Glimpses o f the Duanwu Festival
by Fang Xun (1736-1799 ):
Commemorative Painting
or Priva te Souvenir?
ANNE KERLAN- STEPHENS

The Roy and Marilyn Papp Collection is very precious for the
study of late Chinese painting.' For eighteenth-century art, as Claudia
Brown has stated, 2 it allows us to go beyond the two traditional points of
interest for art historians, Imperial Court painting and the Yangzhou
school, to delve into what was actually the mainstream of the ti me,
Orthodox pain ti ng.3 Such is the case with the painting Tianzhong
Jiejing Tu: Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival ( figure 1) by Fang Xun (17361799 ), a painting that richly rewards attention.
Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival is a short handscroll that bears no
date, signature, or seals of its author. Itsattribution is made clear thanks
to two ins criptions .4 The first, on the painting itself, was written in
1880 by the painter Zhang Xiong (1803-1886) for the owner of the time,
an unknown prefect (taishou). The other, earlier inscription follows
the painting and was written in 18n by Fang Xu n's oldest son, Fang
Tingh u, who became juren in 18085 and later was a district magistratein
the Beijing area. This inscription is the more important as it provides an approximate date of composition and theme, as we sha ll see .
Nevertheless, the Zhang Xiong inscription is noteworthy in that it
proves Fang Xun was still a name in the art market at the end of the n
i neteenth century.
The scro ll depicts an estate garden, neither walled nor gated, but
well-protected by large parasol trees,6 the wutong which gave their name
to the place, the Tonghua Guan (The Flowering Pa ulow n ia Studio).
Unscrolling it, one first sees a riverbank with bamboo, sh ru bs, and
wutong trees that hide the main buildings tucked in the background.
Inside the entrance hall, one finds a low tab le , set with flowers, and
two stools, and on the wall a hanging scroll that can be identified as

ll7

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW

)/

1 -· -, -:-4

•

r.:-

'- •

Figu re 1. Fang Xun (1736-1799 ) . Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival a fter Wen Jia.
Ha ndscro ll. ink and color on paper, 22-4 x 116.9 cm. The Roy and Marilyn Papp
Co llect ion. Photo by Craig Sm ith , courtesy of Phoen ix Art Mu seum.

the portrait of Zhong Kui, the conqueror of ghosts associated with
the duanwu festival. In the hallway on the left side, a woman stands
holding a baby in her arms, looking at two children at play with a
pet in the front courtyard. Leaving this peaceful scene , one follows a
narrow trail between a Taihu rock, a banana tree, and a loquat tree to
a pavilion situated u oder a willow tree by the river. Inside, four men
socialize while a servant presents them with drinks. The painting then
leaves the garden to close with an open view of the river disappearing
in the distance. The riverbanks are empt y, except for one small, red
winding bridge that leads the eye to the background, far away from
the garden.
The painting is finely done. The view is taken from a distance, but
each part is painted with many details that bring it to life. The duanwu
festival is evoked in several ways: the touches of red that animate the
painting recall the red silk thread carried by children that day, the
plants by the river look like the sweet flag (changpu) used during the
festival to repel pestilence, and the flowering vegetation (the garden
hollyhock) reminds

us that

this festival

takes place when nature is

in full bloom. Finally, the composition sets in subtle opposition the
main buildings and the pavilion. These two parts of the estate are wellseparated by the vegetation, but nevertheless connect and become

118

GLIMPSES OF THE DUANWU FESTIVAL BY FANG XUN

complementa ry, with one placed at the background with a broad, open
space in front and the other in the foreground with emptiness behind.
The painting, according to Fang Tinghu, was executed in 1782 or 1783
when Fang Xun was a painter in residence at the Tonghua Guan, an estate
that his main patron, the scholar Jin Deyu (1750 -180 0 ) , built in Tongxiang,
next to Hangzhou. Fang Tinghu tells us that the scroll
describes this same Tonghua Guan and a gathering attended by Jin
and three of his fr iends , Zhu Fang 'ai (1721-1786), Zhao Huaiyu (17471823), and Bao Tingbo (1728-1814). Interestingly, the painter did not
include himse l f in the scene . There are four seals on the painting but ,
unfortunately, apart from the seals of Zhang Xiong and Fang Tinghu,
the other two cannot be identified." The seals do not belong to Fang
Xun or to any of the four men mentioned by Fang Tinghu, nor did any
of them add an inscription.
This absence of seals, signature, and inscriptions makes this work
a small mystery, even if the attribution to Fang Xun is clear. It is entirely logica l to assume that the painting was commissioned by Jin
Deyu to commemorate the gathering. If so, how can we explain the
silence of the participants who did not add the usual inscriptions? One
answer could be that the painting was either not finished or is a draft
version, but considering the care Fang Xun put into the composition
and coloring, this is difficult to accept. Another explanation could be
that it did not please Jin, or any of the other participants, and was
therefore set aside. A third option is that Jin chose not to observe the
formalities associated with commemorative painting. Perhaps because

119

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW

the subject was so private, it seemed unnecessary to inscribe it. 9 I wil
examine this third hypothesis before considering a fourth possibility,
one that takes into account Fang Xun's life and personality.
A commemorative painting?

