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Bamboo, Rocks and Lonely Orchids
Zhao Mengfu (Chinese, 1254–1322)1271–1368
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
Bamboo and orchids are motifs associated with the virtues of the scholar-official. Bamboo that bends but does not break stands for moral integrity, endurance, and loyalty. Wild, fragrant orchids that bloom in the shadow symbolize modesty and the aura of learnedness. Rocks are often considered to be miniature versions of mountains that form the universe. This monochrome ink painting is brushed on paper in a masterfully calligraphic manner. While the rocks are delineated in chalky, dry strokes showing the effect of flying white (<em>feibai</em>), the bamboo and orchids are drawn with a swift brush demonstrating the virtuosity of the artist.
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- Title: Bamboo, Rocks and Lonely Orchids
- Creator: Zhao Mengfu (Chinese, 1254–1322)
- Date Created: 1271–1368
- Physical Dimensions: Mounted: 52.4 x 1337.7 cm (20 5/8 x 526 5/8 in.); Image: 50.9 x 147.8 cm (20 1/16 x 58 3/16 in.)
- Provenance: Gu Xin 顧信 [1279–1353], Gu Ying 顧瑛 [1310–1369], Mo Zhichong 莫至翀 [1400s], Wu Ting 吳廷 [first half of 1600s], Xu Shouhe 徐守和 [1600s], Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 [1620–1691], Tang Zuomei 唐作梅 [late 1700s–1800s], (Frank Caro [1904–1980], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1963.515
- Medium: Handscroll; ink on paper
- Inscriptions: 竹石幽蘭, 孟頫為善夫寫. [印] 趙氏子昂; [印] 松雪齋; [印] 天水郡圖書印, 古人善書者必能畫點墨作蠅，便自有生意。松雪翁蘭石草聖飛帛筆法皆具，可寶也。安陽韓性 [印]明善, Colophon 2. Qiu Yuan 仇遠 (1247-after 1328), a respected poet during the Song and Yuan periods. He was linked to, among others, Zhao Mengfu and Gao Kegong. Zhao Mengfu painted a version of Nine Songs 九歌圖 for him, and Gao Kegong dedicated to him a painting titled Mountain Village 山村圖 (current whereabouts unknown). His poem here is also preserved in his collected works., Colophon 3. Zheng Yuanyou 鄭元祐 (1292-1364), an erudite scholar and teacher of renown, active in Hangzhou and Suzhou. In the 1350s, when Gu Ying’s literary gatherings were at their peak, he was already elderly and participated in a limited way., Colophon 4. Wu Kegong 吳克恭 (active mid-1300s), a friend of Gu Ying and Ni Zan 倪瓚 (1301–1374), a major Yuan painter., Colophon 5. Angji 昻吉 (jinshi of 1348), of Western Xia 西夏 origin and a poet of distinction. He wrote an introduction to the painting Literary Gathering at Yushan 玉山雅集圖, of which Zhang Wo was the painter, Sheet 2. Yuan: friends of Gu Ying Colophon 6. Wang Zifang 王孜方 (active mid-1300s), an official who, at the time of his visits to Gu Ying’s estate, had reached the rank of Minister. He is better known under the name Wang Keju 王可矩., Colophon 7. Ke Jiusi 柯九思 (1290–1343), a major official who served in the Kuizhang Pavilion 奎章閣 and as an advisor to Emperor Wenzong in matters of calligraphy and painting., Colophon 8. Yu Li 于立 (active mid-1300s), a Daoist recluse, poet, and close friend of Gu Ying, so much so that during his visit to Gu Ying’s estate he was given accommodation in a special pavilion. His poem here is also preserved in Gu Ying’s Cao tang ya ji., 至正十一年十月廿八日男奕百拜堇觀 [印] 趙奕, Colophon 10. Yu Ji 虞集 (1272-1398), a major official and literary figure who also served in the Kuizhang Ge. His poem is recorded in his collected works. The poem is one of a set of four inscribed at the request of Wang Huayu 汪華玉 on Orchids and Rock 蘭石圖 by Zhao Mengfu, obviously a different, long lost, painting. Wang Huayu was an official and a collector (jinshi of 1327). Yu Ji’s colophon here was written before 1348 and during his retirement in Linchuan 臨川, Jiangxi, possibly sent from there. It is possible he had not seen the painting, and his calligraphy here appears to be rather casual and detached, jotting down an old poem without much care, contrary to his earlier practice., Colophon 11. Sun Shi 孫時 (mid-1300s–early 1400s), a native of Yuncheng 鄆城, Shandong, and a jinshi of 1390. He may have been quite young when paying a visit to the Yushan gatherings in the late 1340s and early 1350s., Colophon 12. Zhang Zhu 張翥 (1287–1368), Qiu Yuan’s disciple and a poet of renown, who enjoyed a belated career in officialdom and was known for his integrity., Sheet 4. Yuan and Ming: further friends of Gu Ying; colophon 17 begins the early Ming sequence. Colophon 13. Zhang Wo 張渥 (active c. 1336-after 1364), a frustrated scholar, a poet, and a painter of landscape and figures. An active participant in Gu Ying’s literary circle, he painted the Literary Gathering at Yushan, a pictorial document of the individuals and activities on Gu Ying’s estate. His rendering of Nine Songs is well known, and one version is in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art (see 1959.138). His poem here is also found in Gu Ying’s Cao tang ya ji, under the entry “ti Zhao Hanlin mo lan 題趙翰林墨蘭” (inscribed on the Ink Orchid by Zhao the Hanlin academician). This is a rare instance of calligraphy as well as signature by the artist., 觀吳興公竹石幽蘭圖使人鄙吝頓消。