Nanga
Ferry crossing a stream (Story of the fisherman at the peach blossom source)Signed: Kyôsai
Seals: Minagawa Gen, Hakkyô
Technique: sumi on paper 27 x 37.5
Mounting: white cream paper 82.5 x 45.8
Condition: lightly soiled and worn at the top of the mounting, otherwise good
The inscription a Quote from a verse by Chang Jian 常建 (Tang dynasty): San ri xun Li Jiuzhuang (三日寻李九庄)
Refers to the Tao Yuanming's Tale of the Peach Source 桃花源记, the ideal world,
故人家在桃花岸
直到門前渓水流
The house of the man of old stood by the peach blossom trees on the bank,
directly in front of the gate the water flows through the valley.
The story of the peach blossom source was written by Tao Yuanming 陶淵明 (352/365—427).
[Depictions of the Peach Blossom Spring of Wuling derive from the famous prose preface to a poem composed by the ancient Chinese poet Tao Yuanming (365–427).
The preface tells the story of a fisherman from Wuling who, while poling his boat upstream along a river he had never before fished, came upon a grove of blossoming peach trees lining both banks and discovered water gushing into the river from a spring in a hillside cave. Passing through the cave, he emerged into an enchanted valley where people had fled from wars during the Qin era (221–207 B.C.) and remained isolated since then. Fishing and farming, they led wellfed, happy lives and begged the fisherman not to leave and reveal their secret. However, after a few days’ stay, the fisherman furtively departed, returning to Wuling to report his experience. Of course, the returning expedition could never again find the way back. http://protaka.sakura.ne.jp/touka/
Kien was born in Kyoto. He started his Confucian studies at the age of five and was teaching by the time he was twenty-five. He entered the service of the Matsudaira family of the domain of Kameyama in Tanba province. In the 1780s he was invited by the domain of Zeze in Ômi province to set up an education system. In 1805 he established a successful Confucian school in Kyoto, which attracted more than 3000 students, but the school went into a rapid decline after his death two years later.
Kien studied first painting with Mochizuki Gyokusen (1692-1755) and later with Maruyama Ôkyo (1733-95), Gan Ku (1749-1838) and Go Shun (1752-1811). From 1783 onwards, in spring and autumn, he organized the Shin Shoga Tenkan, the Exhibition of New Calligraphies and Paintings at the Sôrin-ji in Kyoto. Here he presented the work of many of his friends and colleagues.
Reference:
Roberts p. 78
Araki p. 1892 ff.
Rosenfield B.54
Beerens p. 105 ff.
Price: EUR 1,200 / USD 1,488
