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Nine Songs
Zhang Wo1361
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
Painted in the <em>baimiao</em>, or fine-line drawing style, this ancient work demonstrates the literati’s use of abstract calligraphic brushwork for self-expression. The subject of the “Nine Songs”—songs associated with shamanistic rituals in the ancient Chu kingdom—had traditionally provided artists with myths and legends that they could explore and reinterpret in their own works.
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Details
- Title: Nine Songs
- Creator: Zhang Wo (Chinese, active c.1336–after 1364), Chu Huan (Chinese, active 1361)
- Date Created: 1361
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 28 x 438.2 cm (11 x 172 1/2 in.)
- Provenance: Shen Deqian 沈德潛 [1673–1769], Lu Shihua 陸時化 [1714–1789], Lin of Ningbo 四明林氏 [early 20th century], Xu Maoxun 徐懋勳 [late 19th–20th century], Xu Bangda 徐邦達 [1911–2012], (C. C. Wang 王季遷 [1907–2003], 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/1959.138
- Medium: handscroll, ink on paper
- Inscriptions: 7 colophons and 47 seals: 1 colophon, dated 1361, and 28 seals of Chu Huan 褚奐 (active c. 1361); 1 colophon, dated 1785, and 1 seal of Lu Shihua 陸時化 (1714-1779); 2 seals of Lu Yü-ch'ing (18th c.); 1 colophon, dated 1935, of Ye Gongchuo 葉恭綽 (1881-1968); 1 colophon, dated 1935, of Wu Hufan 吳湖帆(1894–1968); 1 colophon, dated 1938, and 1 seal of Wang Tongyu 王同愈 (1856-1941); 1 colophon, dated 1941, of Wu Huayuan 吳華源 (1893-1972); 1 colophon, dated 1942, and 9 seals of Xu Bangda 徐邦達 (1911–2012); 1 colophon, dated 1942, of Lang Jingshan 郎靜山 (1892-1995); 1 colophon, dated 1944, of Tang Yun 唐雲 (1910-1993); 6 seals of Wang Jiqian [C.C. Wang] 王季遷 (1907–2003)., Text of The Nine Songs written by Chu Huan at the end of each section., 右離騷九歌圖，宋龍溟居士李公本，淮南張渥叔厚所畫妙絕當世。家藏請予書其辭目識于左。至正二十一年辛醜三月旦河南褚奐記。, Colophon by Lu Shihua 陸時化 (1714–1789): This scroll is fortunate to have been handed down from collections of the right people. Now, after 500 years, its condition is as good as when it was painted. I acquired this from Mr. Shen Guiyu [1673-1769], the President of the Board of Rites. The label is in his handwriting when he was 95 years old. I submit that Chu Huan (t. Shiwen) of the Yuan Dynasty was a native of Qiantang. His "seal" and li writings are in the style of Wu Rui. For example, in [Chu Kuei's] Ming ji lu [A list of masterpieces] is recorded the stele commemorating the restoration of the prefectural school of Kun-shan, the text of which was composed by Yang Weizhen in the twenty-first year of Zhizheng [1361]; and the calligraphy as well as the title in li style was by Chu Huan, who was at that time an assistant judge of the prefecture of Haining in the circuit of Hangzhou. Zhang Wo's zi is Shuhou (叔厚). His literary name is Zhen Qisheng (贞期生). According to [Gu Ying's] Yu shan cao tang ya jii, he liked to paint in the bai-miao or the "pure delineation" style after the method of Li Longmian [Li Gonglin 李公麟], which finds no peer among the ancient masters. This is agreed upon [by Pei Ch'iung] in his Qing jiang zhi who praised [Zhang Wo] as being quite learned and well-versed in many branches of the arts, especially figure painting. Recorded by Lu Shihua [The mountain dweller], listening to the pine, in the twelfth month of the yisi year [1785].
- Fun Fact: Divided into eleven sections, the scroll contains illustrations by painter Zhang Wu followed by a transcription of the relevant verse by calligrapher Chu Huan.
- Department: Chinese Art
- Culture: China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
- Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Collection: ASIAN - Handscroll
- Accession Number: 1959.138
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