Mountain scene (procession)

Bamboo objects have often decorated a Chinese scholar’s studio. During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), bamboo carvers in Jiading, in China’s central coastal Jiangsu province, produced brush containers made from bamboo stalks, and boxes, cups, and other decorative objects from bamboo roots. As time passed the size of these bamboo carvings tended to increase, as seen in this large mountain scene, which is carved from an entire bamboo root placed upside down. The bamboo root is dense and hard, and fine details can be carved into it. This piece depicts travelers on a steep path winding through sheer precipices and overhanging rocks, up to the gate of a city wall located on top of a mountain. Many travelers are seen on the steep paths—some riding, others minding loaded mules, others on foot struggling with cargo on bamboo poles. The paths wind along cliffs and forests of pines, deciduous trees, and bamboo. One side of the sculpture shows a zhandao, a plank road built along the face of the cliff, supported by tree trunks slotted into holes cut into the mountainside. Plank roads are associated with Sichuan province, a southwestern area known for its mountainous terrain. In the fourth and third centuries BCE, the state of Qin built this type of road between Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces. Chinese paintings that portray the Tang emperor escaping into Sichuan province in the eighth century CE—such as the “Emperor Minghuang’s Journey to Shu” in the National Palace Museum, Taipei—show such roads. Along the path are pavilions where the travelers rest and a stable with feeding trough for animals. A smaller path leads down to a stream where mules, guarded by young servants, slake their thirst. Other mules, having reached their destination, enter the narrow passageway to the city gate. The top of the mountain, wreathed in clouds, rises above the city.