Portraits of Su Shi and Inscriptions,

1699 CE

Portraits of Su Shi and Inscriptions

1699 CE

Handscroll; ink rubbing on paper

image: 19 x 57.1 cm. (7 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.) 25.3 x 72.5 cm. (9 15/16 x 28 9/16 in.)

Gift of George Rowley

y1958-206

Asia, China

Right: 心是已灰之木，身 如不繫之舟。問我平生功業，黃州儋 州惠州。 東坡先生自贊 “ ‘My heart is like ashes, my body an untethered boat. If you ask me about my career, places of exile say it all.’ Self-eulogy by master Dongpo.” [trans. of poem by Alice Poon http://alicewaihanpoon.blogspot.com/2016/10/why-i-like-su-shi-su-dongpo.html “Why I Like Su Shi (Su Dongpo)” (October 28, 2016)] Notes: 1. This is the poem 自題金山畫像詩 by Su Shi, and it is usually written with two different characters: 心似已灰之木，身如不繫之舟。 問汝平生功業，黃州惠州儋州。 After his second period of exile, Su Shi was pardoned in 1101. On his way back north, stopped a Jinshan Si 金山寺 temple at Zhenjiang鎮江, and visited the painter Li Gonglin and wrote this poem on the portrait Li had made for him. On the meaning of the poem: 已灰之木、不繫之舟，都是《莊子》的典故。他從死灰中體悟本真，以虛舟漂行形容自己的自由自適。黃州、惠州及儋州是他三次被貶的流放之地，他卻認為是他功業所在，除了自嘲，更多的是對身世的無限喟嘆 Left: Song Luo 宋犖 (1634-1714), hao: Mantang 漫堂 予家藏絹本東坡先生笠屐圖，當是元人筆，其 上題曰：『東坡一日訪黎子雲，塗中值雨，乃於農 家假篛笠木屐，載履而歸。婦人小兒相隨爭笑， 邑犬爭吠。東坡曰：笑所怪也，吠所怪也。』覺坡僊 瀟洒出塵之致，六百餘年後猶可想見，會予訂補《施注蘇詩》成， 因撫其像於卷端，以識嚮往。蓋康熙己卯[1699]六月二日也 。 漫堂宋犖題 Summary: In Song Luo’s family there was the silk painting “Su Shi in a Bamboo Hat and Clogs” by a Yuan artist. On it was an inscription describing the event when Su Shi was caught in the rain and borrowed a bamboo hat and wood shoes, a funny sight that amused onlookers. On this painting Song Luo comments that he can picture the carefree nature of Su Shi in his mind even after 600 years. He also notes that when he has finished annotating the Shi zhu Su shi 施注蘇詩 (Shi’s annotated poems of Su Shi), because he cherishes this portrait, he will append to the scroll [of the Shi zhu Su shi]. “Recorded with admiration. 2nd day, 6th month, jimao cyclical year of the Kangxi reign.”

At right is inscribed a poem by Su Shi 蘇軾 (1036-1101) that he had written in 1101 in response to a portrait made for him by the painter Li Gonglin 李公麟 (ca. 1049-1106). Left of this inscription is a portrait of Su Shi caught in the rain wearing a bamboo hat and wood shoes. This is followed by an inscription dated 1699 by Song Luo 宋犖 (1634-1714) that relates that his family had a portrait of Su Shi and how he plans to append it to an annotated edition of Su Shi’s poems that he is still working on. At left is a standing image of Su Shi wearing a bamboo hat and carrying a bamboo rod. It is unclear if the image to the left of each inscription is meant to correspond to the portraits discussed therein, or if these are four separate items that have been assembled. It is also uncertain if this is only a fragment of a longer handscroll.

Chinese

Qing

rubbings

figures (representations), men, portraits