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PROPERTY OF A CHINESE COLLECTOR IN NORTH AMERICA (LOTS 992-997) This collection comprises six works by various Qing masters. Ten works from this collection will be featured in Exquisite Eye: Christie’s Online Sale of Fine Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy (Lots 1696-1705)starting from 18 to 25 November 2019.On the eighteenth day of the ninth month of 1834, a few days after the triennial imperial examination, inspector general of Zhejiang Fu’ne Yang’a (Fu Haifan, 1789-1845) hosted two of the examiners in the Lingyin Temple (also known as the Yunlin Chan Temple) in Hangzhou. The first was Xu Baoshan (1790-1838), a Compiler for the Hanlin Academy, the second was Wu Chun (1770-1845), Gentleman in Attendance at the Tax Commission. Guests at the banquet also included Zhejiang Provincial Education Commissioner Chen Yongguang (1768-1835). After the banquet, the party climbed the path to the Tao Guang temple, resting there awhile. They invited Fei Danxu to create a painted record of this cultured outing in a handscroll.Three days after this journey the Governor of Min and Zhe (modern day Fuijian and Zhejiang provinces) Cheng Zuluo (1776-1848) arrived in Hangzhou to inspect the local garrison. He travelled alone to the Lingyin temple. Here he heard of the trip to Tao Guang temple by Fu Haifan and his guests, only a few days earlier. Cheng asked Fei Danxu to add him in to the composition of the Tour of Tao Guang Temple. Thus, this handscroll depicts Fu Haifan, Xu Baoshan, Wu Chun, Chen Yongguang, and Cheng Zuluo.Tour of Tao Guang Temple includes Lin Zexu’s first calligraphic rendition of Fu Haifan’s poem. Lin’s colophon was subsequently recorded in Transcribed Poems from the Left Cloud Mountain Retreat, in which Lin has corrected a number of characters (see Complete Works of Lin Zexu, vol. 6, p. 86). This scroll features colophons by forty-nine authors. The majority of them were Presented Scholars in the Imperial Academy during the nineteenth century. Among them Sun Jianai (1827-1909), Weng Tonghe (1830-1904), and Xu Fu (1836-1908) achieved first place in the imperial examinations. Yang Yizeng (1787-1856), Peng Yulin (1816-1890) and Yu Yue (1821-1907) were all highly regarded scholars in China and internationally. This work is a wonderful combination of painterly, lyrical and calligraphic excellence, combining Fei Danxu’s exquisite work with an intact record of contributions from a great many significant scholars and historical figures of 19th-20th Century.
FEI DANXU (1802-1850)
Tour of Tao Guang Temple
Details
FEI DANXU (1802-1850)
Tour of Tao Guang Temple
Handscroll, ink and colour on paper
331.5 x 45.5 cm. (130 ½ x 17 7/8 in.)
Entitled, inscribed and signed, with one seal of the artist
Dated autumn, jiawu year (1834)
Colophons by forty-nine artists, including Xu Baoshan (1790-1838), Chen Yongguang (1768-1835), Ling Zexu (1785-1850), Yang Yizeng (1787-1856), Peng Yulin (1816-1890), Yu Yue (1821-1907), Sun Jianai (1827-1909), Weng Tonghe (1830-1904), Xu Fu (1836-1908), with a total of one hundred and thirteen seals
Frontispiece by Yang Zhenlin, with two seals
Tour of Tao Guang Temple
Handscroll, ink and colour on paper
331.5 x 45.5 cm. (130 ½ x 17 7/8 in.)
Entitled, inscribed and signed, with one seal of the artist
Dated autumn, jiawu year (1834)
Colophons by forty-nine artists, including Xu Baoshan (1790-1838), Chen Yongguang (1768-1835), Ling Zexu (1785-1850), Yang Yizeng (1787-1856), Peng Yulin (1816-1890), Yu Yue (1821-1907), Sun Jianai (1827-1909), Weng Tonghe (1830-1904), Xu Fu (1836-1908), with a total of one hundred and thirteen seals
Frontispiece by Yang Zhenlin, with two seals
Brought to you by
Amy Yang