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Xianding (Immortal’s Peak)
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By the 1500s, visits to historic and scenic sites in the lower Yangzi delta stimulated an increase of printed illustrated travel books. Topographical depictions of local scenery flourished.<br> <br>Leaves from this album illustrates sites around Lake Tai of the two adjacent counties Changxing and Wuxing (modern Huzhou). Song Xu, who lived intermittently in Jiaxing and Songjiang, must have passed through Wuxing by boat and thus knew the region. <br><br>The paintings are inscribed with gazetteerlike notations, suggesting that the album was produced for clients as commemorative works, a travel guide, or for “armchair travel” (<em>woyou</em>) in one’s mind.
| Artist / Maker | Song Xu |
|---|---|
| Date | c. 1588 |
| Culture / Origin | China, Jiaxing, Ming dynasty (1368–1644) |
| Medium | Album leaf; ink and color on silk |
| Dimensions | Sheet: 26.4 x 28.4 cm (10 3/8 x 11 3/16 in.) |
| Department | Chinese Art |
| Type | Painting |
About the Artist
Song Xu (宋旭, 1525–c. 1606), was a versatile Chinese painter active in northern Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. He was skilled in landscapes, boundary paintings (界畫, paintings of architecture), figure painting, and Buddhist painting. Although born a commoner, he also cultivated the literati arts of poetry and calligraphy. He studied Chan Buddhism and eventually became a Buddhist priest himself. Full biography →
Provenance & Source
Image & data: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / Public Domain.
Condition
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