1548
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Playing the Qin in a Secluded Valley is a 1548 unspecified by Wen Zhengming, a Ming Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man sits on a rock, plucking a long, quiet instrument under tall pines. Waterfalls tumble down cliffs behind him. Mist curls between the peaks. The poem at the top says the music answers the wind in the pines. Some scholars think another artist, Lu Zhi, actually painted the rocks and mountains here—Wen Zhengming may have added the figure and poem later. To see more paintings like this, look up *china, ming dynasty (1368–1644)*.
The poem inscribed in this painting reads: "Ten thousand layered lofty mountains are presented to the cultivated eye, A thousand feet of cascading falls cleanse the dusty heart. May the harmonies of my red-stringed tune Be the humble answer to the pine wind's ancient song." Different versions of this painting exist. Scholars have suggested that the solid renderings of the rock masses and the volumetric mountain configurations as seen here appear more characteristic of Lu Zhi 陸治 (1496–1576), Wen Zhengming's pupil.
In paintings, Chinese literati often play the instrument in a landscape setting, as the sound of the qin symbolizes harmony between man and nature.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Wen Zhengming spent most of his life in Suzhou, a city of canals and scholars where art and poetry were daily habits, not hobbies.
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