see Chiu Kuen-liang's essay in Eebo, pp. 17-24. 128-129, 136; also Werner, p. 420. ‘The Mythology of Modern China”, in J.Hackin, etal, Asiatic Mytbology (New York, 1965), 195-293 11 Fin Boog, “Stols and Pras of Zhong Kui’, Eco of Tings Chine, vol-6, 0-7, pp.a8-ss, 34 For a record etaimangs of door gtdans by Da Jn 988-1462), see Cail Parting. 47 (ee noe 166 By th late Mig dymasty ee see cosomaty for arse vo paint images of Zhong Kel daring the Dragon Boat Pestival onthe fith ofthe Fk month (un ne); noe the Zhong Kel scroll dated 1639 by Zhang Hong (1577-1632) inthe Shenyang Bowuyoun, dcserbed in James Cahill ating Senin Ching, (pescipe, Peking 198) p-3o- Tis inclusion rhe Desgom Boat Feil asa popular te to paint Zhong Kut thas occured well before the Qanlong reign of the Qing dynasty (1736-199) stated by Mel, p-52, and Yin, pp 3354 1» The pang is reouded in Zhang Vanya, Lida ming bai (847), gets eanslated in W.R.B, Aces, Some Tone (i Pre Tang Texts on ims Paring (Leiden, 193,233. Te ol x described in Guo Ruosu’s Taba ores < erste see Alecander Soper, kas Jobat: Exper x Painting Washington, D.C, 1951), p00, See also Fong, PP. 427-428. 23scroll, illustrating Minghuang’s dream in which Zhong Kui gouged out the eye of the demon Xu Hao, was apparently still in existence in the mid-ninth century, as itis recorded in Zhang Yanyuan’s Lidai ming bua ji of 847.°3 As both Alexander Soper and Mary Fong have shown, however, as early as the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) scholars began to question whether the name Zhong Kui (with variant characters) might not have existed even earlier than the Tang with an exorcistic connotation.» Regardless, the image of the Demon Queller who as a wronged, ugly, and ghostly scholar rid the Tang palace of demons during the reign of Minghuang clearly had its origins in the eighth century, and by the tenth century was a popular theme in painting. By the Ming dynasty Wu Daozi’s original painting had disappeared. A second painting attributed to Wu, entitled, “Zhong Kui Going Traveling During the Lantern Festival”, is recorded in two seventeenth century catalogues, as well as in the Kangxi imperial compendium, the Peiwen zhai shu bua (pu (preface dated 1708).°8 This handscroll bore the signature, “Wu Daoxuan fengzhi hua” (“Painted on imperial order by Wu Daoxuan”). It had appended colophons by Wang Sui (d.1425), Wu Kuan (1435-1504), Gu Yuging (1487-1565), and Dong Qichang (1555-1636). Unfortunately, the painting disappeared during the eighteenth century, and thus it is impossible to judge its actual date. During the Five Dynasties Period (907-960) the Zhong Kui theme proliferated among artists, and a number of key variations began to emerge. From the surviving literary evidence it is clear that the depiction of Zhong Kui was popular throughout China in the tenth century. Guo Ruoxu, in his Tu bua jianven zhi (c. late eleventh century), records a painting by the Later Liang dynasty (907-923) artist Zhao Yan entitled, “Zhong Kui Playing Weiqi”.” Guo also mentions a painting by Wang Daogiu (dates unknown) of “Zhong Kui Carrying off a Demon”.% Of a monk-painter named Zhiyun, from Henan province, it is recorded that, “In the reign of the founder of the Zhou [951-954], he presented to the throne a picture of “Zhong Kui Dancing”, for which he was granted the right to wear purple”. ‘A number of artists from the state of Later Shu in Sichuan province are known to have painted Zhong Kui. The first, Huang Quan (903-968), recognized today primarily as a © See notes 86,92. 1 Soper, a. 472, and Fong, pp. 426-7. See also Shen Gua, Meng bi dan (c.mid-eleventh century), ch, 24:7b-8a. Ming. dynasty scholars who studied the Zhong Kui theme included Lang Ying (b. 1487) in his Qin igao, Yang Shen in his Dan gian 2a iy, and Gu Yanv in his Ri xhi ln (see Echo, pp. 15-16: “According to Gu Yanwu, Zhong Kui the demon slayer originated from its homophone ghorg ai, a mallet which ancient Chinese used as a weapon for expelling evil spirits, Gu cites the book Farg yan, attributed to Yang Xiong of the Han dynasty, which notes that the word tused by the people of Qi (in present-day Shandong province) for a jai or mallet is zhong kai. This is substantiated by the Han dynasty book Shuo wer jie i, which defines ju as “a weapon for striking; the people of Qi call it a hong Ax”). % Wang Keyu, Shanbawong bua Iu (preface dated 1643), ch. 1:22-3b; Bian Yongyu, SBigu tang shu bua buikao (1682), ch. 8:432-qsa; Wang Yuangi, etal, Peiven ghaisbu bus pu (1708), ch. 100: 28a, The colophons are transcribed in the catalogues by Wang Keyu (1643) and Bian Yongyu (1682), but not in the Peiven hai shu bua pu (See note 93) ” Soper, p.27. Zhao Yan (Zhao Lin) was a son-in-law of emperor Taizu of the Later Liang dynasty (¢. 907-912). % Thid, p33. Thid, p39. 24painter of birds and flowers, is recorded in the Tw dua jianwen zhi as having painted a copy of Wu Daozi’s original composition of the eighth century: Of old, Wu Daozi painted a Zhong Kui dressed in a blue robe, wearing only one shoe, and with a squint eye. He had a ceremonial tablet at his waist and a cap on his dishevelled head; in his left hand he was clutching a demon, while with his right hand he gouged out its eye. The brushstrokes had an intense forcefulness, and the work was really a supreme masterpiece of painting. Someone who had got hold of it gave it as a present to the Shu prince. The latter cherished it dearly, and always had it hanging in his bedchamber. One day he called in Huang Quan to look it over. Quan after a single glance pronounced it the work of a supreme master. ‘The prince thereat addressed Quan in these words: “This Zhong Kui — if he were gouging out the eye with his thumb, one would see all the better how strong he is; see whether you can fix it up for me.” Quan asked leave to take the figure back to his own house. For several days he looked at it without being satisfied; then finally he spread out some fresh silk and painted another Zhong Kui, this one gouging out the demon’s eye with his thumb. On the morrow he presented the two versions together to the Shu prince. ‘The latter questioned him, saying, “I ordered my lord to make a change; why have you done another painting instead?” Quan replied, “In the Zhong Kui painting by Wu Daozi all the force of the body is concentrated with the gaze upon that second finger, not upon the thumb. That is why I did not dare to alter it. The painting which His Majesty’s subject has just made does not equal the ancient master’s, but all the strength of its body is wholly concentrated upon its thumb; and so I have ventured to present it as a different pictute.” ‘The Shu prince sighed with admiration, and rewarded his critical acumen with brocades and lacquered vessels. ‘The Wu Doazi scroll described in this account was likely the model for a famous Zhong, Kui painting contest held at the Shu court, involving the artists Zhao Zhongyi and Pu Shixun.1°! ‘A fourth Later Shu artist who painted Zhong Kui was the monk Shi Ke (active mid-late tenth century), who came from Chengdu and who moved to Bianliang (Kaifeng) in the first years of the Northern Song dynasty.!®? The early twelfth century imperial catalogue, the Xuanbe bua pu (preface dated 1120) records two paintings of Zhong Kui by ShiKe.'°> ‘The first was called simply, “Zhong Kui”; the second, “Zhong Kui and his Family”. In 5 Ibid, p. x00. 101 Huang Xiuto, Yigbon ming bue be (preface dated 1006; reprint, Haas congrbu ed, vol. VI), ch. 2:2tb-22a. Hang Xinfa's account reads Each yeas, at winter's end, those in the Hanlin Academy who were skilled at painting ghosts and spirits customarily presented printings of Zhong Kui to the court. Inthe year bingeher (936, Zhao Zhongyi presented & painting of Zhong Kui, in which be was using his forefinger to gouge out a demoa’s eye. Pu Shisun presented a Painting of Zhong Kui, in which he was using his thumb to gouge out a demon's eye. Both mens’ Zhong Kui paintings resembled each other, except for the difference in te fingers. The Shu prince asked which of these paintings ‘was superior, and which was inferior. Huang Quan took Shixun's to be superior. The Shu prince std, "Shixun's strength lies in the depiction ofthe thumb; Zhongyis strength lis in the depiction ofthe forefinger. The strength ofthe two mens’ brushes matches eachother, and itis difficult o discuss their elatve merits”. As a result he liberally rewarded both with gold and silk. Contemporaries sti that the Shu prince hed profoundly examined each man's iting v= On Sh Ke, see Alexander C.Soper, “Shih K'o andthe pi” Arn of Aton Art, SXIX, 1915-16, BP. 7-#8 5 Xwanbe bua pu ch 7:3b 25the early eighteenth century imperial compendium Peiwen zhai shu hua pu, a colophon inscribed by the Yuan dynasty artist Zhu Derun (1294~1365) on a Shi Ke painting of “Zhong Kui with his Younger Sister” is recorded.!° More recently, a handscroll attributed to Shi ke entitled, “Night Life in the Family of Zhong Kui” was published in the collection of the late Chen Rentao of Hong Kong (Fig. 25).1°5 The scroll is painted in ink and light colors on paper, and depicts Zhong Kui and his sister being entertained at night by demons. It bears the seals of the seventeenth century collector Geng Zhaozhong (1640-1686), his son Geng Jiazuo, and the late Qing Guangzhou collector Wu Rong- guang.""" Furthermore, the painting bears colophons by Zhu Derun (a different text from the colophon recorded in the Peiwen zhai shu hua pu), Chen Rentao (1906-1968), and Zhang, Dagian (1899-1983). There is some uncertainty as to the precise date of the handscroll,, and scholarly opinion has ranged from “Southern Song” (Sherman Lee) to “Early Ming, (2)” (James Cahill).1® While I have not seen the scroll (its present location is unknown), the details of brushwork in published photographs suggest a late Southern Song or early Yuan date.!?? The painting has little to do with the style or period of Shi Ke, and the signature at the beginning is spurious. If, on the other hand, the scroll can be proven to be a thirteenth or carly fourteenth century work, it would constitute one of the very few surviving early illustrations of Zhong Kui. ‘The state of Southern Tang (937-976), with its capital at the site of modern Nanjing, produced some of the most famous artists of the Five Dynasties Period. Gu Hongzhong, who worked as a daighao (“painter in attendance”) at the Southern Tang court and to whose hand is attributed the original composition of the celebrated “Night Revels of Han Xizai”” handscroll in the Peking Palace Museum,""" is recorded as having painted a handscroll in ink and colors on paper depicting “Zhong Kui Going Hunting”.'"? Gu Hongzhong’s contemporary at the Southern Tang court, Zhou Wenju, is recorded in the Xuanbe bua pu 104 Peiwen shai shu bua pa, ch. 82:20b~210. tus Chen Rentao, Jin kai cengbua ji (Hong, Kong, 1956), vol I, pl 2 ts For an excellent account of this collector, see Thomas Lawton, “Notes on Geng Zhaozheng” in The Translation of ‘Art (Rendition, No.6) (Seattle & London, 1976), pp. 144-151 17 Chen Rentao, fink canghua pingsbi (Hong Kong, 1956), pp. 5-10. 10h Pid 10 Sherman E. Lee, “The Lantern Night Excutsion of Chung Kuei", Cleland Museum of Art Bulletin, February, 1962, 42, n-6; James Cahill, An Indes of Early Chinese Pointers and Paintings: T'ang, Sun, and Yiian (Berkeley, 1980), p. 45: 110 ‘The anonymous artist worked in the style of Li Tang (c. ros -c. 1140), a8 exemplified by the later’s “The Virtuous Brothers Bo Yi and Sha Qi” in the Peking Palace Museum (published in Weng & Yang, No. 89, pp. 178-175). This is evident from the combination of detailed, fine lined brushwork inthe figures and broad, impressionistic brushwork in the rocks and foliage. The presence of deftly painted “nail-head” strokes in the figures’ clothing would suggest a thirteenth century date 1 Published in Sirén, vol IL, pls r20~t25, and Weng & Yang (in color), No. 85, pp. 60-165, 12 Wang Jie, et. al, SBigu bayi xubian (17933 Taipel reprint, 197%), p.1913. This scroll, which has disappeared, is described as follows: “Zhong Kui puts his hand on a sword and rides a mule. He leads fifteen followers [most likely {demons}, who grasp bows, strows, halberds, and shields. On their arms are falcons, and they pull along dogs and tigers.” The scroll had three colophons, respectively insetibed by the emperor Huizong (t. 1101=1126), Mi Youren (1075-1151), and Wang Kentang, (ins 1586), 26as having painted scrolls of Zhong Kui with his family and younger sister;!#9 another painting by Zhou Wenju representing the Demon Queller is recorded in Zhou Mi’s Yunyan guoyan In (c. eatly thirteenth century). Perhaps the most famous Southern Tang painter known to have portrayed Zhong Kui was Dong Yuan, who served in the post of assistant director of the imperial parks."'S Dong Yuan is especially important with respect to Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” of 1544 because he was the first artist to have painted the theme of “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove” (“Hanlin Zhong Kui”). This work is recorded in the Xuanbe bua pu, and is also mentioned in Dong Yuan’s biography in the same catalogue: “He also painted Zhong Kui, a work which particularly reveals the results of his thought”.""6 By the early sixteenth century Dong Yuan was considered one of the pillars of the literati painting tradition." While it is unknown whether Wen Zhengming (or any of the other early sixteenth century Suzhou artists) ever saw Dong Yuan’s “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove”, it is significant that the first known revival of this theme in the Ming dynasty occurred with Wen’s hanging scroll of 1535 (Fig. 17). Wen Zhengming certainly was acquainted with Dong ‘Yuan's style of painting (especially as transmitted and interpreted by such Yuan artists as ‘Zhao Mengfu and Huang Gongwang), notwithstanding Dong Qichang’s later comment, “In the Wu region there is a tradition that Shen Shitian [Shen Zhou] and Wen Hengtang [Wen Zhengming] had only seen half a scroll by Dong Yuan.##8 Fewer artists of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) are recorded as having painted Zhong Kui, and no original depictions of the Demon Queller appear to have survived from this period. The Days ghai hua pin by the Northern Song author Li Chi (1059-1109) records a painting of “Zhong Kui in the Snow” by Sun Zhiwei (d.c. 1020).!!9 Sun, who came from Pengshan in Sichuan, is known to have painted both figures and landscapes. ‘The entry on his painting in Li Chi’s catalogue reads: Zhong Kui in the Snow [He is shown] in a folded Kerchief cap and short tunic, carrying a trussed-up demon slung over his shoulder as he walks through a snow-covered forest. One might think of him as a 9 Xuanbe bua px, ch.7:2b. Zhou Wenju was a daighao atthe court of the Southern Tang ruler Li Houzhu (t. 961-975). See James Cahill, “Chou Wen-chi” in Herbere Franke, ed., Sung Bigrapbier, vol. IV (Wiesbaden, 1976), pp. 28-31 114 See note 20. NS For an excellent discussion of Dong Yuan and his art, see Barnhart, Marriage, pp-22~40 (see note 19). Dong’s biography in the Xaonbe bus pu is translated in Marriage, pp. 25-24 6 hid, p. 233 Xuanbe bua pa, ch, r1:xb~3a, Also recorded in the Xnanby bus pu are Dong Yuan paintings of “Zhong Kui on « Snowy Bank” and “Zhong Kui with his Family"; these are noted in Fong, p. 439. 507 Barnhart, Marriage pp. 41-54. 8 bid, p. 16. See also Clapp, p.9t 1 See Alexander C. Soper, “A Norther Sung Descriptive Catalogue of Paintings (The Hus P'ix of Li Chih)”, Journal of the American Oriental Secety, LXIX, no. (January ~ March, 1949), pp. 25-26; also recorded in Peiven zhai shubua (pa, ch. :22b-23a, Another Daoist composition of an immortal with two attendants by Sun Zhiwei has survived Jn the form of an ink rubbing of a stone engraving (British Museum); see Cahill, nde, p. 177 © Soper, iid 27candidate in military science who has not yet calmed down after having failed his finals; and who is so furious with the demon brood who plague mankind, therefore, that he seizes and beats them, turning his heroism into a game. ae EIT SR NTS ho ARAN ECL A SBT GR th © Another Northern Song artist, Yang Fei, is named in the Xwanbe bua pu under the category of specialists in religious painting.'2 The catalogue states that Yang at one point painted Zhong Kui, and goes on to suggest (as mentioned above) that the name “Zhong Kui” itself did not first appear in the Tang dynasty, as it had been discovered on a stone-inscribed epitaph in a Six Dynasties Period tomb. ‘More revealing than these rather terse notations are the poems that have survived as recorded colophons on Northern Song paintings of the Demon Queller. The famous bamboo painter Wen Tong (1018-1079) composed a long poetic colophon for a Zhong Kui scroll by an artist with the surname Pu." Judging from the poem’s content, the painting was a narrative handscroll depicting the deadly pranks of a small group of demons. At the end of the painting, Zhong Kui appeared and killed the offending spirits. ‘The poem is characteristic of one genre of poetry on the Zhong Kui theme. Such poems were usually appended to paintings as colophons, and described the narrative action in a meticulous and often macabre fashion. In their diction they are as vivid as the paintings themselves must have been:123 A Painting of Zhong Kui by Pasheng A cold wind, a sour wail, the moon is sad and bitter, ‘Owls flying and foxes barking everywhere among old tombs. ‘A clump of brambles and scattered rubble are veiled by wild mist, ‘The ancient shrine is peeling away among upended, withered trees. Below there ate three demons who assemble at a whistle, ‘Theie first act is to choose a house in which to ereate a perverse fever. Painful and feverish, swollen and itching, rapidly retching and vomiting, With choking throat and swollen belly; Summon a witch, summon a wizard ~ have them chant an incantation, [An old man is frightened, an old woman hastens to prepare a rival implement. With steaw tray and grass boat they establish the five roads. Rice bowls and paper money are set out in profusion, ‘Together they [the demons} gather them up, each grasping something and departing, Just at this moment they sit like lumps, sucking and feeding themselves. 121 Xuanbe bua pay ch. 4:10b-112. See Soper, Kuo Jo-bsi’s Experiences, 472, and Fong, p. 426, . 3 12 The poem is recorded in Wen Tong's collected literary works, Danynan ji (Sibu conghan ed.) ch. 19, p.171, and in Chen Bangyan, ch. G6:4b-sa (see note 72). "hid "21 The moon functions here as an 5 The “straw tray” and “grass bos cious symbol. " are shamanistic vehicles for the exorcism of the demons. 28Suddenly they gaze at each other and grow dreadfully afraid, There is a god who vigorously rides a great bull Shouting in front and pressing from behind ~ he controls two servants, This god feeds on demons, satiating himself at dawn and dusk. His belly is still hungry and he is flushed with rage, ‘The demons see him from a distance, and all become flustered. Dashing and hiding, they have no leisure to warn each other, The wine is upset, the meat falls in confused and dirty filth. ‘Their souls tremble in the air, their bodies fall flat, ‘One enters the base of a tree, going down on all fours, ‘One still grasps a wine cup, shuddering and taking a closer look, ‘One conceals himself, pivoting to spy from the comer of his eye. Fall of divine action and energy he takes them up, binding and restraining them firmly, ‘They have not gone ten steps before, dead, they enter his lips. It seems to me that after chewing and gnawing, he must be sick of their taste. How is it that I have suddenly encountered Pusheng? In painting the entire scroll, there is not one mistake, ‘Through brush and ink, that which is ugly and strange is really testifying. How is it that he has bestowed it upon me? Waving his hand, he does not take one coin in recompense. The other days, when he requested a poem, were particularly numerous, So for him I have attempted to speak about it, and tell the story. ‘ae ARI AIS © INL ARE © TRAE AT © SGA SHB © AREAS RETR © REARS © FHSAA © FRSA © SEAR SHE © weTmeRte te © ARIE PLES © ‘PATER tesa: © AE AAS LL © ALOR NDNA: © — FRR EAE © Hem BRERA © OE ET © SRR TTER © ATE AUD +9 © FRO © st CaRMPRRK 0 EKA A © ME Sama © Ae ASE © RAE B 0 Seve AER EAR © RARE ICTR © mL © HLL Fae © ‘HOREEIRIRES Hi © HFT © HT RB fe Eas a-CM © Hm LAE © RBS AIK ‘A second genre of Zhong Kui poetry is illustrated by a short poem composed by Su Che (1039-1112), the younger brother of the famous wenren artist and poet Su Shi (Su 29Dongpo).'2% Su Che was also a cousin and close friend of Wen Tong. Su’s poem is entirely different from Wen’s, however, in its more direct use of Zhong Kui as a symbol of the poet himself; specifically, as a metaphor of the old and soon-forgotten scholar:!2” Inscribed on am Old [ Painting of} Zhong Kui eee ‘The Jinan secretary's beard is now white, names © At New Year's Festival Zhong Kui has an old green jacket. a HA 0 Lifting his hands to the sky, he loves the sight of snow, ALS © Broken boots tread the ice — how pitiable he is. BR With the flowing of time, my generation is now in the grave, eee ee This sixty-sixth year belongs to this old man alone. TRG TOM © My sons and daughters cannot bear for me to leave right away, BARRE © From a silver jug, all night long, they pour out New Year's wine. FetRE REL © SUGAR © It is evident from both poems that by the eleventh century the Zhong Kui theme had become completely acceptable in poetry composed by the emerging literati. This was true regardless of whether the poems were of the highly descriptive, melodramatic type exemplified by Wen Tong’s colophon, or the more spare, melancholic gente illustrated by Su Che. In painting as well, the Zhong Kui theme had by this time moved from the domain of the court artist to a wider sphere that incorporated the literati. ‘A greater number of artists of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279) are recorded as having painted Zhong Kui. The widespread popularity of the theme is known from the fact that during New Year's festivities in the capital of Lin’an (Hangzhou), painted and printed images of both door guardians and Zhong Kui were customarily given by ‘merchants to their customers." One of the earliest Southern Song artists known to have painted the Demon Queller was Su Hanchen (active mid-twelfth century);! a hanging scroll in ink and colors on silk by Su is listed in the Shigu baoji sanbian (1816). Both Ma Yuan (active late twelfth ~ early thirteenth century) and his son Ma Lin are recorded as having painted Zhong Kui. Ma Yuan’s “Zhong Kui Playing the Qin Under the Moon” is mentioned in Wang Keyu’s Shanbuwang bua Iu (preface dated 1643), with this notation:!