Returning Home on a Moonlit Night

Object Details

• Artist

  Formerly attributed to Lu Hong (active 713-742)

• School/Tradition

  Zhe School

• Label

  Returning late at night, a gentleman waits on horseback as one his servants raps at the gate of a rustic dwelling. Picnic boxes and a jug suggest the end of a pleasurable excursion. Bamboo surrounds the fence, and a tall spare pine with stiff needles leans above the trail. Symbolizing the qualities of hardiness and resilience, pine and bamboo are favorite tokens of the scholar-recluse indicating both his moral integrity and aloofness from the world. Swathed in a thick, luminous mist, which fills the dells and hollows, a highland brook swirls under a low bridge and ripples past the tardy travelers. Steep, looming hills and jagged peaks enclose the narrow valley. As the full moon rises over distant mountains, its slanting rays catch the angles of rocky slopes and set the mists aglow.

  The artist of this painting remains unknown, but the style and content identify him as a member of the Ming dynasty Zhe school, which preserved many traditions of the former imperial painting academy under the Southern Song (1127-1279). As here, many Zhe school paintings seek to evoke a strong sense of mood or emotion and often depict the cherished cultural ideal of a retired gentleman leading a serene existence in some imagined, idyllic wilderness. Painting fills the picture surface, reinforcing the feeling of closeness and drawing the viewer into the scene. Along the rocks and crests, flamboyant brushstrokes splash and break, then softly suffuse into washes of silvery translucence.

• Provenance

  To 1916

  Wang Jiantang, Shanghai to 1916 [1]

  From 1916 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Wang Jiantang in 1916 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 1077, 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. See especially, Curatorial Remark 10, H.C. Lovell, 1976, in the object record.

  [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

  Guests of the Hills: Travelers in Chinese Landscape Painting (August 23, 2008 to March 15, 2009)

  In the Mountains (January 31 to August 2, 1998)

  Ming Dynasty Calligraphy and Painting (February 8, 1985 to August 26, 1985)

  Chinese Painting: Che and Wu Schools (Mainstreams of Landscape Painting in the Ming Dynasty) (October 15, 1982 to March 17, 1983)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Scrolls (July 19, 1943 to April 30, 1946)

  Chinese Panels and Han Pottery (February 25, 1925 to July 19, 1943)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Wang Jiantang 王鑑堂 (late 19th-early 20th century) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1500s, 1550s

• Name

  Wang, Jiantang, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  China

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings