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Letter to Xu Shangde

Tang Yin Chinese
Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Not on view
Not only is this letter one of the most beautiful specimens of Tang Yin's calligraphy to survive, but its contents also provide invaluable information about Tang's wide-ranging literary productions, many of which are no longer extant. The text of Tang's letter reads in part:

I am getting together my past writings so I might be remembered after my death. I hope that all my writings—the three volumes of the Sanshi huqian [on the principles of fortune telling], eight volumes of Selected Literary Works, one volume of The Mirror of Painting and Calligraphy, twenty volumes of Biographies of Generals and Ministers, two volumes of Historical Discussions, and six volumes of Discussions of Current Affairs—will be remembered by you. Some day . . . I hope you will write of these works on my tombstone.

(Marc F. Wilson and Kwan S. Wong, trans., Friends of Wen Cheng-ming: A View from the Crawford Collection [New York: China Institute
in America, 1974], p. 74)

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 明 唐寅 致若容書 册頁
  • Title: Letter to Xu Shangde
  • Artist: Tang Yin (Chinese, 1470–1524)
  • Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Album leaf; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 10 3/4 × 25 1/4 in. (27.3 × 64.1 cm)
    Image (with title strip): 10 3/4 × 25 7/8 in. (27.3 × 65.7 cm)
  • Classification: Calligraphy
  • Credit Line: Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988
  • Object Number: 1989.363.56
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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Poems from the Pavilion of True Meaning, Zhou Lianggong Chinese, Album of twenty-eight leaves; ink on paper, China
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Landscapes, Tang Yin Chinese, Eight album leaves mounted as a handscroll; ink and color on silk, China
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