>1 In an old verdant cypress tree, its body bent like a table, Old Kui sits and strokes his gin ‘A demon listens to him from behind. The moon’s shadows are dim and indistinct; the realm depicted here is mysterious. The folds of Zhong Kui's clothing have the markings of wood. All 126 See Y. Shiba’s biogeaphy of Su Che in Sing Biegrapies, vol-II, pp. 882-885 (see note 115). 1 Chen Bangyan, ch, 66:4b. 1 Jacques Gemet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250-1276 (Stanford, 1962), pp. 186-187, 1 See James Cahill's biography of Su Hanchen in Sung Biographies, vol. IV, pp. 154-136. 19 Hu Jing, etal, Shign bao samba (1816; Taipei reprint, 1969), p. 1483. This scroll depicted Zhong Kui standing under a cliff with trees and grasping a bv tablet; he was accompanied by a bat (2 symbol of good fortune) over his head, and to one side was a dying demon, 1s: Wang Keyu, ch. s:13a (see note 95), This work is also recorded in Li E, Naw Song yuan bua lu (1721), ch. 7:20b. A second work by Ma Yuan entitled “Zhong Kui Moving his Household” is recorded in Li B, ch. 724b 30.of this is depicted in the /7and zSuan (clerical and seal) methods of brushwork.*8? The brushwork is wonderfully antique, and can be considered something rare. Although it has been handed down as being by Ma Yuan, it may well be by a man who has transcended beyond him. Indeed, one cannot know for sure. ‘AAC IO RAL © ENLACE 0 Hk GER © WCRI 0 FUER IVA AC 0 EER ARES o A A 0 EARS 3. LRH IE: ARACHIS» ‘Ma Lin, who like his father served as a court painter at the Southern Song capital of Lin’an during the carly thirteenth century, is also recorded to have depicted the Demon Queller.!% Unfortunately, no information other than the title of this work has survived, ‘There is, however, a poem composed by the Yuan dynasty artist Sa Dula on this painting by Ma Lin entitled “The Jinshi from Zhongnan”, which has survived. Sa Dula (born 1308; jinshi 1327) was an Uighur from Turkestan who was a painter, calligrapher, and major poet ‘of the Yuan period. An example of his landscape painting with a long poem attached on the shi tang in his calligraphy, dated 1339, is preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei." His poem written for Ma Lin’s painting reads: Ballad of the Jnsb from Zbongnan, inscribed on Ma Lin's painting of Zhong Kui, echoing Li Wafeng ‘The old sun is without light, the thunder has died, In the Jade Palace, “Xiu, xiu", cries the hidden demon. Barefoot and walking on Heaven, he treads on the dragon's tail,)% Stealthily he obtains the red lotus from out of Autumn waters.” ‘The jinshi feom Zhongnan is angry enough for the hair to raise his cap, In green robe and belt, his black boots are wide. Mouth dripping with blood, he swallows demons’ livers, With a bronzelike sound, “Bo,bo” the Autumn wind is sour. 18 A similar analogy between brushwork in a painting and styes of eligiaphic sripe appears in Gong Kai's Gastve 130) itverpton os his handsroll “Zhong Kul Tewelig” inthe Peer Gallery of Ar (Lawton, Cine {pre Pann, pa) aligraphi terms, he panting is something benween the epular script and the cursive scape. ig 20) DLE, ch shee '5UYu Janhun pap, The poem by Sa Dulas recorded in Chen Bungyan, ch. 6:32- ‘8-Thepaeing dated 1339.26 plished in Nationa Palace Moseurm Master of Chince Paitin inthe National Pate Meum (Tipe 197), 9. so The "dragon's ail” may reer to the steps of the Hanyuan Hal ofthe Daming Paice in Chang’ta, known a the “Dragon Tall Way." See Nancy Shaoman Steiahard, tal, Che Tradition! Ardea (New York, 1984), pl 1 so This ference is obscure. The “red lots” Gog ian) my symbole the objects stolen bythe demon Ku Hao; for other ser ofthis image in poetry sce Zhngwe d idan, wl 7, 243, and Morohashi Tetsuji, Doi Kew Jiten (oiyo, 1917-6), vol, p.gyy.cAutomn Waters, a fequent image in Chinese poetry, als the ile of one of the bec kown chapters ofthe Zine (ce Watson, pp. 175-19) central theme isthe reaivity of experience. ‘The pense "Autom Water so appeatin the poem by Zhou Mi insred on Qio Ving’ "Zhong Ku by Wen Zheagming, ansated above. ‘ot Meal the clement of Auruma, and th "bronzlke sound” (ong se cea the melancholy mood of Ouyang Xivs(toop-to7s) fous prose poem, Th Some of Antu (atlated by A.C Graam in yt Bitch, ey Aol Chine Eitraee rom Earl Test the Fora Cente (Sevs York, 1965, Pp. 368-69) Br‘A big demon jumps from the rafters, a small demon weeps, ‘The pig-dragon greedily chews in the Golden Room.” Until now his wrath has still not dissipated, With beard and lance bristling, he exerts both eyes. FE TRI / EE EH MOCERIE © HORTA © Rote pe © SEHR © HUET RIOR © IME ARIE © ie BELCHOCK © ORAM © PMLA © SS URAM © BORK © BBEBMA While Sa Dula’s poem gives little specific indication of the visual aspect of Ma Lin’s painting, it is important in its own right for the incorporation of the theme of the An Lushan rebellion into the Zhong Kui legend. In the Yuan dynasty such references would become more frequent in Zhong Kui poetry. Allusions to An Lushan (the “pig-dragon”), as well as to Yang Guifei (Minghuang’s favorite, who was strangled by his troops during the flight to Shu), are in this context consciously ironic. It is implied that despite Zhong, Kui’s successful eradication of the demon who had disturbed Minghuang’s sleep, Ming- huang himself still met his doom because of the living, mortal demons within the palace (An Lushan and Yang Guifei). ‘The painter Liang Kai, who worked at the Southern Song court as a daighao in the first decade of the thirteenth century, and who later worked in a Chan temple, painted two portraits of Zhong Kui."*® A Ming writer, Jiang Zhuxiao (dates unknown), composed the following poem on one of Liang Kai's paintings:** With tiger's mouth and curly whiskers, teuly one can consider it strange, Why did he not release the bound phantoms? ‘The pilfered flowers and stolen flute ~ these were completely inconsequential; How could he bear to sce the third lad [Minghuang] at the Wan Li Bridge? He I TRE © ie Te © INP REEEAKK © 19 The “pig-dragon” is An Lushan; the “Golden Room” refers to the abode of Yang Guife in the imperial palace in Chang'an (sce respectively Zbonguen da cdion, vols 8, p. 1251, and 9, p.s86). According to a text entitled Biggrapbies of the Taizhen [ Palace) (Taighen waighuon), Tang Xuanzong (Minghuang) was in the habit of feasting at night with ‘An Lushan, Once when An Lushan was sleeping in a drunken stupor, he turned into a pig with a dragon's head (a cleat portent of things to come during the An Lushan rebellion). The agitated cousters informed Minghuang of this, but he responded, “This pig-dragon — there is no such thing!” Consequently the bizarre beast was not exterminated Li E, ch. s:16b, 19b, 1 Recorded in Chen Bangyan, ch. 66:8a, The pocm is also recorded in Li B, ch. :193 32Here the poet has again combined the themes of Zhong Kui and the An Lushan rebellion: the demon who pilfered flowers and stole a flute was meaningless in contrast to the tragedy that later befell Minghuang (the “third lad”2), In the last line of the poem this is clearly articulated, for the Wan Li Bridge (“Ten Thousand Mile Bridge”) refers to a site in Sichuan. One of the few surviving images of Zhong Kui from the Southern Song dynasty (in addition to the “Shi Ke” handscroll discussed above; Fig. 25) appears in a painting in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, entitled, “Daoist Divinity of Earth Reviewing his Realm” (Fig. 24).'*# This superb work, executed in ink, colors, and gold on silk, is the right-most hanging scroll of a triptych; the other scrolls depict the Daoist Deities of Heaven and ‘Water.'45 In the scene illustrated here, the Deity of Earth rides on a horse through a landscape painted in the style of the eleventh century painter Guo Xi.!46 He is accompanied by a procession of guards and attendants. Below this procession, in the immediate foreground, Zhong Kui is shown holding a gin in its silk bag. He is followed by three grotesque demons, one of whom leads a monkey on a rope. The iconography demonstrates that by the mid-twelfth century Zhong Kui had been completely incorporated into the Orthodox Daoist pantheon, The Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) has been described as “the greatest epoch of Zhong Kui representation”,'47 and while this might be disputed were there more surviving ‘examples of Zhong Kui paintings from the Tang, Five Dynasties, and Song periods, it is true that some of the finest known depictions of the Demon Queller are from the Yuan period. The two most famous paintings are the handscrolls by Gong Kai (1222~c. 1304) in the Freer Gallery of Art (Fig. 26) and Yan Hui (active early fourteenth century) in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Fig. 27). These have been extensively discussed by Thomas Lawton, Sherman Lee, and Wai-kam Ho.'8 Both handscrolls depict Zhong Kui being carried in a procession of demons. Gong Kai’s painting portrays Zhong Kui in a sedan-chair, accompanied by his sister and a troupe of demons (Fig. 26). This celebrated painting is in ink on paper, and has appended to it Gong Kai’s original inscription and twenty-one colophons.4#? Of these, “© Io his youth Minghaang was known as che sa ang (“thie lad); see Zhong decidir, vol. 1, p.2s8 +9 The Wanls Bridge was located in southean Hayang, san in Sichuan (Shs). I appears inthe Bt line of Du Fu's (12-778) poem "The Madman” (Kuang), writen daring his eile in Shu: "My shatched hati wes ofthe Wai Bridge’. (Zhongoer de iden, v0.6, p. 1519). A viual record ofthis famous bridge appears in the Freer Gallery of [Aes anonymous twelth centucy "Painting of the River in Shs (accession 90. 16.339) 144 The seroll is currently dated tothe twelfth century, Published in color in Museum of Fine Arts, Asiatic Arti the Musca of Fine Arts, Bartow (Boston, 1983), pl. 114 (6 slo note 143) 16 All chee scrolls are published in Kojio Torta & Hsiewchi Tseng Potfeliof China Pants nthe Matta, Yin te ing Periods (Boston, 1961), ls.195-178 146 See note 144 ©" Fong, pp. 429-451. Laveton, Chimie Figae Painting, No. 55, p.142—149 (Gong Kai) forthe Cleveland Yan Hi scroll se Sherman Lee's article cited in note 134, and Eight Dynastic, No.9}, pp. 111-102 © Lawton, sid. The srl is recorded in Zhang, Chow, ingles bus fone (preface dated 1616), yow:26a, and Bian Yongyus ch. s:33a (6c note 93). Whi iti alto recorded in the Timon hen (adtionally artabuted to De Mi, 33twelve are by Yuan dynasty writers. As Lawton has shown, the subject of Gong Kai’s painting is a demon hunt. The artist’s inscription reads in part:!®? Some say that painting demons in ink is being merely playful with the brush, but that is certainly not true. This type of painting is like the most divine of the cursive seript writers among calligeaphers. There are none in the world who can write the cursive script without first excelling in the formal script. Of old those who excelled in painting demons in ink were Miao Yizhen [Song dynasty] and Zhao Qianli [Zhao Boju; died c. 1161]. Qianli’s “Ding xiang gui” is certainly extraordinary. The only pity is that itis so far removed from figure painting that people have looked upon it asa playful painting. Yizhen’s demons are very skillfully done, but his intention is vulgar. Recently, some intemperate painter depicted the Whiskered One in a field privy being approached by a porcupine, and his dishevelled sister, stick in hand, driving it away. Now what kind of painting is that? My aim in painting the “Zhongshan chuyou tu” is to wash away Yizhen’s vulgarity, so as not to destroy the pure joy of brush and ink. In calligraphic terms, the painting is something between the regular script and the cursive script. I had completed verses to go before and after the painting, but they seemed unavoidably repetitive. So now I finish the colophon by including other matters, with the purpose of saying something new. Written by Gong Kai of Huaiyin. In discussing this work, Lawton has demonstrated that Gong Kai intended to construct an analogy between the demons Zhong Kui meant to eradicate and Yang Guifei,'" and that the painting can be interpreted as a vehicle for political criticism: “On one level Gong Kai intended viewers who were loyal to the deposed Song regime to draw a parallel between Zhong Kui’s ability to expel demons and their own deeply felt concern for ridding China of foreign rule”.! ‘The theme of Zhong Kui and his sister appears to have been as popular in fourteenth century poetry as it was in painting. Tang Su (1328-1371), a poet, painter, and expert in divination and medicine, wrote this colophon to a “Portrait of Zhong Kui”:!5> Hee was one loyal ghost who could not be summoned, In a dream there was an imperial order bestowing offical robes, Although when alive he did not eaen a thousand piculs of grain, Dead, he is regularly the hero of the myriad states. His hands tear up the mountain monsters, at dawn he extinguishes demons, His spirit swallows the nation’s malicious phantoms, at night there is no howling. Once he led his little sister, riding a pair of deer, Drunk, they put on headeloths when the Autumn moon was high, IBS ATEB © FORLLABAL A © Beir © REM R A © EMER TAR © FA NERERIRHE © FEAR MBE © BREE Aa © 14s8-1525), this text has been showin by Hin-cheung Lovell robe a ater fabrication (Annatated Bibligrapty, No. 63, pp-59-60) As Lawton has shown, the order of the colophons on Gong Kai's scroll was rearranged in 2 remounting. Thich occured afer 1682 (the date of Bian Yongyu's catalogue; Lawton, p. 143). have recently discovered two more Colophons that were orginally appended to Gong Kai's painting; ehey ae by the Yuan writers Feng Zizhen (@ Hhisu; 1257-1514) and Zheng Yuanyou (gi Mingde; 2921364). The two poems, which describe Gong Kai’s Freer seroll in detail, ate recorded in Chen Bangyan, ch. 66:61-b & 5-62. %© Lawton, ibid pp. 145-145 18 hid, pas. 2 id. °5 Chen Bangyan, ch 6s. Tang Su was a close friend ofthe poet Gao Qi and the painter Xu Ben; see Qian Qianyi, Liecho tj siaoxbaan (Pekiog, 1959), PP- 190-191 34‘Yan Hui’s handscroll in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Fig. 27), entitled, “The Lantern Night Excursion of Zhong Kui”, is similar to the Gong Kai scroll in its depiction of Zhong Kui accompanied by a procession of demons."5 The scroll is painted in ink on silk and as Sherman Lee has pointed out, is a masterpiece of modeling in which the artist’s “boneless” brushwork suggests form by manipulating light and shade, “modified by rapidly brushed sharp details and accents”.155 Both this painting and that of Gong Kai reveal similar stylistic features in the representation of demons that have their counterparts in contemporary (or slightly earlier) Central Asian painting, as illustrated by a fragment of an Uighurian manuscript illumination from Khocho (Fig. 28).15° The Yan Hui scroll is recorded in Bian Yongyu’s Shigu tang shu hua buikao (1682) as having had appended colophons by Yu He (dated 1389) and Wu Kuan; these have since disappeared.157 While in both of these works Zhong Kui is depicted as a threatening deity, Gong Kai has gone a step further and portrayed the Demon Queller as a truly hideous ghoul (not, however, without a trace of humor). Mary Fong has written that these scrolls indicate a new conception of Zhong Kui that emerged in the Yuan dynasty: that of “a highly respectable court official who is accompanied by an impressive entourage of demon retainers”.15 Similar depictions, however, are recorded by earlier artists, among them Shi Ke, Gu Hongzhong, Zhou Wenju, and Ma Yuan." It is more likely that the surviving Yuan paintings were themselves based on earlier compositions that are now lost. From the available textual evidence it is clear that many of the variant modes of painting the Demon Queller in use by the Yuan dynasty had evolved by the end of the tenth century. Chen Lin (c, 1260-120), a friend and pupil of Zhao Mengfu, is the only Yuan dynasty artist recorded as having painted the theme of “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove”.!@ A hanging scroll by this title is now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Fig. 29).!6! The painting, in ink on paper, depicts Zhong Kui standing and holding his Jw tablet on a hillside next to a grove of leafless trees. It is signed along the right border, “Dade gengzi "st Sherman E. Lee, “Yen Hui: The Lantern Night Excursion of Chung K’uei", Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. XLIX (February, 1962), pp- 36-42. Another handscroll atributed to Yan Hui, in ink on paper, is illustrated in Zhong pada buba nan (Peking, 1965), pl. 63 its present location is unknown (sce Lee, pp. 42-42, . 3;also Cabill, Index, p. 359). 155 Lee, ibid, p39. "36 hid, pp. 39,42, 1. 10; Lavwton, Chinese Figare Painting, p. 142; see also James Cahil’s biogeaphy of Gong Kal in Sang Biographies, vol. IV, pp. 64-69. 557 Lee, p.41, 1.2 It is noteworthy that the Yan Hui and Gong Kai handserolls were both owned by the collector- ‘connoisseurs An Guo (1481~1534) and Gao Shiqi (1645-1704). '3* Fong, p. 431, 9 CE. Xuanbe bua pach. 7:3b (Shi Ke) and 7:2b (Zhou Wenju); Shign bagi xubian, p.1913 (Gu Hongzhong); Wang Keyu, ch. 7:4b (Ma Yuan), 0 Wang Jie, et. at., Bi Dian zbulin xxbion (1793; Taipei reprint, 1971), p.242 ‘41 Previously unpublished. The seroll is now in the jiernw collection, and mentioned in. Gagong sbubwe lx (revised and ‘ed.; Taipei, 1965), ch. 8, p. 6. Chen Lia's teacher, Zhao Mengfu (1254-1323) is recorded as having painted “Zhong Kui Going on a Hune™; this ttle appears in Du Ruliaa's Gufew ge chu bua jé(preface dated 1881), ch, 12:24, Ie is very likely, however, that this work was a copy or forgery; sce Lovell, 20.88, p. 79. 35wu yue shuo Chen Lin” (“In the reign of Dade, on the first day of the fifth month of the year gengzi (1300), Chen Lin”). The painting is badly damaged and has been both repaired and heavily overpainted. Its stylistic similarities to Wen Zhengming’s “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove” of 1535 (Fig. 17) suggest (as noted by Cahill) that it is a Ming work.62 ‘At the same time, it is conceivable that it reflects a Yuan prototype that may have come from Chen Lin’s hand, and that this in turn may have been based on Dong Yuan’s “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove”. While the popularity of the Zhong Kui theme continued unabated into the early Ming dynasty, paintings of Zhong Kui from this period are almost as rare as those from the Yuan. During the fifteenth century the theme was continued by the Zhe School master Dai Jin (1388-1462)."® A Dai Jin painting of “Zhong Kui on a Spring Morning” is recorded by the late Ming collector Wang Keyu;! another, entitled simply, “Zhong Kui”, is recorded by the Qing scholar Lu Xinyuan.'65 In addition to painting the Demon Queller, there is a record attributed to the fifteenth century court artist Shi Rui that Dai Jin painted door guardians of the type represented by Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao for his patron Mu Chen (1368-1439) in Yunnan." At least two paintings of Zhong Kui by Dai Jin have survived into the twentieth century. A hanging scroll in which the Demon Queller stands next to a willow tree, attended by a kneeling demon who holds a platter with a ruyi scepter and persimmons, was published in the 1920’s in Shanghai;!®" this scroll may correspond to that mentioned in Wang Keyu’s catalogue, as the tiny willow leaves and flowering branches among the foliage indicate that the scene takes place in early spring. A second painting by Dai Jin, entitled, “Zhong Kui Traveling at Night” (Fig. 30), is now in the Palace Museum, Peking." Here Zhong Kui is carried in a sedan-chair by four obsequious demons; a fifth holds a parasol over his head, and a sixth brings up the rear carrying Zhong Kui’s sword and gin. The figures are surrounded by a landscape with rock cliffs, a stream that flows from a cave, and a hoary, leafless tree. Most of the painting (on silk) is in ink, with blue added in Zhong Kui’s robe and red in the demons’ clothing. This, image of the Demon Queller is closely linked to those of Gong Kai’s and Yan Hui’s paintings of the preceding Yuan dynasty. While Dai Jin has added a landscape back- ground, Zhong Kui is shown as in the Yuan handscrolls as a large, glowering scholar who with his gaze alone quells the demons around him. A similar painting, also in ink and colors on silk, is in the Freer Gallery of Art (Fig. 31).!® It has been dated to the sixteenth 42 Cahill, Jade, p. 262. 1 On Dai Jin, see Cahill, Parting, pp. 45-53 vet Wang Keyu, ch. 232512 %S Lu Xinyuan, Rang gaan guoyan sx lu (1892), ch. 6:10b 1s Cahill, Parting, p-47. Barnhart, however, has suggested that this record is spurious (Tle Barnbart-Cabill- Rogers Correspondence, 1981 (Berkeley, 1982), p. 30) 6 Qin Jiongsun, ed., Yijman ghershang (Shanghai, 1914-20), vo. 7. ‘ut Previously published in Huayuan dugying, vol. 7, 00.15 (1981), p.22, and Mingdai guanting yu Zbepai buibua saanji (Peking, 1985), pl 62, color pl 8 1 Freer Gallery of Art accession 10. 