“River and Sky in Evening Snow, ” from the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers

From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record

Snow clings to the leaves of a clump of bamboo and rock. A snowy peak hangs in the distance. This wintry scene formerly functioned as one of eight panels of a folding screen, depicting the so-called “Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang, ” a popular theme in East Asian painting and poetry. At right is a Chinese poem brushed by the Zen monk Saishō Jōtai (1548-1608). The poem alludes to the Daoist immortal Han Xiangzi, who predicted correctly that his exiled uncle would become stuck at Indigo Pass, a crossing in the Qin Mountains of central China: Ten thousand miles of river and sky, ten thousand miles of thoughts, a whirlwind of downy flowers scattering in a peaceful grove— The bridges and roads are closed, and my horse’s hooves are slick. Yet again, Indigo Pass is blocked! This is an old poem by Yujian, brushed by Jōtai Japan