Cleveland Museum of Art

Nine Songs

Date

1361

Medium

handscroll; ink on paper

Culture

China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Painted in the baimiao , or fine-line drawing style, this ancient work demonstrates the literati’s use of abstract calligraphic brushwork for self-expression. The subject of the “Nine Songs”—songs associated with shamanistic rituals in the ancient Chu kingdom—had traditionally provided artists with myths and legends that they could explore and reinterpret in their own works. Divided into eleven sections, the scroll contains illustrations by painter Zhang Wu followed by a transcription of the relevant verse by calligrapher Chu Huan.

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