明 唐寅 致若容書 册頁|Letter to Xu Shangde

Tang Yin

Date unknown · Album leaf; ink on paper · Asian Art

Not only is this letter one of the most beautiful specimens of Tang Yin's calligraphy to survive, but its contents also provide invaluable information about Tang's wide-ranging literary productions, many of which are no longer extant. The text of Tang's letter reads in part: I am getting together my past writings so I might be remembered after my death. I hope that all my writings—the three volumes of the Sanshi huqian [on the principles of fortune telling], eight volumes of Selected Literary Works, one volume of The Mirror of Painting and Calligraphy, twenty volumes of Biographies of Generals and Ministers, two volumes of Historical Discussions, and six volumes of Discussions of Current Affairs—will be remembered by you. Some day . . . I hope you will write of these works on my tombstone. (Marc F. Wilson and Kwan S. Wong, trans., Friends of Wen Cheng-ming: A View from the Crawford Collection [New York: China Institute in America, 1974], p. 74)

Artist

Tang Yin

Date

Date unknown

Medium

Album leaf; ink on paper

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988