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Couplet by Han Yu

Attributed to Emperor Guangzong Chinese
Song dynasty (960–1279)
Not on view
This writing is related to the regular script style of Emperor Gaozong (r. 1127–62) but is quite different from that of Emperor Lizong (r. 1224–64). The closest stylistic comparison is a transcription of the Diamond Sutra by the Song courtier Zhang Jizhi (1186–1266) written in the same large regular script and dated 1246. While no extant work by Guangzong is known, this writing may prove to be by his hand. The couplet is taken from the poem New Bamboo by the great Tang writer Han Yu (768–824):

[The bamboo's] lofty appearance defies the austerity of autumn,
Its chaste color surpasses the lush beauty of spring.

(Wen C. Fong, trans., in Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th-14th Century [New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992], p. 233)


DOCUMENTATION

Artist's inscription (2 columns in standard script, undated)

[The bamboo's] lofty appearance defies the austerity of autumn,
Its chaste color surpasses the lush beauty of spring.
[Trans. by Wen Fong]

高標凌秋嚴，貞色奪春媚。

Collectors' seals

Pan Zhengwei 潘正煒 (1971–1850)
Pan shi Tingfan Lou cang 潘氏聼颿樓藏
Jitong xin shang 季彤心賞

Pan Yanling 潘延齡 (19th c.)
Jian'an yanfu 健盦眼福

Xiang Family 香氏 (20th c.)
Ceng cang Xiang shi Mengshi Lu 曾藏香氏夢詩廬

Gu Luofu 顧洛阜 (John M. Crawford, Jr., 1913–1988)
Gu Luofu (twice) 顧洛阜
Hanguang Ge (twice) 漢光閣

Illegible, 1

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 南宋 傳光宗 行楷書高標貞色聯句 團扇
  • Title: Couplet by Han Yu
  • Artist: Attributed to Emperor Guangzong (Chinese, 1147–1200, r. 1190–94)
  • Period: Song dynasty (960–1279)
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk
  • Dimensions: 8 3/8 x 8 1/4 in. (21.3 x 21 cm)
  • Classification: Calligraphy
  • Credit Line: Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988
  • Object Number: 1989.363.11
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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