The Shanghai Museum's permanent exhibition of ancient calligraphy and painting is the only one in China that displays the history of ancient calligraphy and painting. It was closed for a period of time due to exhibition renewal and reopened on June 28. This new exhibition brings together many treasures from the Shanghai Museum, such as Wang Anshi's "The Essence of the Shurangama Sutra in Running Script", Wang Shen's "Smoke River and Mountains", Liang Kai's "Eight Eminent Monks" in the Southern Song Dynasty, and Zhao Mengfu's "Wuxing Qingyuan" in the Yuan Dynasty.
"Taking advantage of the residual heat from the opening of the Shanghai Museum's East Building, the ancient calligraphy and painting exhibition will continue to be kept in the bottom of the box," a relevant person in charge of the Shanghai Museum told The Paper.
In November last year, the permanent exhibition hall of calligraphy and painting in the East Hall of the Shanghai Museum was fully opened. The first round of exhibits brought together many rare and famous works, such as Wang Xizhi's "Shangyu Tie Scroll in Cursive Script", Huaisu's "Kusun Tie Scroll in Cursive Script", Sun Wei's "Gao Yi Scroll" in the Tang Dynasty, and Xu Xi's "Snow Bamboo Scroll" in the Five Dynasties, which triggered a wave of visiting the exhibition.
The Shanghai Museum of Painting and Calligraphy adheres to the curatorial concept of "constantly holding new exhibitions and special exhibitions", and has prepared 6 sets of painting and calligraphy plans for rotation. The 6 sets of exhibits will be rotated every six months, and a total of more than 1,500 works will be exhibited in three years. What heavyweight paintings and calligraphy works will be new in the second round?
Exhibition site Eastern Han Dynasty "Cao Quan Stele Album in Official Script"
According to Ling Lizhong, director of the Shanghai Museum's calligraphy and painting department, the second round of exhibits will present 267 pieces of calligraphy and painting works in the same space and on the same exhibition line, including 70 first-class works, which account for more than 1/4 of all exhibits. "The new museum's calligraphy and painting exhibition hall will continue the style of the first round and continue to present works that have never been exhibited or have not been shown for a long time, and will open the entire scroll as much as possible to show everything that can be shown. This permanent exhibition also has a new feature, which will present some works that incorporate new academic research results."
The Chinese Calligraphy Museum exhibits the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Li Shu Cao Quan Stele Volume", the Eastern Jin Dynasty's "Cursive Script Collection of Wang Xizhi's Diamond Sutra Volume", the Tang Dynasty Gao Xian's "Cursive Script Thousand Character Essay Volume", the Northern Song Dynasty Wang Anshi's "Cursive Script of the Shurangama Sutra Volume", and the Yuan Dynasty Zhao Mengfu's "Cursive Script of the Return" volume.
Among them, the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Cao Quan Stele Album in Official Script" and the Northern Song Dynasty's Wang Anshi's "The Essentials of the Shurangama Sutra in Running Script" are included in the 195 cultural relics in the country announced by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage that are permanently prohibited from being exhibited abroad.
Cao Quan Stele in Official Script of the Eastern Han Dynasty
The Cao Quan Stele is also known as the Han Heyang Magistrate Cao Quan Stele. It was erected in the second year of Zhongping (185). It was unearthed in Heyang County, Shaanxi Province during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. The original stone is kept in the Xi'an Forest of Steles Museum. It records Cao Quan's life and family background. The structure is beautiful and the brushwork is clear and fluent. The character "因" in this copy is intact, and it is the first copy. It was collected by Chen Shuyong and Gu Wenbin in the Qing Dynasty.
According to reports, the "因" character in the Shanghai Museum is intact and clear, and the whole piece is the most complete and exquisite. After the stele was unearthed during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the stele stone broke at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The common model of later generations has the "因" character missing and lacks clarity. The copy in the Shanghai Museum is the most original rubbing of the "Cao Quan Stele" after it was unearthed. The "因" character is clear and impressive. It is a rare, national treasure-level rubbing that is "second only to the original".
Wang Anshi, Northern Song Dynasty, "The Essence of the Shurangama Sutra in Running Script" (partial)
The Northern Song Dynasty's "Running Script of the Essentials of the Shurangama Sutra" is the only copy of calligraphy by Wang Anshi, one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Wang Anshi (1021-1086), courtesy name Jiefu and pseudonym Banshan, was born in Linchuan, Jiangxi Province. He became a Jinshi in the second year of the Qingli reign (1042) and served as the Minister of the Secretariat. He was good at running cursive script. This scroll excerpts the section "Avalokitesvara's Wonderful Ear Gate" from the Shurangama Sutra, written quickly with light ink, and the writing style is leisurely and unrestrained. It was written in the eighth year of the Yuanfeng reign (1085), when the author was 65 years old.