Commemorative paintings were common among scholars, who
used them in a variety of ways: to mark literary gatherings, depict
someone's estate, or symbolically portray friends or associates. Because
the y served an implicitly social purpose, commemorative paintings
were usually followed by inscriptions from the friends, clients, or
painter connected to the subject. In the case of Glimpses of the Duanwu
Festival this is not so. Moreover, the painting is not very "social" in
tone. Just the contrary, it is modest , i ndeed , intimate. The viewer feels
he is penetrating a private space, at a moment when the inhabitants,
family and friends, are not aware of his presence. If this painting is, in
fact , a commemorative work, we need to understand the choice of this
private tone along with the absence of ins cripti ons. Perhaps an explanation can be found in the state of mind of the men depicted here, all
of whom were representative figures of the Ha ngzho u elite. Three were
scholars and the fourth was from an old merchant family, but none
would ever complete a full career as a high-ranking official. Jin Deyu ,
appointed Secretary of the Fengtian Bureau in the Ministry of Justice,
left office to settle at Tongxiang 10 while Zhao Huaiyu renounced a
promising career when his father died and later became director of
the Academy Wenzheng in Jiangsu province.JI Zhu Fang 'a i, a poet
and prunus flowers painter, received imperial honor s in his youth 12 but
chose not to pursue an official career. As for Bao Tingbo, he was never
himself a merchant; the wealth of his family allowed him to become a
man of letters and, more precisely, a famous bi bl io ph ile .13 The destinies
of Jin Deyu and Bao Tingbo are highly symbolic of the development of
the eighteenth-century Chinese elite: whereas Jin Deyu , a member of
the old gentry, died poor after squandering his fortune to maintain his
standard of li ving, the new, well-integrated merchant elite typified by
Bao Tingbo was climbing the ladder of success.
This circle of friends was, it seems , rather traditional in its social
composition and representative of the intellectual climate of the
Jiangnan area. They shared a passion for books and belonged to a
network of bibliophiles very active in the Hangzhou area, an important

120

GLIMPSES OF THE DUANWU FESTIVAL BY FANG XUN
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Figure 2.1. Woodblock print based on drawings by Fang Xun, from Jin
Deyu, editor, Peace and Joy in the Realm . 1780, reprinted 1788. 15.5 x 11 cm.
Album of

100

pictures. Source: Shanghai Library.

121

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW

Figure 2.2. Woodblock pri n t based on d ra w i ngs by Fang X u n, from Jin
De yu , editor, Peace and Joy in the Realm, 1780, reprinted 1788. 15.5 x
Album of 100 pictures. Source: Shanghai Library.

122

II cm
.

