Eight Songs of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers
In the eleventh century, an artist named Song Di painted a set of melancholy landscapes evoking the river watersheds of the Xiao and Xiang region in current-day Hunan Province, southwest China. Poets of the day responded to Song’s paintings with corresponding poems, giving rise to a tradition of Xiao-Xiang poetry and painting that continued in subsequent centuries in China and eventually extended to Japan and Korea. This rendition bears a signature of the Ming-dynasty artist Wen Zhengming, but both the calligraphy and painting lack Wen’s subtlety; it is believed to have been painted in his style after his death.
Artwork Details
- Title: Eight Songs of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers
- Artist: Unidentified artist , 16th or 17th century
- Artist: After Wen Zhengming (Chinese, 1470–1559)
- Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Date: 16th or 17th century
- Culture: China
- Medium: Album of eight leaves; ink on paper
- Dimensions: 8 1/4 x 7 3/4 in. (21.0 x 19.7 cm) (8 paintings with facing leaves of calligraphy)
8 1/4 x 16 7/8 in. (21.0 x 42.9 cm) (frontispiece of 2 double leaves) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Morse, 1972
- Object Number: 1972.278.9a–t
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Unidentified artist
19th century
Unidentified artist
Liu Songnian
Unidentified artist
Unidentified artist
Unidentified artist
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.