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Listening to the Qin

Tang Yinlate 1400s–early 1500s

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

The painting alludes to a legendary incident from the life of Ji Kang 嵇康 (AD 223–262), a <em>guqin</em> player who belonged to a group of 3rd-century eccentric intellectuals. Ji Kang is known as the author of a <em>Guangling San </em>(廣陵散; Melody from Guangling), a composition for the guqin so haunting that it aroused spirits to visit him. The painting depicts the moment when one of the spirits––disguised as a human––is helped by another to emerge from the ground, while others are drawn to the musician playing in his cottage under the full moon.

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  • Title: Listening to the Qin
  • Creator: Tang Yin (Chinese, 1470-1523)
  • Date Created: late 1400s–early 1500s
  • Physical Dimensions: Overall with knobs: 118 x 45 cm (46 7/16 x 17 11/16 in.); Painting: 35.8 x 29.1 cm (14 1/8 x 11 7/16 in.)
  • Provenance: (Howard C. Hollis [1899–1985], Cleveland, OH, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Leisy), Mr. Herbert F. [1900–1977] and Mrs. Helen Stamp Leisy [1906–1975], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1977.199
  • Medium: hanging scroll, ink and light color on silk
  • Original Title: 聽琴圖
  • Inscriptions: Artist's sea at lower left corner: Wu [remainder cut off].
  • Fun Fact: The painting is mounted in a Japanese-style three-tier format with futai.
  • Department: Chinese Art
  • Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Herbert F. Leisy in memory of his wife, Helen Stamp Leisy
  • Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
  • Accession Number: 1977.199
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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