GLIMPSES OF THE DUANWU FE STIVA L BY FANG XUN

center for bibliophiles at that time. 14 This passion coincided with an in terest in ph ilo logy,15 and the jinshi movement, the study of bronze and
stone ins cription s.16 The involvement of these men in the cultural and
intellectual life of the Qianlong (reigned 1736-1796) era is exemplified
by a common project they worked on, probably at the moment the
painting was done. Zhao Huaiyu, with the assistance of Jin Deyu and
Bao Tingbo, printed in 1784 in Hangzhou the Siku Quanshu Jianming
Mulu , an abridged vers ion 17 of the imperial encyclopedia catalog made
under the supervision of Ji Yun (1724-1805). This non-official edition
obviously targeted the men of letters of the Jiangnan area.
The relationship the men in Jin Deyu's circle had with imperial
power seems ambivalent. As members of the elite of their region ,
they were necessarily in contact with the Emperor. For in stance , in
1780 during the imperial inspection , the four men contributed to the
publication of a book that Jin Deyu offered to the throne, the Taiping
Huante Tu (Peace and Joy in the Realm) (figure 2). The folio described , in
100 pictures composed by Fang Xun, the peaceful and happy life of
the people of Zhejiang. 18 Such an act of allegiance was not rare; it was
in fact sometimes inevitable and can reflect a wide range of attitudes
toward the Emperor, from one of obligation (an elite like Jin Deyu
was compelled, like his elders did before him,19 to offer something to
Qianlong), to a strategy for advancement in the official curriculum,2°
to even a precautionary measure. This last was not at all unreasonable
considering the dangers of polit ic s. To our four subjects, the tragedy
of the Zhu family was a close example of what could happen to those
serving the Empire. One of Zhu Fang'ai 's older brothers, Zhu Yi ng, was
imprisoned in Sichuan for thirty-seven years due to a fault committed
by a brother while on post in this province. 21 This caused the ruin of
his fam i ly, including the death of his eldest son , Zhu Hongyou (died
around 1783), who was also Jin De yu 's cousin.
Such events likely made the four frien ds ' relationship with imperial
power problematic: how to maintain the contact required of economic
and intellectual elites without running afoul of often fickle imperial
just ice? Their response seems to have been to withdraw into purely
intellectual activities, which gave sufficient opportunity to honor
imperial authority without making one too vulnerable to political
dangers . If this is indeed the spirit they adopted, it matches well the
painting 's intimate tone of withdrawal to a ve ry private space.

123

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW

Figure 3. Fang Xun, The
Library under the Parasol
Tree. Hanging scroll,

ink and colors on paper,
109.5 x 32.7 cm. Honolulu
Academy of Arts.

124

GLIMPSES OF THE DUANWU FESTIVAL BY FANG XUN

But is this withdrawal sufficient to explain the absence of seals or
inscriptions? It cert ainly did not mean these men were uninterested
in socializing or commemorating social events. Jin Deyu's poem antho logy, the Tonghua Guan Shichao (Poems from the Flowering Paulownia
Studio) and Zhu Fang'ai's anthology, Chunqiao Caotang Shiji (Collection
of the Poetry from the Thatched Cottage of Ch unqiao), 22 are full of poetic
games played during informal meet ings . For instance, one finds in
the Chunqiao Caotang Shiji the evocation of a gathering in 1783 at the
same Tonghua Guan. It cannot be the one depicted in the painting,
because it happened in springtime. However, it gives a good idea of
the atmosphere at the Tonghua Guan, where informality and poetic
games were common: "In the year guimao, at springtime, there was
a friendly gathering at the Tonghua Guan, among reeds and grass at
the moonlight. Our host served us some bamboo roots. Because we
were composing poems about green bamboo with half of their skin, I
improvised one with the rhyme ban (half) ."23
Fang Xun himself was often present and did some commemorative
paintings in other circumstances. This is the case for the Yinghua
Shuwu Tu (The Library of Bright Flowers), painted in 1795 during a
literary gather ing. 24 The few objects depicted are books and scrolls.
Another interesting painting in the same genre is the Tongyin Shuwu
Tu (The Library under the Parasol Tree) (figure 3). The depiction of the
place, specifically of the vegetation, bears some close similarities with
Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival. But here again, the focus is more on the
building where the books are kept and on its owner. In comparison,
in Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival, the focus is on the family life, wellprotected by the Zhong Kui, as it should be that day (figure 4). 25 The
few objects depicted, the postures of the figures, playing or at ease,
evoke more a day of rest in a protected place ( figure 5). Compared to
a commemorative painting like the Yinghua Shuwu Tu, our painting
shares neither the tone, nor the inscriptions, nor the focus and so does
not seem to answer the prerequisites of this genre.
Of course, one can say that the composition of Glimpses of the
Duanwu Festival reflects the wish of the participants to be perceived
as men who prefer the simplicity of a secluded life in a rural retreat
to honors and glory, an aspiration entirely in keeping with traditional
literati values. It could mean that our men valued the space of the
family and close friends because it was the only one that remained
free from social and political obligations. However, we would be right

125

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW

Figur e 4. Fang Xu n, Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival . Deta il.

Figur e 5. Fang Xu,n Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival. Deta il.

