Words and Images: Chinese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting

Words and Images: Chinese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting

Murck, Alfreda, and Wen C. Fong, eds.
1991
589 pages
255 illustrations
8.25 x 12 in
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In May of 1985, an international symposium was held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in honor of John M. Crawford, Jr., whose gifts of Chinese calligraphy and painting have constituted a significant addition to the Museum's holdings. Over a three-day period, senior scholars from China, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, and the United States expressed a wide range of perspectives on an issue central to the history of Chinese visual aesthetics: the relationships between poetry, calligraphy, and painting. The practice of integrating the three art forms—known as san-chiieh, or the three perfections—in one work of art emerged during the Sung and Yuan dynasties largely in the context of literati culture, and it has stimulated lively critical discussion ever since.

This publication contains twenty-three essays based on the papers presented at the Crawford symposium. Grouped by subject matter in a roughly chronological order, these essays reflect research on topics spanning two millennia of Chinese history. The result is an interdisciplinary exploration of the complex set of relationships between words and images by art historians, literary historians, and scholars of calligraphy. Their findings provide us with a new level of understanding of this rich and complicated subject and suggest further directions for the study of Chinese art history. The essays are accompanied by 255 illustrations, some of which reproduce works rarely published. Chinese characters have been provided throughout the text for artists names, terms, titles of works of art and literature, and important historical figures, as well as for excerpts of selected poetry and prose. A chronology, also containing Chinese characters, and an extensive index contribute to making this book illuminating and invaluable to both the specialist and the layman.

Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru  


, Huang Tingjian  Chinese, Handscroll; ink on paper, China
Huang Tingjian
ca. 1095
Summer Mountains, Qu Ding  Chinese, Handscroll; ink and color on silk, China
Qu Ding
ca. 1050
Poem of Farewell to Liu Man, Yelü Chucai  Khitan, Handscroll; ink on paper, China
Yelü Chucai
dated 1240
Poems on painting plum blossoms and bamboo, Zhao Mengjian  Chinese, Handscroll; ink on paper, China
Zhao Mengjian
dated 1260
Poem Written in a Boat on the Wu River, Mi Fu  Chinese, Handscroll; ink on paper, China
Mi Fu
ca. 1095
Hermitage by a pine-covered bluff, Yan Ciyu  Chinese, Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk, China
Yan Ciyu
second half 12th century
Wang Xizhi watching geese, Qian Xuan  Chinese, Handscroll; ink, color, and gold on paper, China
Qian Xuan
ca. 1295
Ode on Returning Home

, Qian Xuan  Chinese, Handscroll; ink, color, and gold on paper, China
Qian Xuan
14th–15th century
Viewing plum blossoms by moonlight, Ma Yuan  Chinese, Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk, China
Ma Yuan
early 13th century
Twin Pines, Level Distance, Zhao Mengfu  Chinese, Handscroll; ink on paper, China
Zhao Mengfu
ca. 1310
Scholar viewing a waterfall, Ma Yuan  Chinese, Album leaf; ink and color on silk, China
Ma Yuan
early 13th century
Grooms and horses, Zhao Mengfu  Chinese, Handscroll; ink and color on paper, China
Multiple artists/makers
dated 1296 and 1359
Snowy landscape with rustic riverside retreat, Liu Songnian  Chinese, Handscroll; ink and color on silk, China
Liu Songnian
Gao Keming
ca. late 12th century
Couplet by Han Yu, Emperor Guangzong  Chinese, Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk, China
Emperor Guangzong
Duke Wen of Jin Recovering His State, Li Tang  Chinese, Handscroll; ink and color on silk, China
Li Tang
Emperor Gaozong
mid-12th century
Odes of the State of Bin, Unidentified artist, Handscroll; ink on paper, China
Unidentified artist
13th century
Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain, Emperor Gaozong  Chinese, Fan mounted as album leaf; ink on silk, China
Emperor Gaozong
after 1162
Quatrain on yellow roses, Empress Yang Meizi , r. 1202–24; Chinese, Round fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk, China
Empress Yang Meizi
early 13th century
Quatrain on Snow-covered West Lake, Emperor Lizong  Chinese, Round fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk, China
Emperor Lizong
ca. 1250–60
Quatrain on Late Spring, Emperor Lizong  Chinese, Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk, China
Emperor Lizong
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Murck, Alfreda, and Wen Fong. 1991. Words and Images: Chinese Poetry, Calligraphy and Painting. New York Princeton: Metropilitan Museum of art Princeton University press.