Echo (Kongshan xiaoyu 空山小語)
Echo (Kongshan xiaoyu 空山小語)
Echo (Kongshan xiaoyu 空山小語)
Echo (Kongshan xiaoyu 空山小語)

Currently not on view

Echo (Kongshan xiaoyu 空山小語),

undated; ca. 1677–78

Shitao 石濤, 1642–1707; born Guilin, China; died Yangzhou, China

Chinese

Qing dynasty, 1644–1912

y1967-20

The brevity of Shitao’s brush and ink expresses an intimate dialogue with lonely mountains and silent clouds. Like the sound of one hand clapping, here the poem fills the landscape with quiet reverberations. The artist’s calligraphy quotes a couplet by the famed Song dynasty poet and calligrapher Su Shi (1036–1101): An echo rebounds with every whisper; Startling, on the empty mountain, the white cloud.

View full record

More About This Object

Echoes of One Hand Clapping Picturing Sound in Asian Art

Information

Title
Echo (Kongshan xiaoyu 空山小語)
Dates

undated; ca. 1677–78

Maker
Shitao 石濤
Medium

Album leaf mounted as hanging scroll; ink on paper

Dimensions

Painting: 22.1 x 29.4 cm. (8 11/16 x 11 9/16 in.) Mount: 135 x 42 cm. (53 1/8 x 16 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation

Object Number
y1967-20
Place Made

Asia, China

Signatures

unsigned

Inscription

Xiao yu zhe xiang * Kong shan bai yun jing plus 6-character phrase after this

Marks/Labels/Seals

seal: one vertical rectangular yin seal to left of inscription

Culture
Chinese
Period
Qing
Type
hanging scrolls, scroll paintings, albums, chinese painting styles
Subject
water, bridges (built works), cliffs, landscapes (representations)

IIIF manifest

The International Image Interoperability Framework, or IIIF, is an open standard for delivering high-quality, attributed digital objects online at scale. Visit iiif.io to learn more.

Open API URL

Our API is generally designed to provide programmatic access to the Museum's collections data for applications that require regular updates and/or the ability to dynamically query and filter the data via the endpoints provided.

Share your feedback with us

The Museum regularly researches its objects and their collecting histories, updating its records to reflect new information. We also strive to catalogue works of art using language that is consistent with how people, subjects, artists, and cultures describe themselves. As this effort is ongoing, the Museum’s records may be incomplete or contain terms that are no longer acceptable. We welcome your feedback, questions, and additional information that you feel may be useful to us. Email us at collectionsinfo@princeton.edu.

Explore More

New Study Rooms Deepen Students’ Connection to the Collections

The Museum as Classroom: Redefining How Students Learn, Think, and See in ART 101

Curator Perrin Lathrop on Clay Has Memory

Mosaic Restaurant