126

GLIMPSES OF THE DUA NW U FE STIVAL BY FANG XUN

to ask why, as private as it was, this painting did not even bear the
inscriptions of men described as close friends. Were they so reluctant
to play the literary game? This also touches on the issue of the purpose
of a painting, specifically a painting made at a patron's request. What
does a painting become if it stays in a private circle? If it is not seen by
others? It becomes a private souvenir, like a family photograph kept
inside the familial sphere of Jin Deyu. We cannot exclude this possibility but, as we saw, it would then be very different in nature from a
commemorative painting. It would unveil a care for privacy rarely seen
to such a degree among literati patrons.
A biography of the painter

Thus far, we have assumed that Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival was
made at Jin Deyu 's request . But this assumption, as believable as it is,
does not provide an entirely satisfying answer to the problem posed by
the painting. We need to examine another hypothesis , and to do so we
need first to understand better who was the painter , not only because
he created the work but also because the painting depicts a place where
he lived and men he was familiar with. The painting provides insight
into Fang Xun's life.
His life was somehow typical of that of a professional literati painter
of that time. Born in 1736, he died in 179926 and stayed most of his life
in the Jiangnan area, chiefly in the prefecture of Jia xing , between lake
Taihu and Ha ngzhou , in the district of Shimen where he was born, and
the bordering district of Tongxiang, the location of the Tonghua Guan.
It is in this "suburban " milieu , rather than in the populous Hangzhou ,
that our painter developed his career.
The choice , if it was one, to work and live in a suburban area rather
than the city, where the art market was certainly larger, is indicative
of a man described as gentle and humble. Illness and a physical disability27 are said to have prevented him from engaging in an official
career. Instead, he relied on painting to mak e a living. 28 Fang Xun was,
like his father , a commoner (buyi) but with a good classical education
that made him a literatus. His father, Fang Mei (1714- 1762) , was a freespirited man , good at poetry , ca lligra ph y, and painting but unable to
provide his sons 29 with a permanent home. 3 0 But he taught Fang Xun
painting and soon the young boy, no older than fif teen ,31 started to
support the family with his work as a professional painter. Fang Xun is
considered to be a very pious son who helped his fat her alive or dead ,32

127

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW

Figure 6. Fang Xun and Qian
Zai (1708-1793), Bamboo and

Rocks, dated 1785. Hanging
scroll, ink on pape r, 162.5 x 42.8
cm. Source: Christie's New
York, Classical Chinese Paintings,
1 June 1994 (sale 7908), lot 223 .
Copyright of Christie's Images
Ltd., 1994.

128

GLIMPSES OF THE DUANWU FESTIVAL BY FANG XUN

but the father must have been an extravagant person because when
he died, Fang Xun found himself in a difficult situation. This is when,
it seems, the Jin family began to help him . Fang Xun may have been
introduced to the Jin's through Zhu Fang'ai, a mutual friend. Jin's
mother, a fervent Buddhist, asked Fang to come and copy sutras. Soon,
Jin Deyu himself began supporting Fang Xun, who became a painter
in residence at the Tonghua Guan .33 From that time on, his career was
connected with the destiny of Jin Deyu and the Tonghua Guan became
a second home for him.
At the Tonghua Guan, Fang Xun developed a career typical for a
painter in residence, copying for his patron the paintings in his collection, 34 or executing works at his demand as when Jin Deyu, fond
of a strange stone in a friend's collection, tried to exchange it for a
painting by Fang Xun. 35 He would also participate at poetic gatherings
or travel with his patron, providing both poems and paintings. Taishan
Jiyou Tu (Records of Travels to Mount Tai), executed in 1783, in the same
year as the Papp Collection painting, might be one exa mple.36
Was Fang Xun's situation as a painter in residence the best available
to him? It is a difficult question to answer. "Protected " by his patron,
Fang Xun developed a chosen clientele, avoiding the vulgar merchants
who asked for erotic paintings, 37 working for scholars and oficials,
sometimes even working with them , like in the painting made in
collaboration with Qian Zai (1708-1793) Zhushi Tu (Bamboo and Rocks)
(figure 6). But when we compare his career with that of his peer, Xi
Gang (1746-1803), a very independent and difficult personality, one
can say that the latter became more famous. Xi also may have found
more opportunity to develop his own style. In fact, some anecdotes, as
we shall see, show that Jin Deyu was a jealous patron who may have
not only controlled access to his protege but also supervised, for good
or bad, his artistic development. More positively, it seems that Fang
Xun attained a stable economic situation, unlike Xi Gang who died in
poverty. In fact, some anecdotes and one inscription on a painting lead
us to think that Fang Xun's paintings were quite valuable during his
lifetime and even after his death . The inscription written in 1818 by Dai
Guangzeng on Mo Sangren Shese Huahui Juan (Flowers After Song Masters)
(figure 7) tells us that Dai bought a Fang Xun painting for fourteen
pieces of foreign silver (fanyin) .38
According to Fang Tinghu's inscription, in the 1780s Fang Xun
stayed at the Tonghua Guan. Later in his life, he moved into his own

