謝蓀《採菊東籬下》
謝蓀《山水寫心冊》局部
賞析
In this album, the little-known seventeenth-century painter Xie Sun presents subtly painted, colorful scenes of reclusive living amid nature. In one of the leaves, for example, there is a house at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by several trees. A bridge in the lower left corner enhances the scene’s general impression of remoteness, thus reinforcing the idea of reclusion. Although the album contains no inscription by the artist that would inform us about the content of the album, it is most likely meant to represent scenes of the life of the famous Six Dynasties (220–589) recluse Tao Yuanming 陶淵明 (365–427) and to illustrate some of his poems. This is particularly poignant in two leaves: in one of them, a scholar dressed in white gazes over a fence towards a mountain outlined and filled with a light blueish wash technique. Beneath the fence, pinkish flowers are in blossom. This scene is directly inspired by Tao Yuanming’s famous fifth poem of the Drinking Alcohol (Yinjiu 飲酒) sequel where the couplet in question reads:
採菊東籬下， Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence,
悠然見南山。 Leisurely, I glance at the Southern Mountain.
In another leave, a tiny boat has crossed an expansive lake which, in turn, is framed by steep cliffs that are overflown by some waterfalls. In the lower left corner, the boat has arrived at the shore where a house is half-hidden by lush trees. The painting refers to what is Tao Yuanming’s most famous poem, “The Return” (Guiqu laixi ci 歸去來兮辭). The lines that Xue Sun has here illustrated read (in James R. Hightower’s translation):
歸去來兮！ To get out of this and go back home!
田園將蕪胡不歸？ My fields and garden will be overgrown with weeds–I must go back.
… …
舟遙遙以輕颺， My boat rocks in the gentle breeze
風飄飄而吹衣。 Flap, flap, the wind blows my gown;
… …
乃瞻衡宇， Then I catch sight of my cottage –
載欣載奔。 Filled with joy I run.
Further evidence for the hypothesis of this painting being evocative of Tao Yuanming’s poem is the fact that Xie Sun harked back to an iconography of “the Return” that had been established in the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127). A handscroll, traditionally attributed to Li Gonglin 李公麟 (ca. 1049–1106), also shows how a boat arriving from the right to anchor at the shore, thus allowing Tao Yuanming to disembark. This imagery was still popular in the 14th and 15th century as is attested to by an anonymous handscroll in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. In his image, Xie Sun used such established imagery and altered it to fit his purposes.
The other album leaves are less obvious to identify and may draw on less readily recited poems. In one leaf for example, Xie Sun paints green hills at the foot of which pink blossoming trees are scattered. Three scholars are standing amid this scene, enjoying the seasonal spectacle. This may be an allusion to Tao Yuanming’s poem “Trees in Bloom” (Rongmu 榮木) that reads (again in Hightower’s translation):
采采榮木， Brightly shine the blooming trees,
結根于茲。 They have taken root right here.
晨耀其華， Their blossoms radiant this morning,
夕已喪之。 By night already they have died.
While this album leaf depicts the beauty of spring and uses a strong pink among refreshing green tones, the falling of the blossoms is already implied in this moment of transient splendor. Indeed, the poem continues on a note of lament:
人生若寄， Human life is like a visit;
憔顇有時。 There comes a time of decrepitude.
靜言孔年， In silence, very much I brood,
中心悵而。 By this my inmost heart is grieved.
The three men seen in Xie Sun’s leaf admiring these trees then might be thinking about life’s vicissitudes and the shortness of time humans have on earth – a recurring theme in Tao Yuanming’s poetry.
Art historically, the album is significant since the surviving work of Xie Sun—who was active as a professional painter in seventeenth-century Nanjing and is counted as one of the eight masters of the Nanjing school of painting—is extremely rare. Among other characteristics, certain of these painters integrated color washes into their work that were both a means for recuperating or referring to ancient painting methods and, at the same time, attest to new pictorial sensibilities triggered probably through the introduction of Western prints and paintings into China. That the artist must have frequently painted in strong colors is attested to by a hanging scroll in the blue-and-green style in the Palace Museum in Beijing. More important is the fact that Xie Sun’s album originally consisted of sixteen leaves. Eight of these are now in the collection of the He Chuangshi Foundation while the remaining eight leaves are in the collection of the Shanghai Museum. Another album in the collection of the He Chuangshi collection by the late Ming artist Shao Mi 邵彌 (1596–1642) similarly illustrates scenes of Tao Yuanming’s life and poems.
