Poems and Pictures of the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers

1605–12

Poems and Pictures of the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, 1605–12. Unkoku Tōgan (Japanese, 1547–1618), inscribed by Inkei Gentetsu (Japanese, 1562–1612). Handscroll; ink on paper; 40.3 x 657.8 cm (15 7/8 x 259 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2020.258 Works on the theme of the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers existed in China as early as the late eleventh century. This Japanese treatment of the subject features poems by the Chinese monk Yujian Ruofen, who was active in the late 13th century. It also emulates Yujian’s splashed-ink mode to create highly abstracted landscapes evoking misty settings. The “Tō” of Tōgan comes from the name of painter Sesshū Tōyō (1420–1506).