近代 丁輔之 荔枝 扇面|Lychees

Ding Fuzhi|Shou Xi

dated 1941 · Folding fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on alum paper · Asian Art

The cool graphic beauty of Ding's image and of his Shang oracle-bone script express the pleasure he felt upon receiving lychees from a friend traveling in the south, where the fruit grows. Shou Xi's poem (on the left) describes how the Tang emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-56) employed the imperial messenger service to bring ripe lychees from Canton to his favorite concubine, Yang Guifei, at the capital, Chang'an (modern Xi'an).

Artist

Ding Fuzhi|Shou Xi

Date

dated 1941

Medium

Folding fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on alum paper

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of La Ferne Hatfield Ellsworth, 1986