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Su Shi (Dongpo) in a Bamboo Hat and Clogs

before 1460
Not on view
A lone figure wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sandals trudges through a murky landscape. Above, five prominent Japanese Zen monks from the monasteries in Kyoto have brushed poems in Chinese, celebrating China’s most famous literatus, Su Shi (1037–1101), here called by his sobriquet “Dongpo.” Su Shi and his writings were beloved in medieval Japan. The event recalled in the quickly brushed image and poems occurred when the aged scholar was in exile on the remote southern island of Hainan. Caught in a sudden downpour, he borrowed a peasant’s straw hat and clogs and continued on his way, while the villagers laughed at his outlandish appearance. The opening poem by Zuigan Ryūsei sets the scene.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 瑞巖龍惺・竹香全悟・九淵龍賝・南江宗沅・ 翺之慧鳳賛　東坡笠屐図
  • Title: Su Shi (Dongpo) in a Bamboo Hat and Clogs
  • Artist: Inscribed by Zuigan Ryūsei (Japanese, 1384–1460)
  • Artist: Inscribed by Chikkō Zengo (Japanese, died after 1464)
  • Artist: Inscribed by Kyūen Ryūchin (Japanese, died 1498)
  • Artist: Inscribed by Nankō Sōgen (Japanese, 1378–1463)
  • Artist: Inscribed by Kōshi Ehō (Japanese, 1414–ca.1465)
  • Period: Muromachi period (1392–1573)
  • Date: before 1460
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 42 3/4 x 13 1/8 in. (108.6 x 33.3 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 74 1/2 x 17 5/8 in. (189.2 x 44.8 cm)
    Overall with rollers: 74 1/2 x 17 5/8 x 19 3/4 in. (189.2 x 44.8 x 50.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.268.39
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

Audio

Cover Image for 8960. Su Shi (Dongpo) in a Straw Hat and Sandals

8960. Su Shi (Dongpo) in a Straw Hat and Sandals

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