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Couplet

Zhao Zhiqian Chinese
dated 1867
Not on view
Zhao Zhiqian, the leading scholar-artist of his day, grew up in a merchant family but received a classical education in order to pursue a career in government. Passing the provincial civil-service examination in 1859, Zhao spent the next twelve years in Beijing selling his art while trying unsuccessfully to pass the capital examination before being awarded a post as district magistrate in Jiangxi Province in 1872.

Zhao was equally renowned as a calligrapher, seal carver, and painter. He is best known for a distinctive "square-brush" style of calligraphy derived from the engraved stone writings of the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534), as seen in his dedication and signature here, but he also developed a distinctively plump seal-script manner exemplified by this couplet, which expresses a sentiment appropriate for a Confucian household:

Great virtue comes from forbearance,
sincerity comes from a mind free from deception.
(translated by Jason Zhixin Sun)

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 清　趙之謙　篆書五言對聯
  • Title: Couplet
  • Artist: Zhao Zhiqian (Chinese, 1829–1884)
  • Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
  • Date: dated 1867
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Pair of hanging scrolls; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image (each): 71 5/8 x 18 15/16 in. (181.9 x 48.1 cm)
    Overall with mounting (each): 92 1/2 x 23 1/2 in. (235 x 59.7 cm)
  • Classification: Calligraphy
  • Credit Line: Gift of Judith G. and F. Randall Smith, in honor of Maxwell K. Hearn, 2000
  • Object Number: 2000.345.1, .2
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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7597. Couplet

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The Lingshouhua Studio, Zhao Zhiqian Chinese, Horizontal panel; ink on paper, China
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Peony, Zhao Zhiqian Chinese, Folding fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on gold-flecked paper, China
Peony
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Couplet, Zhao Zhiqian Chinese, Two hanging scrolls; ink on paper, China
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Yang Xiong’s Prefaces to Model Statements, Zhao Zhiqian Chinese, Framed horizontal scroll, ink on lined paper, China
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