其筆勢從橫天真爛澷，一出於二王書法。冝仲瑛寳而玩之異於常品也。至正八年十月天台陳基書, Colophon 15. Zhang Shen 張紳 (active about 1340–after 1385), a respected calligrapher and participant in Gu Ying’s literary gathering. He resided in Kunshan, the same city where Gu Ying’s estate lies. In the third line of the poem, he mentioned Gu Ying’s hao, “Jinsu 金粟.” This was a name he assumed later in life, after the death of his mother in the year 1356. Thus this inscription must have been written after that date., Colophon 16. Wang Sun 汪遜 (active mid-14th century), a little-known native of Kuaiji 會稽, who may have been one of the infrequent visitors to Gu Ying’s estate., Colophon 17. Hu Guang 胡廣 (1370-1418) is the first Ming colophon writer on this scroll. He was an official of great power in the court and a trusted advisor of Emperor Chengzu; he served as the Grand Academician of the Hall of Literary Profundity 文淵閣大學士 and Grand Academician of the Left Secretariat of the Heir-Apparent 左春坊大學士., Sheet 5. Early Ming Colophon 18. Wang Yinshi 王尹實 (active about 1403–about 1424), a native of Siming 四明, Zhejiang, and a minor official and calligrapher., Colophon 19. Zhang Yuchu (signed here as “Wuwei 無 為”), the forty-third Heavenly Master of the Zhengyi sect of Daoism. A man of erudition, he was also a poet, painter, and calligrapher. A modified version of the poem here was published in his collected works titled Xian quan ji 峴泉集. A slight modification in the first line is the only change: “Wu xing miao yao nian bing xue zi 吳興玅年氷雪姿.”, Colophon 20. Yao Guangxiao 姚廣孝 (1335-1418), a Buddhist monk, scholar, and counselor to Chengzu in his successful attempt at usurpation of the throne. Yao Guangxiao was a controversial figure but wielded enormous power., Sheet 6. Wang Ning alone Colophon 21. Wang Ning 王寧 (d. 1411) signed as “Qingzhen 清真” in this colophon. One of the three seals reveals his identity as the Yongchun Hou 永春侯 [Marquis of Lasting Spring] (appointed 1402), and the husband of Princess Huaiqing 懷慶公主 (1328-1398), the sixth daughter of the founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang. This colophon postdates 1402., Sheet 7. Mid-Ming Colophon 22. Ou Yi’an 區易安 (active first half of 15th century), unknown, Colophon 23. Chen Lian 陳璉 (1370-1454), a native of Dongguan 東莞, Guangdong 廣東, and an official admired for his erudition and perspicacity. In view to the known calligraphic style of Chen Lian, this colophon appears to be a transcription and not written by him., Colophon 24. Wei Ji 魏驥 (1374-1471) enjoyed longevity (he lived to the age of ninety-eight) and an extended length of service as an official. A jinshi of 1406, he eventually became the Minister of Personnel in Nanjing 南京吏部尚書. The colophon here is dated 1434, when he was invited to view the painting by the Court Musician Mo Zhizhong 莫至翀, its owner. Again, in view of its calligraphic style, this was not written by him, but is a transcription from the original., Colophon 25: Zhang Yi 章鎰 (active 1462-1473), a Ningbo native and an official with a reputation for courage and integrity., Sheet 8. Further mid-Ming Colophon 26. Yin Zhi 尹直 (1427-1511), a controversial figure in Ming politics in spite of his erudition and high position as the Minister of War 兵部尚書., Colophon 27. Zou Yu 鄒虞 (active 1460-1520; jinshi of 1490), a native of Hangzhou. In 1510, he was appointed Administrative Vice Commissioner in Guangdong., Sheet 9. Xu Shouhe 徐守和 alone Colophon 28. Xu Shouhe 徐守和 dated his entry in 1629. Since he wrote it in his own studio, The Lesser Qingbi Pavilion 小清閟, he was likely the owner of the scroll. Xu’s life is not well documented; he was a connoisseur of note during the last years of the Ming dynasty rule. He may have acquired the Cleveland scroll from Wu Ting, whose seals appear here., Sheet 10. The mounter’s note. Xu Shudong 徐曙東 of Jiaxing 嘉興 made the remounting on the first day of sixth month, 1802.
- Fun Fact: One of the many inscriptions records that the handscroll was last remounted by Xu Shudong 徐曙東 of Jiaxing 嘉興 in 1802.
- Department: Chinese Art
- Culture: China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
- Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund by exchange
- Collection: ASIAN - Handscroll
- Accession Number: 1963.515
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