129

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW

Figure 7: Fang Xun, Flowers after Song Masters, dated 1781. Handscroll, ink and
colors on paper , 29.5 x 551.3 cm. Shanghai Museum.

home in the vicinity, staying close to his pat ron. 39 The fame he acquired a few years before his death can be seen from two events . First ,
his treatise on painting, the Shanjingju Hualun was published around
1798 in the Zhibuzu Zhai Congshu, the collection of Bao Tingbo. At that
time, Fang Xun was living in Hangzh ou, either because he followed his
patron there or was "invited" by Ruan Yuan (1764-1849), then Director
of Education for Zhejiang. In Ha ngzhou , Fang Xun met important men
of letters within the circle of Ruan Yuan, like the poets Che n Hongshou
(1768-1822) and Chen Wenjie (1771-1883) , or Guo Lin (1767-1831). 40 But
Jiang Ba olin , in his good biography of Fang Xu n, gives a negative account of the meeting wit h Ruan Yuan, which would have occurred
in 1798. He states that Fang Xun went reluctantly and against his own
will to Hangzhou and spent a year with Ruan. Ruan Yuan talks very
little about Fang Xun; the two did not seem to have gotten along well. 41
If Jin Deyu was a paternalistic pat ron, Ruan Yuan seems to have been
an authoritative one who wanted to have at his di sposal all the famous
names of the Hangzhou area . When Fang , an old man by this time,
returned home after his time with Ruan , he fell sick and died. At his
130

GLIMPSES OF THE DUA NW U FESTI VA L BY FANG XUN

(

death, he was well-respected as an artist in the Zhejiang milieu.
Built up during a life time spent around collectors, Fang Xun possessed a rich visual culture. He had access, for instance, to the collection
of Xiang Yuanbian (1525-159 0 ) , that Jin Deyu partly bough t,42 and to
the collection of Gao Shiqi (164 5-170 4 ) , that was transmitted to one of
his relatives , Zhu Hongyou, the nephew of Zhu Fang 'ai. 43 A!though
Fang Xun can be defined as an orthodox painter, his interest was not
selective and the concern he expresses in his treatise for a professional
mastery of his art leads him to study painters who do not belong to
the Southern school. His approach to pain ting, in general, was more
historical than ideological, which makes the Shanjingju Hualun a refreshing treatise.
A rich visual culture was necessary for a professional painter who,
in fact, had to answer to a broad demand. Fang Xun was most famous
as a painter of flowers (figure 8), a genre very fashionable at that time,
but he also painted landscapes , portraits, and popular themes , on paper
or silk, in ink or colors. The diversity of his techniques and subjects
reflects the variety of the demand and also his own professionalism.
But despite his versatility, Pang Xun has a characteristic style. First ,
he belongs to the orthodox tradition, as is most clear when looking
131

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW

Figure 8. Fang Xun , Flowers of the Four Seasons. Set of four hanging
scrolls, each 149.2 x 38.8 cm . Source: Sotheby 's New York, Fine Chinese
Paintings, 21 March 1995 (sale 6677), lot 57.

at his landscape painting. In these works, the "imitation after ancient
masters" (fang) is fundamental, as we see in this landscape after Wang
Meng Fang Wang Meng Shanshui Tu (figure 9) that uses the classical
formula of the genre. But the view is not monumental. The artist displays an attention to detail that brings to the entire image warmth and
familiarity, even if it sacrifices something in terms of cosmic rhythm.
This care for detail is the second aspect of Fang Xu n's work, illustrated
in his paintings of flowers, where the artist is at his best. In his handscroll of flowers after Song masters (figure 7), he manages to give life
and movement without losing a sense of detail. Fang Xun seemed
capable of precision as well as freedom in his brushwork, developing a
style of his own with time.
The Papp painting is unique among Fang Xun's work during the
period. It seems, indeed, much more personal. In the depiction of the

132

Erratum
Page 132, figure 8.
Myriad Points of View: New Research on Ming and Qing Dynasty Paintings in the Roy
and Marilyn Papp Collection, Pheebus 9, Arizona State Univers ity, 2006.

Fang Xun, Flowers of the Four Seasons. Set of four hanging scrolls, ink and color
on silk, each 149.2 x 38.8.
Editor's note: Regr etta bly, this printing of Pheebus 9 perpetuated a mistake
in Sotheby's New York, Fine Chi nese Paintings, 21 March 1995 (sale 6677).
In that catalog, lots 57, 61 and 62 were i nt erpolated with the result that three
sets of four hanging scrolls by the artists Fang Xun (1736-1799), Ren Xiong
( 1 820- 1857) and Sha Fu (18 31- 1906 ) were incorrectly publis he d. The correct
images of paintings by Fang Xun are shown above. The set mistakenly
rep roduced on pag e 132 of Pheebus 9 should be ca ptio ned:
Sha Fu, Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons . Set of four hanging scrolls, ink and
color on paper, each 132.7 x 37.5 cm.

,,.

GLIMPSES OF THE DUANWU FESTIVAL BY FANG XUN

Figure 9. Fang Xun,
Landscape after Wang
Meng, dated 1788.
Hanging scroll, ink and
light color on paper,
131.5 x 52.7 cm. Source:
Christie's New York,
Classical Chinese Paintings,
1

June 1994 (sale 7908),

lot 198. Copyright of
Christie's I mag es
Ltd., 1994.

133

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW

garden setting and the figures, in the use of light colors, the work is
full of simplicity and delicacy, a delicacy one finds ten years later in the
Yinghua Shuwu Tu. But Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival is infused with a
nostalgia that comes from this delicacy itse lf , combined with a depiction
of daily details that gives it considerable charm. It is interesting to note
that both paintings are, according to their title or ins cript ion, made
after two masters of the Wu school, Wen Jia (1501-1583) and Qian Gu
(1508-1578). Of course, Fang's two paintings are much more casual in
their treatment of the theme than would be an ethereal rendition by a
Ming master. But the attention paid to the depiction of figures and the
garden setting, the ink washes and minute coloring given preference
to powerful mountain structures, owes something to th e Wu artists.
A personal souvenir

The personal tone of the Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival suits well,
if it is the case, the private nature of the painting requested by Jin
Deyu. It also suits well Fang Xun himself, who was described as a
well- behaved , modest man. Perhaps this explains his absence from his
own paintings. This absence might also shed light on the relationship
of painter and patron. Many texts, including poems by Jin De yu ,4 4
present Jin's relationship with Fang as a friendly one. But the two men
were in reality far from being social equa ls. In fact, Fang Xun was in
Jin's debt , as the inscription written by Dai Guangzeng on the flower
handscroll presented earlier suggests: "Everytime somebody wanted
a painting by Fang Xun, he had first to ask for Eyan's [Jin Deyu] permissi on. It is because when he was young, Fang Xun supported himself
with the Jin's help. This is why he would only follow Eyan's orders."
This aspect of the relationship is confirmed by Jiang Baolin who tells
us that Jin Deyu would refuse on Fang Xun 's behalf certain commands
made of Fa ng. 45 In short, Jin Deyu exercised control over Fang Xun 's
production. By becoming a painter in resid ence, Fang Xun may have
traded freedom for secu rity .
From this point of view, perhaps Fang Xun does not represent
himself in Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival because he does not really
belong to the world of his patron. His status at the Tonghua Guan was
perhaps an ambiguous one; he could not be re presented simply as a
servant, nor could he be painted at the table with Jin Deyu's friends.
He is nowhere , neither in the familial sphere nor in the friendly one.
Given th is, he may have found a way to appear th rough , rather than in ,

134

GLIMPSES OF THE DUANWU FESTlVAL BY FANG XUN

his painting. The Zhong Kui, hanging in the entrance ha ll, was a type
of painting that Fang Xun actually executed 46 and could therefore be
the only tangible presence of the artist in this image. But beyond this
visual evocation of himself, one can feel Fang's presence in the way
he depicts a place where, it needs to be noted, he actually lived. This
fact suggests another hypothesis, one that would explain the personal
tone, the private treatment, and the absence of seals or signatures on
the painting. It could be that Glimpses of the Duanwu Festival was indeed
conceived as a personal souvenir, not for the patron but for the artist
himself, not commissioned but freely executed.
For Fang Xun, the Tonghua Guan was not only a garden for gatherings; it was, after his father's death and maybe for several years, his
home, maybe the first he ever knew considering his father's life. We
can imagine that, while living at the Tonghua Guan or even long after,
the painter took up his brush to depict a place very important in his
life, offering a personal vision that focuses on both the familial sphere
and the circle of friends that included men important to his life and
career. But he also presents the place with the distance appropriate to
the painter-in-residence he was. This mixing of closeness and distance
captures well the vision presented by the painting as well as Fang Xun's
status in the milieu in which he worked. After completion, Fang Xun
would have kept the painting for himself. He would not have needed
to sign or inscribe something made for his own use. One can imagine
his son finding it, devoid of any inscription more than ten years after
Fang's deat h, and giving it his own interpretation.
The circumstances surrounding the creation of the Glimpses of the
Duanwu Festival will stay a mystery to us because of the lack of documents. Both main hypotheses have their interest, and they both point
toward the use of painting as a private souvenir, a type of personal
photograph, separate from ceremonial, social functions. In both cases
also, the absence of the figure of Fang Xun expresses his status, the
status of a painter-in-residence, not entirely part of the world he was
depicting. This absence is compensated for by the delicacy of the emotions that appear under his brush. In the end, it is through his art that
the painter manifests his presence and, maybe appropriately, through
an image , manifests the place. As Fang himself said in one of his poems,
written long after he left the estate, "I long lived at the Tonghua Guan.
In its courtyard, on its flowers, rocks and bamboo, everywhere, I left
the trace of my brush...." 47
135

