Du Fu on His Donkey

early 15th century

Japanese, 1386 - 1428

Japanese, 1537 - 1597

The inscription, dated 1575, was brushed by Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last shogun of the Muromachi period. He identified the painter as Ashikaga Yoshimochi (1386–1428), his ancestor and the fourth shogun of the same period. The poem that Yoshiaki added associates the subject of this painting with a Chinese poet, who can be identified as one of the “eight immortals of the wine cup,” a group of Tang dynasty (618–907) scholars who are known for their fondness for alcoholic beverages. The inscribed poem reads:

The tired horse hesitates on the road around Mount Hua,
The attendant boy steadies the rider, who, oblivious, is slipping off.
A gallon of wine after long poems,
Fast asleep under the pine tree, and never again awake.

Ink on paper

39 3/4 x 12 3/4 in. (101 x 32.4 cm)

Overall h.: 70 3/4 x 16 3/8 in. (179.7 x 41.6cm)

Purchased from the bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Archibald Stewart Downey

53.82

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, December 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "A Thousand Years of Beauty: Japanese Art in Seattle", July 16, 2001 - November 17, 2002

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "A Thousand Cranes: Treasures Of Japanese Art", February 5 - July 12, 1987 (02/05/1987 - 07/12/1987)

Published ReferencesFuller, Richard E. "Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"), no. 89

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, "A Thousand Cranes: Treasures Of Japanese Art", copublished by Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA, 1987, ill. p. 147.

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