11.285, 36century, and has a spurious signature of Dai Jin. Here Zhong Kui is shown riding a mule about to cross a bridge. He is accompanied by several demons (one of whom falls off the bridge into the frigid water, to the glee of his cohorts). As in the Peking Palace Museum scroll, the scene takes place at night; this is indicated by the burning candle in the lantern. A recorded example of a joint Qiu Ying - Wen Zhengming composition was a copy of Li Gonglin’s “Gathering of the Lotus Society” (‘“Lianshe tu”), executed in 1520. This hanging scroll, now lost, appears in the early Qianlong catalogue of Buddhist and Daoist paintings in the imperial collection, Bi Dian zhulin (1744). Tt was painted in ink and colors on paper, and depicted the famous gathering of Buddhist worthies (including the monk Huiyuan) at the Donglin Temple on Mount Lu in Jiangxi province in the early fifth century.” The painting was inscribed, “On an autumn day in the year gengchen [1520], Hengshan Wen Zhengming and Shizou Qiu Ying together copied Li Boshi’ ‘Lianshe tu”. According to a colophon by the Qianlong emperor, the figures were painted by Qiu and the landscape by Wen. A version of this composition in the Nanjing Museum, traditionally dated to the Song, may be a work by Qiu Ying himself" The Nanjing scroll is in ink and colors on silk, and has on the shi fang a transcription by Wen Zhengming of the Lianshe Ji by Li Chongyuan (jinsbi 1070; a cousin of Li Gonglin).2 With one pulse Spring returns, accompanied by warm air, With wind and clouds for ten thousand /i, we encounter times of peace. Today this painting summons auspicious omens, May you get what you wish cach year, may the hundred affairs be fitting. A painting in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, previously unpublished, illustrates a variation of the Zhong Kui theme as painted by an anonymous Zhe School artist of the fifteenth century (Fig, 53).1”* This hanging scroll in ink and colors on silk can be attributed to the school of Wu Wei (1459-1508), who worked at the Ming court in Peking during the reign of Chenghua.'”5 Zhong Kui is shown seated under a pine tree, accompanied by a toad and a tiger. His sword hangs from the tree. The presence of the tiger is unusual, but this beast does appear as early as the Han dynasty as a demon-eating animal. ‘The following passage, from the Lun beng by Wang Chong (27-c. 100), makes this clear:!7* 10 The painting's tile is “New Year's Auspicious Omens" (“Suichaojiazhao tu”); recorded in Zhang Zhao, etal, Shiga bagi (17455 Taiped reprint, 1971), p. 1140. One of the few other surviving paintings by Ming Xlanzong is a portrait lof Bodhidharma in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Gugorg shu bus la, ch. 5, p. 312). "0 The traveler’s hat worn by Zhong Kui in Xianzong’s painting is very likely the prototype for that in the painting attributed by Mary Fong to the Qing Shunzhi emperor (r. 1644-1661) in the William B. Pettus Collection at ‘Occidental College, Los Angeles (Fong, p. 436) 2 The Wenhua Dian (Palace of Cultured Splendor) was a hall located in the southeast corner of the Forbidden City ‘complex in Peking. During the Qing dynasty it was used for lectures on the classics given to the beit-apparent; sce Harold L. Kahn, Monarchy inthe Emperor's Fes: Image and Reality in the Cb'en lang Reign (Cambridge, 1971) p- 164 1) This bit of doggerel is characteristic of much of the poetry composed atthe imperial court on ceremonial occasions, 4 Museum of Fine Ants accession 90, 11.6171 5 Personal communication, Wu Tong. 6 Bode, p. 128 37In the midst of the eastern sea is the Dusuo [Crossing the New Year] Mountain, on which there is an enormous peach tree, which twists and cols its way over distance of three thousand Ji. Berween its branches, on the northeast, there is what is called the Gate of Demons [gui met], in and out of which pass a myriad demons. Above there are two divine beings, one called Shea Shu, the other Yu Lu. They watch and control the myriad demons, and those that are evil and harmful they seize with rush ropes and feed to tigers. This being so, the Yellow Soverciga, [Huang Di] has prepared a ritual for thei seasonal expulsion [Shi gu) in which large peachwood figures are set up. [Representations of] Shen Shu and Yu Lu, as well as of tigers, are painted ‘on gates and doors, and rush ropes are hung up, so as to waed off [evil demons] ‘The earliest dated painting of Zhong Kui by a Wu School artist is a hanging scroll (now lost) by Tang Yin (1470-1524). This scroll on silk is entitled “Zhong jinshi”. In Fang Junyi’s Mengywan shu bua In (preface dated 1875), the scroll is described as follows:!7” Old Kui stands alone, wearing a rain-hat and carrying a sword on his back. With his left hand he binds toad with a branch of bamboo, one foot [of the toad] upended. With his right hand he grasps a bu table; from his sword hang two auspicious spiders. His body [is painted] three fect tall; his beard and eyebrows angrily bristle. His energy [gi] is plentiful and his spirit complete, sufficient to hinder demons, ENTER FUN 0 FELLA ERNRE © — FRE © APRS « 6 LAA RK © Sith SR ° RIE © RALIGE © RAVER © ‘The scroll was inscribed with this poem by the artist: Holding a long whistle, Demons avoid him for a thousand J, Wearing a sword and grasping a hy, He glares angrily without ceasing, at © RBTM FARIA © RE + In the year guise of Jiang [1525], on the fll moon of the fourth month, I painted this at the Peach Blossom Hut. Sutai Tang Yin. ORR ARDEA PRTENE © BRARIEH © From Fang Junyi’s description it would appear that Tang Yin’s painting portrayed Zhong Kui in the conventional mode of the fifteenth century: as a powerful deity shown with sword and angry glare to emphasize his role as the Demon Queller. 1 Pang Junyi, Mengyuan sh us lu (preface dated 1875), cb. vo:18a-b, 38‘The professional artist Zhou Chen (c. 1450-c. 1535),!78 who was the painting teacher of both Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, painted a handscroll in ink on paper of “Zhong Kui Expelling Demons” which has survived.” The scroll depicts Zhong Kui and his sister respectively riding an ox and horse, surrounded by a procession of demons. ‘The figures move through a snowy landscape of leafless trees, streams, and cliffs. ‘The trees and their bare branches are painted in the same mode as those in the hanging scrolls by Wen Zhengming of 1535 (Fig. 17), Qiu Ying and Lu Zhi of 1544 (Fig. 1), and Wen Jia of 1549 and 15734 (Figs. 21 and 22), with proliferations of small branches and twigs executed in short, staccato brushstrokes. The painting has appended to it a long poem written by Tang. Yin, in which he praises Zhou Chen’s powers of invention. ‘The final lines of this colophon read:80 Unrolling this scroll and examining its divine and strange things, Tam touched and bow with all my heart; Recalling how Master Zhou, Harmonizes emerald greens and works with pure whites. His breast, great and vast, swallows the boundless deep, ‘That which impels his brush is his understanding of the underworld. Sketching this scroll with its painting of Nanshan, Evil phantoms are completely exterminated and Heaven and Earth are at peace. Inscribed by Tang Yin of Wu. ‘ORDA © Dae E IMR © ARTO © Fis) FS SmI © 1M AF © Hit HLL © WE LRA © cB © SBC © It is unknown whether Wen Zhengming was familiar with the Zhong Kui paintings by Tang Yin and Zhou Chen, Wen’s own painting of “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove” of 1535 differs substantially from the standard, popular images of the Demon Queller as presented in the scrolls by Tang and Zhou, as Wen Zhengming’s Zhong Kui (Fig. 17) stands alone without subservient demons or relatives. He is presented instead as a completely isolated figure in the snow. Furthermore, in contrast to the majority of earlier depictions, he is not shown as an ugly or frightening figure, but as a benign (if somewhat 18 The most thorough study to date of Zhow Chen is that by Mette Siggstedt: “Zhow Chen: The Life and Paintings of a Ming Professional Artis, Bulletin of the Maceam of Far Eastern Antguitite, No. 54 (1982) "09 The scroll is published in Siggsted, pl. 49, and Wang Shijie, Na Zhiliang, and Zhang Wanli eds, A Garland of Chinere Painting (Hong Kong, 1967), vol-IIL, pl. 13: 1-2. The scroll was briefly in the collection of the Qianlong emperor, and bears two of his seal, It was not, however, recorded in ether the Sbigu baw (1743) or the Shign basi xubion (1793). cis likely that this was because it was given by the emperor to his eleventh son, Yong Xing (1752-1823), whose seal reading, “Yi Jin zhii” appears on the painting (Siggstedt, p. 113). 1 For a somewhat different translation, see Siggstedt, pp. 112-113, 39rakish) scholar. This is a novel characterization of Zhong Kui for the Ming dynasty, although it may have been based on a much older prototype, conceivably as early as the tenth century, when Dong Yuan first depicted the theme of “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove”. In Wen Zhengming’s painting, Zhong Kui is also a symbol of the artist, and on a broader level, of all scholars who have retired from or refused service in the bureaucracy. This interpretation, discussed by Merrill and Yin, takes into account the rebus “Hanlin Zhong Kui” (“Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove”) in which the characters “Hanlin” (“Wintry Grove”) are read as their homophones “Hanlin [Academy]”.!" By showing the Demon Queller standing just outside (but not actually in) a grove of wintry trees, the artist has visually articulated the detachment of the scholar from involvement with the Hanlin Academy (where Wen Zhengming had worked in Peking) and the civil service as a whole. This perception of Zhong Kui is repeated in the scrolls by Qiu Ying and Lu Zhi (Fig. 1), and Wen Jia (Figs. 21, 22). From a survey of extant Ming dynasty depictions of the Demon Queller, it is clear that the image revived in sixteenth century Suzhou constituted a relatively short-lived variation on the more widespread image of a powerful deity surrounded by quelled demons.'8 Most surviving paintings of Zhong Kui from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries portray him with at least one demon, and often accompanied by bats and other symbols of good fortune.'# On a popular level, Zhong Kui continued to be perceived as a grotesque exorcistic god, and this is reflected in such media as dramas, novels, and mass-produced wood block prints. I would thus disagree with Mary Fong’s statement that “In the Ming dynasty, Zhong Kui appeared mostly in the old theme of the Wintry Forest, as seen in the works by Wen Zhengming, Wen Jia, and Zhang Ge”; while this was indeed an image revived by the Suzhou artists, it was not the type most widely depicted."®5 The image of Zhong Kui as a scholar standing by a grove of wintry trees, which incorporated both the traditional symbolism of trees in winter and the rebus “Hanlin”, was one that appealed to a more select group of individuals, the literati and those, like Qiu Ying, who understood and sympathized with their values. As Richard Barnhart has shown, the sense ‘of mystery projected by the wintry trees in the paintings by Wen Zhengming and the artists, in his immediate circle (as well as in such poems as that by the Northern Song literatus Wen Tong quoted above, with its “withered trees”, or é shi), had an ancient and broad range of associations:!8 181 See note 136. 2 Merril, p. 52; also Yin Dengguo, pp. 28-35, 54 89 The opposite case has been stated by Fong, p. 431 184 In addition to the paintings by Dai Jin, Tang Yin, Zhou Chen, Ming Xianzong, and the anonymous artist of the Boston sero discussed here, these include paintings by Qian Gu (1572), Li Shida (1611 and 1614), and Wu Bin (1615) (Gee Gugong shu baa ji (Peking, 1930-36), vol XXX1, Pageant, pl.6s2, and Abe Fusajiro, Sérakan kinzba, pt. IL (Osaka, 1935). pl 59). The Wu Bin painting is in the Frederick Mote Collection, Princeton, and depicts Zhong Kui with a demon attendant (unpublished). 1S See notes 183,184. Ws Richard Barnhart, Wintry Forests, Old Trees: Some Landscape Themes in Chinese Painting (New York, 1972), pp. 15-16. 40‘The identifications of personal hardship and dogged perseverance with the peculiar, harsh beauty of the winter forest had an ancient history going back at least to Confucius who had written, “Only when the year grows cold do we see that the pine and cypress do not fade” (Arthur Waley, tr., The Analects of Confucius, 1938, p. 144), to which Xunzi added, “Only when things are difficult does one see the superior man”. That is, the evergreen pine and cypress of the forest are revealed when all other trees have lost their leaves and stand desolate, and the man of virtue is revealed only when life becomes hard and he is challenged to survive. Around the theme grew a glinting, evocative aura of ghostly forces and unknown peril: “The winter forest is the land where the barbarian tribes cast the bodies of their dead” (Lang Ying, Qixiu liga, ch. 21, Biayjing); and those who lived and survived in it, like the legendary demon queller Zhong Kui, were men apart. IIL. Qin Ying and the Circle of Wen Zhengming ‘The relationships between Qiu Ying, Wen Zhengming, Wen Jia, Wang Guxiang, and Lu Zhi that emerge ftom the “Zhong Kui” scroll of 1544 serve as a focal point for a broader investigation of the connections between Qiu Ying and these and other leading Suzhou literati artists of the early sixteenth century. The New Year’s Eve party at Qiu Ying’s home which resulted in the jointly created work of painting and calligraphy was only one of a large number of such gatherings during Qiu’s lifetime. Here I will examine only a few of the more important works that document Qiu Ying’s relationship to Wen Zhengming and his circle. These are primarily paintings (and colophons), although I have included several recorded works that are now lost. ‘The relationship of Qiu Ying to Wen Zhengming can be traced back to 1517, the date of Wen’s “Goddess and Lady of the Xiang River”, a hanging scroll in ink and colors on paper in the Peking Palace Museum (Fig. 34)."*” The scroll has two inscriptions by Wen Zhengming. The first, at the top, comprises the two texts of the “Goddess of the Xiang” and the “Lady of the Xiang” poems from the Jiu Ge (the Nine Songs from the pre-Han state of Chu).*# This is followed by the date, “The twenty-second year of Zhengde, dingchou [1517]”. In the second inscription, at the lower left, Wen writes that he copied the composition from an original by Zhao Mengfu (1254-1522), at the behest of his teacher, Shen Zhou."® Of greater importance here is the colophon by Wang Zhideng (1535-1612) at the lower right. Wang was a child prodigy who was a proficient calligrapher by the age of six and an able poet by the age of ten.!% He studied calligraphy with Wen Zhengming, and his book Wyian danging zhi (preface dated 1563) is the earliest published biographical "© Previously published in Pageant, pl. or, and Y. Yonezawa & M.Kawakita, Arts of China, Volume III: Paintings in Chine Maseams (Tokyo, 1970), fontspiece and pl. 7s. The pacing is ecorded in Wu Sheng, Da gar I (preface dated 1712), ch 20:442-b. Wa Sheng’s description coreesponds to the Peking Palace Museum's painting, with the ‘exception of the transcription of Wang Zhideng's colophon, which differs slighty from the original text. This painting has been discussed in Lawton, Chinese Figare Painting, p. 65, and Siggstede, p. 28 \8 Teansated in Arthur Waley, The Nine Sorr (San Francisco, 1975), pp. 29-36. 5 Laweoa, p65 "% Wilson & Wong, pp. 123-123; se also Liu Linsheng’s biography of Wang Zhideng in Dictionary of Ming Bingraply, vol. I, pp. 1361-9365. 4usource on Qiu Ying from the sixteenth century.!! Wang’s colophon to Wen Zhengming’s painting was written in his early teens:1% In the past, when I was young, I waited upon Wen Taishi [Wen Zhengming]. In our discussions he touched upon this painting, saying that he had asked Qiu Shifu to apply to colors ‘Twice he greatly changed it, and each time he was dissatisfied. Therefore he himself applied them [the colors), in order to bestow it upon Wang Liji (Wang Chong, 1494-1533]. Now, after thirty years [from the time of the painting’s creation}, I have grasped and seen this authentic work. Indeed, the brush has the stgength to life a ding [a bronze tripod]. It is not something that the likes of Qiu Ying could even dream of. Inscribed by Wang Zhideng. DRA « BRAT ICID AEE o THEA LER Sele 0 ES EAA LIE DR © BARE) ATM oF th SEM AE A tho EAE © ‘A second colophon, by Wen Jia, is inscribed along the right border: My late father sketched this when he was just forty-eight sa. For this reason the use of the brush and the application of colors are very fine, and there is no other seroll that can imitate this. Looking back and counting to this year, there have already been sixty-two winters and summers. May those who collect this treasure it! In the sixth year of Wanli [1578], the second month, inscribed by the second son Jia, FEPISHOITETT 7 0 AONB 2A FEMME TNE 0 A Re ATOR © BAINES o MIELE © Wang Zhideng’s colophon is significant because it documents the early establishment of a relationship between Qiu Ying and Wen Zhengming. We may assume that Qiu Ying was a young man in 1517,! and was beginning his apprenticeship under the professional, artist Zhou Chen. Consequently, one should not be unduly surprised that Wen Zhengming “twice changed” Qiu’s coloring of his painting, and finally completed the scroll himself. ‘What is important is that by 1517 Qiu Ying was working jointly, if infrequently, with Wen Zhengming. This suggests that by 1517 Qiu was being exposed, through his contacts with such leading literati artists as Wen, to the highest level of contemporary wenren painting. In addition, it is possible that Qiu received instruction from Wen Zhengming concurrently with his apprenticeship to Zhou Chen. Over thirty years later, Qiu Ying borrowed the composition of Wen Zhengming’s 1517 “Goddess and Lady of the Xiang River” hanging scroll (itself a copy of Zhao Mengfu’s composition) in his own album of “Illustrations of 1 See note 196. 192 The content of Wang Zhideng’s colophon suggests that Merrill is incorrect in stating that Wang “... was a child prodigy born too late to be taught by Wen Zhengming”. (Merrill, p. 161). 3 Originally said of Wang Meng (c. 1508-1385) by Ni Zan (1301-1374); Cahill, Hill, p21. 194 fone takes Wen Zhaotong’s suggested date of 1454 for Qi Ying’s bireh, Qiu would have been twenty-four sain 1s17:if one takes Xu Bangda’s date of 1502/3, Qiu Would have been fifteen sai (see note 4o). As Siggstedt has shown, however, both dates are arbitrarily arrived at and should not be relied upon (Siggstedt, pp. 27,151, 9-46). A colophon. by Wu Kuan (1435-1504) on a handscroll atributed to Qiu Ying illustrating the story of Su Ruolan and her palindrome (Imperial Houschold Collection, Tokyo; Fig. 42), suggests that Qiu was active as a painter by 1504 42‘Traditional Texts” in the Freer Gallery of Art (Fig. 8b). One of the few paintings by Qiu Ying that reflects the direct and early influence of Wen Zhengming is a hanging scroll on paper entitled, “Relaxing in a Forest Pavilion”, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Fig. 35).!% The deft, spare brushwork and muted red, green, and ochre pigments in this work are far more characteristic of the style of Wen Zhengming than that of Zhou Chen, and the painting may conceivably reflect a phase in Qiu Ying’s career before his appren- ticeship to Zhou. It is clear from Wang Zhideng’s colophon of 1547 on Wen Zhengming’s “Goddess and Lady of the Xiang River” that his opinion of Qiu Ying was not of the highest order. This surfaces again sixteen years later in his Wyjun danging zhi: Qiu Ying, whose gf was Shifu, was from Taicang [about sixty kilometers northeast of Suzhou]. He moved his residence to the prefectural city [Suzhoul. In painting he took as his teacher Zhou Chen, but did not reach his (Zhou’s] skill. He was especially good at copying and making draft sketches on tracing paper. When he applied his brush, it could be confused with the originals. As for his moss greens, hair-thin golds, silken reds, and thread-like whites, they were delicate, exquisite, and captivatingly elegant. He had no reason to yield to the ancients. Even if he occasionally changed his methods and altered his movements [in an attempt to improve on the originals), he could not avoid painting a snake and adding feet.” RFI © AR Ac BRED o METI MTA A © AFTRA 0 SIMIC 0 1 ALO > BNR S ATR o RANTES o SWI A 0 HARA RRR A MEIEIE fe While there is little doubt that Qiu Ying studied painting with Zhou Chen, close examina- tion of Wang Zhideng’s text demonstrates that his statements cannot always be taken for granted. As Hincheung Lovell has shown, the Wjun danging zhi is not consistently reliable, and is often tainted by Wang’s own biases:1% Any reader whose hopes have been raised by Sirén’s grandiose title, The Chronicle of Sughow Painters, will be bitterly disappointed. The work is short, its scope ill-defined, the choice of painters for inclusion as well as the grading arbitrary. The discussions of different painters are too general; they are not informative on biographical matters, style, or specific paintings. This is the work of a young man written to while away the time when he was confined to bed by illness. One of the problems in relying heavily on the Wajam danging zhi (as have most later commentators on Qiu Ying) is Wang Zhideng’s statement that “Qiu Ying... was from Taicang”, an assertion made ten years after Qiu’s death, Possible evidence to the contrary appears on a fan painting in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, signed, “Nanyang 195 Previously published in Wp, p95. 1% Wang Zhideng, Waian danging ehi (preface dated 13633 Meisbu cong ed., vol.6, Is), pp. 156-157. For slightly different translations see Sirén, Vol. V, p. 209, and Young, p.11 197 As pointed out by Cahill (Parting, p. 204), this isa reference to a passage in the Zhan Guo ci; for a translation of the entire passage see J. Crump, Jr, Chan Kuo t'e (Oxford, 1979). pp. 167-168 1% Lovell, §.10, p. 108. 