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Artwork Details
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北宋–清 睢陽五老圖引首題跋 冊
Title:Frontispiece and Colophons to the Album "Five Old Men of Suiyang"
Artist:Various Scholars (11th–20th centuries)
Period:Song (960–1279)–Qing (1644–1911) dynasty
Culture:China
Medium:Album of fifteen leaves; ink on paper
Dimensions:Overall with mounting (each double leaves): 19 x 32 in. (48.3 x 81.3 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Lai Yuan and Company, 1917
Object Number:17.136a–r
Inscription: Label strips
1. Unidentified artist (19th c.), 1 column in clerical script (Leaf A):
Five Old Men of Suiyang, a Song dynasty painting
宋睢陽五老圖
2. Unidentified artist (19th c.), 1 column in standard script (Leaf R):
Five Old Men of Suiyang, folio one
睢陽五老圖上冊
Frontispiece
Zhu Yizun 朱彝尊 (1629–1709), 4 large characters in clerical script and 1 column in standard script, undated; 3 seals (Leaves B, C):
Five old men of Suiyang, written by Zhu Yizun. [Seals]: Oufang, Yizun siyin, Zhucha
睢陽五老,朱彝尊書。 [印]: 醧舫、彜尊私印、竹垞
Colophons
1. Qian Mingyi 錢明逸 (1015–1071), 11 columns in standard script, dated 1056 (Leaf D):
The "Five Old Men" achieved both fame and fortune without stooping before men of wealth and power. To reach such success in one's career without tarnishing one's character is a rare accomplishment. Mr. Du, retired Prime Minister, is possessed of an enduring patience and a conciliatory temper, a quick intelligence and wide learning. His writings are serious and gentle, his character pure, and his honor irreproachable. He has therefore become an example that all men will wish to emulate. When his work as Prime Minister was finished, he bid farewell to the emperor and retired. Events that others had seen as calamity, he could look upon with calm; tasks that others regarded as impossible, he could do with ease. When he reached old age, he retired to Suiyang with his four friends. Wang Huan, born in Taiyuan, before retirement held the office of binke. The deceased Bi Shichang, a native of Hedong, held the office of weiwei [Minister of Military Affairs]. Zhu Guan, of Peiguo, worked in the Ministry of War. Feng Ping, born in Shiping, was an officer in the Ministry of Transportation. In those days of leisure, they spent much time travelling throughout the countryside, passing pleasurable hours in conversation, feasting, and drinking. They soon became known as a group, The “Five Old Men." The “Five Old Men" were especially known for the great deal of time they spent reciting spontaneous poems and answering in harmonious verse. A Song painter has commemorated the flourishing of this group. Similarly, the Tang dynasty poet, Bai Juyi was famed for the gathering of nine old men at his home in Luoyang. The painting before me pays tribute to the "Five Old Scholars of Suiyang," recognizing that their group was truly a superior one. In the hundred years since Bo Juyi, no one has brought together a gathering as worthy of admiration as the "Nine Old Men of Luoyang." Yet now, if we compare the circle of Suiyang with the "Nine Old Men of Luoyang," we see that these five men of our own time surpass their predecessors in greatness. I, Mingyi, have studied for a long time with Master Du Yan at his home. We were from the same district; moreover, our families have been extraordinarily close for generations. Recently he gave me the key to his home so that I could daily go up and observe these portraits in order to compose this preface honoring my friend and teacher, but, alas, I have been able to recount only one ten-thousandth of his virtue. On the mid-autumn day of the bingshen year of the Zhihe reign era [September 26, 1056], Qian Mingyi.
2. Shengyu 盛昱 (1850–1899), 1 column in standard script, dated 1889 (Leaf D):
光緒十五年九月國子監祭酒宗室盛昱搆藏于京師崇文坊里第。
3. Li Zaixian 李在銑 (active late 19th c.), 1 column in standard script, dated 1890; 3 seals (Leaf D):
光緒庚寅六月涿鹿李在銑敬觀。[印]: 李在銑印、芝陔、芝陔病手書
4. Jin Cheng 金城 (active early 20th c.), 2 columns in seal script, dated 1914; 2 seals (Leaf D):
甲寅五月吳興金城敬觀于京師景氏之半畝園。[印]: 金共北、金城之缽
5. Wang Xun 王遜(1337–after 1417), 51 columns (2 columns partially lost) in standard script, Dated 1388; 2 seals (Leaf E):
Record of the scroll Five Old Men of Suiyang.
