Xiao Yi Obtaining the Lanting Manuscript by Trickery

Object Details

• Artist

  Traditionally attributed to Qian Xuan 錢選 (late 13th century)

• Calligrapher

  Wen Zhengming 文徵明 (1470-1559)

• Label

  Wen Zhengming was a painter, calligrapher, and scholar of the Ming dynasty. As a calligrapher, Wen Zhengming excelled in all the major scripts but most often practiced semicursive script, following the style of the master calligrapher, Wang Xizhi. Wang Xizhi (ca. 303-361) composed and wrote the Preface of the Lanting Gathering while with a number of eminent scholars and poets who drank wine as they worked along a winding brook surrounded by bamboo groves and mountains. The Preface became the most practiced and influential single piece of work in the entire history of calligraphy. Wen Zhengming wrote this version of the Preface when he was 84 years old, exactly 1200 years after Wang Xizhi had written the original composition.

• Provenance

  To 1910

  Worch et Cie, Paris, to 1910 [1]

  From 1910 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Worch et Cie, Paris, in 1910 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 652, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Old Tales Retold: Narrative in Chinese Painting (April 20 to October 20, 2013)

  Tales of the Brush: Literary Masterpieces in Chinese Painting (July 28, 2007 to January 13, 2008)

  From Concept to Context: Approaches to Asian and Islamic Calligraphy (July 28, 1986 to February 6, 1987)

  Chinese Figure Painting (September 17, 1973 to January 3, 1975)

  Chinese Art (January 1, 1963 to March 6, 1981)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Worch et Cie (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1500s, 1600s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Worch et Cie

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Chinese Art, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings