Scripture of the Inner Radiances of the Yellow Court in running-standard script 行楷書《黃庭內景經》四節 (冊･十二頁)

Object Details

• Artist

  Bada Shanren 八大山人 (朱耷) (1626-1705)

• Label

  Dating to the mid-fourth century of the common era, the Huangting neijing jing (Scripture of the Inner Radiances of the Yellow Court) was one of most influential texts belonging to the Shangqing (Highest Purity) School of medieval Daoism. Essentially a manual of meditation and physical hygiene, it describes the arcane means by which one may attain good health and eternal youth. Containing 435 lines divided into thirty-six stanzas of irregular length, the Scripture also has a long history in the calligraphic tradition. This tradition was undoubtedly what inspired Bada Shanren to transcribe the text, rather than its philosophical or religious content. The famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi (ca. 303-ca. 361 C.E.), who was himself a practicing Daoist, is said to have transcribed the text once in standard script. But while Bada specifically acknowledged his debt to Wang in his postscript (leaf 20), he actually chose to write the Scripture using his own interpretation of fourth-century standard script, rather than to follow any received rendition of the text attributed to Wang. This postscript, written in running script and dated 1684, bears the artist's earliest known signature using the name Bada Shanren.

  The current album is incomplete, consisting of four discrete sections that together comprise a little less than two-fifths of the total text. The first stanza (leaf 1), which serves as a kind of general introduction, may be paraphrased as follows:

  Before the Lord of the Void, who resides among purple auroras in the Heaven of Highest Purity,

  The Most High Jade Dawn Ruler of the Great Dao

  Dwelt at ease in the Palace of Stamens and Pearls, composing lines in heptasyllabic meter,

  Dispersing change to the Five Shapes and transforming the ten-thousand deities.

  These comprise the Yellow Court Scripture and are called the "Inner Verses,"

  Which harmonize the heart and set the embryo immortals to dancing in the Triple Cinnabar Fields,

  Causing the Nine Breaths to glisten and gleam and emerge from the empyrean of the brain,

  And the pupils of the eyes under the divine canopies of the brows to emit a purple mist.

  This is called the Jade Text which can be scrutinized with a pure heart:

  By reciting it ten thousand times one will ascend to the Triple Heaven,

  With it one may dispel the thousand calamities and cure the hundred illnesses,

  And undaunted by the fell depredations of tigers and wolves,

  One may also thwart old age thereby and extend one's years forever.

  Translation by Stephen D. Allee

• Provenance

  To 1997

  Wang Fangyu (1913-1997), to 1997 [1]

  To 1998

  Shao F. Wang, New York and Short Hills, NJ, by descent, to 1998

  From 1998

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Shao F. Wang in 1998

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Note 6, Joseph Chang and Stephen D. Allee, May 7, 1998, and Joseph Chang and Stephen D. Allee, August 18, 1998, in the object record.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Enigmas: The Art of Bada Shanren (1626-1705) (June 20, 2015 to January 3, 2016)

  In Pursuit of Heavenly Harmony: Paintings and Calligraphy by Bada Shanren (1626-1705) from the Bequest of Wang Fangyu and Sum Wai (April 26 to October 13, 2003)

  Beyond the Legacy--Anniversary Acquisitions of the Freer Gallery of Art (October 11, 1998 to April 11, 1999)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Wang Fangyu (1913-1997)

  Shao F. Wang

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — funds provided by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Freer Gallery of Art

• Type

  Calligraphy

• 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.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1680s

• Name

  Wang, Fangyu, Wang, Shao F.

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Daoism, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Shao F. Wang collection, Standard script

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Calligraphy (visual works)