Rocks in extraordinary shapes—appreciated as miniature mountains—have been treasured by Chinese people since the Tang dynasty (618–907) and have inspired numerous pictorial and literary compositions. The rock in this painting, with its twisted body and multiple perforations, embodies the vitality of nature outlasting the ravages of time.
It is no wonder that the owner of this painting traveled around to share it with friends and invite their comments, as the dozens of enthusiastic inscriptions around the image demonstrate. Each inscription reveals a different social encounter and a unique personality. Some also provide a glimpse into the urban gardens where the meetings took place.
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In his Pingquan Villa [in Luoyang, modern Henan province] Li [Deyu 李德裕, 787‒849] gathered extraordinary rocks across the nation for his enjoyment. At the time one could say, “He has the Eastern Sea in his sleeves, while the fairy island of Penglai fills his vision.” But once he fell from power, all turned to rubble, not to mention they were useless in restoring sobriety from a drunken stupor. This rock painting by Diesou [Lan Ying] is powerful with fine textures and perforations, rugged yet delightful. How could any vulgar or defiled mind have conjured up such a fantastic form! My friend Peizhi just showed me this scroll from his father Weiting’s collection and asked for my inscription. I admire his elegant taste for restraint, which is superior to Mr. Li’s at the Pingquan Villa. Having unrolled the painting, I felt as if faced with the Eastern Sea and the Penglai Island just a foot away. What a real treasure! Peng Yuanrui in the fourth month of the wuchen year of the Qianlong reign era (1748). [Seals]: Yuanrui, 1 illegible
2. Xiong Bingyuan 熊炳元 (active early 18th c.), 7 columns in clerical script and 1 column in semi-cursive script, dated 1733; 1 seal:
[Poems not translated]
Xiong Bingyuan in the spring, the third month, of the guichou year of the Yongzheng reign era (1733). [Seal]: Xiong Bingyuan
獨具煙霞色，粼粼寂不言。補天餘弌片，留此冠乾坤。
蜨叟傳奇筆，砱砱孔竅明。莫嫌形縐陋，觸處覺雲生。 貌古殊時尚，摩挲絹素新。自存真面目，應不笑嶙峋。
瘦硬神彌疎，軒齋得縱觀。洞天傳一品，斑駁色猶寒。
雍正癸丑春三月熊炳元 [印]：熊炳元
3. Li Shizhuo 李世倬 (1687‒1770), 6 columns in standard script, undated; 2 seals:
Among the rock painters of the past, Su [Shi 蘇軾, 1037‒1101] and the Mis, father and son [Mi Fu 米芾, 1051‒1107, and Mi Youren 米友仁, 1074‒1151] are the foremost. In the Ming dynasty, Lan Tianshu [Lan Ying] from Qiantang was also good at it. Tianshu did not specialize in painting rocks, but played with this subject in his spare time from making other paintings. He made the grand rocks from Lake Tai look utterly natural and monumental, which suffices to make him a distant heir to Su and Mi. This work is certainly among the very best paintings.
After acquiring this scroll, Weiting would always put it in his luggage when traveling. Upon meeting with friends, he would show it and ask for their inscriptions. His obsession with rocks is no less than Haiyue’s [Mi Fu]. How lucky I am to be able to view this marvel! I therefore picked up my brush to make this note. [Signed] Li Shizhuo from the ancient Yan state [roughly modern northern Hebei and Liaoning provinces]. [Seals]: 2 illegible
5. Cai Xin 蔡新 (1707‒1799), 1 column in standard script, dated 1749; 1 seal:
Cai Xin from Zhangpu [in Fujian province] viewed this two days before the Double Ninth Festival in the jisi year, the 14th year of the Qianlong reign era (1749). [Seal]: Cai Xin siyin
乾隆十四年歲在己巳，重陽前二日漳浦蔡新觀。 [印]：蔡新私印
6. Wang Mingsheng 王鳴盛 (1722‒1797), 8 columns in semi-cursive script, dated 1750; 2 seals:
[Poem not translated]
Inscribed for Peizhi’s advice in the autumn of the gengwu year (1750). [Signed] Wang Mingsheng [Seals]: 2 illegible
7. Wu Lü 吳履 (active late 18th c.), 1 column in clerical script, undated; 1 seal:
Wu Lü from Jiaxing [in Zhejiang province] viewed this with respect. [Seal]: Wu Lü
嘉興吳履拜觀。 [印]：吳履
8. Ji Fuheng 紀復亨 (Jinshi degree 1752), 12 columns in semi-cursive script, dated 1750; 1 seal:
On the [summer or winter] solstice of the gengwu year (1750) Peizhi showed me this rock painting on silk. Unrolling it, I saw vigorous brushwork and wonderful perforations. It had the look of the boulder to the east of the lotus pond that roared in the wind like a ringing wine vessel. A really extraordinary work of Lan Ying! In landscape painting, Ying usually followed the masters of the Song and the Yuan dynasties but came up with his own style. His representations of figures, plums and bamboos, and flowers and birds always capture the essence of the ancients. Look at this rock painting. Doesn’t it capture the essence of the ancients too! With Peizhi keeping this, the rocks in the Pingquan Villa of Luoyang can no longer boast their uniqueness. Ji Fuheng noted. [Seal]: Fuheng
10. Jin Deying 金德瑛 (1701‒1762), 1 column in standard script, undated; 2 seals:
Kuaimen, Jin Deying, viewed this. [Seals]: Deying, Kuaimen
檜門金德瑛觀。[印]：德瑛、檜門
11. Wang Yingquan 汪應銓 (1685‒1745), 5 columns in standard script, dated 1715; 2 seals:
As a painter, Tianshu [Lan Ying] grew more skillful as he aged. Besides landscape, flower, and bamboo, he was particularly good at rendering the forms of objects and creating rock imagery at will. The rock in this painting [seems to] stand elegantly high on the mountain, ….an embodiment of spiritual wonder. This level of brushwork reflects his transcendence over the primordial chaos. It resonates with Master Yang’s [Yang Xiong 揚雄, 53‒18 BCE] remarks that “Human mind is deep and subtle, partaking in the marvelous operation of nature.” This acquisition of Mr. Weiting is a pure delight in a scholar’s studio. He should always keep it in his collection confidentially lest it should fall into other people’s hands like Su Shi’s failed attempt to acquire the rock of Mt. Jiuhua. Inscribed by Wang Yingquan three days before the Lantern Festival [fifteenth day of the first month] of the yiwei year in the Kangxi reign era (1715). [Seals]: 2 illegible
The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
