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Garden for Solitary Enjoyment
Qiu Ying1515–52
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
<em>Garden of Solitary Enjoyment </em>refers to a site built in 1073 by the statesman Sima Guang (1019–1086) after he had retired to Luoyang, Henan province. Every spring, visitors would flock to his garden. Each of its seven structures references a historic figure. Sima wrote: <em>I channel streams [like Du Mu], to water flowers [like Bai Juyi], or trim bamboo [like Wang Huizhi]. . . . I know of no joy between heaven and earth that could take its place</em>.
Qiu Ying’s painting, created after an 11th-century version of the same theme, must have appealed to garden owners of the Ming dynasty, since it became the template for numerous Suzhou workshop copies
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Details
- Title: Garden for Solitary Enjoyment
- Creator: Qiu Ying (Chinese, 1494–1552)
- Date Created: 1515–52
- Physical Dimensions: Painting: 28 x 518.5 cm (11 x 204 1/8 in.); Overall: 32 x 1290.2 cm (12 5/8 x 507 15/16 in.)
- Provenance: Xiang Yuanbian 項元汴 [1525–1590], Jiaxing, China, by descent to his grandson, Xiang Yukui, Xiang Yukui 項禹揆 [c. late 1500s–1659], Weng Tonghe 翁同龢 [1830–1904], Beijing, China, by descent to his family, (Wan-go H. C. Weng 翁萬戈 [1918–2020], Lyme, NH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1978.67
- Medium: Handscroll; ink and light color on silk
- Inscriptions: Accompanying text of an essay together with seven poems of Sima Guang (1019–1086) and one poem of Su Shi (1037–1101) written by Wen Zhengming (1470–1559) in 1558., Colophon by Xiang Yukui 項禹揆 (c. late 1500s–1659): The painting of The Garden for Self-enjoyment on the right by Shih-chou, Mr. Qiu [Qiu Ying] is in the style of Li Lung-mien. Its mood is peaceful, as if meeting the ancient gentlemen face to face among the brushes and silk; it lifts one above the sordid bustle of life. Formerly, my late father handed me this scroll which had only the painting without the written essay. I considered asking a good calligrapher to write the essay to add to it but was afraid that the quality of the writing would not match the painting. Several years later, I saw at a friend's house this essay and poems (of Ssu-ma Kuang] written by Hengshan [Wen Zhengming], once owned by my grandfather; so I spared no expense to obtain it. I rejoiced at this and said: "The divine swords are finally united. How things are pre-destined!" Now my friend Chang Kung-chao's technique for mounting [painting and calligraphy] is excellent. Therefore by daring to take them out and join them together, I can preserve this beautiful story of singular reunion. Xiang Yukui recorded at Hai-yeh-t'ang [hall] two days before New Year's Eve in the jiasheng year of the Chongzhen era [1644]. trans. LYSL/HK/WKH, 2 colophons and 82 seals: 4 seals of Wen Zhengming 文徵明 (1470–1559); 59 seals of Xiang Yuanbian 項元汴 (1525–1590); 1 colophon, dated 1644, and 7 seals of Xiang Yukui 項禹揆 (c. late 1500s–1659); 1 colophon, dated 1880, and 2 seals of Weng Tonghe 翁同龢 (1830–1904); 2 seals of Ch'eng Chen-i (19th c.); 1 seal of Han Ch'ung (19th c.); 4 seals of Wan-go H. C. Weng 翁萬戈 (1918–2020); 3 seals unidentified.
- Fun Fact: Sima Guang completed his monumental survey of Chinese history, <em>Zizhi tongjian</em>, in the garden depicted in this painting.
- Department: Chinese Art
- Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund
- Collection: ASIAN - Handscroll
- Accession Number: 1978.67
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