Object Title |
Ming Huang's Journey to Shu |
Object Number |
C137 |
Current Location |
Collections Storage |
Culture |
Chinese |
Provenience |
China |
Period |
Ming Dynasty |
Date Made |
14th Century - 15th Century |
Section |
Asian |
Materials |
Silk | Paint |
Technique |
Painted |
Iconography |
Ming Huang's Journey to Shu | Ming Huang | Horses | Human Figures | Mountain Landscape |
Inscription Language |
Chinese Language | Chinese Language | Chinese Language | Chinese Language | Chinese Language | Chinese Language | Chinese Language | Chinese Language | Chinese Language | Chinese Language |
Description |
This painting depicts the flight of the Tang Emperor Xuanzong (685 - 762 CE) through the mountains to Shu. The emperor, also known by his posthumous name Minghuang, fled the Tang capital Chang’an due to the rebellion by a Turkic general named An Lushan in 755 CE. Depicted here is the journey to Shu (modern Sichuan), winding through the slender, jagged mountains on foot and horseback. Although the painting is from the Ming Dynasty, the strong blue and green colors are characteristic of the earlier Tang Dynasty style. Formerly attributed to Li Zhadao 李昭道 (flourished early 8th century). Formerly in the collection of John Calvin Ferguson (1866 - 1945 CE). The painting has ten seals including ones from the Qianlong Emperor, Xiang Molin, and An Qi. |
Height |
203.84 cm |
Width |
147.64 cm |
Credit Line |
Purchased from M. Knoedler & Company, 1916 |
Other Number |
Getz 51 - Other Number |
Current & Past Exhibitions
Bibliography
Sung, Hou-mei. Galloping through Dynasties. Milano: Skira, 2022. See: Frontispiece, pg. 43, pg. 104, No. 20 |
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Qian, Zhaoming. Orientalism and Modernism: The Legacy of China in Pound and Williams. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995. See: Front Cover and Figure 25, pp. 117-118 |
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Lyons, Elizabeth. "Ming Huang's Journey to Shu: The History of a Painting." Expedition: The Magazine of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 28, no. 3. (1986): 22-28. |
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Soper, Alexander C. "A Ninth Century Landscape Painting in the Japanese Imperial Palace and Some Chinese Parallels." Artibus Asiae 29, no. 4. (1967): 335-350. |
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Horne, Lee C. Introduction to the Collections of The University Museum. Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1985. Page/Fig./Plate: 61 |
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Ferguson, John C. Chinese Painting. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927. See: pg. 71 |
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Fernald, Helen E. Handbook of Chinese Paintings in the Collection of the Museum. Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1922. Page/Fig./Plate: 57 |
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Getz, John. The University Museum Exhibition of Oriental Art. Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1916. Page/Fig./Plate: 194 no.51 |
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Ferguson, John C. Chinese Paintings in the University Museum Philadelphia: A Record of the signatures, seals, inscriptions, colophons and labels on the Chinese paintings collected by me for the Museum. 1916. |
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M. Knoedler & Co. Catalogue of early Chinese paintings of the T'ang, Sung and Yuan dynasties A.D. 600-1400. New York: Goerck Art Press, 1914. See: No. 1 |
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