Pure Tones among Hills and Waters

1664

Xiao Yuncong

Xiao Yuncong (Chinese, 1596–1673)

Chinese Art

Pure Tones among Hills and Waters, 1664. Xiao Yuncong (Chinese, 1596–1673). Handscroll, ink and light color on paper; overall: 30.8 x 781.7 cm (12 1/8 x 307 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1954.262

Original Source

Maker/Artist: Xiao Yuncong
Classification: Painting
Formatted Medium: handscroll, ink and light color on paper
Medium: handscroll, ink, light, color, paper
Dimensions: Overall: 30.8 x 781.7 cm (12 1/8 x 307 3/4 in.)
Inscribed: Inscription: 種松發秀色，具是高人心。/ 鑿石築茅屋，長年覆綠陰。/ 白雲無意出，舒卷趨空林。/ 萬籟時一寂，微風墮清音。/ 此情莫可擬，此景誰能論。/ 只向千峰裏，共彈五絃琴。/ 桃花依綠水，不覺又春深。甲辰花朝題于青蓮閣, 鐘山老人蕭雲從。[印] 鐘山老人 Translation: Artist's inscription, signature, and seal: Planting pine to unveil its natural color:/ This is an idea appealing to all lofty minds./ [He] chiseled into the rocks to build a thatched cottage,/ To shade with greeneries all year around./ The white clouds drift by with no will of their own/ Rolling and stretching toward the vacant forests./ Suddenly all sounds are hushed,/ While a pure tone falls from a light breeze./ This sentiment is impossible to articulate,/ And the scene is beyond words./ To the thousands of peaks we go,/ To play a duet on the qin of five strings./ Petals of peach blossom flow along the green stream;/ Without us being aware, the spring has deepened./ On the "Day of Flowers" in the jiachen year [twelfth day of the second lunar month of 1664], inscribed at the Blue Lotus Pavilion (Qinglian Ge 青蓮閣), by the Old Man of Zhong Mountain. Xiao Yuncong [seal] Zhong shan lao ren. Inscription: Title and inscription, dated 1744, and 3 seals of Shen Feng 沈鳳 (1685-1755). Inscription: 4 colophons and 24 additional seals: 1 colophon, dated 1811, and 5 seals of Xiang Yuan 項源 (active about 1811); 1 colophon, dated 1858, and 2 seals of Qi Junzao 祁寯藻 (1793-1866); 1 colophon and 4 seals of Zhang Yunzhong 張允中 (1881–1960?); 4 seals of Jiang Xun 江恂 (active about 1753–after 1780); 1 colophon dated 1943, and 2 seals of Wang Shaoming 汪兆銘 (Wang Jingwei 汪精衛, 1883–1944); 1 seal of Qi Zhiliu 祁之鏐 (active about 1858); 2 seals of Yu Zhimeng 俞芷盟 (second half of 19th century); 4 seals unidentified.
Departments: Chinese Art
Accession Number: 1954.262
Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund
Exhibitions: 1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei, Visions of Landscape: East and West, Mountains, Rocks, and Water: Landscape Painting in Asia, Inspired by Chinese Landscape and Art – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c, <em>Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting</em>. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 10-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982)., <em>Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242)</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 7-July 7, 2015).
Rights Statement: CC0