![The Ninth Day Literary Gathering at Xing’an [Temporary Retreat]](https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1979.72/1979.72_web.jpg)
Description
By the 1700s, Yangzhou was flourishing both economically and culturally as the most prosperous city in China, having surpassed all other Jiangnan cities in their creation of gardens. This group portrait commemorates a literary gathering in the private garden of the salt merchants and art patrons Ma Yueguan (1688–1755) and his brother Ma Yuelu (1697–after 1766) in Yangzhou. Ma Yueguan received imperial recognition for providing financial aid and food relief for those affected by flood and drought. Ma Yueguan is seen seated at the end of the painting holding an open scroll while Ma Yuelu stands behind the qin instrument player. Among the guests were officials, scholars, poets, painters, and merchants, a mix of local members of a poetry club reflecting increasing social diversity.
Provenance
Ma Yueguan 馬曰琯 [1688–1755] and Ma Yuelu 馬曰璐 [1697–after 1766], Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China (1743–after 1766); Chen Kuilin 陳夔麟 [1855–after 1915]; (Wan-go Weng 翁萬戈 [1918–2020], Lyme, NH, sold sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (?–1979); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1979–)
Accession Number
1979.72
Medium
Handscroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
Image: 32.4 x 201.2 cm (12 3/4 x 79 3/16 in.); Overall: 33.5 x 893 cm (13 3/16 x 351 9/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Tags
Painting Baroque (1600–1750) Ink Silk Painting Chinese
Background & Context
Background Story
The Ninth Day Literary Gathering at Xing'an [Temporary Retreat] from 1743 is a collaborative painting by Fang Shishu and Ye Fanglin that depicts a literary gathering on the ninth day at Xing'an in the elegantly composed manner of the Chinese literati painting tradition. Literary gatherings were one of the most important subjects in Chinese literati painting, representing the communal practice of poetry, calligraphy, and painting that was central to the literati tradition, and collaborative paintings of literary gatherings represent one of the most accomplished traditions in Chinese painting. The 1743 date places this in the Qing dynasty, when literary gatherings were producing some of their most accomplished collaborative paintings.
Cultural Impact
The Ninth Day Literary Gathering at Xing'an is important in the history of Chinese painting because it demonstrates the tradition of collaborative painting of literary gatherings, one of the most important subjects in Chinese literati painting. Literary gatherings—representing the communal practice of poetry, calligraphy, and painting that was central to the literati tradition—were one of the most important subjects in Chinese painting, and collaborative paintings of literary gatherings represent one of the most accomplished traditions in Chinese painting. The 1743 painting shows this tradition in the Qing dynasty.
Why It Matters
The Ninth Day Literary Gathering at Xing'an is a collaborative Qing dynasty literati painting: a literary gathering rendered in the elegantly composed manner of Fang Shishu and Ye Fanglin. The 1743 painting shows the communal practice of poetry, calligraphy, and painting that is one of the most important subjects in Chinese literati painting.
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