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Song of the Stone Drums

dated 1301
Not on view
Xianyu Shu was a northerner who, at about the age of thirty, moved south, eventually settling in Hangzhou. There, he impressed his southern friends with his calligraphy, connoisseurship, and "heroic" northern spirit. Even Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322), a close friend, acknowledged Xianyu's superiority in cursive writing.

One of Xianyu's most famous works, this scroll is a transcription of a poem by Han Yu (768–824) beseeching the preservation of the ten ancient Stone Drums, monuments carved with poems in archaic seal script around the fifth century B.C. Its vigorous brushwork displays both the freedom and energy of Xianyu's northern heritage and the new sophistication acquired through his study of Jin- and Tang-dynasty masters.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 元　鮮于樞　草書石鼓歌　卷
  • Title: Song of the Stone Drums
  • Artist: Xianyu Shu (Chinese, 1246–1302)
  • Period: Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
  • Date: dated 1301
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Handscroll; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 17 11/16 in. x 15 ft. 1 1/16 in. (44.9 x 459.9 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 18 in. x 38 ft. 11 3/16 in. (45.7 x 1186.7 cm)
  • Classification: Calligraphy
  • Credit Line: Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988
  • Object Number: 1989.363.29
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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