在這本畫冊中，十七世紀畫家謝蓀呈現了畫風巧妙、色彩斑斕的大自然中的隱居生活場景。例如，在其中一個冊頁中，有一座位於山腳下的房子，周圍有幾棵樹，左下角的一座橋加強了該場景的遙遠印象，從而加強了隱居的概念。雖然畫冊上沒有藝術家的款識，但很有可能謝蓀描繪了著名六朝（220-589年）隱士陶淵明（365-427年）的生活，並為他的一些詩作配圖。為什麼會怎麼說？謝蓀在兩個冊頁中非常清楚地影射陶淵明的隱居：在其中一個冊頁中，一位穿著白衣的文人站在一個藩籬旁邊，望向一座用淺藍色染法勾勒出來的山。在藩籬下，粉紅色的花朵正在綻放。這一幕直接受到陶淵明著名的《飲酒》續集第五首的啓發，其中的對句是：
採菊東籬下， Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence,
悠然見南山。 Leisurely, I glance at the Southern Mountain.
在另一個冊頁，一艘小船已穿過了一個被廣闊陡峭的懸崖所包圍的湖泊，懸崖上有一些瀑布。在冊頁的左下角，那艘小船已經到達了岸邊，岸邊有一座房子被茂密的樹木半掩著。這冊頁所指的很有可能是陶淵明最著名的詩作《歸去來兮辭》，謝遜指的句子就是：
歸去來兮！ To get out of this and go back home!
田園將蕪胡不歸？ My fields and garden will be overgrown with weeds–I must go back.
… …
舟遙遙以輕颺， My boat rocks in the gentle breeze
風飄飄而吹衣。 Flap, flap, the wind blows my gown;
… …
乃瞻衡宇， Then I catch sight of my cottage –
載欣載奔。 Filled with joy I run.own;
（英文翻譯：James R. Hightower）
因為這冊頁讓人聯想到陶淵明的詩，那麼如何進一步的確定謝蓀畫的內容的確是陶淵明的《歸去來辭兮》呢？在這個冊頁裡，謝蓀回顧了北宋時期（960-1127年）建立的 「歸來」圖像誌。歸在李公麟（約1049-1106年）名下的手卷也顯示了一艘船從右邊到達岸邊停泊，從而使陶淵明能夠上岸。這種圖像在14和15世紀仍然很流行，紐約大都會博物館收藏的一份匿名手卷就證明這一點。在他的圖冊中，謝蓀使用了這種既定的意象，並根據自己的目的進行了修改。
其他冊頁就不那麼明顯了，可能是借鑒了不太容易傳誦的詩句。例如，在一個冊頁中，謝蓀畫了綠色的山丘，山腳下散布著粉紅色的開花樹木。三位文人站在這一場景中，享受著這一季節性的景象。這可能是對陶淵明《榮木》一詩的影射：
采采榮木， Brightly shine the blooming trees,
結根于茲。 They have taken root right here.
晨耀其華， Their blossoms radiant this morning,
夕已喪之。 By night already they have died.
（英文翻譯：James R. Hightower）
雖然這本冊頁描繪了春天的美麗，並在清新的綠色色調中使用了強烈的粉紅色，但在這短暫的輝煌時刻，已經暗示了花朵的隕落。事實上，這首詩繼續表示哀嘆的情緒：
人生若寄， Human life is like a visit;
憔顇有時。 There comes a time of decrepitude.
靜言孔年， In silence, very much I brood,
中心悵而。 By this my inmost heart is grieved.
（英文翻譯：James R. Hightower）
在謝蓀的冊頁中看到的三個人在欣賞這些樹，那麼他們可能在思考人生的滄桑和人生在世界上的短暫時間；這也是陶淵明詩歌中反復出現的主題。
從藝術史的角度來看，這本畫冊的重要性在他的傳世，因為謝蓀的作品極為罕見。他是十七世紀南京的職業畫家，被列為金陵畫派的八大名家之一。這套謝蓀的冊頁中融入了顏色染法，這既是恢復或參照古代繪畫方法的一種手段，同時也證明可能通過將西方版畫引入中國而引發的新的繪畫感覺。北京故宮博物院收藏的一幅青綠風格的立軸，證明謝蓀一定經常使用強烈的色彩作畫。更重要的是，謝蓀的畫冊最初由16片冊頁組成，其中八張現由何創時基金會收藏，其餘八張上海博物館收藏。何創時收藏的另一本由明末藝術家邵彌（1596-1642年）創作的畫冊也同樣畫了陶淵明的生活場景和詩作。
Henning von Mirbach, Research assistant, HCS Calligraphy Arts Foundation
米翰寧 何創時書法基金會 副研究員
In this album, the little-known seventeenth-century painter Xie Sun presents subtly painted, colorful scenes of reclusive living amid nature. In one of the leaves, for example, there is a house at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by several trees. A bridge in the lower left corner enhances the scene’s general impression of remoteness, thus reinforcing the idea of reclusion. Although the album contains no inscription by the artist that would inform us about the content of the album, it is most likely meant to represent scenes of the life of the famous Six Dynasties (220–589) recluse Tao Yuanming 陶淵明 (365–427) and to illustrate some of his poems. This is particularly poignant in two leaves: in one of them, a scholar dressed in white gazes over a fence towards a mountain outlined and filled with a light blueish wash technique. Beneath the fence, pinkish flowers are in blossom. This scene is directly inspired by Tao Yuanming’s famous fifth poem of the Drinking Alcohol (Yinjiu 飲酒) sequel where the couplet in question reads:
採菊東籬下， Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence,
悠然見南山。 Leisurely, I glance at the Southern Mountain.
