The Xuehong Pavilion in a Scholar's Garden

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

The name of this garden alludes to a poem by Su Shi (1036–1101), a prominent scholar-official who was censored for his political activism and renowned for his brilliant poetry and prose. In one of his most poignant poems, he compared the fleeting traces of human events to the footprints of geese (hong) left on snow (xue). The windows of the foreground building offer glimpses of the owner’s library and art collection: bronze and ceramic vessels, one painting rolled and stored upright, a desk for painting and calligraphy, and a tall, narrow stand for burning incense. An attendant prepares tea for gentlemen engaged in conversation in the pavilion, while women stroll in the adjacent bamboo garden. Large, eroded rocks are dramatically shaded to highlight their fantastic quality. Qian’s reserved, quietly spontaneous brushwork—bland, single-stroke architecture and ink-dots that echo the contours of hills, rocks, and trees—is inspired by the style of late 16th-century literati masters, with whom the affluent and well-traveled Qian Du was undoubtedly familiar.

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