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Poem on the Hall of Pines and Wind
(松風閣詩)

Huang Tingjian (黃庭堅, 1045–1105), Song Dynasty (960–1279)

Handscroll, ink on paper, 32.8 x 219.2 cm, National Palace Museum, Taipei

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Poem on the Hall of Pines and Wind
Poem on the Hall of Pines and Wind

       This is one of the greatest surviving masterpieces by the Northern Song calligrapher Huang Tingjian. He wrote the poem in 1102 as he traveled through Wuchang and calligraphed it as a handscroll probably afterwards. In the Southern Song, the scroll passed through the collection of the prime minister Jia Sidao (賈似道, 1213–1275) and then came into the possession of Princess Xiangge Ciji (祥哥剌吉, ca. 1283–1331) in the Yuan dynasty.

       Princess Xiangge Ciji was the great-granddaughter of Kublai Khan (忽必烈, r. 1260–1294). Influenced by her father and grandfather, she exhibited a strong interest in Chinese culture. In 1311, her younger brother Renzong assumed the throne and she was given the title “Huangjie Dazhang Gongzhu (皇姊大長公主)” (“Grand Princess, Elder Sister of the Emperor”). Since both her and her brother expressed a keen interest in collecting painting and calligraphy, the court was filled with an atmosphere of arts and culture. She also adopted the Chinese custom using collection seals, with hers reading “Huangjie Tushu (皇姊圖書)” (“Library of the Emperor’s Elder Sister”) and “Huangjie Zhenwan (皇姊珍玩)” (“Treasure of the Emperor’s Elder Sister”). At the top right of this scroll is her seal “Huangjie Tushu”.

       On April 28, 1323, the Princess held an elegant gathering of scholars and officials and a banquet at the Tianqing Temple (天慶寺) on the outskirts of the capital Dadu (modern Beijing). There, they appreciated painting and calligraphy together. With the Director of the Palace Library Li Shilu (李師魯) as host, officials of Chinese, Mongol, and other ethnic backgrounds gathered to judge works of painting and calligraphy. Afterwards, Yuan Jue (袁桷, 1266–1327) made a record of the event and composed from memory a list of the painting and calligraphy that they inscribed. This record indicates that this scroll was one of the works they viewed. The end of the scroll reveals 14 colophons by contemporary scholars and officials.

       Although the exact details of the event remain obscure, the transmission and inscriptions by contemporaries reveal that elegant gatherings on the subject of painting and calligraphy by the Yuan imperial clan were an opportunity for scholars and officials of different ethnic groups to socialize. Regardless of whether they were Mongols, Chinese, or from other ethnic groups , they all achieved a high level of cultivation in poetry, literature, painting, and calligraphy.

       Before entering the Qing imperial collection, this work was viewed by such famous Ming painters and collectors as Qiu Ying (仇英) and Xiang Yuanbian (項元汴).

釋文:
松風閣。依山築閣見平川。夜闌箕斗插屋椽。我來名之意適然。老松魁梧數百年。斧斤所赦令參天。風鳴媧皇五十弦。洗耳不須菩薩泉。嘉二三子甚好賢。力貧買酒醉此筵。夜雨鳴廊到曉懸。相看不歸臥僧氈。泉枯石燥復潺湲。山川光暉為我妍。野僧旱饑不能饘。曉見寒溪有炊煙。東坡道人已沈泉。張侯何時到眼前。釣臺驚濤可晝眠。怡亭看篆蛟龍纏。安得此身脫拘攣。舟載諸友長周旋。

Poem on the Hall of Pines and Wind
Poem on the Hall of Pines and Wind