In another leave, a tiny boat has crossed an expansive lake which, in turn, is framed by steep cliffs that are overflown by some waterfalls. In the lower left corner, the boat has arrived at the shore where a house is half-hidden by lush trees. The painting refers to what is Tao Yuanming’s most famous poem, “The Return” (Guiqu laixi ci 歸去來兮辭). The lines that Xue Sun has here illustrated read (in James R. Hightower’s translation):
歸去來兮！ To get out of this and go back home!
田園將蕪胡不歸？ My fields and garden will be overgrown with weeds–I must go back.
… …
舟遙遙以輕颺， My boat rocks in the gentle breeze
風飄飄而吹衣。 Flap, flap, the wind blows my gown;
… …
乃瞻衡宇， Then I catch sight of my cottage –
載欣載奔。 Filled with joy I run.
Further evidence for the hypothesis of this painting being evocative of Tao Yuanming’s poem is the fact that Xie Sun harked back to an iconography of “the Return” that had been established in the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127). A handscroll, traditionally attributed to Li Gonglin 李公麟 (ca. 1049–1106), also shows how a boat arriving from the right to anchor at the shore, thus allowing Tao Yuanming to disembark. This imagery was still popular in the 14th and 15th century as is attested to by an anonymous handscroll in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. In his image, Xie Sun used such established imagery and altered it to fit his purposes.
The other album leaves are less obvious to identify and may draw on less readily recited poems. In one leaf for example, Xie Sun paints green hills at the foot of which pink blossoming trees are scattered. Three scholars are standing amid this scene, enjoying the seasonal spectacle. This may be an allusion to Tao Yuanming’s poem “Trees in Bloom” (Rongmu 榮木) that reads (again in Hightower’s translation):
采采榮木， Brightly shine the blooming trees,
結根于茲。 They have taken root right here.
晨耀其華， Their blossoms radiant this morning,
夕已喪之。 By night already they have died.
While this album leaf depicts the beauty of spring and uses a strong pink among refreshing green tones, the falling of the blossoms is already implied in this moment of transient splendor. Indeed, the poem continues on a note of lament:
人生若寄， Human life is like a visit;
憔顇有時。 There comes a time of decrepitude.
靜言孔年， In silence, very much I brood,
中心悵而。 By this my inmost heart is grieved.
The three men seen in Xie Sun’s leaf admiring these trees then might be thinking about life’s vicissitudes and the shortness of time humans have on earth – a recurring theme in Tao Yuanming’s poetry.
Art historically, the album is significant since the surviving work of Xie Sun—who was active as a professional painter in seventeenth-century Nanjing and is counted as one of the eight masters of the Nanjing school of painting—is extremely rare. Among other characteristics, certain of these painters integrated color washes into their work that were both a means for recuperating or referring to ancient painting methods and, at the same time, attest to new pictorial sensibilities triggered probably through the introduction of Western prints and paintings into China. That the artist must have frequently painted in strong colors is attested to by a hanging scroll in the blue-and-green style in the Palace Museum in Beijing. More important is the fact that Xie Sun’s album originally consisted of sixteen leaves. Eight of these are now in the collection of the He Chuangshi Foundation while the remaining eight leaves are in the collection of the Shanghai Museum. Another album in the collection of the He Chuangshi collection by the late Ming artist Shao Mi 邵彌 (1596–1642) similarly illustrates scenes of Tao Yuanming’s life and poems.