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW

Notes
1. I would like to thank William Stephens, my husba nd , for his close reading
of the art icle, as well as Michele Pir azzoli-t 'Se rsteve ns.
2. In her article "The Roy and Marilyn Papp Co ll ec tio n of Chinese Painting"
in Claud ia Brown and Ju -h si Cho u, The Scent of Ink (Phoenix, 1994).
3. My understanding and interest in the Orthodox school of painting owes
much to the illuminating analysis of Ju-hsi Chou. See Ju-hsi Chou, "In
Defense of Qing Orthodoxy" in Richard Barnhart, James Ca h il l and
others, The Jad e Studio, Masterpieces of Ming and Qing Calligraphy from the Wong
Nan-p'ing Collection (New Haven, 1994).
4. See appendix I for a translation of the ins cr ipt ions . I wish to thank Olivier
and Atsuko Venture for their help in the reading of the first inscription.
5. See Geng Weihu, Pan Wenlu and Pan Ron gjing , Jiaqing Shimen Xian zhi (1821
ed itio n ), Juan 16, 24 .
6. I would like to thank Georges Metailie who helped me to ident if y, where
possible, the plams in this painting. It is in fact interesting to see how, in
the same im age , Fang Xun depicts very precisely some plants ( the loquat
tree is a good example) and is much less precise in depicting other pla nt s.
See appendix II for the list of the identifiable pla nt s.
7. See also Ju-hsi Chou's description of the painting in Brown and Chou, Scent
of Ink, 104-105.
8. The first one at the beginning of the scroll on the painting reads "Chun chao
qing wan?" Under his inscr iption is the seal of Zhang Xiong. Lower down,
after the painting, there is a seal that reads "Tieyun shendingJinshi shuhua."
The last seal is Fang Tinghu's, under his inscription.
9. This is the hypothesis suggested by Ju-hsi Chou in h is study of the painting
for the catalog, Brown and Chou, Scent of Ink , 106.
10. For Jin Deyu's biography, see Yan Chen Guangxu Tongxiang Xianzhi (1887
edition), Juan 15, 19-20.
11. See Arthur W. Hummel, editor, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, I
(Washington DC 1943-1944), 71-72 for his biography.
12. His biography is also given in t he Guangxu Tongxiang Xianzhi, Juan 15, 20. He
was received by the emperor in 1762.
13. See Bao Ti ngbo 's biography in Hummel, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing
Period, II, 612-613. According to Nancy Lee Swa n n, "Seve n Intimate Library
Ow ners " in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 1936, volume 1, 386, Bao Tingbo
dedicated himself entirely to book collecting in the 1750s.

136

GLIMPSES OF THE DUANWU FESTIVAL BY FANG XUN

14.

.

Jin

Deyu is quoted as one of the bibliophiles in the preface by Zhu

Wencao of Bao's Zhibuzu Zhai Congshu. See also Nancy Lee Swann, "Seven
Intimate Library Ow ners," 381.
15. Jin Deyu worked on many historical sources. He was called "the Historian's

assistant." See Guangxu Tongxiang Xianzhi, Juan 15, 20.
16.

Zhang Yanchang (1738-1814) describes a bronze he saw at the Tonghua Guan
in his Jinshi qi (Shanghai Library edition without date), Juan 2, 20.

17. The list of the 3450 titles of the Mulu was presented to the throne in 1782.

For the history of this edition, see Hum mel, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing
Period, I, under Ji Yun (Chi Yun ) , 120-123. See also Robert Kent Guy, The
Emperor's Four Treasuries, Scholars and the State in rhe Late Chien-lung Era

(Cambridge, MA, 1987), chapter 3.
18.

