Fishing in Reclusion Among Mountains and Streams

This handscroll painting depicts pine trees, red maples, and yellow leaves against a waterfall and flowing stream with thatched cottage and water kiosk buildings scattered among rocky banks. Figures kneel to each other for a drink, leisurely hold a staff on a walk, lean on a railing to observe fishing, or play a flute with feet in the water for a carefree existence. The mountains combine hemp-fiber and elongated axe-cut with water texture strokes, the rocks rendered with washes of mineral blue and ink. The places in sunlight are left blank to suggest the light and dark of uneven surfaces for a volumetric effect. The leaves are painted in the outline method with washes of cyanine blue, cinnabar red, and gamboges yellow added for a beautiful and colorful manner. The brush and ink throughout is also exceptional, the scenery even more marvelous. Tang Yin's inscription on the painting includes the line, In times of peace heroes drop their guard, expressing aspirations that filled his heart but also indicating that people of talent had no chance to demonstrate their abilities. Such students of Wen Zhengming as Lu Zhi, Cheng Dalun, Gu Deyu, and Ju Jie all wrote inscriptions at the end of the scroll, and the inscription by Wang Chong was composed in the spring of the second year of the Jiajing reign (1523).