In the wuchen year of the Hongwu reign era [1388], Zhu Fuji of Suzhou, soon to return from Xixia, showed me this painting of his ancestor and asked me to write a rapid history of it. Zhu Guan, his tenth generation ancestor, is particularly venerable. The "Five Old Men" retired during the reign of Renzong [r. 1022-63] in the Song dynasty. With the same idea in mind, all went to the country. There they were at ease, gathering to chant poetry, sing, and toast their friends with wine, thus passing their old ages in great happiness. Although men of their time admired them greatly, less material than we might hope has been recorded. On the portraits and in the texts, the ranks, surnames, given names, and ages have been preserved. In the time of Zhenzong [r. 998-1023], there was a famous battle at a place known as Chanyuan. After the battle, Zhu Guan begged the officer Kou Zhun not to kill the prisoners, but to forgive them. Therefore, although his official career cannot compare with the accomplishments of the other four friends, he was included in this gathering because his extraordinary character and morality continued to grow throughout his lifetime, eventually reaching a very lofty point. One remarks the particular features of each old man as one looks at the paintings. Du Yan has long ears and large cheeks. Wang Huan's face is broad and flat, his chin massive. Bi Shichang's visage is oval-shaped, leading down to a noticeably protruding jaw. Zhu Guan is marked by thick eyebrows and a flowing beard. Feng Ping has a wide forehead and round skull. Wang Huan and Du Yan are wearing round-necked robes, high cylindrical hats, and red cloth belts. The other three are garbed in open-necked robes and high, more angular hats. All wear shoes of a subdued color. With such personalized treatment of each man's appearance, the unresolved question is even more pertinent: what was the execution date of the painting? Was it painted before or after the deaths of the five friends? In reading Qian Mingyi's preface, one notices that the Chief Minister of the Court of the National Granaries, Bi Shichang, is referred to in different terms. The preface, written in 1056, calls him the "deceased Mr. Bi." Soon after this date, Du Yan died, so it is clear that the painting was done after the death of one of the members of the group, but while the others were in reasonably good health. It is also not known when the colophons accompanying the portraits were written. In the absence of Bi Shichang, the other four friends would not necessarily inscribe the painting when it was executed. We will now investigate an inscription written by Du Yan's descendant Du Wan: "My great-uncle, Prime Minister at Yanzhou, having reached the age of sixty-nine, knew that he would have to ask for retirement the next year. He spent the last fifteen years of his old age in restful gatherings." In the fourth year of the Qingyuan [sic., probably a mistake for "Qingli"] reign period [1044], Du Yan began work as Prime Minister. In the first lunar month of the next year, after 120 days of work, he put down the affairs of state. For the next seven [sic.12] years he was retired, and in the second year of the Jiayou reign era [1057] he died. He was eighty years old on his death. It is therefore clear that the gathering of five old men lasted less than ten [sic.12] years, and Du Wan's statement that Du Yan lived in retirement for fifteen years is mistaken. The date of Qian Mingyi's preface then becomes believable. From the time of the preface to the present is three hundred thirty-three years. In this time, many eminent Song and Yuan scholars have written prefaces or poems, forty-three men in all. The three generations