南宋 理宗 趙昀 行書錄光宗趙惇題楊補之 《紅梅圖》 賜貴妃詩 團扇|Quatrain on a Spring Garden

Emperor Lizong

Date unknown · Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk · Asian Art

This verse, written during Lizong's maturity in a charming cursive script for the "noble consort" who inspired it, makes clear that life was not without its pleasures for the aging emperor: Last year I saw a branch scented with a red fragrance; Faintly, I imagined red corollas with little makeup. Today, in the palace garden, such colors abound. Perhaps, without knowing it, I prayed to the god of spring. (Wen C. Fong, trans., in Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th–14th Century [New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,1992], p. 242)

Artist

Emperor Lizong

Date

Date unknown

Medium

Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988