Prose Poem on Fishing

Inscription: Artist’s inscription and signature (125 columns in cursive script)

Prose Poem on Fishing

[The Chinese text of the prose poem is not translated but summarized as follows:
In his conversation with King Xiang of Chu (r. 298–263 BCE) about fishing, Song Yu (ca. 298–ca. 222 BCE) belittled the fictional master angler Xuanzhou who fished with finely crafted gear and delectable baits. The ruler of a state should instead “employ sagacious people as his rod, morality as his fishing line, benevolence and righteousness as his hook, and ranks and profits as his baits. All four seas are his pond; the myriad people are his fish.” That was how the sage-kings of antiquity – Yao, Shun, Yu of the Xia dynasty, and Tang of the Shang dynasty – fished (governed) and prospered. King Xiang of Chu should follow their example.]

In the summer of the dingmao year in the Zhengde reign era (1507) I passed by Tong and visited Mr. Hua Shanggu (15th–16th c.) in his old residence in Kanzhuang. We relaxed and amused ourselves by appreciating flowers and fishing in the garden until sunset, unaware how time had passed. By lamplight I wrote the Prose Poem on Fishing with a worn brush to commemorate the joy of that occasion. Recorded by Zhu Yunming, a xianggongjinshi scholar from Changzhou [in Suzhou].

釣賦
宋玉與登徒子偕受釣於玄洲，止而並見於楚襄王。登徒子曰：“夫玄洲，天下之善釣者也，願王觀焉。”王曰：“其善奈何？”登徒子對曰：“夫玄洲釣也，以三尋之竿，八絲之綿，餌若蛆螾，鈎如細针，以出三赤之魚於數仞之水中，豈可謂無術乎？夫玄洲，芳水餌，挂繳鈎，其意不可得。退而牵行，下觸清泥，上則波颺，玄洲因水勢而施之，頡之頏之，委縱收斂，與魚沈浮，及其解弛而獲之。”襄王曰：“善。”宋玉進曰：“今察玄洲之釣，未可謂能持竿也，又烏足為大王言乎！”王曰：“子之所謂善釣者何？”玉曰：“臣所謂善釣者，其竿非竹，其綸非絲，其鈎非針，其餌非螾也。”王曰：“愿遂聞之。”玉對曰：“昔堯、舜、禹、湯之釣也，以賢聖為竿，道德為綸，仁義為鈎，祿利為餌，四海為池，萬民為魚。釣道微矣，非聖人孰能察之？”王曰：“迅哉說乎！其釣不可見也。”宋玉對曰：“其釣易見，王不察爾。昔殷湯以七十里，周文以百里，興利除害，天下歸之，其餌可謂芳矣；南面而掌天下，歴載數百，到今不廢，其綸可謂紉矣；群生浸其澤，民氓畏其罰，其鈎可謂拗矣；功成而不隳，名立而不改，其竿可謂强矣！若夫竿折綸絕，餌墜鈎决，波湧魚失，是則夏桀、商紂不通夫釣術也。今察玄洲之釣也，左挾魚罶，右執槁竿，立乎潢汙之涯，倚乎楊柳之間，精不離乎魚喙，思不出乎鮒鯿，形容枯槁，神色憔悴，樂不役勤，獲不當費，斯乃水濱之役夫也，王又何稱焉？王若建堯、舜之洪竿，攄禹、湯之修綸，投之於瀆，視之於海，漫漫群生，孰非吾有？其為大王之釣，不亦樂乎！

正德丁卯夏日過銅，訪尚古華公於闞莊舊第，憩耳成趣，園中賞花釣魚，不覺移晷就暮，燈下拈禿筆為之《釣賦》，以紀一時之興云。長洲鄉貢進士祝允明記。


Artist's seals

Yunming 允明
Xizhe 希哲
Zhishan 枝山


Collector's seals

Gu Luofu 顧洛阜 (John M. Crawford, Jr., 1913–1988)
Gu Luofu 顧洛阜
Hanguang Ge 漢光閣
Hanguang Ge zhu Gu Luofu jiancang Zhongguo gudai shuhua zhi zhang 漢光閣主顧洛阜鑒藏中國古代書畫之章

John M. Crawford Jr. American, New York (by 1971–d. 1988; bequeathed to MMA)

New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "Traces of the Brush: Studies in Chinese Calligraphy," April 6, 1977–June 27, 1977.

University Art Museum, University of California at Berkeley. "Traces of the Brush: Studies in Chinese Calligraphy," September 20, 1977–November 27, 1977.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Companions in Solitude: Reclusion and Communion in Chinese Art," July 31, 2021–August 14, 2022.

Weng, Wan-go, and Thomas Lawton. Chinese Painting and Calligraphy: A Pictorial Survey: 69 Fine Examples from the John Crawford, Jr. Collection. New York: Dover Publications, 1978, cat. no. 31.

Shih Shou-ch'ien, Maxwell K. Hearn, and Alfreda Murck. The John M. Crawford, Jr., Collection of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Checklist. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984, p. 27, cat. no. 59.