of Du Wan and Zhu Zirong are not included in this count, and have provided many more. From the inscription of Ji Nanshou, we see that the scroll was remounted in 1167, and that it was still in the Bi family collection. From Hong Gua's inscription we know that, after the exile of Zhu Zirong, the scroll stayed in his family. When Zhu Zirong possessed the scroll, he recorded the transmission from one owner to the next. One can count him as a very conscientious collector. Zhu Zirong passed the scroll on to Zhu Dayou. From Dayou it passed to the private secretary of the provincial censor, Zhu Yingde; Yingde left it to the Changzhou district school supervisor Zhu Qiong. From him it passed to Zhu Derun. Zhu Derun was Fuji's father. Zhu Fuji asked me to record this transmission through the six generations and one hundred and nighty-eight years, so that his descendants may faithfully preserve their family history. This is a rarely accomplished feat.[1] ………. Respectfully recorded by Wang Xun from Jinling [Nanjing] on the third day of the tenth lunar month in the winter of this year [November 1, 1388]. [Seals]: Wang Xun Shimin, ? ? Daoshi
Di Xuegeng 狄學耕 (active mid-19th c.) Di Xuegeng 狄學耕 Mannong 曼農 Shidian 石顛 Zhongshi Xuan zhencang 種石軒珍藏 Di shuzi Mannong 狄叔子曼農 Liyang Di shi Zhongshi Xuan jiancang yin 溧陽狄氏種石軒鑑藏印
Chen Changji 陳長吉 (active late 19th c.) Dantu Chen Changji zi Shiyi yin 丹徒陳長吉字石逸印
Jin Cheng 金城 (1878–1926) Gongbo pingsheng zhenshang 鞏伯平生真賞 Wuxing Jin Cheng jianding Song Yuan zhenji zhi yin 吳興金城鋻定宋元真跡之印
Unidentified Si shi 姒氏 Suiyang 睢陽 Chishang Caotang zhencang 池上草堂珍藏
Note
For the portrait of Bi Shichang, one of the Five Old Men of Suiyang, see 17.170.1.
[1] Translation after Li Lin-ts’an, “Suiyang wu lao tu,” National Palace Museum Bulletin, vol. 8, no. 5 (Nov.-Dec. 1973), pp. 6–8. [2] “慶元” should be“慶曆”. [3] ‘嵗即由科舉為湖州學錄入皇朝,官翰林’十六字破損,據 《趙氏鐡網珊瑚》 補。 [4] ‘名筆,並’ 三字破損,據 《趙氏鐡網珊瑚》 補。
Lai Yuan and Company , (until 1917 donated to MMA)
Washington D.C. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. "Chinese Figure Painting," 1973.
Midian zhulin shiqu baoji sanbian 秘殿珠林石渠寶笈三編 (Catalogue of painting and calligraphy in the Qianlong imperial collection, third series). Preface dated 1816. Facsimile reprinted of an original manuscript copy. 10 vols. vol. 3, Taipei: National Palace Museum, 1969, pp. 1532–33.
Cahill, James. An Index of Early Chinese Painters and Paintings: T'ang, Sung, and Yüan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.
Suzuki Kei 鈴木敬, ed. Chûgoku kaiga sogo zuroku: Daiikan, Amerika-Kanada Hen 中國繪畫總合圖錄: 第一卷 アメリカ - カナダ 編 (Comprehensive illustrated catalog of Chinese paintings: vol. 1 American and Canadian collections) Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1982, pp. 18–19, cat. no. A1-092.
Fong, Wen C. Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th–14th Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992, pp. 44–47.
Bian Yongyu 卞永譽. Shigu Tang shuhua huikao 式古堂書畫彙考 (Studies on calligraphy and painting from the Shigu Tang Studio). Preface dated 1682, juan 15 of painting section. Reprinted in Zhongguo shuhua quanshu 中國書畫全書(Compendium of classical publications on Chinese painting) Edited by Lu Fusheng 盧輔聖. Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 1993–2000, vol. 6, pp. 1043–49.
Zhu Cunli 朱存理. Tiewang shanhu 鐵網珊瑚 (Coral treasures in an iron net). Edited by Zhao Qimei 趙琦美. Postscript dated 1600, juan 3 of painting section. Reprinted in Zhongguo shuhua quanshu 中國書畫全書 (Compendium of classical publications on Chinese painting and calligraphy) Edited by Lu Fusheng 盧輔聖. Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 1993–2000, vol. 3, pp. 691–97.
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