43Qiu Ying xie” (“Sketched by Qiu Ying of Nanyang”; Fig. 36). While it has yet to be determined whether “Nanyang” refers to the large city in Henan province or to the ancient name of an area of Tongshan county in northern Jiangsu province," it is significant that the fan painting is the only known work on which Qiu Ying inscribed a place name other than “Wau”, “Wumen”, or “Wujun” (all references to Suzhou) before his signature. Furthermore, there are no works on which Qiu Ying, or any Wu School figures other than Wang Zhideng, refer to his having come from Taicang. ‘A recorded example of a joint Qiu Ying - Wen Zhengming composition was a copy of Li Gonglin’s “Gathering of the Lotus Society” (“Lianshe tu”), executed in 1520. This hanging scroll, now lost, appears in the early Qianlong catalogue of Buddhist and Daoist paintings in the imperial collection, Bi Dian zhulin (1744): It was painted in ink and colors on paper, and depicted the famous gathering of Buddhist worthies (including the monk Huiyuan) at the Donglin Temple on Mount Lu in Jiangxi province in the early fifth century.” The painting was inscribed, “On an autumn day in the year gengchen [1520], Hengshan Wen Zhengming and Shizhou Qiu Ying together copied Li Boshi’s ‘Lianshe tu’”, According to a colophon by the Qianlong emperor, the figures were painted by Qiu and the landscape by Wen. A version of this composition in the Nanjing Museum, traditionally dated to the Song, may be a work by Qiu Ying himself.2 The Nanjing scroll is in ink and colors on silk, and has on the shi fang a transcription by Wen Zhengming of the Liansbe ji by Li Chongyuan (jinshi 1070; a cousin of Li Gonglin).2 A second copy by Qiu Ying alone of this composition has survived; it too is undated (Fig. 37). This work, also in ink and colors on silk, is signed, “Qiu Ying Shifu zhi”. Characterized by careful and meticulous brushwork, it exemplifies an early period in Qiu Ying’s career when he was beginning to copy older paintings in local collections. Two similar works that date from a correspondingly early phase (c. 1500-1520) and share distinct technical features with the copy of the “Lianshe tu” are Qiu’s copies of the famous Zhang Xuan (active c. 713-742) composition, “Palace Ladies Tuning the Lute” (Fig. 58; a Song version of this composition is in the Nelson Gallery ~ Atkins Museum, Kansas City), and a handscroll by Ren Renfa (1254-1527) depicting the Tang Daoist magician 19 Zang, Like, Zbongewo gajin diming da cdian (Taipei, 1975), p. 595. A handscroll by Qiu Ying entitled, “Thatched Hut at Nanyang” is recorded in Zhang Chou's Zhewji ri lu (c. 16208), ch.2:50a. Zhang comments that the painting is ‘detailed, and in the style of the Tang painter Li Yunhu (Li Sixun). The site depicted, however, is not specified ‘80 For examples in which Qiu Ying refers to himself as being from Wu, see “The Garden Dwelling” in the National Palace Museum (Fig. 41; “Women"); the Freer Galley’s “Landscape in the Style of Li Tang” (published in Pope & Lawton, p. 165;""Wumen” ~ see Fig. 57); the Shenyang Provincial Museum's “Red Cliff” (see note 278; "Wujun”); and the Shanghai Museum's “The Jian'ge Pass” (published in Yonezawa & Kawakita, pls. 14,72; “Wujun”), »' Young, p. 41, 68, and Siggstedt, p. 28; recorded in Zhang Zhao, eal, Bi Dian zbuli (17443 Taipel reprint, 1971), 1.263, For a fan painting of the same theme by Wen Zhengming see Edwards, No. XXXI. 20 See the discussion of this gathering by Ellen Johaston Laing in Edwards, pp. 125-127. 2 Published (in color) in Naying Bovaynan canghua (Shanghai, 1981), pl. 5 29¢ See Edwards, p. 1253 Wen Zhengming's transcription of Li Chongyuan's text isin xiao kaishu. 2 Another version of the “Lianshe tu” by Qiu Ying (a handscroll on silk) is recorded in Tao Liang, Homgdow shuguan hw baa jf (preface dated 1856), ch. 2:40b. 44Zhang Guolao in audience with Minghuang (r. 713-756; Fig. 39).2% The latter com- position probably dates originally to the late Tang dynasty; Ren Renfa’s painting, how- ever, is the earliest surviving version, and is now in the Palace Museum, Peking.” In each case Qiu Ying has copied the original in slow, careful brushwork, and has only occasionally rearranged certain elements of their compositions.2% These paintings are an antithesis to our usual image of Qiu Ying’s eeuvre, which presupposes the brilliant and fluid brushwork of a mature master. ‘The year 1527 marks the first recorded contact between Lu Zhi, Wen Jia, Wang Guxiang, and Wen Zhengming, when these artists produced a joint album of paintings at a gathering of twenty scholars for the sixtieth birthday of Yuan Zi.2” The album comprised twenty paintings of Suzhou by Chen Shun (1483-1544), Wen Jia, Wen Boren (1302-1575) and Lu Zhi, in addition to poems by the assembled guests. Wen Zhengming had just returned from his brief tenure at the Hanlin Academy in Peking" Wang 6 The Qiu Ying version of “Palace Ladies Tuning the Lute”, in the Kyoto National Museum (Ueno Collection), has been previously published in Luo Zhenys, Erchijia chine hua cam (Peking, 1918), pl.2, and Suzuki Kei, comp., CamprebensveIstrated Catalogue of Chinst Paintings, ol III Tokyo, 1983), p- 191 (4 JM 125), Por the Song version in the Nelson Gallery ~ Atkins Museum, see Eight Dywaster, No.6, pp.8-to. Laurence Sickman and Kwan 8, Wong, have demonstrated that this composition originated with Zhang Xuan (active e. 715-742), and not with Zhou Fang. (6.730 ¢-800), 8 is usually thought. The Qiu Ying scroll of Zhang Guolao in audience with Minghuang, has previously been published in Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., Fine Chinee Ceramics, Works of Art, Chinese and Japanere ‘Paintings (New York, November 19, 1983), Lot 1. A'record in Han Taibua’s Yaya tang shu ua j (preface dated 1851; ch. 3:12) of a now-lost painting affords an early glimpse of Qiu Ying copying another work by Zhao Mengfu (discussed in Lawton, Chinse Figure Piting, p.9). The scroll was signed, "Shifu Qiu Ying, copying the brush of Songxue”, and had a colophon inscribed at the top by Zhu Yunming (1460-1526): “In the spring of the fourth year (of Jiajing [2525], in the third month, while sitting at leisure in my small studio, Wang Yuandu brought Zhao Wenmin’s sketch of Laodan [Laozi] with his [Zhao’s] inscribed Huang tng jing, and visited me. I unrolled it and ‘examined it with racing heart. Then Shifu [Qiu Ying] copied it I responded by adding the text. lam ashamed that ‘one cannot compare it to Songxue's writing, which has attained Youjun’s [Wang Xizhi’] spirit” WOR NEARS AMAL A 0 TERE SRC IHC BES © FIA BL 0 HE HEM «REEMA RAS GANS © 2 Published in Yonezawa & Kawai, pl 59, and Sir, vol. VI, pls. 40-4. The Daoist magician Zhang Guolto, one of the “Eight Immortals” (Ba xin), was repted 0 be several hundred years old when he met with Minghvangs he lived on Tiao Shan in Hebei province 2 For another, later copy by Qiu Ving of a well-known composition, se his riliantbamiae painting of “Mahaprajapati and the Infant Buddha” (former Ww Han collection, published in J Tang Wade Sone Yaan Ming Qing ming thu ‘naj (Sranghsi 1943), plr49). The eviest extant version ofthis composition is that by Wang Zhenpeng (1380 =c1529) in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (published in Siren, vol. VI, p48) 2” Yahas, p.27. The album is recorded in Lu Shihua, ch q:a7a-s4b (ee note 48), While it generally agreed that in painting Lu Zhi was a student of Wen Zhengming (for example, Wilson & Wong, p13 Call, Porting, p. 2405 Chustsing Li, A Tbotand Peas and Myriad Rornr= Chinee Paintings in the Charler A Dremwaty Collection (Ascona 1574), vol, p63), Yubas goes 0 some length to counter this traditional view: “The rational assertion that Lu said painsing with Wen Zhengming is apparent based ona comment ina brief eulogy (ingyen) by Wang, Shien [1526-1390] after Lu’s death on Zh Won er Xiang men, which hasbeen taken to mean that Lu had studied with Zhu Yunming (in algraphy) and Wen Zhengming (in painting). While the consrsction yor. mom (erly, “fo travel tothe gates) is often used co characcrve a pupi-eacher relationship, the lack of any other concrete record of such an association leaves room for doubt, particularly in view ofthe fact that Wang Shizhen’s biography of Li Zhi makes no mention of his teachers. Zhu ‘Yunng’s name never appears in Lu Z's writings (oor a Lu ever mentioned by Zhu), and neither Lu nor Wen Zhengming makes any statement that implies more than a alight tequsivance between them. Yuhas, pp. 51-33) Elewhere, however, Yubas accepes without comment the adition- al view tat Lo Zhi studied poetry with Chen Shuns this s based on a statement in Zhu Yizuns early Qing anthology Of Ming poctry tht “Shoping (Ls Zhi] raved to Daofo's [Chen Shin's) gate". (Vuhas, pp. 27-28). 2 Anne Clapp in Edwards, p.6 45Guxiang, who attained the jinshi degree in 1529, studied both literature and calligraphy with Wen Zhengming as a young man.2'! In 1528 Wen wrote a poem for Wang, and later inscribed it on a painting that he gave to the younger artist"? After obtaining the jinshi, Wang Guxiang worked as an official in Peking until c.1534, when he too returned to Suzhou. ‘After 1530 the contacts between Qiu Ying, Wen Zhengming, and Wen’s friend Wang Chong (1494-1533) seem to have increased. Qiu’s teacher Zhou Chen died in or shortly after 1535, and it was in the decade of the 1530’s that Qiu established himself as a mature and successful artist.2!3 Wang Chong was the original recipient of Wen Zhengming’s “Goddess and Lady of the Xiang River” of 1517 (Fig. 34), to which Qiu Ying had initially applied the colors. In 1526 Wang had inscribed part of the text of the Xi Xiang ji (Romance of the Western Chamber) as a colophon to Qiu Ying’s illustrations of this famous drama; this painting is now in the collection of Wan-go H.C. Weng. From surviving works, it is evident that among all the Suzhou literati, Wang Chong was one of the closest to Qiu Ying. In 1529 Wang Chong’s elder brother, Wang Shou, inscribed 2 colophon to Qiu’s handscroll of “The Longevity Paradise”; this painting, a blue-and-green style landscape on silk, is now in the Eisei Bunko Foundation, Tokyo.24 ‘A work by Qiu Ying bearing colophons by Wen Zhengming, Wang Chong, and Peng Nian (1505-1566; a student of Wen Zhenming’s) is a hanging scroll on paper, the “Thatched Pavilion among Wutong Trees and Bamboo” (Fig. 40).*'5 This painting, which disappeared following World War II, has a terminus ante quem of 1533 (Wang Chong’s death date). The range in types of brushwork and the clear, well-structured composition confirm that by this date Qiu Ying had attained a mature style of his own. While the identity of the work’s original recipient is unknown, the poems by Wang Chong and Wen Zhengming suggest that it was a scholar who (like Wen himself) had retired from government service: ‘The changsbi official’s romantic spirit is left behind beneath the leaves, His glorious literary achievements glitter in perpetual seclusion. We know that on the evening when from his variegated brush flowers are born, He must travel in spirit to the time of the garden of art, ‘Wang Chong, 2 Wilson & Wong, p. 114 2 wands, No. ELV, pi 106-108 In the insertion of 1534 00 his “Scholars” Mestings The Stay by Old Trees" Wen Thengming write tha he had fist writen the pom for Wang Gusiang in 1338 Se alo Wilson & Wong, ea 2» Fong pests Cahil, Parting p. 21 On Wang Chong, sc Lis Linseng’s biography in Dictionary of Ming Biegrapby vol lk pp. 3681369 2 Dubai in Suki Kei, vol, pp. 330-331 (4 JM22-46. The scl to haseolophoos by Wa Yi (1472-1919) Wang Shimow (1936-1388 the younger brother of Wang Shihen), Chen Wanyan (hi t619), and Wang Dv Cyotit6ys). Wu ts death dc of 1519 gives Qiu Ving’ pining 2 lrmias a quem 2 Dacviusly published in 72 96 Gen Min mga fan (Tokyo, 1930), pl 277s Pageants pl 475 Sin, vol VI, pl 2 "The painting i tecorded in Shin by p33. A second verston oF this sero (on sl) i in the National Palace Mosca, Tape (MV 127) On Peng Nia, sce Liv Lisheng’s biography in Dison of Ming Brophy, vl 46In recent years you have had no dreams of entering the capital, Your talents are complete and literary abilities penetrating-dare one boast about these in vain? As long as you can write rough verses incessantly by a pool, ‘There’s no need, beyond this, for any more flowers to spring from your brush, Zhengming, The images presented in these poems resonate throughout the painting, in which a solitary scholar meditates in his studio under bamboo and wusong trees. The flowing stream evokes the pure sounds of nature, and the high mountains in the background effectively shut out the “dusty world” from this secluded valley. In 1531 Wen Zhenming inscribed a handscroll by Qiu Ying illustrating the Xiao Jing (Classic of Filial Piety). ‘The scroll is no longer extant, but is recorded in the Shigu baoji xubian2'6 In ink and colors on silk, it depicted the eighteen chapters of the text, which were themselves inscribed by Wen Zhengming on the scroll. A favorite literati theme, the Xiao Jing had been illustrated as early as the fourth century; the most famous depiction, however, was by Li Gonglin in the Northern Song dynasty.2"” Qiu’s painting was signed, “Qiu Ying, copying the brush of Li Ruzhang [an unidentified earlier artist]”. Wen signed the transcription at the end, “Written by Yanmen Wen Zhengming on the eighth day of the tenth month in the year xinmao of Jiajing [1531]”. Qiu and Wen created another joint Xiao Jing handscroll in the mid-1540°s (discussed below). A second Qiu Ying painting with a colophon by Wang Chong provides the earliest documentation of Qiu working for a specific patron, in this case the imperial censor (daiys) Wang Xianchen (gi Jingzhi). Wang was a wealthy scholar-official from Suzhou best known today for his famous garden, the Zhuozheng Yuan (Garden of the Unsuccessful Politician). This garden was painted several times by Wen Zhengming; two extant versions date from 1535 and 1551.21 Qiu Ying’s painting, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is a handscroll in ink and light colors on highly absorbent paper entitled “The Garden Dwelling” (Fig. 41). Comparison with Wen Zhengming’s album of 1535 suggests that it depicts only a small portion of Wang Xianchen’s enormous garden. The scroll is signed, “Wumen Qiu Ying zhi”. Following the painting is a colophon by Wang Chong comprising two poems and 2 short note: Du [Fu] and Wei [Yingwu] came very near to Heaven, But returned to rest by the sea’s eastern shore. A jade whisk opened the Lotus Society, Gold and sable (hat ornaments] were exchanged for wine money 26 Shigu bat seubian, p. 1043 27 Baenhart, Li Kang-lin, p. 6. 28 Respectively published in Wen Hengshan Zbuoheng Ya si bua ci, (Shanghai n.),and Roderick Whitfield, /n Parsuit of Antiquity (Princeton, 1965), pp. 9-30, 66-75. See also Clapp, pp. 43, 44 3 Previously published in pa, pl. 20; recorded in Sbigu haji sanbian,p. 1873. The painting is discussed and the Wang. Chong colophon partially translated in Cahill, Parting, p. 206: Cahill suggests thatthe colophon originally accompa nied a different painting, done for a different patron, Luc offers no evidence to support his view. See also Siggstedt, p.29, 47‘The garden dwelling leans against water and bamboo, ‘The forest pavilion overlooks hills and streams. All day long, red clouds come one after another, [As meditative minds penetrate the Supreme Mystery. ‘Togehee we share the pleasures of Wang [Zi] you (Wang Huizhi,the bohemian son of Wang Xizhi], And both get drunk in a tall bamboo grove. In the mountain's brilliance a cloud table is cleaned off, ‘The water’s luster encroaches into the painted hall Intermittently winter flowers burst forth, Like tinkling.jades are the beautiful birds’ songs. If Wangchuan (Wang Wei] had turned his thoughts to this place, How could he have longed for the hat-pins of court? These are two poems I composed for Mr. Wang Jinghzi’s Garden Dwelling. Now he has engaged the painter Qiu Shifu to depict it in a small handseroll. Jingzhi, in a leisure moment, Drought out the scroll to show me and asked me to inscribe it; so I wrote out the two poems to follow the picture. On the sixth day of the fourth month, in the summer of the year renchen of Jiajing [1532], recorded by Yayi shanren Wang Chong. HES © PASE Buk AAEM SURES te ° SR OUNCE AM aE © Weak Reh Ro ARH o BME OY AAA 0 HEAT ERI © Wang Chong’s poems are the first two from a set of four that he composed on the theme of Wang Xianchen’s garden. The poems are published as a group in the collected writings of Wang Chong, the Yayi shanren ji.2 Qiu Ying’s “Garden Dwelling” handscroll is stylistically the earliest of three versions of this composition. Other paintings by Qiu Ying that were inscribed by Wang Chong are known from both surviving works and published records. An undated handscroll attributed to Qiu illustrat- ing the story of Su Ruolan (fourth century) and her woven palindrome has colophons by Xu Chu (carly sixteenth century), Wu Kuan (1435-1504), Wang Chong, and Wen Jia (Fig. 42). Qiu Ying’s painting was itself originally appended to a portrait of Su Ruolan and a transcription of the palindrome by Guan Daosheng (1262-1319), Zhao Mengfu’s wife. The colophons by Wang Chong and Wen Jia read: Qui Shifu is skilled in painting, and his brush is not applied recklessly. In trees and rocks he has taken as his teacher Liu Songnian, in figures Wu Daozi, in palaces and dwellings Guo Zhongshu, and in landscape Li Sixun. Indeed, of all the famous masters of the Tang and Song 239 Wang Chong, Yayi shanron ji (Taipei reprint, 968), pp. 178-179. 121 The second version is also in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and is published in Wspai, pl. 136, and Cahill, Parting, pl.9s. The thitd version, in the Museum fir Ostasiatische Kunst, Betlin, is published in 73jé bijatc taikon (Tokyo, 1912), vol.X. I believe that itis a copy, ‘22 The handscroll is in the Imperial Household Collection, Tokyo; published in Suzuki Kei, vol. Ml, pp. 176-177 (4)Ms-15). 2 The portrait of Su Ruolan and the transcription of her palindrome attributed to Guan Daosheng which precede the painting attributed ro Qiu Ying in the Imperial Household Collection are unlikely to date any earlier than the sixteenth fentury (see note 222). Another version, possibly even late, isin the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University (accession no. 1931.14; personal communication, Julia Murray). 48dynasties, there are none he has not copied. In his excellence he has taken each man’s style and strong points; therefore, people treasure even half a scroll of his. Everyone who sees [Qiu’s paintings] takes them to be as precious as a jade bi. How much more so is that the case with this painting, in which he has added to and filled out [the scroll of] Guan furen? In this work, his painstaking care of execution is even more than double that of his other works. As for the boundlessness of the realm depicted, the beauty of the composition, and the delicacy of the figures, each type is fully portrayed. Is it not the case that one is secing a rarity of the universe? 1 rejoice in being able to unroll this and look at it; therefore I have made a record at the left. Yayi shanren Wang Chong. RL LAOREET 0 BEBINE o MORRET » HSH 0 KT FLT © LAUER AR ATER SEED LL— ATURE 0 MOTHER 0 MER SBE BE 0 PUI AMIR 0 URES CRE AMOTT © AOE IME o ARIE AA me AG A © ESE CP TA MLA = BARNA Ra Ae © HEEL AER © In ancient times, Ruolan’s palindrome was something everyone knew about. In the Yuan dynasty, Guan Zhongji (Guan Daosheng] illustrated it in a painting, and her five colors were lustrous. This eaused those who saw it not t0 have to bother with guesswork, as it was immediately clear to them. Now Qiu Shifu has made four paintings according {to the story], and has it not at once harmonized the machinations of her loom and shuttle? Now I record my feelings at having seen the chance joining [of Guan Daosheng’s text and Qiu’s painting]; his brush tp briliantly shines. Indeed, if one did not have Guan’s calligraphy, then how could this painting have been made? However, since Master Qiu made it, then does the calligraphy not, benefit and increase in importance? Inscribed by Maoyuan Wen Jia. ‘An example in which Qiu Ying and Wang Chong collaborated in the creation of a single work of art is a fan painting in the Vannotti Collection, Muzzano (Fig. 43).2% Qiu’s painting of a scholar seated by a bamboo grove and stream appears on the right side of the fan, while the left side is devoted to Wang Chong’s poem in sxingshu:225 Visiting « Bamboo Court in the Evening ‘The bamboo court is veiled in azure mist, In the Zhi Garden the slanting blue-greens are subtle, ‘The pine gate is enveloped in evening clouds, Autumn flowers fly past the snow-colored wall. ‘The lake’s bend resembles Xi Pond, ‘The overgrown terrace is not the Imperial Wu Park In the rich greenery dark vines grow together, As I follow fishermen and woodeutters returning home. ‘As in the case of Qiu Ying’s “Thatched Pavilion among Wutong Trees and Bamboo” (Fig. 40), this fan has a terminus ante quem of 1533. In 1539 Wen Zhengming inscribed a colophon to Qiu Ying’s handscroll “The River in Spring” (Fig. 44). This scroll on silk portrays a scholar in a pavilion overlooking a river. Qiu’s inscription at the end of the scroll includes the title, “Chun jiang tu”, written 20 would like to thank Mr, Jean-Pierre Dubose for bringing this fan to my attention. 25 This poem is not recorded in Wang Chong's Yay sbanren 226 Chen Rentao, vol. I, pl. 28; fin kad canghus pingibi, pp. 146-148. The current location of this handseroll is unknown. 