Couplet
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.清朝 伊秉綬 行書 對聯 絹本
During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), pairs of hanging scrolls known as couplets (duilian) became popular as gifts. They were intended for public display, often during seasonal holidays, weddings, and other auspicious occasions. The rules for couplets are strict: only two lines of poetry could be presented, one on each scroll, and there had to be many parallel structures between the two. Here, using lines from two poems of the Tang dynasty (617–906), Yi Bingshou has created an example of “gathered verses,” in which lines from older poems are joined into new combinations. The couplet reads:
Right: Deep colors penetrate heaven, two thousand feet
in height!
Left: Beautiful flowers emerge from earth, and climb two
flights of stairs.
The highly original style of Yi’s semicursive script was also the result of a thoughtful combination. Some of the character structures are taken from clerical script, while the fluidity of the writing is due to a semicursive approach. The extreme variation in the brushwork from thin and pointy to thick and blunt is a mixture of the two.
During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), pairs of hanging scrolls known as couplets (duilian) became popular as gifts. They were intended for public display, often during seasonal holidays, weddings, and other auspicious occasions. The rules for couplets are strict: only two lines of poetry could be presented, one on each scroll, and there had to be many parallel structures between the two. Here, using lines from two poems of the Tang dynasty (617–906), Yi Bingshou has created an example of “gathered verses,” in which lines from older poems are joined into new combinations. The couplet reads:
Right: Deep colors penetrate heaven, two thousand feet
in height!
Left: Beautiful flowers emerge from earth, and climb two
flights of stairs.
The highly original style of Yi’s semicursive script was also the result of a thoughtful combination. Some of the character structures are taken from clerical script, while the fluidity of the writing is due to a semicursive approach. The extreme variation in the brushwork from thin and pointy to thick and blunt is a mixture of the two.
Artwork Details
- 清朝 伊秉綬 行書 對聯 絹本
- Title: Couplet
- Calligrapher: Yi Bingshou (Chinese, 1754–1815)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: 1815
- Culture: China
- Medium: Two hanging scrolls; ink on colored silk
- Dimensions: Image (each scroll): 68 7/8 × 15 1/4 in. (174.9 × 38.7 cm)
Overall with mounting (each scroll): 84 1/2 × 16 5/8 in. (214.6 × 42.2 cm) - Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Promised Gift of Guanyuan Shanzhuang Collection
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art