Winter Journey in the North
Zhu Yunming Chinese
Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Not on view
Even Zhu Yunming, one of the most versatile calligraphers of the Ming dynasty, found the shape and structure of the folding fan a challenge. He described writing on it "like asking a dancing girl to demonstrate her technique on a pile of broken bricks and tiles." This fan bears neither signature nor seal, yet the writing is distinctly Zhu's. The characters are densely packed without clearly distinguished columns, adding a pictorial dimension to the writing. Zhu successfully adopted the cursive styles of Huaisu (725–785) and Huang Tingjian (1045–1105) to the folding-fan form.
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