The Art of a Gentle Breeze

Emperor Xuanzong (1399-1435), Ming dynasty 
Folding fan, ink and colors on gold-painted paper, 18.5 x 44.8 cm

In the early Ming dynasty, during the Hongwu reign (1368-1398), envoys from Japan brought tribute items to the Chinese court, including folding fans, which the first Ming ruler, Taizu, presented as gifts to officials. In the Yongle reign, Emperor Chengzu (1360-1424) appreciated folding fans for their convenience and ordered craftsmen at his court to imitate them.     

Then in the Xuande reign under Emperor Xuanzong, folding fans were presented on the Duanwu (Dragon Boat) Festival to officials, marking the arrival of summer and symbolizing the dissemination of courtly airs throughout the land.  

This folding fan on a bird-and-flower subject from the brush of the emperor depicts two birds among camellia blossoms on gold-painted paper. The manner of painting follows in the Southern Song (1127-1279) academic style with bright and classical colors. Along with a two-sided fan painting of "Landscape and Figures" by Emperor Xuanzong in the Beijing Palace Museum, this is a rare and precious example of early Ming imperial painting in the folding fan format.

Wen Zhengming (1470-1559), Ming dynasty
Folding fan, ink on paper, 16.3 x 44.2 cm

Wen Zhengming, a native of Suzhou in Jiangsu, originally was named Bi. He took the style name Zhengming after the age of 42 and changed his style name to Zhengzhong; he also had the self-styled sobriquet Hengshan jushi.    

This is a transcription of Wen’s seven-character regulated verse on “Waiting for the Moon at Jinshan Temple.” It reads, “The cool of jade emerges from Floating Jade Mountain, a listless moon is alight above the evening tide. An eerie glow hovers deep in the fish-dragon night, the trees wave in clouds of void to a hazy mist. In water-filled country I inscribe a poem for a night’s stay, and I am offered a taste of new tea from Zhongling Spring. I cannot sleep after drinking wine in the river breeze, so I rise and walk the corridors of shady pines.”   

Tang Yin (1470-1524), Ming dynasty
Folding fan, ink and colors on paper, 16.9 x 42.4 cm

Tang Yin (style names Bohu, Ziwei; sobriquet Liuru jushi), a native of Suzhou in Jiangsu, came in first place in the Nanjing Prefectural Examination in 1498. He studied under the professional painter Zhou Chen (ca. 1450-1535), becoming gifted at many subjects, including landscapes, figures, and bird-and-flower themes; he was one of the Four Ming Masters. Tang Yin and Zhou Chen both excelled at the Southern Song academic style of painting.

This folding fan shows a scholar standing near a bridge that spans a stream in a scene of autumn. Tang Yin was not only skilled in arranging the composition in the folding fan format with its broad top and narrow bottom, he also used a dense landscape style here to express a strong atmosphere of desolation in autumn.  

Ding Yunpeng (1547-after 1628) and Jiang Zhenji, Ming dynasty
Folding fan, ink on paper, 22 x 58.6 cm

Ding Yunpeng (style name Nanyu, sobriquet Shenghua jushi), a native of Xiuning in Anhui, excelled at painting Buddhist and Taoist subjects, his “baimiao” fine-line style similar to that of Li Gonglin (1049-1106). His landscape and other subjects were equally marvelous, making him a master of the late Ming dynasty.    

This painting is on the subject of Su Shi’s “Former Ode on the Red Cliff” and depicts Su and his guests boating to the Red Cliff. A gentle breeze arises to create ripples on the water as the host toasts his guests in the painting. The arrangement of solid and void in the composition is skillful, the use of brush and ink also beautifully delicate and precise.    

In the blank space above the distant mountains here, Jiang Zhenji transcribed the entire “Former Ode on the Red Cliff” in “gnat’s-head” small regular script, which is dated to the equivalent of 1594.    

Ding Yunpeng (1547-after 1628) and Jiang Zhenji, Ming dynasty
Folding fan, ink on paper, 22 x 58.6 cm

This folding fan is the same size as “Illustration and Transcription of the Former Ode on the Red Cliff,” the handle and ribs of both also made from mottled bamboo. The fan here is on the “Latter Ode on the Red Cliff,” indicating that the two were probably designed and made as an exquisite pair.      

This painting shows Su Shi once again bringing wine on a trip to the Red Cliff. In “Latter Ode on the Red Cliff,” however, Su describes how he lifts his robes to climb up the rocks and cry out to the vast expanse below, later returning to his boat and letting it drift on the water, a solitary crane flying from the east over the water in the middle of the night.    

The original text has a chronological order, but Ding Yunpeng here adapted the contents to the arched surface of the folding fan by combining the two scenes into one, demonstrating his considerable skills while reflecting the familiarity among viewers at the time with the subject of the Red Cliff.

Chen Hongshou (1599-1652), Ming dynasty
Folding fan, ink on paper, 16.3 x 48.3 cm

Chen Hongshou (style name Zhanghou, sobriquet Laolian), a native of Zhuji in Zhejiang, took the sobriquets Huichi (“Late Regrets”), Wuchi (“Not Late”), and Yunmenseng (“Monk of the Cloudy Mountains”) after the fall of the Ming dynasty.      

This folding fan painting shows a lady with butterflies. The lines are strong and solid, revealing Chen Hongshou’s late style. The form of the lady is archaic and elegant with a unique spirit harmony, the pose also having a manner associated with dramatic performances. The background is completely blank, creating for a dramatic contrast between solid and void.      

This poem is recorded in several compilations of the Kangxi reign, including Imperially Endorsed Complete Collection of Tang Poetry, and was a favorite of the Kangxi emperor. According to records from the archives of the imperial workshops, on the 14th day of the sixth month of the first Yongzheng year (July 15, 1723), works of calligraphy by the deceased Kangxi were handed over, including fifteen folding fans of poetry.    

The Yongzheng emperor (Shizong) ordered the fans to be stored in a box with three levels, five in each one, to serve as an offering in a Buddhist altar. This record hints at the method of storing poetry fans by the Kangxi emperor at the Qing court. Mr. Chi Hsing-fu donated this folding fan mounted as an album leaf to the National Palace Museum.  

This folding fan in its original mounting has a painting by Yang in imitation of palatial buildings by the Ming artist Qiu Ying (ca. 1494-1552). The brushwork is fine and the landscape adorned with blue-and-green colors on gold decorative paper, increasing its opulent beauty. 

Herding Geese
Ren Xun (1835-1893), Qing dynasty

Mantra for the "Golden Elixir of 400 Characters" in Running Script
Wang Zaochi (fl. late 19th c.), Qing dynasty
Folding fan, ink (and colors) on paper, 17.8 x 46 cm

Ren Xun (style name Fuchang), a native of Xiaoshan in Zhejiang, was the younger brother of the famous Shanghai School artist Ren Xiong (1823-1857). In figure painting, Ren Xun studied the methods of his elder brother and created a manner of his own. He was also renowned at the time for his paintings of birds and flowers.

In the painting, a youth is shown herding geese, the figure rendered with leisurely brushwork while the vegetation is done using strong brushwork. The geese have a dynamic succinctness imparting a strongly rustic quality to the decorative gold-painted paper.     

Despite the difference between the stele transcription and running script inscription as well as the sizes of the two, they are arranged well on the surface of the fan. The black handle and ribs complement the rich black ink of the calligraphy, providing an aesthetic brimming with simplicity and richness.