49in lisbu (clerical script), followed by his signature, “Qiu Ying Shifu zhi” in Aaishu, While examples of Qiu Ying’s /ishu inscriptions are rare, they are not unknown (see, for example, the signature on the famous “Spring Morning in the Han Palace” handscroll in the National Palace Museum, Taipei”). Wen Zhengming’s colophon to “The River in Spring” comprises two long poems and the following note: In the year yihai of Jiajing [1539], on the thirteenth day of the sixth month, I was by chance avoiding the simmer heat in the Refined Cottage of the Bamboo Grove, when Shifeng Maojun set out the “Chunjiang tu” scroll painted by Qiu Shifu. It is refined and subtle, approaching the divine, He asked that I inscribe it. Accordingly, I recorded two of my compositions at the end, (On the spur of the moment, I answered his request; I really feel [my writing] is a waste, irrelevant and laughable. Zhengming BCR AR TRS 0 ABR MARS © GEE PERLITE MART © FA AEE © RAK IP IC © A RHER © PUREE © BI © From Wen’s remarks it is clear that Qiu Ying had completed the handscroll earlier. The painting is an accomplished work, and probably dates to the mid- or late 15 30°s.22 In the following year, 1540, Wen Zhengming inscribed a hanging scroll by Qiu Ying now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, of “A Pair of Thoroughbreds” (Fig. 45).2 ‘The painting depicts two horses with their Central Asian grooms, and may be a copy of an earlier work, now lost. It is executed in ink and a light orange-red wash on paper that has suffered considerable abrasion; nevertheless, it has been carefully repaired and re- mounted, The fluid brushwork is characteristic of Qiu Ying’s mature euvre. The grooms are both slightly caricaturized, and one of the horses has a startled expression. A long colophon at the top of the scroll consists of the “Tian ma fu” (“Prose-poem on the Heavenly Horse”), originally composed by the Northern Song artist Mi Fu (105 1-1107).2* Wen Zhengming concludes with a short note reading, “On the twenty-sixth day of the third month, in the spring of the year gengzi of Jiajing [1540], inscribed by Zhengming at the Tingyun guan”. During the first decade of the Qing reign of Qianlong (1736-1795) the work was the subject of a colophon-writing party at the imperial court, as the remaining space on the scroll is taken up by a colophon by the Qianlong emperor, numerous Qianlong seals, and six colophons by court officials and calligraphers.2? © Gags sb bu ch pp t8}-184, The signature is published in Signtares and Seal, vl Tl, p.6, For another sample 0 Fig sy 2 See note a6, Won Zhengming’s two poems are recorded in his collected Iterary works, Fain ji (Tape re pring, 968, vo. Tsso-t 2 The owner Mao Shifeng emns idee, Previously published in apa, pl 4ss he panting i in che National Palace Museu ion collcion Recorded in Shige arn, 189, The sane yea (0) Wen Zhengming also wrote «poem on + bise-and-green syle landscape hanging scl by Ln Zhi Yoho, p40 the pangs published in Pen, pl 6). As shown by Yas, this is he only surviving xample of a Wen Zhengmingcolophon on 4 La Zht pening 2 Shi saben, P88, 2: The sic oftals and eligaphers were Ling Shisheng (1657-1736), Wang Youjng (1695-1738), Zhang. Roost (apis tras), Qian Chenehun jin yo), it Gina 35, 1963) and Jang Pe (179-1764 30n of Fang Tings) 5°.‘The years between 1540 and 1552 mark the greatest number of contacts between Qiu Ying and the circle of Wen Zhengming. This was the final period of Qiv’s career. The majority of surviving paintings by Qiu can be dated to this phase, when his artistic powers were at their height. The year 1542 is important, because in that year Qiu executed a joint work with Wen Zhengming’s eldest son, Wen Peng (1498-1573). Wen Peng’s name appears with some frequency on Qiu’s paintings. Like Wen Jia he was of Qiv’s generation, and probably knew Qiu well before 1520. Wen Peng is known today primarily as a calligrapher who modeled his writing on that of his father. During the late Ming his calligraphy was valued even higher than that of Wen Jia.233 His inscription appears above Qiu Ying’s copy of a famous and anonymous Yuan dynasty portrait of Ni Zan (1301-1374).2 The original portrait is now in Taipei; Qiu Ying’s copy disappeared after, World War II (Fig. 46). In copying the Yuan painting Qiu omitted the landscape screen behind the platform on which Ni Zan sits, and changed most of the antique objects on the small table to the right. Otherwise, his copy faithfully follows the appearance of the original, Wen Peng’s inscription in xiao kaishu consists of Ni Zan’s tomb epitaph, and a short note reading, “In the year renyin of Jiajing [1542], written by your student, Wen Peng”. The scroll is followed by a Wen Zhengming colophon comprising Ni Zan’s eulogy, composed by the Yuan scholar Zhang Yu (1275~1348).2% Qiu Ying’s sympathetic copy of the portrait is significant, as it underscores Qiu’s awareness of and identification (however detached) with the literati traditions of the Jiangnan region as embodied in such masters as Ni Zan. In this respect Qiu’s painting is more than simply a copy of a famous ‘Yuan portrait; on another level it reflects his own self-image as an integral part of Suzhou’s cultural heritage ‘Wen Peng also inscribed a poem on a long-ignored Qiu Ying painting that bears a dated colophon by the painter and calligrapher Chen Shun (1483~1544; %/ Daofu). This painting is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and is a hanging scroll in ink and colors on silk entitled, “Playing the Konghou” (Fig. 47).257 The scroll depicts a pavilion in which a scholar listens to a woman playing a onghow (an ancient harp), while just outside a female servant keeps time with a jieban (a percussion instrument). In the foreground another servant holding a flowering branch approaches the pavilion across a stone bridge. Beyond the pavilion a stream disappears into a deep cave with stalactites, above which steep mountains 2 Merl, po 2 Previously published in Siréa, vol. VI, pl. 342B, and 74 56, pl.278. Discussed in Sirén, vol. V, p.215, and recorded in Shigu bagi snbian, p. 1816, 25 The Yuan dynasty portrait of Ni Zan is published in Cahill, Hills, pls.45-46, and National Palace Museum, Masterpieces of Chinese Portrait Painting in the National Palace Mustam (Taipei, 1973), pl 37 24 This text in inscribed on the original portrait in Taipei (See note 235). Following the Wen Zhengming colophon to (Qiu Ying’s painting is a colophon by the Qing dynasty scholar and calligrapher Wang Wenzhi (1730-802). 2 Previously published in Osvald Sirén, Chinese Paintings in American Collections (Paris & Brussels, 1927-28), volII, pl. 169, and Zhongguo mingbaa (Shanghai, 1922-40), vol.19. The painting is recorded in Wu Xiu, Qingsia gaan lanbua jupju (preface dated 1824), 26a-27b, and mentioned briefly in Laing, “Qiu Ying’s Three Patrons”, Ming Studier ‘Newsletter, vol.8 (Spring, 1979), PP. 53, 18. stand clouds tise to the top of the painting. Qiu Ying signed the work in /ishu on the right post of the pavilion. In the upper left corner is a poem inscribed by Wen Peng, followed by a note: Standing apat, tall pines come to life on cold days, ‘Among white clouds in this deep place, the thatched pavilion is spacious. Leisure feelings of satisfaction are hard to dissipate, So embrace a harp, and pluck it once again. Inscribed by Wen Peng at Yushun's Ningxing ge [Pavilion of Cold Fragrance}. Yushun was a patron of Qiu Ying named Zhou Fenglai (zi Yushun, 1523-1555), who lived in nearby Kunshan.2% Chen Shun’s colophon is written on the shi fang above the painting in his characteristically bold caosbu (cursive or “grass” script): [At the end of the year renyin of Jiajing [1542], I went by boat from my thatched cottage at Lake Chen and went to Yu Shan,2 staying there for ten days. Gazing to the south I traveled, mooring my boat to the bank under Yufeng [Jade Peak]. By a path I went to Master Zhou ‘Aiwu’s Ningxiang Dwelling © On the wall was hanging this painting; itis none other than Qiu Shifu’s brush from my home town of Wumen [Suzhou]. It is refined, subtle and particularly fine ‘One can say there is no ancient master who comes before it. Aiwu wished that I record several ‘words at the top. I have recklessly respected his instruction. Boyang shanren Chen Shun. While this is the only known example of a surviving Chen Shun colophon on a Qiu Ying painting, it is clear from his remarks that Chen was well aware of Qiu’s work, and thought highly of Qiu, Along the right silk mounting is a later colophon, written by the great late Ming painter-theoretician Dong Qichang (15 55-1636): In this painting Qiu Shifu could easily have wished to surpass Boju [Zhao Boju, active 1120-1160]. Even if Wen Taishi [Wen Zhengming] had been able to match him, he would still have had to vacate his seat [ie., take second place]. Certainly he [Wen] would have trusted ‘my words. In the tenth month of the year guimao [1603], I saw this at the Qingjian ge [Pavilion of the Clear Mirror]. Dong Qichang, On the upper left mounting is a title slip (yu chi) inscribed by Wang Shimin (1592-1680), one of the “Four Wangs” of the early Qing dynasty Orthodox School. Wang Shimin studied painting with Dong Qichang as a youth, and it is possible that he obtained the scroll directly from his teacher. Dong Qichang’s colophon is characteristic of those he wrote on a number of Qiu Ying’s paintings." While on one occasion Dong implied that 2 On Zhou Fenglai, see Laing, ibid, pp. so-s2. As both Laing (pp. 0-51) and Young (p. 23) have shown, Qiu Ying at one point painted Zhou Fenglai's retreat in Kunshan, the Liuguan tang; this painting is recorded in Wu Sheng, ch. 20:64a, and An Qi, Moytan bxiguan, supplement, ch. 6:73 2 Chen Hu (where Chen Shun lived) isin southeastern Wu xian; Yu Shan (Mount Yu) is in northwestern Changshw xian, to the north of both Suzhou and Kunshan. See Zonguo gun dimrng da cidian, pp. 866, 1059. 240 As Laing (p. 51) has shown, Aiwa was probably another hao of Zhou Fenglai. The discrepancy between Wen Peng’s reference to the “Ningxing ge” and Chen Shun’s reference to the “Ningsiang shi” is odd. Its possible that they refer to the same hal, since “xing” and “xiang” both mean “fragrant” or “fragrance”. Laing has shown that Zhou Fenglai built a number of halls in which to house his large collection of antiquities (Laing, p. 51). One of these was the Livguan tang, which Qiu Ying painted (see note 258). Young, pp. 35-36,125, 168, 52because of his meticulous technique and early death Qiu Ying was incapable of achieving greatness, it is obvious that Dong was unable to ignore Qiu’s brilliant accomplishments as an artist: “His technique was very painstaking. I am fifty years of age, and only now realize that this style of painting really cannot be learned by practice”.22 One of Qiu Ying’s best-known compositions is his illustration of “Zhao Mengfu Writing the Heart Sutra in Exchange for Tea” (Fig. 48). According to a colophon by Wen Jia dated 1543, the painting was commissioned from Qiu Ying by Zhou Fenglai in order to accompany a poem written by Zhao Mengfu in Zhou’s collection. The poem described an episode in which Zhao Mengfu transcribed the Xin Jing (Heart Sutra) for a Buddhist priest named Gong. Qiu Ying’s painting is followed by the text of the Heart Sutra transcribed on a separate piece of paper by Wen Zhengming in 1542 (Fig. 49). To this colophons were appended by Wen Peng, Wen Jia (both dated 1543), and Wang Shimou (1536-1588; Wang’s colophon dated 1584-Fig. 50).# The date of Wen Jia’s colophon comes less than five months before the New Year's Eve gathering at Qiu Ying’s home at which the “Zhong Kui” of early 1544 was painted (Fig. 1). ‘The painting by Qiu Ying, now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is in ink and colors on silk, and is signed by the artist, “Qiu Ying Shifu zhi” (Fig. 48). Is shows Zhao Mengfu sitting at a stone table opposite Gong shangren (priest Gong), as a servant-boy offers Zhao a bamboo basket of tea. Zhao has his brush lifted at the moment before he writes out the Heart Sutra. Behind the first servant a second stoops on the ground and fans a small stove heating water for the tea. A third servant, further to the left, walks with a bundle of scrolls in front of a bamboo fence that encloses a garden pavilion, The scroll ends with an empty landscape, providing an effective foil for the polite human activities, of the beginning and middle sections. Following the painting is Wen Zhengming’s transcription of the Heart Sufra in his brilliant Aaishu (Fig. 49). This short Buddhist text, part of the larger body of Prajiidparamita sutras, was translated into Chinese by Xuanzang in 649, during the reign of Tang Taizong 25 2 Dong Qichang, Hua chon shi sii Yish congian, vol. 8), section 6 (Hua yuan), p46; 80 also OsvaldSixén, Te Chinese on tbe Art of Paning (New York, 1963), p- 150. For Dong Qichang's comment onthe relationship between Qiu Ving’s early death and his at, see Sire, ibid, p.156, Young, pp. 35-36, and Siggsted, p.27. The remainder of Dong’s passage on Qiu in the Huachon si ob is wandated below 2 In the National Palace Museum's jam collection, accession no. B4s8 (KPMM 1533). A tracing copy of Qiu Ving’s painting is in the Cleveland Museum of Are; published in Eight Dynates, No. 63, pp. 204-206; Edwards, No. XXXIX, pp. 144-146: and mentioned briefly in Laing, p. 5. 24 These colophons are now in the Cleveland Museum of Art (accession no. 63.102); See note 245. The translation is based on that of Leon Hurvite in “Xuanzang (603-664) and the Heart Seriptre, in Lewis Lancaster, ed, Praitpiramita and Related Stems: Stues in Honor of Edvard Cong (Betkeley, 1977), pp. 107-108 For a second transcription ofthe Heart Sura by Wen Zhengring (dated 1542) in xingsbu sce’ Viuan dying vol. (1979), pp. 34-35 (Nanjing Museum). Ie is perhaps debatable whether Wen Zhengming’s transcriptions of this text indicate a serious interest in Buddhism on his part. Wilson & Wong (p. 12) have argued that Wen “had no interest in Buddhism...", and record a note by Wen that reads, “On the tenth ofthe thied month of the aachen year [1508] met ia the Zhudang Temple with Yaomin (Zhu Ka), Bohu [Tang Yin], and Siye [Wu Yil. Bohu and Master Gushi became involved in a question and answer dialogue about Buddhism that went on for a long time. I did fot understand it at all. I have noted this just to record my embarrassment”. 53When the Bodhisattva of Independent Vision was practicing profound prajaiparamita, he hhad an illuminating vision of the emptiness of all five aggregates [form, feeling, ideation, reaction, and consciousness), which saves from all woes and troubles. Sariputra! Visible matter is no different from Emptiness nor is Emptiness different from visible matter. Visible matter is equivalent to Emptiness, and Emptiness equivalent to visible matter. Sensation, notion, action, and cognition are also like this. Sariputra! These dharmas are marked by emptiness, neither being born nor perishing, being neither soiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. For these reasons, there is in Emptiness no visible matter, nor is there sensation, notion, action, or cognition; no eyes, ears, noses, tongues, bodies, or ideas; no sight, sound, scent, taste, touch, or doctrine, and no field of vision; nothing from nescience or its annihilation up to and including, old age and death and their annihilation; no woe, or its formulation, or its suppression or the way thereto; no gnosis or possession. Since there is nothing to be possessed, the bodhisattva mahasattva, by depending on prajtdparamita, has thought free of entrapment or obstacles; having thus nothing to fear, he separates himself from all perverse imaginings and dreamlike notions, achieving complete and final Nirvana, ‘The Buddhas of the three ages, by relying on praj- iparamita, have achieved supreme enlightenment. Therefore, know this greatly luminous ‘magical charm, this unexcelled charm, this charm that is the equal of the unequalled, that can remove all woes, that is real, not vain. I will therefore pronounce the charm of prajiiparamita Straightway he pronounced the charm, saying gate gate paragate parasamgate bodbi sraba In the twenty-first year of Jiajing, remyin [1542], on the ewenty-first day of the ninth month, inscribed in a boat at Kunshan. Zhengming. ‘The colophons to Qiu Ying’s painting by Wen Peng, Wen Jia, and Wang Shimou are in the Cleveland Museum of Art (Fig. 50). These read:246 ‘Yishao [Wang Xizhi] wrote in exchange fora flock of geese. [Su] Dongpo wrote in exchange for meat. Both episodes have become legends for a thousand years. Songxue [Zhao Mengfu] “teased” Priest Gong for tea, and the story was immediately immortalized in the poems by all the famous scholars of the time. Indeed, how could one say his humor and elegance are not equal to the ancient worthies? Unfortunately, the poetry has survived, but the writing of the sutra is lost. Yushun [Zhou Fenglai] asked my father to add the writing [of the sutra], and so here is the complete work of art. Respectfully inscribed by Wen Peng in the mid-summer of the year guinea (1543) Songxue, in exchanging tea leaves for his writing of the Prajté, had put himself in the company of Youjun [Wang Xizhi] who exchanged geese for his writing of the Huangting Jing [he Yellow Chamber Classic, or Weijing Jing, a Daoist text attributed to the Yellow Emperor], However, was this romantic and cultivated gesture really intended for such small things? Actually, he was only proud that the excellence of his calligraphy had made him worthy to be the successor of the Jin dynasty master. Since, unfortunately, his [Zhao Mengfu’s} writing [of the Heart Sutra] was already lost, my father therefore replaced it in the style of the Huangting [Jing]. In addition, Yushun asked Master Qiu Shifu to do a painting of the sutra writing story in the style of Li Longmian (Li Gonglin] at the head of the scroll. Now it would seem that the entite episode should go down in history for immortality. Respectfully recorded by Wen Jia, the eighth day of the eighth month of the year guimao [September 6, 1543] Zhou Yushun of Kunshan was a scholarly, refined connoisseur of antiquities. He had acquired the poem written by Zhao Chengzhi (Zhao Mengfu] about the exchange of tea for Zhao’s calligsaphy of the Praja sutra. But the sutra itself, also written by Zhao Mengfu, is lost 24 ‘The translation is essentially that of Wai-kam Ho in Eight Dynastic, pp. 204-205, with minor changes. Wen colophon is also discussed in Merrill, p.149. 34He therefore asked Qiu Shifu to do a painting, and had Wen Zhengzhong [Zhengming], the daizhao, add the Xin Jing in the small regular script. Both works are so excellent that even Chengzhi would certainly applaud if he should be reborn to see them. I, Shimou, had gotten this scroll from the family of Yushun, and since it was so wonderfully matched with one of the treasures in my collection, the Xin Jing written by Chengzhi for Priest Li in avingsba like the reuniting of two halves of a jade bi, I completed the scroll with several colophons written for the “tea-exchange” poem. I did this because Shifu’s painting and Zhengzhong’s calligraphy are definitely masterpieces by themselves, with absolutely no need to depend on any of the colo- pphons written for Chengzhi. Furthermore, the two sons of Zhengzhong, Shoucheng [Wen Peng] and Xiucheng (Wen Jia], have each written a colophon explaining the reasons for replacing [Zhao Mengfu’s] calligraphy. As their writings are both acceptable by high standards, I did not ‘want to throw them away. [So by separating these into two scrolls] I was able to get two works of art in one stroke. Iam quite pleased with myself; those who see this should not get suspicious because of the {missing] colophons. Inscribed by Wang Shimou in the Risun zhai, on the first day of the tenth month in the year jiasten of Wanli [1584]. These colophons tell us that Zhou Fenglai owned a poem by Zhao Mengfu that described the latter’s writing of the Heart Sutra in exchange for tea, in addition to a number of early colophons to this poem. Zhou Fenglai requested that Qiu Ying depict the scene in a painting; this was then attached to Zhao Mengfu’s poem. In 1542 Zhou (at the age of twenty sui) asked Wen Zhengming to write out the text of the sutra in kaishu, and this too ‘was appended to the scroll. In 1543, Wen Peng and Wen Jia added colophons. When, after Zhou Fenglai’s death in 1555, Wang Shimou obtained the handscroll, he split it up, attaching the Zhao Mengfu poem and its colophons to a version of Zhao’s Heart Sutra in xingsbu that he already owned. He then remounted the Qiu Ying painting, Wen Zheng- ming’s transcription of the Heart Sutra, and the colophons by Wen Peng and Wen Jia together, forming a second handscroll to which he added his own colophon in 1584. Between 1584and 1793 (the latter the year in which the Qiu Ying painting was recorded in the Shigu baoji xubiax?™), the scroll entered the palace collection (the scroll with Zhao Mengfu’s calligraphy had by this time disappeared). This probably occurred between 1745 and 1793, as the scroll is recorded in neither the Shigu baoji (1743) nor the Kangxi compen- dium, Peiven zhai shu bua pu of 1708. The Qianlong emperor cleatly enjoyed the scroll, as, there are seven of his seals on the painting itself (Fig. 48). That there are now two versions of, this handscroll (in Taipei and Cleveland; Figs. 48, 51) can be explained by the fact that Wang Shimou’s colophon is missing from the Taipei version. It is likely that either the long emperor or one of his courtiers was displeased that Wang Shimou, in “one stroke”, had already tampered with the scroll in removing the Zhao Mengfu poem and its colophons. This Wang did, as he states in his colophon now in Cleveland, in order to add Zhao Mengfu’s calligraphy to the example of Zhao’s Heart Sutra in xingshu that he already owned, Wang was obviously delighted to have been able to accomplish this, “like the reuniting of two halves of a jade b7”. Instead of having to be reminded of this (especially as Wang Shimou wrote, “I am quite pleased with myself; those who see this should not get suspicious because of the [missing] colophons”), someone in the palace during the 2 Shigu baajt xubian, pp. 2070-2071 55Qianlong reign ordered the Wang Shimou colophon removed from the scroll. Similar episodes had occurred in earlier times, as is known from a statement in Dong Qichang’s colophon to the Song dynasty copy of the “Nymph of the Lo River”, with its traditional attribution to Gu Kaizhi, in the Freer Gallery of Art: “Most of the paintings in the imperial collection have no inscriptions or colophons by earlier people, for they were cut off when they entered the palace lest they contained seditious material or disrespectful senti- ments” 28 In the case of Qiu Ying’s “Zhao Mengfu Writing the Heart Sufra in Exchange for Tea”, which was not so extreme, the cause would have been nothing more than embarrassment. Instead of simply keeping the 1543 colophons by Wen Peng and Wen Jia attached to Qiu Ying’s painting and Wen Zhengming’s Heart Suéra text, however, a tracing copy on paper was first made of the entire scroll (excluding, of course, Wang Shimou’s colophon). Whether by design or accident, the original Qiu Ying painting and Wen Zhengming’s Heart Suira transcription were then remounted with the traced copies of the colophons by Wen Peng and Wen Jia, while the traced copies of Qiu’s painting and Wen’s Heart Sutra were attached to the original colophons. ‘The first scroll (in Taipei) is that recorded in the Shigu bagji xubian of 1793. This is clear from its description in the Qianlong catalogue, which states that Qiu’s painting is on silk, and that the signature reads, “Qiu Ying Shifu 2hi”, followed by two of Qiv’s seals (Fig. 48). Furthermore, the catalogue states that Wen Zhengming’s transcription of the Heart Sutra bears two of Wen’s seals (the second is in fact a double seal reading “Zheng” and “ming”; Fig. 49). The authenticity of Wen Zhengming’s original Aaishw on the Taipei scroll is corroborated by comparison with his kaishu transcription of Lu Ji's Art of Letters (Wen Fu) in the John M.Crawford, Jr.Collection, New York, which dates to 1544-472” Significantly (and not surprisingly) Wang Shimov’s colophon of 1584 is not recorded in the imperial catalogue of 1793. Perhaps in an effort to deflect suspicion from the removal of Wang’s colophon, and the remounting of the scroll with the traced colophons of Wen ‘Zhengming’s sons, a spurious seal of the Wu School calligrapher Cai Yu, reading “Jiu kui” (Cai Yu's z/) was impressed on both Qiu’s original painting and the newly attached paper with the traced colophons (Figs. 48, 53). This too was not a new practice; similar cases in which forged collector's seals were added to “authenticate” scrolls are recorded as carly as the Northern Song dynasty.2® The “Jiu kui” seal impressions are recorded in the Shiqu bagji xubian.25' ‘The impossibility of Cai Yu’s having placed his seal on the painting and the colophon paper is obvious, as he died in 1541, two years before Wen Peng wrote his, 2 Lawton, Chinese Figure Painting, p.24, 2 Published in Wilson & Wong, No. 14, pp. 84-87; Edwards, No. XLII, pp. 154-155; Wan-go Weng, Chinese Painting and Caligraphy: A Pictorial Sarvey (New York, 1978), No.3, pp-7e-71. Wen Zhengming's transcription of the Wer Fu was written for the collector Hua Yun; for an excellent translation of this important text, see Achilles Fang, “Rhymeprose on Literature: The Wen Fu of Lu Chi (A.D. 261-303)”, Harsard Journal of Asiatic Stadis, vol. 14 (2950), pp. 327-366. 