戊子三月，董自社盟伯囑，弟葉欣寫並請正。
鈐印:葉欣之印、榮木
賞析
While this beautiful and refined handscroll starts with severed pine trees, the painting’s focus lies on the depiction of many blossoming trees that populate an otherwise desolate, wintry landscape. Because a handscroll like this would have been painted in the expectation to be looked at, studied, and appreciated bit by bit from the right to the left, the painting is meant to transport the viewer through the unfolding landscape. And indeed, the viewer has to traverse a land of remote wilderness that is only interrupted by occasional rivers and barren mountains. After passing the first mountain chain, a barely visible bridge crossing a small river indicates human presence, but humans remain out of sight until the next mountain chain is crossed. Here, a man clad in red is shown, occupied with appreciating the blossoms. A second person, dressed in a blue gown, stands by emotionless and without interest in the natural phenomenon, protecting his hands against the season’s chilly weather. The interaction between the two men is telling: In fact, we are looking at a man of socially higher status and his servant. The man in red is a literatus (wenren) who has the means to make an outing to remote blossoming plum trees. In this, he is accompanied by a servant who is not engaging in the same aesthetic appreciation of his environment, but is there because he needs to accompany his employer.
雖然這幅美麗而精緻的手卷以被砍斷的松樹而開始，但這幅畫的重點在於描繪了許多梅花開得正茂盛，這些樹木在其他荒涼、寒冷的風景中充斥著。因為像這樣的手卷是在藝術家期望從右到左一點一點地觀看、研究和欣賞的情況下繪制的，所以這幅畫的目的是讓觀眾在展開的風景中穿梭。而事實上，觀眾必須穿越一片遙遠的荒野，只有偶爾的河流和荒山打斷了它。在通過第一條山脈後，一座幾乎看不見的跨越小河的橋表明瞭人的存在，但人一直在視線之外，直到越過下一條山脈。在這裡，一個身穿紅衣的人被顯示出來，他正專注於欣賞花朵。另一個身穿藍色長袍的人站在一旁，面無表情，對自然現象毫無興趣，保護自己的雙手不受這個季節的寒冷天氣的影響。這兩個人之間的互動很有說服力。事實上，我們看到的是一個具有較高社會地位的人和他的僕人。穿紅衣服的人是個文人，他有能力到遙遠的開花的梅樹下郊遊。在這一點上，他由一個僕人陪同，這個僕人並沒有對他的環境進行同樣的審美欣賞，而是因為他需要陪同他的雇主。
The painting ends with an inscription reading: “In the third month of 1648, my senior and member of my club Mr. Dong Zi, urged me for a painting, and I, his junior Ye Xin, submit this, asking for his correction.”
畫上面的字如下：「戊子三月，董自社盟伯囑，弟葉欣寫並請正。」
The subtle brushwork, very light use of color and classically informed texturing methods, all hallmarks of Ye Xin and, to a certain extent of the Nanjing School of the seventeenth century, make Enjoying Plum Blossoms in Early Spring a particularly attractive painting. In addition to this, the painting is part of an artistic project the artist was occupied with in the third month of the wuzi year (1648): Ye Xin painted two other handscrolls with similar compositions and comparable subject matter in the same month. Done shortly after the fall of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and the establishment of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), plum blossoms may have carried a note of defiance for the artist. As the first sign of life to appear during winter, plum blossoms carried overtones of hope and resilience in times of adversity. Enjoying Plum Blossoms in Early Spring therefore may well be read as a subtle artistic lament about the dynastic transition. The fact that Ye Xin painted this painting in the third month of 1648 then is probably further evidence for such a reading: not only would this be the end of winter, but it would also be the four-year anniversary of the imperial suicide of the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, that had occurred in 1644 in Beijing.
