Searching for My Parents

Inscription: Artist’s inscription and signature (20 columns in semi-cursive script)

I traveled hundreds of thousands of miles on foot across perilous mountains and rivers. Though the records of the journey were casual jottings, I encountered the most difficult and dangerous moments upon arriving at the Qin Pass. The Qin Pass was constructed at the border of Huangzhou [in modern southwestern Hunan and eastern Guizhou Province] in the ancient Qian region by the illegitimate feudal lord Sun Kewang (died 1660) when he ruled the area. War-signaling beacons stretched a thousand miles; wild beasts roamed in huge quantities. More forbidding than the famous Hangu Pass [in Henan Province], it held the key to the north-south traffic. At the time, I was exhausted from travel. With war fire raging along the way, I always searched for roads where there were none. Luckily with god’s help, I went through and back. In my spare time after self-examination and classes, I often reflected on the perils and griefs I had experienced. Then I leisurely painted a long scroll to record just a tiny portion of the events and the scenes in my journey, unconcerned with how long it might take or how far away the past was. The painting starts with the Dalong Cave [in northwestern Guangdong Province], the Wuling Stream, the West Stream [in western Hunan], the Willow military camp, the Bianshui Ridge, and the Sweetfish Slope [at the border between Hunan and Guizhou]. After depicting the Pass, it ends with the river-crossing scene. It took me two years to complete. Ah! On the other hand, how could traversing precipitous mountains and risking the perils of war be appropriate for a filial son to do! I simply used painting to express what entered my dreams and moved my heart. Those who see my painting in the future may be inspired to the memories of their own parents without laughing at my unrefined brushwork. As long as the painting survives unscathed by criticism, it would be fortunate enough. It is the early autumn of the bingshen year (1656). I made this note in addition in the Qiongzhi Ge Studio.[1] [Signed] Huang Xiangjian

予徒步萬里，其山川險阻，雖略著程紀，而艱危莫甚於達秦關。秦關建在古黔地晃州之界，偽藩孫可望蟠踞時所設也。烽煙千里，貔貅萬計，森嚴過於函谷，居然有南北之限。斯時行旅既耗，兵燹載途，悉從無路處覓路，徼有天幸，往返其間。每於定省館課之暇，輒作出險入險痛定思痛想，爰是漫然寫一長卷，不計日，不計里，惟就所歷所遇，而圖其萬一。始自大瀧洞、五陵溪、西溪、柳寨、[水便]水嶺、鮎魚坡，踰關而渡江止，經兩春秋而成。噫！竊又念蹈崎嶇冒鋒刃，豈孝子所宜歟。聊擁丹青，稍賦夢寐神搖之意，後之覽者，或亦興岵屺之思，不嗤予手筆之未工，存而勿論，尤爲幸甚。時丙申秋杪，並誌於瓊枝閣。黃向堅


Artist’s seals

Cangyun 蒼雲

Illegible: 2


Collectors’ seals

Gong Erduo 宮爾鐸 （1838?–?）
Nongshan guoyan 農山過眼

Unidentified
Sun shi jiacang 孫氏家藏
Li Shen huoguan 李慎獲觀
Shen pin 神品

Illegible: 1

[1] Translation by Shi-yee Liu

Julia and John Curtis , Williamsburg, VA (until 2015; donated to MMA)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Journeys: Mapping the Earth and Mind in Chinese Art," February 10–August 26, 2007.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Show and Tell: Stories in Chinese Painting," October 29, 2016–August 6, 2017.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Streams and Mountains without End: Landscape Traditions of China," August 26, 2017–January 6, 2019.

Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm: China in Tigers' Jaws. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993, pp. 162–78.