280 Ledderose, p. 47 2 Shiga baoj! xabian, p. 2071 56colophon of 1543. The identical “Jiu kui” seals on the painting and the colophon paper indicate that the two impressions are contemporary, and therefore spurious. The authenticity of the Wen Peng and Wen Jia colophons on the Cleveland handscroll (Figs. soa & b) becomes apparent on close examination and comparison with those attach- ed to the Taipei scroll (Fig. 53). (The same is true, contrariwise, of the authentic Wen Zhengming Heart Sutra in Taipei and the traced copy in Cleveland.) The characters of the Cleveland colophons not only convey greater strength of conception and execution, but also display the ranges in ink tonality which occur naturally in the process of writing, as, the brush continually loses ink and is replenished (Fig. sob). In the Taipei version, the characters are uniform in tonality, and the individual brushstrokes lack the continuity and elegance of those of the Cleveland handscroll (Fig. 53). Both features are characteristic of traced copies.2*? That the painting in Cleveland is a copy is clear from direct comparison with details of the painting on silk in Taipei (Figs. 48, 51, 51a). First, striking differences appear in the figures, most clearly in their expressions and in the occasionally discon- tinuous lines of the robes in the Cleveland scroll, which do not appear in the Taipei version (for example, along the proper right side of Zhao Mengfu’s robe, at the elbow and upper arm; Fig. 51a). Second, the increased three - dimensionality of such forms as the stone table and pines trees in the background of the Taipei painting (as opposed to the overall flatness of the same forms in the Cleveland scroll) argues forcefully for the authenticity of the painting on silk, Tracing copies were often produced in the palace studios of the eighteenth century, and were frequently impressed with copied Qianlong seals (Figs. 51, 56).25 It is not known when the Cleveland handscroll left the Forbidden City. Stylistically, Qiu Ying’s “Zhao Mengfu Writing the Heart Sutra in Exchange for Tea” (Fig. 48) is consistent with both the famous “Spring Morning in the Han Palace” hand- scroll (Fig. 54) in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,2 and Qiu’s “Playing the Konghos’” in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Fig. 47), which dates to no later than 1542 (the date of Chen Shun’s colophon). This is evident from the clear structural similarities among the figures (meticulously rendered in careful, polished brushwork, while at the same time 28 Fu, Travtr, p.9- %} Another version of this Qiu Ying painting is recorded in Chong Yi, Xuansne zhai shu bua yumu bii (1921). ‘ch. r:10a-b. Chong Yi records thatthe painting, with the tile “Zhao Songxue Writing the Hear Sutra", was painted in ink and colors on silk. The length of the sceol (“theee chi, three cum”) tallies closely with Qiu’s original painting. in Taipei, recorded in the Shigu baoji xxbian as being “three chi, four caw” in length. Chong's description also ‘corresponds to the Taipei scroll, including a note on the landscape beyond the third servant, now missing from the Cleveland scroll. Chong records the text of Wen Zhengming, and the colophons by Wen Peng, Wen Jia, and Wang Shimou. At the same time, he expresses doubts about the quality of the three colophons, asserting that the characters inscribed by Wen Peng and Wen Jia are “of the beginning class”. Coupled with the lack of any mention of the Qianlong seals which grace both the Taipei and Cleveland scroll, this suggests that Chong, was describing a third version of the scroll. That it was not the Cleveland scroll is suggested by the fact that the recorded length. approximates that of the Taipei scroll; that it was not the latter (which was stil in the Forbidden City in 1921) is suggested by the mention of Wang Shimou's colophon, which had been removed before 1793, See note 227. For a detail of the “Spring Morning in the Han Palace” published in color, see James Cabill, Chinese Painting (Geneva, 1960), p. 145. See also Cahill, Perting p. 202, and Siggstedt, p. 31. The scroll is not, as stated by Sigestedt, “signed by Xiang Yuanbian for Qiu Ying”. The signature is written by Qiu himself, and is consistent with other examples of his writing in fsb (see Fig. 44) s7lacking the brilliant spontaneity of line and calligraphic flourishes of Qiu’s work of the 1540's and early 1550's), the relationships of the figures to their backgrounds, and the handling of trees, foliage, flowers, and other landscape elements. All three scrolls were owned by Qiu Ying’s patron Zhou Fenglai (1523-1555). According to Wen Jia’s Qianshan tang shu bua ji (preface dated 1569), the “Spring Morning in the Han Palace” scroll (with its marvelous depiction of an artist at work) was originally owned by Zhou before it entered the collection of the Grand Minister Yan Song (1480-1565); the same scroll was later purchased by Qiu’s patron Xiang Yuanbian (1525-1590) T believe that these three paintings can be roughly dated to c. 15 30-1540. This necessari- ly presupposes that Zhou Fenglai was something of a child prodigy, as he would have been a mere thirteen sui in 1535. This was, however, an age of child prodigies; we have already seen evidence of this in Wang Zhideng’s precocious colophon on Wen Zhengming’s “Goddess and Lady of the Xiang River” (Fig. 34) written in his early teens. Wang Guxiang was also a child prodigy, and studied as a youth with Wen Zhengming and Wang Ao (1450-15 24).256 Xiang Yuanbian was collecting paintings and inscribing colophons by the age of fourteen svi257 Both Xiang and Zhou Fenglai were the youngest sons of wealthy families whose older members were successful officials, as has been demonstrated by Ellen Johnston Laing, ‘The prevalence of gifted talent that manifested itself at these early ages ‘was, to an extent, a function of the Jiangnan region’s affluence and the wealth of its cultural traditions. On another level, these manifestations may well have resulted from a desire (whether conscious or unconscious) to emulate such classical paragons of precocious youth, as Wang Xianzhi (344-388), who at the age of ten sui took part in and composed poetry at the Lanting (Orchid Pavilion) Gathering in A.D. 353.2 On the final day of the year guimao (January 23,1544), Wen Jia, Wang Guxiang, and Lu Zhi paid a visit to Qiu Ying at his home in Suzhou. It was during this New Year's Eve gathering that the “Zhong Kui” was completed, and the poem by Zhou Mi added in xingshu by Wen Zhengming (Fig. 1).2* This painting documents the proximity of Qiu 255 Wen Jia, Qianshan tang sbu bua ji (preface dated 1569; Meishe congshu ed), p. G2. The scroll has over fifteen seals ‘of Xiang Yuanbian impressed upon it. On Xiang, see Laing, pp. 49, 52. 2% Wilson & Wong, pp. 113-114. 251 This is documented by a colophon written by Xiang in r540 on s hanging scroll by Tang Yin, now in the Shanghai Museum; the painting is published in Sbongbai Bawxyuan cangbus (Shanghai, 1939), pls3- Qiu Ying is recorded as having painted a portrait of Xiang on silk; this is recorded in Gao Shigi's finger xiao xia lw (1693), ch. 3600 (Gee also Siggstedt, p. 51, and Young, p. 28. 254 Laing, p32 2 Ledderose, p14 200 See section I. The year 1543 (qrimae) had witnessed the creation of a joint album by Wen Zhengming, Wen Jia and Wang Gusiang (in addition to three other artists) for the eightith birthday of Gu Muxu (Mezil, p25, 0.28). 2H As described in section 1, the “Zhong Kui scroll was a joine work by Qiu Ying and Lu Zhi (Fig 1)- Only two other joint works attributed to Qiu and Lu are known. The first is a forgery of the lat seventeenth or early eighteenth ‘century; published in Luo Zhenyu, pl. 8, and Kokks, vol. 254, p. 10. The second is a now-lost portrait of Tang Yin, painted by Qiu with a landscape background by Lu Zhi; recorded in Hu Jitang, Bixiae xaan stu ua I (preface dated 1859), ch righ. The “Landscape with Scholar” listed by Sirén (Chinese Pentng, vol. VIL . 174) 282 joint painting by Qiu Ying and Tang Yin is in fact an early handscroll by Qiu mounted with «separate handseroll by Tang dated 1515. Both works were executed for one man, 2 cerain Yuncha. The paintings are published in Zbonggwe minghua ji 58Ying to these scholars in a more concrete way than any other known record.2® ‘The next dated reference to Qiu Ying from the 1540's consists of Wen Zhengming’s colophon to Qiv’s illustrations of the Xiao Jing (Classic of Filial Piety), now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Fig. 11) Qiu’s handscroll in ink and colors on silk portrays the eighteen chapters of the Xiao Jing, with accompanying sections of the text inscribed beneath each scene by Wen Zhengming. Neither the painting nor the inscription are signed, although two of Wen’s seals follow the final portion of the text. Wen’s colophon is written in xingshu on a separate paper following the painting: ‘This handscroll is none other than that which Shifu copied from Wang Zizheng’s brush. ‘The figures are clear and dignified, the trees and rocks are accomplished and elegant, the pavilions ate dignified and majestic. Inthe painting these three perfections are all obtained. Elder brother Guoguang treasures it and has collected it. He has set it out and shown it ro me three times. I have accordingly experienced its purpose in my heart and have recorded the Xiao Jing ‘once through for him. I only know the honor of receiving his command; I have forgotten about the ridicule of following Diao [Chan].2 In the yeat bingo of Jiajing [1546], in the seventh month, written by Zhengming, SETH IM REF TERE 0 AMO © BEER ERM Meh HBR IEDR © RITZ © MMT AS o FR OMIT © MRM o HAT MLA © AGLI © BPLARPT — ARLE » RBA © This is the second Xiao Jing handscroll that Qiu Ying painted which had the text inscribed by Wen Zhengming; the earlier one was dated 1531, and was recorded in the Shigu baoji ubian207 (Shanghai, 1905), vol- I, p. 2. The seroll has appended colophons by Wen Zhengming and Wen Peng; while aither is dated, Wen Peng's mentions thatthe two paintings were mounted together by the owner in 1339. I is possible (although this is not stated) that Qiu Ying’s painting aso dates to 1515, If true this would explain is stylistically cstly appearance. There is tle literary evidence on the relationship between Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, even though both were students of Zhou Chen. It is likely, however, that they knew each other; Tang died in 152. See also Wap, 536 2 Re Seton 1. The date ofthis painting provides an exception ro Yuh’ statement that “No dated printings by Lu Zhi have survived from the six years between ‘Clearing Skies over Mountains and Valleys’ of 1541 and the hanging scroll ‘Gathering Herbs’ of 1547 in the Vannowi Collection”. (Yubas, p.9). That the New Years Eve gathering 3t Qiu Ying’s house had both an artistic and social significance for the artists involved is cleasy articulated in Wen Jia’ poignant colophon of 1574 00 the “Zhong Kui” scroll, writen when he once aguin saw the painting t Huang Shunshi's home and reminisced on the meeting thy years carler. Of the participants in that evening's celebrations in 1344, all had died by 1574 except Wen Jia and Iu Zhi. As Merril has shown, Wen Jia was “associated in documented works with Lu Zhi eighe times, and with Wang Goxiang si times". (Meri, p. 139) Previously published in Wapa, pl. 153. Recorded in Sbign ba senbian, pp. 3099-31005 see also Gagong sb bul, ch 2, ‘pp. 297-298. The scroll has a colophon by Chen Jira (1558-1659); see Sigastedt, p29 24 Wang Zisheng (Wang Duan) was a late eleventh ~ easly twelfth century Song painter from Shandong province. He specialized in lowers, bamboo, and landscapes (in which he followed che tye ofthe early tenth century punter Guan Tong); se Yu Jianhua, p. 131 % Guoguang is unidentified. % Wen Zhengming’s statement refers tothe late Fasten Han dyrasty courtesan Diao Chan, mistress of the warlord Dong Zhuo. By comparing himself to “one who follows Diao”, Wen is being self-deprecating, since such a person was likened toa “dog tail ona sable” See Zbonguer de iden, vol8, pp. 1268-1269; also Herbert A. Giles, A Chinese Biographical Dictionary (London, 1858), 00.1915, p-726 2 See note 216 59.From 1547 comes one of the only surviving works dated by Qiu Ying’s own inscrip- tion. While it has no direct connection with the artistic circle of Wen Zhengming, it is an important document of Qiu’s relationship to one of his key patrons, Xiang Yuanbian. This is a hanging scroll entitled, “Narcissus and December Plum” (Fig. 55).2° Qiu’s inscription, written at the lower right, reads, “In the second month of winter of the year dinguei of the Ming Jiajing reign (1547), Qiu Ying Shifu made this for Molin”. “Molin” was the hao of Xiang Yuanbian, who in 1547 was twenty-three sui, This work is one of the very few surviving flower paintings by Qiu Ying, and may have been directly inspired by a Southern Song handscroll of narcissus by Zhao Mengjian (1199-c. 1267) in Xiang’s collection.2° A very fine tracing copy of Qiu Ying’s painting is in the Freer Gallery of Art (Fig. 56)27! Like the version of Qiu’s “Zhao Mengfu Writing the Heart Sutra in Exchange for Tea” in the Cleveland Museum of Art, it was most likely produced in a palace studio during the Qianlong period; it bears twelve spurious Qianlong seals and a forged Qianlong colophon. According to a colophon by Xiang Shengbiao (Xiang Yuanbian’s grandson) on Qiu Ying’s “Hunting on an Autumn Plain” in the Shanghai Museum, the Xiang family eventually came to own “about one hundred works” by Qiu Ying?” It is likely that many of these were purchased after Qiu Ying’s death in 1552 or early 1553; therefore the presence of Xiang’s seals on a Qiu Ying painting does not necessarily indicate that the work was originally commissioned by Xiang.? 20 Previously published in Wupai, p13; see also Siggstedt,p. 51. From the same year (1547) dates an album of six landscapes after Song and Yuan masters, also painted for Xiang Yuunbian (Wei, pl. 12, pp. 234-253). The leaves have traces of poems (possibly inscribed by Qiu Ying) along the right borders, but previous cropping and remounting has rendered them largely illegible. Xiang Yuanbian’s inscription, on a separate leaf, reads, “In these six scenes in Song and Yuan styles, Qi Ying Shifa copied famous brushes of antiquity, and Molin Xiang Yuanbian takes pleasure in them. In the spring of the twenty-sixth year of Jiang [1547] these were copied at the Boya tang, and inthe spring ofthe year gengow of the Longging reign [+572] they were mounted”. (Wxpe, p. 294). See also Young, p.38, Cahill, Parting, p.20%, and Siggstedt, pp. 30-31 “Another isa hanging sro ia ink and light colors on paper depicting orchids, witha a quateain inscribed on the painting in xing by Wen Zhengming. Previously in the colletion of Jiang Esshi, itis published in Max Loche, The Great Panter of China (New York, 1980), pl. 156, and in color in Cheistie, Manson & Woods International, Ine. (New York), Fine Chinese Ceramics, Painting and Works of Art (Friday, June 24,1983), Lot 666. A paicing ina related szyle to the National Palace Museum's “Narcissus and December Plum” is a painting of a duck on a iver bank in the Yamaguchi Collection, Japan; see Suzuki Kei, vo. IV, +JP 34-60. Zhong minghna (Shanghai, 1925), vol. 25. A version ofthis composition i in the Freee Gallery of Art (accession 10. 33.8 Freer Galery of Art aczesion no 6.26, Chill ngs thatthe Freer veson athe ad the National Palace Museum version a copy (Parting, p. 201 and p. 262,14) I have examined both versions and believe the National Palace Muscum scroll to be the original. A third version isin the Shanghai Museum (Siggstedt,p. 152, 0.74). 72 Laing, p.49; Young, pp. 27-28. The remark i ecorded in Wu Sheng, Da gear I (1710), ch. 20:61b. Like the “Spring, Morning in the Han Palace” handscrol in the National Palace Museum, Taipei Fig 54), Qiu Ying’s “Hunting on an Autumn Plain” in the Shanghai Museum was owned by Zhou Fengla before entering the collection of Xiang YYoanbian, a it bears a rectangular seal reading, “Ningxiang ge" (Zhou Fengla’'s hall in which Chen Shun saw Qiu's “Playing the Konglon” (Fig. 7) in 1342). There is no evidence that as stated by Cahill, Qiu painted “hundreds of paintings” for Xiang Yuanbian (Parting, . 201. = Por example, the "Spring Morning in che Han Palace” handsceollin Taped (Fig. 4), which was frst owned by Zhou Feng; see notes 227,255,272 ¥ 8 60In 1547 Lu Zhi attended a celebration of the Lantern Festival at the home of Wen Zhengming.?* Along with the record of Lu Zhi’s meeting with Wen Jia and Wen Zhengming contained in Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” of 1544, this suggests that during the 1540's Lu Zhi maintained a rapport with Wen’s family. In the ninth lunar month of 1547 the painter-calligrapher Zhou Tiangiu (1514-1595) inscribed a title on the yin show of Qiu Ying’s handscroll, “A Beauty-Thoughts of Spring”.2"5 This painting on paper is now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. It is followed by thirteen poetic colophons by early sixteenth century Suzhou literati, among them Lu Zhi, Wen Jia, Wen Peng, and Wen Boren, The colophons may have been written at the same time as Zhou Tiangiu’s inscription of the title (“Meiren chunsi”), at a celebration of the Double Ninth Festival in 1547. Zhou Tiangiu was the key figure in the compilation of the Freer Gallery of Art's, “Illustrations of Traditional Texts Written by Six Ming Calligraphers” (Fig. 8), as Zhou’s colophon of 1574 to the album states that he asked Qiu Ying to illusteate the six texts that, he had collected.2% Zhou inscribed many other works by Qiu, beginning as early as the 153078277 One of Qiu Ying’s finest works in the literati mode (and with an unequivocally literati theme) from the late 1540’s is the short handscroll on silk illustrating Su Shi’s Prose-poem on the Red Cliff, in the Liaoning Provincial Museum, Shenyang,” This painting is the only surviving depiction of this theme from Qiu’s ceuvre. The title is inscribed on the yin show by Wen Zhengming in fishy. Attached to the scroll are transcriptions of the First Prose-poem on the Red Cliff by Peng Nian (dated 1548) and Wen Peng (dated 1549), and of the Second Prose-poem on the Red Cliff by Wen Jia (dated 1549) and Zhou Tiangiv. There can be no doubt from evidence such as this that the leading literati of mid-sixteenth century Suzhou saw in Qiu Ying’s painting more than the work of a gifted craftsman. By appending their own masterfully inscribed colophons to the scroll, they paid direct homage to both the time-honored Red Cliff theme and to Qiu Ying’s painting. One of Qiu Ying’s most important paintings, because of its documentation, is the “Tribute Bearers” (current location unknown). It has colophons by Wen Zhengming and Peng Nian, and the latter contains critical evidence for the approximate determination 4 Yuhas, p. 40, n.525 recorded in Shigu baji xabian, p. 2820. 5 The scroll is briefly discussed in Yubas, p.219; Wen Jia’s poem is translated in Merrill, p. 385. Qiu Ying’s sero is recorded in Shigu bagi sanbian, pp. 1874-1875. 26 See note 16. 27 See, for example, Fig. 59 illustrated in Dubosc, fig. 2). The theme of Qiu Ying’s painting is mistakenly identified ‘by Dubose as the filial daughter Cao E (by comparison with the similat composition of the leaf depicting Cao E in the Freer Gallery's baimizo album, illustrated in Lawton, Chinexe Figure Painting, p. 63). Instead, as Zhow Tiangiu's poem inscribed at the center of the fan makes clear, the theme is the Moon Goddess, Chang E (as Zhou refers to the Guang Han Palace in which Chang E resides on the moon). The fan can be dated to the 15305 by the stylistic similarities to Qiu Ying’s “The Garden Dwelling” in the National Palace Museum (Fig. 42), which has a colophon by Wang Chong dated 1552. Qiu Ying’s fan depicting Chang E is now in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. 