Quatrain on yellow roses
During the reign of Ningzong (1202–24), his consort, the empress Yang Meizi, was a formidable presence, both in politics and in the arts. Starting out as a young musician in the palace of Empress Wu (wife of Gaozong), Yang Meizi found favor with Ningzong and in 1202 maneuvered her way into becoming his wife. Wielding great power in court politics, she had the powerful prime minister Han Tuozhou executed in 1207 without consulting her husband. In 1224, when Ningzong died, she dethroned Crown Prince Hong and supported Prince Yun, who became Emperor Lizong (r. 1224–64).
An excellent calligrapher who practiced the imperial style initiated by Gaozong (r. 1127–62), the empress may have inscribed this poem on the opposite side of a fan painting of roses by a court artist:
Snowy stamens dot the tender yellow [flowers];
The rose is drenched with the morning dew that
wets my garment.
As the west wind sweeps away the wild bees and
butterflies,
I alone, at the border of Heaven, keep company
with the fragrant cassia tree.
(Wen C. Fong, trans., in Beyond Representation:
Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th-14th Century
[New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
1992], p. 237)
An excellent calligrapher who practiced the imperial style initiated by Gaozong (r. 1127–62), the empress may have inscribed this poem on the opposite side of a fan painting of roses by a court artist:
Snowy stamens dot the tender yellow [flowers];
The rose is drenched with the morning dew that
wets my garment.
As the west wind sweeps away the wild bees and
butterflies,
I alone, at the border of Heaven, keep company
with the fragrant cassia tree.
(Wen C. Fong, trans., in Beyond Representation:
Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th-14th Century
[New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
1992], p. 237)
Artwork Details
- 南宋 楊皇后 楷書瀹雪凝酥七絕 團扇
- Title: Quatrain on yellow roses
- Artist: Empress Yang Meizi (Chinese, 1162–1232) , r. 1202–24;
- Period: Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
- Date: early 13th century
- Culture: China
- Medium: Round fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk
- Dimensions: 9 1/4 x 9 5/8 in. (23.5 x 24.5 cm); with mat: 14 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (36.8 x 39.4 cm)
- Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988
- Object Number: 1989.363.13
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
More Artwork
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Emperor Gaozong
after 1162
Empress Yang Meizi
early 13th century
Huang Tingjian
ca. 1095
Guo Xi
ca. 1080
Emperor Huizong
early 12th century
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