在這本畫冊中，十七世紀畫家謝蓀呈現了畫風巧妙、色彩斑斕的大自然中的隱居生活場景。例如，在其中一個冊頁中，有一座位於山腳下的房子，周圍有幾棵樹，左下角的一座橋加強了該場景的遙遠印象，從而加強了隱居的概念。雖然畫冊上沒有藝術家的款識，但很有可能謝蓀描繪了著名六朝（220-589年）隱士陶淵明（365-427年）的生活，並為他的一些詩作配圖。為什麼會怎麼說？謝蓀在兩個冊頁中非常清楚地影射陶淵明的隱居：在其中一個冊頁中，一位穿著白衣的文人站在一個藩籬旁邊，望向一座用淺藍色染法勾勒出來的山。在藩籬下，粉紅色的花朵正在綻放。這一幕直接受到陶淵明著名的《飲酒》續集第五首的啓發，其中的對句是：
採菊東籬下， Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence,
悠然見南山。 Leisurely, I glance at the Southern Mountain.
在另一個冊頁，一艘小船已穿過了一個被廣闊陡峭的懸崖所包圍的湖泊，懸崖上有一些瀑布。在冊頁的左下角，那艘小船已經到達了岸邊，岸邊有一座房子被茂密的樹木半掩著。這冊頁所指的很有可能是陶淵明最著名的詩作《歸去來兮辭》，謝遜指的句子就是：
歸去來兮！ To get out of this and go back home!
田園將蕪胡不歸？ My fields and garden will be overgrown with weeds–I must go back.
… …
舟遙遙以輕颺， My boat rocks in the gentle breeze
風飄飄而吹衣。 Flap, flap, the wind blows my gown;
… …
乃瞻衡宇， Then I catch sight of my cottage –
載欣載奔。 Filled with joy I run.own;
（英文翻譯：James R. Hightower）
因為這冊頁讓人聯想到陶淵明的詩，那麼如何進一步的確定謝蓀畫的內容的確是陶淵明的《歸去來辭兮》呢？在這個冊頁裡，謝蓀回顧了北宋時期（960-1127年）建立的 「歸來」圖像誌。歸在李公麟（約1049-1106年）名下的手卷也顯示了一艘船從右邊到達岸邊停泊，從而使陶淵明能夠上岸。這種圖像在14和15世紀仍然很流行，紐約大都會博物館收藏的一份匿名手卷就證明這一點。在他的圖冊中，謝蓀使用了這種既定的意象，並根據自己的目的進行了修改。
其他冊頁就不那麼明顯了，可能是借鑒了不太容易傳誦的詩句。例如，在一個冊頁中，謝蓀畫了綠色的山丘，山腳下散布著粉紅色的開花樹木。三位文人站在這一場景中，享受著這一季節性的景象。這可能是對陶淵明《榮木》一詩的影射：
采采榮木， Brightly shine the blooming trees,
結根于茲。 They have taken root right here.
晨耀其華， Their blossoms radiant this morning,
夕已喪之。 By night already they have died.
（英文翻譯：James R. Hightower）
雖然這本冊頁描繪了春天的美麗，並在清新的綠色色調中使用了強烈的粉紅色，但在這短暫的輝煌時刻，已經暗示了花朵的隕落。事實上，這首詩繼續表示哀嘆的情緒：
人生若寄， Human life is like a visit;
憔顇有時。 There comes a time of decrepitude.
靜言孔年， In silence, very much I brood,
中心悵而。 By this my inmost heart is grieved.
（英文翻譯：James R. Hightower）
在謝蓀的冊頁中看到的三個人在欣賞這些樹，那麼他們可能在思考人生的滄桑和人生在世界上的短暫時間；這也是陶淵明詩歌中反復出現的主題。
從藝術史的角度來看，這本畫冊的重要性在他的傳世，因為謝蓀的作品極為罕見。他是十七世紀南京的職業畫家，被列為金陵畫派的八大名家之一。這套謝蓀的冊頁中融入了顏色染法，這既是恢復或參照古代繪畫方法的一種手段，同時也證明可能通過將西方版畫引入中國而引發的新的繪畫感覺。北京故宮博物院收藏的一幅青綠風格的立軸，證明謝蓀一定經常使用強烈的色彩作畫。更重要的是，謝蓀的畫冊最初由16片冊頁組成，其中八張現由何創時基金會收藏，其餘八張上海博物館收藏。何創時收藏的另一本由明末藝術家邵彌（1596-1642年）創作的畫冊也同樣畫了陶淵明的生活場景和詩作。
Henning von Mirbach, Research assistant, HCS Calligraphy Arts Foundation
米翰寧 何創時書法基金會 副研究員
