Eight Poems on Autumn Moods

The scholar-official and calligrapher Wang Duo lived intermittently in Nanjing during the late Ming and early Qing periods. He served as a minister in the short-lived Southern Ming court there in 1645, when the Ming had fallen in the north but lingered in the south. He created this scroll in 1632, years before the dynasty’s demise. The final poem is a classic expression of the “Reminiscences of Jinling” genre, in which a contemplation of Nanjing’s many histories spurs thoughts of impermanence.