微妙的筆觸、非常淡雅的用色和古典的皴法，都是葉欣的標誌，在一定程度上也是十七世紀金陵畫派的標誌，這使得《早春賞梅圖卷》成為一幅特別有吸引力的畫作。此外，這幅畫是畫家在戊子年（1648年）三月所進行的藝術項目的一部分。葉欣在同一月還畫了兩幅構圖相似、題材相近的手卷（現上博收藏）。在明朝（1368-1644）滅亡和清朝（1644-1911）建立後不久完成的，梅花對畫家來說可能帶有一種反抗的意味。作為冬季出現的第一個生命跡象，梅花帶有希望和在逆境中堅韌不拔的含義。因此，《早春賞梅圖卷》很有可能被解讀為對王朝轉型的一種微妙的藝術感嘆。葉欣在1648年三月畫了這幅畫，這可能是這種解讀的進一步證據：不僅是冬天的結束，而且也是1644年明朝最後一個皇帝崇禎在北京自殺的四週年。
Henning von Mirbach, Research assistant, HCS Calligraphy Arts Foundation
米翰寧 何創時書法基金會 副研究員
While this beautiful and refined handscroll starts with severed pine trees, the painting’s focus lies on the depiction of many blossoming trees that populate an otherwise desolate, wintry landscape. Because a handscroll like this would have been painted in the expectation to be looked at, studied, and appreciated bit by bit from the right to the left, the painting is meant to transport the viewer through the unfolding landscape. And indeed, the viewer has to traverse a land of remote wilderness that is only interrupted by occasional rivers and barren mountains. After passing the first mountain chain, a barely visible bridge crossing a small river indicates human presence, but humans remain out of sight until the next mountain chain is crossed. Here, a man clad in red is shown, occupied with appreciating the blossoms. A second person, dressed in a blue gown, stands by emotionless and without interest in the natural phenomenon, protecting his hands against the season’s chilly weather. The interaction between the two men is telling: In fact, we are looking at a man of socially higher status and his servant. The man in red is a literatus (wenren) who has the means to make an outing to remote blossoming plum trees. In this, he is accompanied by a servant who is not engaging in the same aesthetic appreciation of his environment, but is there because he needs to accompany his employer.
雖然這幅美麗而精緻的手卷以被砍斷的松樹而開始，但這幅畫的重點在於描繪了許多梅花開得正茂盛，這些樹木在其他荒涼、寒冷的風景中充斥著。因為像這樣的手卷是在藝術家期望從右到左一點一點地觀看、研究和欣賞的情況下繪制的，所以這幅畫的目的是讓觀眾在展開的風景中穿梭。而事實上，觀眾必須穿越一片遙遠的荒野，只有偶爾的河流和荒山打斷了它。在通過第一條山脈後，一座幾乎看不見的跨越小河的橋表明瞭人的存在，但人一直在視線之外，直到越過下一條山脈。在這裡，一個身穿紅衣的人被顯示出來，他正專注於欣賞花朵。另一個身穿藍色長袍的人站在一旁，面無表情，對自然現象毫無興趣，保護自己的雙手不受這個季節的寒冷天氣的影響。這兩個人之間的互動很有說服力。事實上，我們看到的是一個具有較高社會地位的人和他的僕人。穿紅衣服的人是個文人，他有能力到遙遠的開花的梅樹下郊遊。在這一點上，他由一個僕人陪同，這個僕人並沒有對他的環境進行同樣的審美欣賞，而是因為他需要陪同他的雇主。
The painting ends with an inscription reading: “In the third month of 1648, my senior and member of my club Mr. Dong Zi, urged me for a painting, and I, his junior Ye Xin, submit this, asking for his correction.”
畫上面的字如下：「戊子三月，董自社盟伯囑，弟葉欣寫並請正。」
The subtle brushwork, very light use of color and classically informed texturing methods, all hallmarks of Ye Xin and, to a certain extent of the Nanjing School of the seventeenth century, make Enjoying Plum Blossoms in Early Spring a particularly attractive painting. In addition to this, the painting is part of an artistic project the artist was occupied with in the third month of the wuzi year (1648): Ye Xin painted two other handscrolls with similar compositions and comparable subject matter in the same month. Done shortly after the fall of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and the establishment of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), plum blossoms may have carried a note of defiance for the artist. As the first sign of life to appear during winter, plum blossoms carried overtones of hope and resilience in times of adversity. Enjoying Plum Blossoms in Early Spring therefore may well be read as a subtle artistic lament about the dynastic transition. The fact that Ye Xin painted this painting in the third month of 1648 then is probably further evidence for such a reading: not only would this be the end of winter, but it would also be the four-year anniversary of the imperial suicide of the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, that had occurred in 1644 in Beijing.
微妙的筆觸、非常淡雅的用色和古典的皴法，都是葉欣的標誌，在一定程度上也是十七世紀金陵畫派的標誌，這使得《早春賞梅圖卷》成為一幅特別有吸引力的畫作。此外，這幅畫是畫家在戊子年（1648年）三月所進行的藝術項目的一部分。葉欣在同一月還畫了兩幅構圖相似、題材相近的手卷（現上博收藏）。在明朝（1368-1644）滅亡和清朝（1644-1911）建立後不久完成的，梅花對畫家來說可能帶有一種反抗的意味。作為冬季出現的第一個生命跡象，梅花帶有希望和在逆境中堅韌不拔的含義。因此，《早春賞梅圖卷》很有可能被解讀為對王朝轉型的一種微妙的藝術感嘆。葉欣在1648年三月畫了這幅畫，這可能是這種解讀的進一步證據：不僅是冬天的結束，而且也是1644年明朝最後一個皇帝崇禎在北京自殺的四週年。
Henning von Mirbach, Research assistant, HCS Calligraphy Arts Foundation
米翰寧 何創時書法基金會 副研究員
