Open source Elasticsearch & Next.js museum search.
Meditative Visit to a Mountain Retreat: In Picture and in Words | musefully
Xiang, Shengmo. Meditative Visit to a Mountain Retreat: In Picture and in Words, 1648. handscroll, ink on paper, Overall: 30.5 x 273 cm (12 x 107 1/2 in.). Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1962.42. CC0.
Meditative Visit to a Mountain Retreat: In Picture and in Words
1648
Xiang Shengmo
Xiang Shengmo (Chinese, 1597–1658)
Chinese Art
Meditative Visit to a Mountain Retreat: In Picture and in Words, 1648. Xiang Shengmo (Chinese, 1597–1658). Handscroll, ink on paper; overall: 30.5 x 273 cm (12 x 107 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1962.42
Inscription: Artist's title and 3 seals (in front of painting):
[title] Meditative Visit to a Mountain Retreat: In Picture and in Words 巖栖思訪圖詠
[3 seals] Tian lai ge zhong wen sun 天籟閣中文孫;
Xiang shi kong zhang zui xin han mo 項氏孔彰醉心翰墨;
Qing fu yuan zhong di yi miao ye 清福緣中第一妙業. Inscription: [印] 兔烏叟; 考古正今.
觀斯人兮何逍遙，非逍遙兮思其友。
思其友兮天一方，欲一訪之難回首。
松耶柏耶稱後凋，巖穴霏微何二酉。
山兮水兮人悠悠，遠莫致之神交否？
河關一向望不及，言笑于今更非偶。
問游魚兮樂何深？問飛鳥兮歸何藪？
問猿鶴兮何親疎？問鹿豕兮何夭壽？
問白雲兮從何來？問流泉兮向何走？
問漁樵兮何江山？問草木兮何畝畎？
問春秋兮何炎涼？問世人兮何長久？
問日月兮何晦明？曾見當時烏兔叟？
戊子嘉平之初偶作此圖并題。 胥樵項聖謩識。
[印] 兔烏叟; 項氏孔彰; 未喪斯文. Translation: Artist's inscription (a rhymed prose (fu 賦)), signature, and 5 seals:
[2 seals at end of painting]: Tu wu sou; Kao gu zheng jin.
1 Inscription (fu 賦):
Looking at this gentleman [Xiang Shengmo], how carefree is he;/
When he isn’t carefree, he is longing for his friend./
Impatient is his longing, the latter is far, far away./
When he dreams of visiting him, he also fears not being able to return./
Is he like a pine, or a juniper? They are said to last long./
Does he reside by a cliff or in a grotto, perhaps not unlike the two [peaks named] Mt. You?/
With hills or rivers intervening, he indeed is far, far away./
As the distance is beyond reach, can we communicate in spirit?/
Cut off by a river or a mountain pass, we can’t even see each other./
In vain we seek to talk and laugh, but we are not together./
Shall we ask the fish: how deep is your enjoyment [of water]?/
Or the flying birds: to which marsh will you land?/
Or the monkey and the crane: who are your kindred souls?/
Or the deer and the hog: which of you will live longer?/
Or the white cloud: whence do you come?/
Or the flowing stream: to where shall you flow?/
Or the fisherman and the fuel gatherer: who rules over this land?/
Or the grass and the plants: in whose fields do you grow?/
Or the Spring and Autumn: why does the world become so cruel?/
Or the people in general: how long would we last?/
Or the sun and the moon: whence come the light and the dark?/
So have you ever met the Old Man of Wutu at that time?/
In the wuzi year [1648], at the beginning of the twelfth month, I happened to do this painting, so did the inscription. Xuqiao, Xiang Shengmo [3 seals]: Tu wu sou; Xiang shi kong zhang, Wei sang si wen. Inscription: 13 additional seals:
4 of Tang Zuomei 唐作梅 (late 18th–19th century);
3 of Zhang Baixi 張百熙 (1847–1907);
4 of Zhang Heng 張珩 (1915–1963);
2 unidentified.
