5. Handscroll: Reading in the Shade of a Brookside Bamboo Grove (by Yu Zhiding of the Qing dynasty)

Calligraphy and Painting

Qing dynasty

Width×Length: 56cm×30.2cm

Yu Zhiding (1647-1716), who styled himself as “Shangji” and “Shenzhai”, originated in Jiangdu (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu). As a court painter of the Qing dynasty known for his sophistication in landscape and figure painting, Yu did most of the celebrity portraits of his time. He was inspired by a slew of artists of the Song and Yuan dynasties such as Ma Hezhi, whose most appreciated technique was the orchid leaf stroke–one that uses the middle of the paintbrush to provide a round, full and rich presentation that is soft on the edges and strong in the center. Yu’s painting style was known to be elaborate, elegant and graceful.

In the scroll, a man was reading in the shade of a brookside grove while leaning against a tea table. His young attendant walked towards him, holding orchid and Reishi mushroom in a vase. Across the pristine clear brook a blanket of misty fog obscured the top of a faraway pavilion. Yu did not only deliver the composure of both men, but also captured the wrinkled details of their robes. The axe-cut textured rocks perfectly resonated with the thin outline of bamboo, which rendered the painting neat and exquisite. In his inscription, Yu titled the painting Reading in the Shade of a Brookside Bamboo Grove. Bearing both an intaglio seal and an embossed seal, the handscroll is considered a masterpiece of Yu’s.

6. The Manuscripts of Five Classics (by Zheng Xie of the Qing dynasty)

Calligraphy and Painting

Qing dynasty

Ink and Color on Paper

Width×Length: 29.5cm×19cm

Zheng Xie (1693-1766), who styled himself as “Banqiao”, originated in Xinghua, Jiangsu. As one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, a group of eight Chinese painters active in the Qing dynasty, Zheng was adept at calligraphy and painting. His unique calligraphy style, calculated while unrestrained, incorporated the merits of various schools. The strokes, large or small, thick or thin, were well orchestrated like the notes in a pleasant symphony. 

The manuscripts have eight volumes: The Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the Book of Changes and the Spring and Autumn Annals, all handwritten by Zheng himself. The cover of each volume was tagged and sealed by Liang Zhangju, an officer and poet of the Qing dynasty, to prove that the handwriting was authentic. Liang also sealed the back of each volume with his embossed seal of collection. The title of each volume, handwritten by Zheng, was slightly larger in size than the characters in the text. Zheng’s seals, intaglio and embossed, were also found on some of the title pages and text pages. 

7. Scroll: The Portrait of Zhang Detian (by Jiao Bingzhen of the Qing dynasty)

Calligraphy and Painting

Qing dynasty

Ink and Color on Silk

Width×Length: 80.8cm×73cm

The portrait was co-painted by Jiao Bingzhen and Jiang Tingxi in 1726. Jiao was a native of Jining, Shandong who became a court painter and imperial astronomer in 1662, the first year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign. Skilled in painting landscapes, people, florals and buildings, Jiao incorporated the western graphical perspective in his highly-colored gongbi paintings, creating a unique painting style. The two most characteristic features of perspective are that objects appear smaller as their distance from the observer increases; and that they are subject to foreshortening, meaning that an object's dimensions along the line of sight appear shorter than its dimensions across the line of sight. Jiang Tingxi (1669-1732), born in Changshu, Jiangsu, was a painter and grand secretary to the imperial court. He was particularly adept at using mogu technique (making forms by ink and color washes rather than by outlines) in his bird-and-flower paintings. In the Portrait of Zhang Detian, Jiao painted the boat, pavilion and Zhang. Jiao captured the composure of the man with fine-tuned strokes and reproduced the exquisite intricacy of the pavilion. Jiang, on the other hand, supplemented the portrait with brilliant details of lotus pond and willows. The painting depicted Zhang, a calligrapher, leaning against the table in a boat with a feather fan in his hand. On the table lay an open book, beside which a china fine vase held lotus blooms, hinting at Zhang’s noble aspiration. In the pondside pavilion were heaps of books. The sprightly-colored painting took an ingenious approach to portray the scene with a view from above. At the upper right corner, Jiao noted the date of the painting, and at the upper left corner Jiang mentioned his supplementary role. This innovative piece of artwork bears two embossed seals and one intaglio seal.

8.Hanging Scroll: A Thousand Peaks and Myriad Ravines (by Wang Hui of the Qing dynasty)

Calligraphy and Painting

Qing dynasty

Ink and Color on Paper

Width×Length: 177.5cm×98.4cm

Wang Hui (1632-1717), who styled himself as “Shigu” and “Qinghui Laoren”, was a student of Wang Shimin and Wang Jian, both reputed painters of the Qing dynasty. Adept at painting landscapes and facsimileing paintings of the Song and Yuan dynasties, Wang incorporated the features of different schools of painting and shaped his own style. Wang Hui was hailed as one of the F our Wangs, four Chinese landscape painters in the 17th century, all called Wang (surname). As the founder of Yushan school, Wang was awarded Emperor Kangxi’s inscription for his excellent job in painting Emperor Kangxi’s Southern Inspection Tour scroll in 1662, one of Wang’s early masterpieces. A Thousand Peaks and Myriad Ravines was composed the way most landscape paintings were since the Yuan dynasty. A courtyard house in the middle of the painting is set off by a riverbank and trees in the foreground. A small bridge spans the streak from behind the trees. A mountain ridge stretches peak after peak into the distance. To do the ambience of an invigorating autumn justice, Wang painted the scenery in light-reddish purple, and portrayed the rocks and trees with forceful strokes. In his intricate arrangement of elements, Wang used the technique of pima cun (hemp-fiber texturing) to paint the mountain rocks, stained the distant mountain with ink, and elaborately outlined the trees, all of which demonstrated his mastery of landscape painting techniques. At the upper right corner, Wang composed a verse of poem to celebrate the autumn. The piece bears various seals, ranging from Wang’s personal seal to those of imperial appreciation and collection. His works were highly valued by the imperial court, literati and bureaucrats of the Qing dynasty. 

9.Hanging Scroll: The Seclusion of Mount Chong (by Wang Duo of the Qing dynasty)

Calligraphy and Painting

Qing dynasty

Ink on Satin

Width×Length: 167cm×51cm

Wang Duo (1592-1652) was born in Mengjin, now Mengjin County, Henan. He became a jinshi (imperial scholar) in 1622 when the Ming was the ruling regime of China. In the Qing dynasty, Wang ranked up to the Minister of Rites. Active at the shift of regimens as a renowned calligrapher, he was also adept at poetry, classical-style prose, landscape and floral painting. One of the features of Wang’s imposing landscape painting is the rarity of texturing and rubbing, which sets the charm of his paintings apart. Bearing Wang’s inscription and an intaglio seal, the Seclusion of Mount Chong was painted in 1650, when he was 58 years old. At the top of the scroll, a ridge winds down from the towering peak of Mount Chong. The shades of myriad hilltops obscure a temple, a cascade and a bridge in the middle, and set an ethereal tone for the rocks and trees at the bottom. In his elaborate orchestration of elements, Wang wielded the tip of his brush at his will and simply dotted the rocks at the lower water gap without texturing and rubbing. Even though he structured the scroll in the archaistic way many landscape painters did since the Ming and Qing dynasties, Wang didn’t stick to the classic technique of pima cun (hemp-fiber texturing). Instead, he used dotting to deliver a sense of unconstraint in his own way.