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Anatomy of a Masterpiece: How to Read Chinese Paintings
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元 錢選 王羲之觀鵝圖 卷
Qian Xuan (ca. 1235–before 1307)
Wang Xizhi Watching Geese, ca. 1295
Handscroll; ink and color on paper; 9 1/8 x 36 1/2 in. (23.2 x 92.7 cm)
Ex. Coll.: C. C. Wang Family
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973 (1973.120.6)
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After the fall of the Southern Song capital in 1276, Qian Xuan chose to live as a yimin, a "leftover citizen" of the Song dynasty. Using his richly archaistic "blue-and-green" painting style, the artist deliberately employed a primitive manner to allude to a lost immortals' realm that could be achieved only through a regimen of "internal alchemy." Watching Geese illustrates the story of Wang Xizhi (ca. 303–ca. 361), a calligraphy master of legendary fame and a practitioner of Daoist alchemy who was said to derive inspiration from natural forms, such as the graceful necks of geese. The artist's poem reads: How pleasant are the elegant bamboo and trees!
In a peaceful pavilion, relaxing with bare stomach,
how wonderful it must feel!
Writing the Daodejing [The Way and Its Power]
for a Daoist friend,
He leaves behind a romantic image, a man who
loves geese.
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