Portrait of Su Shi in a Bamboo Hat and Wood Shoes,

1862 (stone); late 19th to first half of 20th century (rubbing)

Portrait of Su Shi in a Bamboo Hat and Wood Shoes

1862 (stone); late 19th to first half of 20th century (rubbing)

Qiu Ying 仇英 , painter, attributed to
Feng Xun 馮詢 , carving agent

Hanging scroll; ink rubbing on paper

image: 112 x 46 cm. (44 1/8 x 18 1/8 in.) 94.5 x 41.6 cm. (37 3/16 x 16 3/8 in.)

Gift of George Rowley

y1958-261

Asia, China

Title at middle right: 東坡先生笠屐圖 Top: Zhang Hongkui 章鴻逵 (b. 1842) 仇英妙墨留此圖鬚眉落落臨大蘇我公 經濟無窮事即圖笠屐亦有意節風沐雨 古誰知轉是閒遊傳不置我公釋褐論知 音歐公不及韓公深大才合貯作國用名 譽太早愁禍侵豈知才識公具有功在朝 廷志林藪政成風物畫不如黃州桑柘杭 州柳當年歌頌遍部民家家尸祝國神君 身後才華任禁錮早有畫手為傳真公之 事業留竹帛公之精神寄花筆一圖聊寫 遂千秋至今海外談高蹟煙波縹渺雲雨 昏朝衫脱換處士巾莫悲磨蝎風塵劫且 認飛鴻泥雪痕我拜公圖為公語憂患從 來是竒遇若非烏臺詩獄興公也何由嶺 南去八百年來記不真披圖彷彿有前因 願公風雨消閒地添箇羅浮海道人 石嶺南馮子郎良司馬作也。同治壬戌[1862]秋重修吳城鴻 雪軒落成時，子良先生為是邦司馬以所藏仇十洲 東坡借笠圖勒石軒亭遂題是作此軒此圖此詩於 是三不朽矣。新建章鴻逵記。 . . . . “The stone was made by the sima official Feng Ziliang [i.e., Feng Xun 馮詢] from Lingnan. In the fall of the renxu [1862] cyclical year during the Tongzhi reign when the Hongxue Xuan hall renovations were finished, master Ziliang...used the Qiu Shizhou [i.e., Qiu Ying] painting of [Su] Dongpo borrowing a bamboo hat in storage to carve [the image] into stone at the hall, and noted that this work [i.e., the pictorial stone], this hall, and this poem were the three imperishables. Recorded by Zhang Hongkui of Xinjian county.” Notes: 1. Feng Xun 馮詢 (1792-1867), zi: Zilang 子良, from Guangzhou, author of《子良詩存》, and served as the Prefect of Nanchang 南昌知府 2. Hongxue Xuan 鴻雪軒 hall in Wucheng 吳城鎮 town, Yongxiu 永修 county, Jiangxi province (in present-day Xinjina新建县 county) overlooking Lake Poyang 鄱陽湖. The hall was built by the official Wu Kunxiu 吳坤修 (1816-1872). The hall’s name “鴻雪軒”refers to verses in Su Shi 《和子由澠池懷舊》. 人生到處知何似﹖應似飛鴻踏雪泥， 泥上偶然留指爪，鴻飛那復計東西。。。 To what should we compare human life? It should be compared to a wild goose trampling on the snow. The snow retains for a moment the imprint of its feet; the goose flies away no one knows where. – Su Shi, trans. Simon Leys

Scene illustrating the story of the Song dynasty literatus, statesman, and artist Su Shi 蘇軾 (1036-1101) when he was on the island of Hainan during his second period of exile. Caught in a rainstorm, he borrowed a farmer’s bamboo hat and clogs before continuing on his way, while the villagers laughed at the sight of his outlandish appearance. The pictorial stone that was the base for this rubbing is said to follow a painting by the Ming dynasty artist Qiu Ying. The stone was carved in 1862 through the agency of Feng Xun for the Wild Goose in Snow Pavilion (Hongxue Xuan 鴻雪軒) in Wucheng 吳城 town, Yongxiu 永修 county, Jiangxi province (in present-day Xinjina新建县 county). The hall was built by the Qing dynasty official Wu Kunxiu 吳坤修 (1816-1872) and was named after verses in a Su Shi poem:

To what should we compare human life?
It should be compared to a wild goose trampling on the snow.
The snow retains for a moment the imprint of its feet;
the goose flies away no one knows where.
(trans. Simon Leys)

Chinese

Qing

rubbings

figures (representations), men, portraits