2 Published in Liaoning sheng Bownguan canghaa ji (Peking, 1962), vol. 2, pl. 32; recorded in Shign bai sanbian, p. 3100-3101 1° The seroll was formerly in the collection of C.C. Wang. It is recorded in Wu Sheng, ch. 20:492-sob, and discussed in Sirén, vol. V, pp. 209-210, and Young, pp. 24, 34. 6of Qiu Ying’s death date. ‘The painting is in ink and colors on silk, and depicts the offering of tribute by emissaries of thirteen foreign states to the Tang court. As Wen Zhengming points out in his colophon, Qiu’s painting was a copy of a monochrome handscroll by the early Southern Song painter Wu Kewen (active c. 1130-1160). At the end of the scroll is Qiu’s signature: “Qiu Ying Shifu made this for Huaiyun xiansheng”. “Huaiyun” was the /ao of Chen Guan, another of Qiu’s major patrons. A title by the Suzhou calligrapher Xu Chu is inscribed on the yin shou. Wen Zhengming’s colophon reads: In antiquity, Yan Shigu [581-645], in the fourth year of the Zhen’ guan era [630], petitioned the throne [with the aim of] painting the “Assembly of Princes” in order to witness the abundance of foreigners in procession submitting tribute. From this point on {the theme] was continually painted without end, and came to be called the “Tribute Beaters”. This has been recorded in the Xaanbe bua pa. Ihave seen that Zhang Yanyuan’s { Lidai} Minghua ji has a record of Liang Yuandi’s excellent painting on the theme of the foreiga states coming to offer tribute.2*? Indeed, in the past he did paint the “Tribute Bearers”, arranging them in their proper order. "The Zhen’ guan gongs bua lu records three paintings of the “Tribute Bearers” painted by the Chen dynasty artist Jiang Sengbao [557-587]. Thus I know that the appearance [of this theme] did rnot happen in one day. Recently I saw the “Tribute Bearers of the Various Foreign States” painted by Wu Kewen [active ¢. 1130-1160] In fact it is a monochrome painting, and is the scroll that Qiu Shifu has copied. Now while the origin [of Qiu’s painting] lies in Kewen’s painting, [Qiu Ying’s] is multi-colored. I have seen its strange forms and bizarre shapes; he has profoundly grasped the subtlety of the Tartar prince Li Zanhua.2 [In contrast,] Kewen is "unworthy of praise. On the sixteenth day of the ninth month of the year rengi [October 3,15 52], inscribed at the Jade Chime Mountain Dwelling. Zhengming. Peng Nian’s colophon consists of two parts, a long note and a poem that culogizes the painting. The note reads: ‘To the right i the painting of “Tribute Bearers” by Shizhou, Master Qiu Shifu. Shifo’s given name was Ying. He was a man of Wu. When he was young his teacher was Dongcun Zhou Chen; he [Qiu] exhaustively obtained his method. Moreover, he was excellent at copying. When Dongeun died, [Qiu] was without rival in Jiangnan for twenty years, but now nothing further can be obtained from him. This handscroll was painted in the house of master Chen, who is called Huaiyun, Master Chen’s given name was Guan, and he was from Changzhou [Suzhou]. For his benefit he boarded [Qiu} at his mountain pavilion repeatedly for several winters and summers. ‘There he was not hurried or forced; hence, he was able to make complete use of the skill of his mind’s inventions, which were refined, subtle, and beautiful, with fully conceived ideas. Al- though the men of the different nations are foreign, they have been examined according to the [various] nations’ records, and in the end nothing is disregarded or in error. In his ability he surpassed the men of antiquity. Master Heng Taishi (Wen Zhengming) has discussed this in 29 See notes 1, 194. 2 On Chen Guan, see Laing, pp. 49-50. 22 A handecroll ofthis ttle attributed eo Xiao Yi, the fist Liang dynasty emperor (Liang Yuandi), is published in Wen Wa, 1960/7, pl. 2 On Wu Kewen, see Yu fianhua, p. 537. 24 On Li Zanhua (899-957), see Lawton, Chinese Figure Painting, No. 46, pp. 182-184. 25 Fora slighty different translation see Sirén, vol. V, pp. 209-210; | have taken into account the corrections made by Laing, p. 4g. The sceoll is also discussed in Young, pp. 24,34, and Siggstedt, p. so. 62detail above. Thus, were there not those who loved antiquity sincerely like Master Chen, how could we have so easily obtained this? From what I have seen, in setting out their ideas, painters in some cases hold up the past in order to correct the present, and in other cases avail themselves of what is near in order to encompass that which is far away. All of those who have attained strength and skill in art do not make empty things. If Shizhou had held his brush at the Gold Horse Gate [the Hanlin Academy] and seen with his own eyes the hundred foreigners in procession submitting tribute at the imperial court, that which he painted would have surpassed even this! As pointed out by Xu Bangda, the date of Peng Nian’s colophon (corresponding to December 16, 1552 — January 13, 15333 written after his poem culogizing the painting) and the statement that “... now nothing further can be obtained from him” indicates that Qiu had died since the date of Peng Nian’s inscription of the Luoshen Fu text in the Freer Gallery's baimiao album on August 8, 1551.27 It is even more likely that Qiu Ying died between the date of Wen Zhengming’s colophon to the “Tribute Bearers” scroll (October 3, 1552) and the last possible date of Peng Nian’s colophon (January 13, 1553), since Wen makes no mention of Qiu’s death. Indeed, the tone of Wen’s reference to Qiu lacks any indication that the latter had just died, which would be most unusual if he had. Peng Nian’s colophon also provides important information about Qiu Ying’s patron Chen Guan, whom he states, “... boarded him at his mountain pavilion repeatedly for several winters and summers”.268 After Qiu Ying’s death his paintings continued to be collected and inscribed by his friends among the Suzhou literati. A hanging scroll by Qiu in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, entitled, “Horse and Groom” (Fig. 7), is particularly significant in light of the “Zhong Kui” of 1544.2 Inscribed above the painting on the shi fang are colophons by Wang Guxiang and Lu Zhi, the two artists with whom Wen Jia visited Qiu Ying’s house on the lunar New Year's Eve corresponding to January 23,1544. Wang Guxiang’s colophon is dated to the tenth lunar month of 1553, nearly ten years after the gathering at Qiu’s home. The brushwork of Qiu’s painting in Boston is even more sophisticated than that of the “Two Thoroughbreds” of 1540 (Fig. 45), and it may be a later work. Painted in ink, with light tonalities of ochre wash in the horse, the hanging scroll reveals the fluid brushwork of Qiu’s late work. This is apparent in the dry and supple outlines of both horse and groom, and the exceedingly fine brushstrokes of the groom’s beard and the horse’s mane and tail. The same brushwork characterizes Qiu Ying’s “Zhong Kui” of 1544 (Fig. 1) and the undated portrait of Zhu Cunli (Fig. 6). Wang Guxiang’s colophon reads: 2 Sicén (ibid) tanslates this passage a follows: “the intentions ofthe punters in making such works ae either to holdup ansigulty a cortection tothe present rime orto transit the customs oftheir own time 1 the Fotare™ 2 See notes 1194 38 See note 281 2 Previously published inthe Boston Museum of Fine Are Porfl, vol Ip. 7, and discussed in Sté, vo. V,p-213 ‘The seroll ie recorded in Pan Zhengwel, ingen lo bn bi (x un) (O94, Mes cog ed) ch. > pp. S65-372- ‘Thin painting bears collector’ seals of Li Geng (aly eighteenth century), Ye Mengloag (1774-1832), i Zooxan (cid-ninetenth century), Pan Zhengwel (1791-1830), and He Yuanyu (1840-afer 187), Both tis painting and the Freer Gallery's “Landscape inthe Syl of Li Tang” (ee note 200) were owned by Ye Menglog; both works ltr pased into the colectioa of Li Zuovian 63In the past I have seen Zhao Songxue’s (Zhao Mengfu’s) painting, “Judging the Horse” [Xiang ma tu) In its use of ink and the application of colors, itis totally modeled on the Tang tastes, Now Iam also able to see Qiu Shifu’s copy. Although the use ofthe brosh is slighty tote delicate, and the appearance and spirit resonance ate somewhat weaker, one can say that he has collaborated with the ancients. Shangzhi [Yuan Jiong}™ broughe it on a visit to my mountain stadio and asked me to inscribe it. This I have recklesly done ina careless manner. Insribed by Wang Guxiang inthe winter ofthe year auch, on the twenty-second ofthe tench month [November 27,1553} FB LADO ATI 9 FABRE SAT A 9 SLAB NLU 0 (ELE (ei EMR ARS PR AI © WI RRIL A AeA 21 LT oi SE © SORBATE RR 0 ERE Lu Zhi’s colophon reads: Painters who excel in scenery are easy to copy; those who excel in spiritual vigor [ie., figures] ate difficult to match. I have not seen Songxue’s “Xiang ma tu”, but I have been able to see Qiu Shizhou’s copy. Only then did I understand that Shizhou in fact first placed Songxue in his breast, and then in wetting his brush to transmit the spirit, gave particular expression t0 the depiction of what was in his breast and nothing more. If one were not the right man for this, how could one easily study the steps involved? Baoshan Lu Zhi WELDER 0 HEM ELLEN © RERMIM © FRAGA © TG SLL © Fat HI eA HLS Woes OS ORATOR © ASS AST S BATA» LLIB © These colophons, written by two artists who knew Qiu Ying well and were familiar with his work, ate important for their frank, informed appraisals of the painting, and the information that the model was a work by Zhao Mengfu. Lu Zhi’s remarks on Qiu Ying’s spiritual identification with Zhao Mengfu are especially noteworthy. Qiu Ying often took Zhao as his model, and continued to do so into the final decade of his life. ‘That Lu Zhi, Wang Guxiang, and Wen Jia were themselves close friends is suggested by surviving paintings and recorded inscriptions. In addition to the gatherings and joint projects in which either two or all three were involved in 1527, 1543, 1544, 1547, 1550 and 1553,2% Wen Jia inscribed a poem on Wang Guxiang’s undated painting of “Spring Fledglings” (along with Peng Nian and Zhou Tiangiu), and Lu Zhi inscribed a poem on. Wang Guxiang’s “Plum Blossoms”. In 1555 Lu Zhi attended a celebration of the Day of Man (Ren i) at the residence of Zhang Xianyi (the brother of Zhang Fengyi) along with Wen Zhengming, Wen Jia, Wen Peng, and Peng Nian.2 In the same year Wen Jia 2 On Yuan Jiong, see Mertll, p26, and Yu Jianhua, pp. 761-762. 2 See notes 205, 60, 274. In 1550 Wang Gusiang and Wen Jia inseribed poems on Wen Zhengming’s “Old Cypress ‘and Rock” in the Nelson Gallery ~ Atkins Museum (Eight Dyastts, No. 175). 272 Mertill, pp. 158-159 and Yubhas, p.219, Lu Zhi's poem on Wang Guxiang’s “Plum Blossoms” is recorded in Yu Fengging, Yasbi sh bus tba ji (postscript dated 1633), ch. 11:23-3b. Wang Guxiang’s painting also bore colophons by (among others) Wen Jia, Wen Peng, Wen Boren, Peng Nian, Xu Chu, Lu Shidao, Zhou Tiangiu, Qian Gu, Yuan Zunni, Chen Shua, and Zhou Yong. >» Yuhas, p.42- 64inscribed a poem on Lu Zhi’s painting, “Thatched Hut at Lianchuan” of 1537.2 In 1561 Wang Guxiang wrote a colophon to Wen Jia’s painting, “Mountains after Rain”.»5 In the mid-1560’s Lu Zhi inscribed a poem on Wen Jia’s farewell painting for Yuan Zunni, who was departing for Peking.2% This wealth of inscriptions written on each other's works testifies to the close artistic and social bonds which obtained between the three men who visited Qiu Ying on the lunar New Year’s Eve of January 23, 1544. ‘The final appraisal of Qiu Ying by Wen Jia I will quote was written on Qiu’s “Spring Colors at the Jade Pavilion”.2” Wen Jia saw this painting in 1578, four years after inscribing his colophon on Qiu’s “Zhong Kui” in 1574. While Qiu Ying’s painting has disappeared, Wen’s poem has survived: esate © Qoisheng [Qui Ying] had superior talent, Sani ie excelled at mastering the principles of painting. es "Thea, in his prime, he withered away, eens ° Remaining are his landscapes, which he has deserted if Until now his name in the garden of painting, EFBRE Was a fresh wind filing everyone's eat. BBE By chance I saw this painting and before I knew it I was deeply moved. Thereupon I inscribed several characters at the top. Those who look at this should still treasure it. Recorded by Maoyuan Wen Jia in the second month of spring, in the year wayin of Wanli [1578]. BSE 0 ARRAN 0 75 FLL MAMBMZ © Anes HR TRFE IV. Conclusion In conclusion, let us ask what these works say about Qiu Ying and the literati circle ‘of Wen Zhengming. Most importantly, they allow us to re-examine the perception of Qiu Ying during his lifetime among his literati acquaintances. Qiu’s apparent lack of scholarly training did not deter from the high esteem in which he was held by his contemporaries. Furthermore, judging from their writings, the Suzhou literati did not allow Qiu’s socio- economic background to determine their critical response to his paintings. This is not surprising, as the milieu of early and mid-sixteenth century Suzhou was such that, in Bush’s words, “.. there seems to have been an intermingling of scholarly and academic traditions, 2 Merrill, eatalogue 90. LXXV, pp. 329-330 Ibid, pp. 65-66. 2% Ibid, pp. 84-89, 294-299. On Yuan Zunni (1523-1574) see Merrill, pp. 26, 60-161. The painting is inthe Asian Art ‘Museum of San Francisco. In addition to the Lu Zhi colophon, there are colophons by Zhang Yanyi, Peng Nian, Zhou Tiangiu, and Yi Zaiting. 287 Young, p- 35. My translation differs somewhat from Young's. The painting is recorded in Wu Sheng, ch. 20:59, and Bian Yongyu, ch, 27:42, The scroll also has a poetic colophon by Zhou Tiangiu which includes the line, “Master ‘Qiu's method of painting emerges from that of Jing [Hao] and Guan [Tong]”. 65so that the painting of the literati lost something of its austerity, and professional art took ona literary manner” The relationship between Qiu Ying and Wen Zhengming, which can be traced back to as early as 1517, was conceivably responsible for Qiu’s interest in an eclectic range of styles. During his lifetime Wen Zhengming was known and respected primarily as a painter, and Qiu’s early acquaintance with Wen undoubtedly helped to open the doors of the rich Jiangnan art collections from which both Wen and Qiu gained their knowledge of antique styles.” As a result of such opportunities and his own talent, Qiu Ying soon became one of the most gifted painters of the sixteenth century. That the respect of the literati for Qiu Ying’s painting was more than a fascination with technique, however, is evident from the number of occasions on which they collaborated by adding inscriptions to his paintings and by the content of their colophons. There is good evidence that Qiu was on good terms with Wen Zhengming’s friend Wang Chong, who died in 1533. Wang collaborated with Qiu several times and wrote a number of informative colophons on Qiu’s paintings. In particular, his comments present a valuable contemporary appraisal of the eclecticism of Qiu Ying’s art, and of Qiu’s early popular- ity:30 ...of all the famous masters of the Tang and Song dynasties, there are none he has not copied. In his excellence he has taken each man’s style and strong points; therefore, people treasure even half a scroll of his. Everyone who sees [Qiu’s paintings] takes them to be as precious as a jade bi ‘The colophons inscribed on relatively early Qiu Ying paintings by Wu Yi (d. 1519), Wang Shou (dated 1529), and Lu Shidao (dated 1535), further reveal the degree to which he was accepted by the literati.*°? In addition to the colophons written by Wen Zhengming. and his sons, Qiu’s paintings were inscribed by neatly all the leading literati artists of early sixteenth century Suzhou, including Wu Kuan, Chen Shun, Peng Nian, Xu Chu, Wang. Guxiang, Wang Shimou, and Zhou Tiangiu. The prevalence of these documents casts into doubt Michael Sullivan’s assertion that Qiu Ying was “... happiest if one of the great literati would condescend to write an eulogy on one of his paintings”.** It is possible that some of the praise bestowed on Qiu’s paintings by the contemporary literati can be taken as hyperbole. It is known that Wen Zhengming, for example, when brought ancient paintings for authentication, tended to proclaim them authentic whether they were or not.%% One is perhaps justified in assuming a skeptical attitude towards such 298 Susan Bush, The Chinese Literati on Painting: Su Shib (1037-1101) to Tang CUi-b'ng (1317-1636) Cambidge, 1972, 1.153. See also Wilson & Wong, pp. 100-101 2 Young, p-21, and Clapp, pp. 10-1. 20 Wilson & Wong, p. 10, deseribe Qiu Ying as “technically the most versatile painter of his day” 201 See note 222. 202 See note 214. Lu Shidao's colophon of 1535 is inscribed on Qiu Ying’s “Mountains of the Immortals”, published in Omura Seigti, Buin gaen Tansei-sha, 1921-22), vol I/o. Lu Shidao also inscribed paintings by Qiu Ying in 1348 and 15303 see Wapa, pl. 164, 172 2 Michael Sullivan, The Arts of China (Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1973), p197 2 Wilson & Wong, p. 52 (Quoting the sixteenth century scholar He Liangjun). 66glowing critiques of Qiu’s paintings by Wen as “It is refined and subtle, approaching the divine” (1539, on the “River in Spring”), and “... he has profoundly grasped the subtlety of the Tartar prince Li Zanhua” (1552, on the “Tribute Bearers”). The very fact, however, that Qiu Ying knew Wen Zhengming for over three decades and that the two completed over ten joint works suggests that Wen (himself a painter with “a preoccupation with stylistic elegance and exacting technique”) understood and genuinely appreciated Qiu Ying’s talents as a painter. Wen Jia and Wen Peng, Wen Zhengming’s sons, were of the same generation as Qiu Ying, and inscribed many of his works. In his colophons on Qiu’s paintings Wen Jia usually referred to Qiu with the honorific jun (master), and in his nostalgic poem of 1578 inscribed on Qiu’s “Spring Colors at the Jade Pavilion”, Wen Jia left no doubt as to his feelings: Until now his name in the garden of painting, Was a fresh wind filling everyone’s ear. Examples such as Wang Guxiang’s colophon of 1553 on Qiu Ying’s “Horse and Groom” (Fig. 7), with its combination of praise and informed criticism, lead one to take seriously contemporary commentaries by other literati: “Although the use of the brush is slightly more delicate (than in Zhao Mengfu’s original), and the appearance and spirit resonance are somewhat weaker, one can say that he has collaborated with the ancients”, Peng Niaa, in his colophon of the same year on Qiu Ying’s “Tribute Bearers”, speaks for the majority of the Suzhou literati when he states, “When Dongcun [Zhou Chen} died, [Qiu] was without rival in Jiangnan for twenty years”. Peng is speaking of Qiu Ying as a painter, however, and not as a scholar or calligrapher. Only Wang Zhideng, a generation younger than Qiu Ying, seems to have written disparagingly about him, perhaps in envy of his considerable fame. This is illustrated by ‘Wang's comments on Wen Zhengming’s “Goddess and Lady of the Xiang River” of 1517, to which Qiu initially applied the colors: “It is not something that the likes of Qiu Ying could even dream of”. This opinion stands in isolation from those of the other early and mid-sixteenth century Suzhou literati. To perceive Qiu Ying as an illiterate artisan who had the good fortune to become a brilliant painter is to continue to accept the traditional separation of literati and profession- al artists as an immutable construct. The reality of early sixteenth century Suzhou was more complex, and the surviving works of art reflect that complexity. As Wilson and Wong have written, © Clapp, ps. Clapp alo writes, “Wen Chengming was a great technician in an age of great technicians and, not withstanding his literati training and the alleged ban on technical bilianee, he chose o practice and invent styles, ‘hich displayed his mastery to the fll. In these respects he stands loser to T'ang Yin and Chiu Ying, both supreme craftsmen and declaed eclectic, than he does to Shen Chou [his teacher) (p. 92) 2% Wilson & Wong, p25. ln the same vein, Capp writes that Wen Zhengming “...}Was quite innocent of any notion ofa division of punting into two schools of opposite poles from each other and mutually exclusive... he was averse to taking dogmatic positions". (Clapp, p91) 67‘This dichotomy [of lterati-professional, widely accepted in the late Ming} is actually more significant for the artistic situation of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than it is for the artistic circumstances prevailing in Suzhou at the end of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Judging from the writings of these men, the question of orthodoxy did not occupy their minds. ‘Among the literati artists of Suzhou in the early sixteenth century, the qualities manifested in the art of Qiu Ying were obviously admired. Clapp has pointed out that after Wen Zhengming’s return from Peking in 1527, the primary creative art with which the artists of his circle were concerned was painting.” Wen himself was as widely appreciated as Qiu Ying for his stylistic eclecticism, and it is revealing (and ironic) that later critics claimed ‘Wen’s blue-and-green style painting could rival that of Qiu Ying. The criteria for which Qiu Ying was admired were also central to the art of Wen Zhengming. Wen Jia, in writing of his father, asserted that “...he insisted on preciseness of concepts and fineness of execution (bi ke yi jing gong)”; elsewhere, Wen Jia stated that “As for those paintings in which he [Wen Zhengming] exhausted every subtlety and attained the exquisite, they are of a brilliant, natural spontaneity no less than that of the ancients”.¥ It is likely that in practice Qiu Ying was as perceptive a connoisseur of early painting as Wen Zhengming, and possibly better than Wen Jia, who often made mistakes.» The Wu sheng shi shi (preface dated 1720) tells us that in studying the styles of antiquity Qui Ying “... copied the famous masters of the Tang and Song dynasties and kept sketches [gasben] of them”. By the end of the Ming dynasty, critics and artists such as Wang Shizhen, Xie Zhaozhe, and Dong Qichang had included Qiu Ying among their categorizations of the best Ming painters, Wang Shizhen (1526-1590) was the first writer to use the phrase “Four Masters of the Wu School” (“Wumen si jia”), which included Qiu Ying.3!? The brilliant scholar Xie Zhaozhe (1567-1624),3!3 in his Wu za gu (Five Assorted Offerings), writes, Although Qiu Shifu attained fame in figure painting, his essential concepts were elegant and bland (ya dan), and bis skill did not lie exclusively in luxurious beauty. For example, his “Spring [Morning] in the Han Palace”, which successive generations have passed down, is not indicative of his teue nature. PPSUELL A018 o CRATER o ROR 0 ANE (BEE AE) FER the 27 Capp, pp. 10-1. 