The Essentials of the Shurangama Sutra in Running Script (partial) from the Northern Song Dynasty
"Wang Anshi was a politician, writer and reformer in the Northern Song Dynasty. His achievements in calligraphy are often overshadowed by his fame in other areas. In fact, he was also a famous calligrapher during the Northern Song Dynasty. Su Dongpo admired him very much and believed that his calligraphy was 'without rules but with rules' and could not be learned," said Ling Lizhong.
Exhibition site: Wang Shen’s “Smoke River and Mountains” scroll from the Northern Song Dynasty
The Museum of Chinese Paintings of All Dynasties exhibits "Smoky River and Overlapping Mountains" by Wang Shen of the Northern Song Dynasty, "Eight Eminent Monks" by Liang Kai of the Southern Song Dynasty, "Wuxing Qingyuan" by Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty, "Huashan Picture Album" by Wang Lu of the Ming Dynasty, and "Nine-Story Tower View Screen" by Yuan Yao of the Qing Dynasty.
Exhibition site: "Eight Eminent Monks" by Liang Kai of the Southern Song Dynasty
The "Eight Eminent Monks" depicts the stories of eight eminent monks. One is Bodhidharma facing the wall and Shen Guang asking questions; one is Hongren in child form and meets an old man with a cane on the road; one is Bai Juyi paying respects and Wu Ke pointing and talking; one is Zhixian holding a broom and looking back at the bamboo forest; one is Li Yuan tying a boat in Yuanze and a woman is fetching water; one is Guanxi asking for water and a boy is fetching water; one is a corner of a restaurant and a monk is paying respects; one is a solitary tumbleweed on a reed bank and a monk is leaning on a fishing boat. Each couplet has an inscription in running script without a signature. It is a work of Liang Kai in the middle period.
Liang Kai was the top painter in the Song Dynasty Academy of Painting. He had great painting skills. Because of his free and unrestrained nature, he later left the academy and became a painter who practiced Zen. "In his later years, he changed his style and became the originator of freehand ink painting. However, his freehand ink painting was inseparable from his solid painting skills. From the work "Eight Eminent Monks", we can see his superb skills in figure painting in his middle period."
Exhibition site: Liang Kai of the Southern Song Dynasty, "Eight Eminent Monks" (on-site)
The "Eight Eminent Monks" scroll consists of eight sections, and this time the entire scroll is on display. If viewers look carefully, they can see the inscription "Liang Kai" at the bottom of the second, third, fifth, and eighth sections.
The first work exhibited in the Yuan Dynasty section is the famous Wang Meng's "Reading in Spring Mountains". Wang Meng's "Qingbian Recluse" was exhibited in the first round of exhibitions in the Calligraphy and Painting Museum. "Wang Meng's handed down works are not only "Qingbian Recluse", "Reading in Spring Mountains" is also his famous work. It was created during his middle period of seclusion in the Tianmu Mountain area, and it has a profound influence on later generations."
Exhibition site: Zhao Mengfu's "Wuxing Qingyuan Scroll"
Other famous works of art from the Yuan Dynasty include Zhao Mengfu's "Wuxing Qingyuan Scroll" and Wu Zhen's "Zhupu Scroll".
The "Wuxing Qingyuan Tujuan" outlines the mountains, uses green and blue colors, and embellishes small trees. The brushwork and coloring are all simple and light. Later, Cui Fu copied it based on the original picture that was not damaged at that time, and inscribed it with the seal "Wuxing Qingyuan Tu".
The Shanghai Museum said that Zhao Mengfu was a key figure among Yuan Dynasty painters, and that his works of different styles from different periods would be selected for display during the exhibition change to present the painter's diverse styles. "The first round of his "Dead Trees, Bamboos and Rocks" was to illustrate his theory of 'incorporating calligraphy into painting', and this time's "Wuxing Qingyuan Tujuan", a blue-green landscape painting, is a model of Zhao Mengfu's theory of 'imitating the ancients'."
Exhibition site: Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty, "Cursive Script Recent Postscript Page"
Ming Jinxuan's Fishing Boat Singing at Dusk
Ming Dong Qichang's Imitation of Ancient Landscape Paintings
In addition, after the exhibition change, the Shanghai Museum's Maritime Calligraphy and Painting Gallery will exhibit "Cursive Script Movement and Stillness" by Shen Liao of the Northern Song Dynasty, "Autumn Water Ducks and Herons Scroll" by Ren Renfa of the Yuan Dynasty, "Fishermen Singing in the Evening" by Jin Xuan of the Ming Dynasty, "Ancient Landscape Album" by Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty, and "Cursive Script Recent Script" by Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty.