Meditative Visit to a Mountain Retreat: In Picture and in Words

1648

Xiang Shengmo

Xiang Shengmo (Chinese, 1597–1658)

Chinese Art

Meditative Visit to a Mountain Retreat: In Picture and in Words, 1648. Xiang Shengmo (Chinese, 1597–1658). Handscroll, ink on paper; overall: 30.5 x 273 cm (12 x 107 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1962.42

Original Source

Maker/Artist: Xiang, Shengmo
Classification: Painting
Formatted Medium: handscroll, ink on paper
Medium: handscroll, ink, paper
Dimensions: Overall: 30.5 x 273 cm (12 x 107 1/2 in.)
Inscribed: Inscription: Artist's title and 3 seals (in front of painting): [title] Meditative Visit to a Mountain Retreat: In Picture and in Words 巖栖思訪圖詠 [3 seals] Tian lai ge zhong wen sun 天籟閣中文孫; Xiang shi kong zhang zui xin han mo 項氏孔彰醉心翰墨; Qing fu yuan zhong di yi miao ye 清福緣中第一妙業. Inscription: [印] 兔烏叟; 考古正今. 觀斯人兮何逍遙，非逍遙兮思其友。思其友兮天一方，欲一訪之難回首。松耶柏耶稱後凋，巖穴霏微何二酉。山兮水兮人悠悠，遠莫致之神交否？河關一向望不及，言笑于今更非偶。問游魚兮樂何深？問飛鳥兮歸何藪？問猿鶴兮何親疎？問鹿豕兮何夭壽？問白雲兮從何來？問流泉兮向何走？問漁樵兮何江山？問草木兮何畝畎？問春秋兮何炎涼？問世人兮何長久？問日月兮何晦明？曾見當時烏兔叟？戊子嘉平之初偶作此圖并題。胥樵項聖謩識。 [印] 兔烏叟; 項氏孔彰; 未喪斯文. Translation: Artist's inscription (a rhymed prose (fu 賦)), signature, and 5 seals: [2 seals at end of painting]: Tu wu sou; Kao gu zheng jin. 1 Inscription (fu 賦): Looking at this gentleman [Xiang Shengmo], how carefree is he;/ When he isn’t carefree, he is longing for his friend./ Impatient is his longing, the latter is far, far away./ When he dreams of visiting him, he also fears not being able to return./ Is he like a pine, or a juniper? They are said to last long./ Does he reside by a cliff or in a grotto, perhaps not unlike the two [peaks named] Mt. You?/ With hills or rivers intervening, he indeed is far, far away./ As the distance is beyond reach, can we communicate in spirit?/ Cut off by a river or a mountain pass, we can’t even see each other./ In vain we seek to talk and laugh, but we are not together./ Shall we ask the fish: how deep is your enjoyment [of water]?/ Or the flying birds: to which marsh will you land?/ Or the monkey and the crane: who are your kindred souls?/ Or the deer and the hog: which of you will live longer?/ Or the white cloud: whence do you come?/ Or the flowing stream: to where shall you flow?/ Or the fisherman and the fuel gatherer: who rules over this land?/ Or the grass and the plants: in whose fields do you grow?/ Or the Spring and Autumn: why does the world become so cruel?/ Or the people in general: how long would we last?/ Or the sun and the moon: whence come the light and the dark?/ So have you ever met the Old Man of Wutu at that time?/ In the wuzi year [1648], at the beginning of the twelfth month, I happened to do this painting, so did the inscription. Xuqiao, Xiang Shengmo [3 seals]: Tu wu sou; Xiang shi kong zhang, Wei sang si wen. Inscription: 13 additional seals: 4 of Tang Zuomei 唐作梅 (late 18th–19th century); 3 of Zhang Baixi 張百熙 (1847–1907); 4 of Zhang Heng 張珩 (1915–1963); 2 unidentified.
Departments: Chinese Art
Accession Number: 1962.42
Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Exhibitions: 1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei, Year in Review - 1962, The Restless Landscape: Chinese Painting of the Late Ming Period, The Colors of Ink, Visions of Landscape: East and West, <em>The Restless landscape: Chinese painting of the Late Ming period. </em>University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA (November 9, 1971-January 2, 1972); Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (February 12-April 2, 1972)., <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).
Rights Statement: CC0