2% Ibid, p41, 9 8 Tid, pps an 3 31 Merle. saa: “Often his (Wen Jia's) comments contain errors due 10 hasty scholarship”, See also Meri, pp. 132-164 su Shen, vol IV, p. 209; se also Cahill, Parting, p. 204 11 Xiao Vanys, pg The other three of the “Four Masters” were Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, and Tang Yin. Ie is ‘worth noting, however, that in speaking ofthe painter Zhang Fu (1546~ after 1641), Wang, would comment, wetithough he isnot the equal of Chiu Ying in technical skill he surpassed him in unaffected honesty”. (James Catih Phe Distant Meantis! Chinese Pantin ofthe Late Ming Dynasty, 1370-1644 (New York & Tokyo, 198), p33). ‘As Bush has show (p. 146,810) in the early seventeenth century the scholar Gu Ningywan, i his Hun, appended Qiu Ving’ name eo his Est of frnous scholar and offical painters from Jiangsu; Qiu i cassiied as an “honorable trtsan” (ogg, and is included i thelist of Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengiing, Tang Yin, Zhow Yong, and Lia Je. “This sceton ofthe Hau yn, enti Cucha ba ping, does nt appear in either the Meith con oF ish conan editions (which include only hal of Gu Ningyuan's original tx), but does appear in Yu Haan, ed, Ha lm cogba, td ed. (Peking, 96), vol 1. p45 29 Om Xie Zhaosh, see Dictionary of Ming Bigraply, vol, pp. 546-830 2'¢ Quoted in Shan Guogiang, ps. 68While it is unknown whether Xie was referring to the famous handscroll in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Fig. 4), the passage is important because it indicates that even before the end of the Ming, Qiu Ying was being widely characterized as a decorative artist who worked primarily in the blue-and-green and “palace” styles. Xie’s comments reveal that he was a connoisseur of Qiu Ying’s art, and realized that Qiv’s stylistic range was broader, and his expressive abilities deeper, than the early seventeenth century popular image of him allowed. That this image existed was undoubtedly a result of the innumerable copies and forgeries of Qiu’s works which had proliferated since the mid-sixteenth century, and which only increased with time. It was thus not without exaggeration that the early nineteenth century calligrapher Xie Lansheng (/inshi 1802) would write, “There are more forgeries of Shifu’s works than of those of any other painter”.316 There were, of course, those scholars who found in Qiu Ying’s painting qualities which, to their thinking, should be avoided at all costs: “excessive competence in techni- que” and “insufficient maturity”.3!” But Dong Qichang (1555—1636), who would revolu- tionize Chinese painting with his promulgation of the Northern and Southern School theory, evidently had great difficulty not admiring Qiu Ying. Dong, who at times even criticized Wen Zhengming for overteliance on past models, failed to account for the realities of taste in eatly and mid-sixteenth century Suzhou.3!® Wen Zhengming himself treasured works of the Southern Song (Dong’s “Northern”) school of Ma Yuan and Xia Gui, and was not, as Clapp has shown, inclined to “theoretical speculation”.s19 A written note by Dong Qichang on Qiu Ying, which appears in his Hua chan shi suibi, is worth quoting in full as it reveals Dong’s dilemma: In the school of Li Zhaodao [active ¢. 670-730] there were Zhao Boju and [Zhao] Bosu; theirs was the height of refined skill, and they had, moreover, a scholarly spirit. Those who later imitated them obtained their skill but could not achieve their elegance; for example, the Yuan painters Ding Yefu [an Uighus] and Qian Shunju [Qian Xuan]. Five hundred years later there ‘was Qiu Shifu. Wen Taishi (Wen Zhengming] frequently praised him and worked with him. With regard to this master’s painting, the Taishi could not but yield to Master Qiu, and this ‘was not in order to bestow praise or add to the value [of Qin’s paintings]. Furthermore, when Shifu painted, his ears did not hear the sounds of drums and pipes or stampeding horses. His technique was very painstaking. I am fifty years of age, and only now realize that this style of painting really cannot be learned by practice. If one were to compare it to Chan [Buddhist meditation], it is of the type in which it takes a Aalpa [eon] to achieve the state of a Bodhisattva; 8 Two well-known examples of blue-and:green style landscapes attributed to Qiu Ying which I believe are sixteenth century copies are the “Peach Blossom Spring” handscrolls in the Chicago Art Institute and the Museum of Fine “Arts, Boston (published in Sirén, vol VI, pl 249, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Perfo, vol. I. pls. 58-66). 26 Freer Gallery of Art folder file + 9.4; ee also Young, n. 8. Xie Lansheng’s comment appears in his colophon to (Qui Ying’s “Landscape in the Style of Li Tang” in the Freer Gallery of Ar. 17 See the colophon by Liang Tongshan (1723-1815) on the Qiu Ying landscape cited in note 516; Liang credits these opinions to the late Ming collector-connoisseur Li Rihua (1563-163) 38 Clapp, p. 28. 9 Thi, pp. 18.24 99 See note 242.unlike the three masters Dong [Yuan], Ju [-ran], and Mi [Fu), who in one bound entered the realm of the Tathigata A TBE © TZ © Mo HAMAS ANEESCRE 0 EAT ERS EL o EAE ARMTA OIC © SORIANO ke Ret to FRAEAAROUE © SELLA OT LICL ORR,» FERRE 2 mE © SEH EUR © FEAT > HAMMAM 0 RAM NCEE © SEINE = Ko BABE A teste © In the end, Dong Qichang makes his position clear: Qiu Ying is the artist to follow if one wishes to attain (artistic) enlightenment in a kalpa; Dong Yuan, Juran, and Mi Fu the artists to follow if one wishes to attain it “in one bound”. Dong thus consciously relegates Qiu Ying to the Northern School, since the analogy he draws is to the Northern and Southern Schools of Chan Buddhism.32 Nevertheless, the ambivalence of Dong’s position emerges in his statement that “...this style of painting really cannot be learned by practice”. Finally, I would like to dispel a myth concerning Qiu Ying: that he was illiterate and incapable of signing his own signature. The issue is brought to the fore by such inscrip- tions as that on Qiu’s “Narcissus and December Plum” in the National Palace Museum, ‘Taipei (Fig. 55), which is widely believed to have been written for Qiu Ying by his young patron Xiang Yuanbian.% Marilyn and Shen Fu, for example, have written: Qiu Ying was not a calligrapher (there are no works or signatures known to be from his hand)... [He] is said to have felt his calligraphy inferior, allowing close friends to sign his calligraphy for him. ‘Therefore the signatures in his work are only a secondary consideration in establishing authenticity. In his better works, however, the signature is usually of a quality commensurate with the painting itself; inthis case [Fig. 5], the fine brushwork seems to suggest ‘Wen Jia’s hand In her discussion of Qiu Ying, Siggstedt writes:%2 Qiu Ying scems to have received very little formal education. Even the signatures on his paintings seem to have been written by other people in most cases. A recorded colophon by Guo Ji [sie] mentions a rumor that many of Qiu Ying’s paintings were signed by Peng Nian. The Signatures on Qiu Ying’s extant paintings were probably written by men such as Peng Nian, Wen Peng, Wen Jia, and Xiang Yuanbian, The colophon by Guo Jie (carly nineteenth century) referred to by Siggstedt is attached to Qiu Ying’s “Landscape in the Style of Li Tang” in the Freer Gallery of Art, and reads:32* 1 For a discussion of the Northein and Southesn Schools see Bush, pp. 158-172: also Cahil, Dittont Monatains, Pp. 15-14 +2 Pups, pp. 254, 8343 Siggstedt suggests thatthe signature on Qiu Ying’s “Spring Momning in the Han Palace” handscroll was also writen for Qua by Xiang Yuanbian, © Fu & Fo, p92. 2 Siggstedt, p38 5 See note $16 yoShifu did blue-and-green [landscapes] in the style of the Little General Li [Li Zhaodao}, and from Li he learned certain of his mannerisms which were not transmitted to any other painter and which Qiu Ying executed with consummate skil. Little did one realize that he [Qiu Ying] could achieve such excellence as this in copying the style of Li Xigu [Li Tang]. Those who [only] value technical competence [in painting] are truly lacking in their knowledge. Legend has it that many of Shifu’s paintings bear signatures and inscriptions written for him by Peng Kongiia [Peng Nian]. The ttle of this scroll is in two columns of small kaishu style characters [Fig. 57} ‘The calligeaphy is as beautiful as the Goddess of the Luo River, and must be the gam hua (literally, “lowers in the haie”] style by the hermit of Longchi [Peng Nian]. Inscribed by the Master of the Chiyun ge [Guo Jie}, in the first month of the year jiazi (1804). Cahill, in his recent study of Qiu Ying, has written:3% Qiu probably was illiterate, or close to it, He has written no poetic or other lengthy inscriptions on any of his works; they bear, at most, a signature and a simple dedication, with perhaps the name of the old master imitated;%” it was even said (and this probably war lunfounded) that he could not write at all and that his signatures were inscribed by others, especially by Wen Zhengming’s eldest son, Wen Peng (1498-1573), who was a noted calligra- pher. Ina similar vein, Yu Jianhua states: Itis possible that Qiu Ying requested others to write the signature on some occasions, but it is impossible that he always requested others to do it. Traditions (or rumors) are not necessarily reliable, and Shizhou’s writing and painting are completely of the same type, indeed they must issue from one and the same hand, It cannot be compared to the cases where others have been entrusted to “ghost-write”. Dubosc, in his article, “A Letter and Fan Painting by Qiu Ying”, has also argued for the acceptance of certain of Qiu Ying’s signatures, and has illustrated (in addition to Qiu Ying’s letter; Fig. 58) a detail of the signature on the Sackler handscroll (Fig. ), and a fan painting with a signature by Qiu Ying and a poem by Zhou Tiangiu.% I have illustrated the same fan here, with a detail of Qiu’s signature; the painting depicts Chang E, the Moon Goddess (Fig. 59 & b).% In addition, I have illustrated a detail of the signature on Qiu’s fan entitled “Landscape with Scholar and Attendant” (Fig. 6b), the signature on a fan depicting a scholar in a lakeside pavilion listening to a fisherman’s flute (Fig. 60a & b),>" and the signature on a hanging scroll on silk entitled “Spring Dragon Rising from Hibernation” in the Ho Yao-kuang Collection, Hong Kong (Fig. 61a & b)2 2% Cahill, Parting, p 334 12 As Richard Bacnhare has noted (The Barabart-Cabil- Rags Coreponden, pv.) tis statement is “contradicted by the maeral refered to in [Cahill] note 16" the poems inscribed by Qia Ying on his handsrol of Daoist Immorels {published in fr Teng Wade pl. 153) anda leer writen to one of his patrons (Fig. 5858 note 8) 28 Quoted in Siggrede asm. 55 2 Dubos, Figs 2,3 5. The letter is eransated by Fang Chao-yng in Dubose’s aril, p. 108,110 (ace note 8) 2 See note 277 21 This fan plntng is ecorded in Pan Zheng, Tingfn lows hua (preface dated 1843: Meisbw cons vol.) ch. 5, pass +» Breviously published in Zhong ming bua (Shang, 1919), vol. toand Hong Kong City Museum and Art Gallery, Eston of Piting ofthe Ming ond Qing Periadr (Hong Kong, 1972). See alto the Qiu Ying signatures reproduced in Sigataresend Sealy, v0. I, pp. 36 (rom paintings in the National Palace Museum, Taped. ‘These ae authentic swith the excepion of the third (fom the lef) “Qia Ying” atthe bottom of pages, andthe Second “Shif (op line, gh) on pag 6 hese ae fom aging coll Sasi he Pipe sg Bo Jan which a ogy fhe iy Sgthoenth cenryComparison of Qiu Ying’s letter and these signatures (Figs. 58, 59b, 36b, Gob, 61b) with aishu inscriptions by Wen Jia, Wen Peng, and Peng Nian clearly reveal the discrete identity of Qiu Ying’s hand. First, Wen Jia’s script is more elegant than Qiu’s (Figs. 14, 15, sob); where Qiu Ying utilizes thick, blunt diagonal strokes, Wen Jia employs carefully tapered strokes, with an even balance between thin and thick parts. This is evident in a comparison of the ways in which Qiu Ying and Wen Jia write the character Qin (Figs. 58, 36b, Gob, 6rb, 14). A usual feature of Qiu Ying’s signature is the thick, forceful diagonal (pie) stroke which begins the lefthand ren element in the character Qiu. Wen Jia, when writing the same character (Fig. 14/1:15 and sob]4:13), uses a much thinner diagonal stroke. Second, Qiu Ying’s characters are generally denser in structure than Wen Jia’s, This is due to Qiu’s use of heavy brushstrokes-especially in diagonal strokes-and the more compact grouping of the individual strokes in a given character; Wen Jia, in contrast, displays a more frequent tapering of individual strokes, regardless of their placement or angle. In addition, Wen Jia’s Aaisbu diplays the wider spacing of the strokes of a given character, which results in a greater balance between ink and ground. Another feature that distinguishes the calligraphy of Qiu Ying and Wen Jia is that when inscribing the mu (tree) element on the left side of a character (Fig. 58/2:15,18 and Fig. 59/2:1,2), Qiu Ying does not allow the first, horizontal stroke to cross the central vertical stroke; Wen Jia consis- tently crosses the two strokes (Fig. 15/1:4 and Fig. sob/1:1) While Wen Peng’s éaishu is closer in style to Qiu Ying’s than Wen Jia’s there remain important structural differences (Fig. soa). Wen Peng’s script contains many thick brush- strokes that superficially resemble Qiu Ying’s, but his calligraphy is crisper, with sharper endings on the diagonal strokes. Overall there is a greater tension in the structure of Wen Peng’s characters than in Qiu Ying’s (compare the characters ren in Figs. 58/18:13 and soa/2:95 wei in Figs. 58/10:9, 9/1:5, and soa/4:12; and wan in Figs. 58/6:6 and soa/s:2). ‘Wen Peng’s horizontal strokes begin with sharply tapered points, in contrast to Qiu Ying’s more typically blunt ends. Finally, like Wen Jia, Wen Peng crosses the horizontal and vertical strokes of the mu element in a way Qiu Ying does not (Fig. 50a/2:2). The Aaish of Peng Nian (Fig. 62) can be distinguished from that of Qiu Ying by the highly architectonic, squared structure of his characters, which display the balance and ‘openness of Wen Jia’s script (without, however, Wen Jia’s distinctively long and elegant tapering strokes).%33 This is in contrast to the greater fluidity of Qiu Ying’s Aaishu. Peng Nian’s writing has a minimum of diagonal tilt in the horizontal strokes. Like Wen Jia, Peng Nian employs strokes that undergo a greater degree of thickening and thinning from one end to another, but the transitions in brushstroke width occur with greater speed than in Wen Jia’s writing, This feature is not typical of Qiu Ying’s Aaisbu. Like Wen Peng, Peng Nian’s strokes begin with sharper points (again differing from Qiu Ying, whose strokes usually have blunter beginnings and endings). 85 The Peng Nian text illustrated in Fig, 62 is a colophon to a Wen Jia handscroll in the Asian Art Muscum of San Francisco; the painting is reproduced in Asian Art Museum, Decade of Collecting (San Francisco, 1976), pl. 34 (see note 296). The same characteristics described here can be observed in Peng Nian’s colophon of 1351 to Qiu Ying’s “Illustrations of Traditional Texts Written by Six Ming Calligraphers” in the Freer Gallery of Art (accession no. 72.1), For an example of Xiang Yuanbian’s kaish sce Yang Renkai, Tang Haaion Lanshu te (Beijing, 1961) 7In short, careful examination and comparison of the calligraphy of Wen Jia, Wen Peng, and Peng Nian (the artists to whom Qiu Ying’s signatures are most often attributed) indicate that Qiu’s Aaisbu is different from each, and has discrete characteristics of its own. While there is insufficient space here to illustrate details of all of Qiu Ying’s known signatures (and those of forgers, a study of which is in progress), the signatures which are illustrated here, in addition to the calligraphy of the letter (a unique document of Qiu’s patronage), convey the style most typical of his writing. The minor variations which do occur are attributable to differences in time and circumstance, and are characteristic of all Chinese artists’ signatures. ‘As for Qiu Ying’s literacy, the evidence of the letter to one of his patrons (Fig. 58), written in a calligraphic style consistent with Qiu’s shorter inscriptions on his paintings, indicates that he did at least qualify for the type of “functional literacy” described by Cahill.34 Furthermore, the existence of poems written by Qiu on his baimiao handscroll depicting Daoist immortals,3 and the fragments of poems in the same calligraphic style on the 1547 album of landscapes after Song and Yuan masters, proves that he was not illiterate. Qiu Ying’s illustrations of such favorite literati themes as the Lanting Gathering, the theft of the Lanting manuscript, the Jiu Ge (Nine Songs), the Xiao Jing (Classic of Filial Piety), the Chi Bi Fu (Prose-poem on the Red Cliff), the Xi Xiang ji (Romance of the Western Chamber), the Gathering of the Lotus Society, the Luoshen Fu, and the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, suggest a level of literacy that would have encompassed the ability to read some classical texts.35” The concentration in Suzhou of material wealth and classical learning, the existence of government-sponsored elementary schools and academies, and the availability of printed (and often illustrated) dictionaries, provided ample resources for those individuals who were not born into the literati class to pursue at least rudimentary classical studies. It does not follow, of course, that Qiu Ying was either a great poet or a great calligrapher. He was neither, but instead a brilliant painter. The key point here is that one cannot ignore the evidence of his ability to sign his own signature, and in favor of his literacy. While the paintings and documents examined here only partially clarify Qiu Ying’s place in the history of sixteenth century Wu School painting, they do reveal the extent to which he was considered a great artist by both the majority of his contemporaries and the even more critical literati of the late Ming. 38 The Barnbart-Cabill Rogers Corrspandenc,p. 2. The phrase is Evelyn Rawski's; see her Edwation and Popular Literacy in Qing China (Ann Arbor, 1979), p. 5: "Indeed, available information indicates that a relatively high degree of funetional literacy, which provided the foundation for complex politcal, social, and economic institutions, existed ‘well before the Qing”. I am grateful to Hong-nam Kim for bringing this reference to my attention. See note 327 34 See note 268, 597 As every Western student of classical Chinese knows, the ability to read classical texts and the ability to compose classical poetry are two different affairs. I believe Qiu Ying may have been able to read classical texts without necessarily having been skilled at composing them. 538 The question of Qiu Ying’s chronology has yet to be satisfactorily resolved. [have formulated a tentative chronology ‘of Qiu Ying's artistic development that is only briefly touched on here, and that comprises the material ofa study 10 be published separately. 2BAiwa ‘An Guo Anhui St ‘An Lushan él) ‘An Qi ht baimiao Mi Baoshan zi f21l1F Bei Lin Be Bi Dian zhulin Sosa bi ke yi jing gong vai 8447. 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WM ay SAE ad 90K B A AK AEE ee Vath atte ee MAK RE Vie tof Yo a 5d A AR Fig. 16 Wen Jia, Transcription of Wang Anshi’s Ballad ofthe Peach Blosom Spring (dated 1577). Ink on paper. Atian Art Maseam of San Francisco, The Avery Brandage Colleton Fie.15 fen J, colophon (ded 1960) t prning by Zhao Yuan nd Sten Xoan Lak on glk paper it ‘Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Edvard Elliott Family Collection; Purchase, Tbe Dillon Fund Gift, 1981Fig. 7 Wen Zheagming, “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove” (dated 1535). Tink and light colors on paper, 69.6 % 42.5 em. Colleton of tbe National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republi of ChinaCole eOrmamtinie ee gt RESET AM Bweeene Se Bee. ES rer Landscape”. ‘Moriya Colleton, Kyoto Fig. 19 Lu Zhi, Ink and light colors on paper, 68.2 * 32.7 ¢m. Snowy Window" (dated 1524) Taipei, Taian, Republic of China Fig. 18 Lu Zhi, “Reading the Yi Jiag by a Ink and light colors on paper, 91.6 * 28.5 em, Calltion of the National Palace Museum,Fig, 20 Wen Zhengming, Fig. 21 Wen Jia, “Zhong Kui “Seeking a Phrase in an Empey Grove” (dated 1545). (dated 1545). Ink on paper. Collection wnkown Ink on paper, 81.2 X 27.0¢m, Collation of the Nasional Plate Masson, Tei, Taiwan, Republic of ChinaFig, 22 Wen Jia, “Zhong Kui in a Wintry Grove” (dated 1573/4) Tink on paper, $4.5 % 25.1¢m. Conrtesy of the Naxjing Museum, ‘People's Republic of China PESTS we Ee AS EDS AER Ng R NPs Ap eOAe BUNA IM Oey ten apse eA Rete sol OW TANG TE AY AS W Isl wo Hw ee erat Wate BS year 6 aD NT MO NAS one SH as dl WE Ko a Ss eA Row se qee eed aea® TENA AT ine Rees SOR LNREe SORA SOE Dak oye kee gy Riv ee etteweves WR OA Cede gee? Wee) Rade : wR HT Sercet Characters” Fig, 25. Zhang Fengyi (1527-1615) and Wen Jia, colophons 19 Zhou Chea's (6.1450 ~ 6.1535), “Beggars and Ink on paper. Cleveland Muzeum of Art. Parchase, Jobn L. Severance FundFig. 24 Anonymous (ewelfh century) artist “Davist Deity of Earth Reviewing his Realm". Ink, colors, and gold on silk; 125.2 % 55.8em. Courtesy, Boston Museum of Fine Arte. Chinese and Japenese Special PandFig. 25 Anonymous (thirteenth ~ fourteenth century) atist (formerly attributed to Shike, mid-late tenth century), “Night Life in the Family of Zhong Kui” (detail). Ink and light colors on paper. Former Chen Rentao Collection, Hong Korg