Jin Deyu was the donor of the album, which he gave together with some
rare books. Zhao Huaiyu and Zhu Fang'ai added inscriptions to the pictures,
and Bao Tingbo wrote the title. See the preface of the Taiping Huante Tu
(1888 edition, Shanghai Library).

19.

Bao Tingbo gave to the throne 623 books from his library, responding to the
call of the Emperor in 1773 at the launch of the Siku Quanshu encyclopedia
project. The Guangxu Tongxiang Xianzhi says that Zhu Fang'ai offered
paintings he did to the Emperor during the 1762 Southern Tour Inspection.

20.

According to the Guangxu Tongxiang Xianzhi, Jin Deyu received some silks
from the emperor, but the Tongxiang Xianzhi seems also to connect this gift
with the appointment of Jin Deyu in Beijing. However, 1780 is quite late
for such a start in the career of Jin Deyu. Jiang Baoling in Molin Jinhua
(1840) reprinted in Qingdai ZhuanJi Congkan (Taipei, 1985) , volume 73, 131-132,

says that Fang Xun prepared the book at Jin Deyu 's mother's request.
(References to this volume will subsequently be abbreviated QZC.)
21. See Guangxu Tongxiang Xianzhi, Juan 15, 26, under Zhu Ying.
22. These two collections were published together in 1800. I found a copy of the
edition in the Shanghai Library.
23.

See Chunqiao Caotang ShiJi, Juan 8, 16. This inscription invites us to
reconsider the identity of some of the figures depicted because it mentions
the presence of Zhu Hong you at the gathering in springtime 1783. One of
the participants of the duanwu festival gathering could also have been Zhu
Hongyou, instead of Bao Tingbo or Zhao Huaiyu.

24.

Fang Xun: Yinghua Shuwu Tu (The Library of Bright Flowers), 1795. Hanging
scroll, ink and color on paper; 125.6 x 33.2 cm., Palace M us eum , Beijing. See
a reproduction of this painting in Gugong bowuyuan canghuaji, editor,

137

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW
Zhongguo lidai huihua, volum e VITI ( Be iji ng: Renmin meishu chubanshe,
1991) 61. There is also, in the Shanghai Museum , a paint ing called Elegant

Gathering (Yaji tu) which bears inscriptions but is not signed or dated . See a small

reproduction of this painting in Zhongguo Gudai Shuhua Tumu (Beijing, 1989-2001),
volume 5, number 1-4780. Another painting by Fang Xun, a lso
in the Shanghai Museum, signe d and dated from 1798, can be considered
a commemorative painting: the Zhang Shiqi Xiaoxiang Tu (Portrait of Zhang
Shiqi), which bears numerous in script ions. For a reproduction see Anne
Kerlan-Stephens, "Trad uction et commentaire d'un texte sur la peinture
chinoise : Fang Xun et son Shanjingju hualun (Propos de l ' Ermitag e de la
Montagne t ra nqui lle)," III, Ph.D dissertation: Universite Paris 7-Denis
Diderot, 2000, 132. We are very thankful to the Shanghai Museum which
gave us the unpublished reproductions of Fang Xun paintings.
25. As is well-known, the duanwu fe sti va l is a day that is considered to be

ominous. The Zhong Kui , sweet flag, and other protective devices were
stamped on the door of th e house. It looks as if the inhabitants of the
Tonghua Guan Garden are, in fact , protected against any attack from
pestilence.
26. In Brown and Chou, Scent of Ink, 104 , the date given for Fang Xu n's death
is 1801. There was, in fac t, a painting attributed by Osvald Si ren to Fang
Xun in Chinese Painting, Leading Masters and Principles (London and New
York, 1958-59) volume VII, 329 , and dated 1801. But severa l textual sources,
including an inscription on a painting by Fang Xun (see figure 7), and the
preface of Jin Deyu's Tonghua Guan Shichao (1800), all mention the death of
Fang Xun in 1799. For this question see Anne Kerlan-Stephens, "Traduc tion
et commentaire d'un texte sur la pein tur e chinoise: Fang Xun et son
ShanjingJu hualun," I,

38.

27. He probab ly had a foot problem. See Molin Jinhua ( QZC, volume 73, 131-132)

and Guo Lin , Lingfen Guan Shihua, Juan 4, 4-6.
28. See Guo Lin, Lingfen Guan Shihua, Juan 4, 4-6.
29. Some te xts invite us to think that Fang Xun was the eldest son of the

fam il y. See Tonghua Guan Shichao, Juan 2, 15.
30. See Molin Jinhua ( QZC, volum e 73, 60) for Fang Mei 's life.
31. There is an inscription by Ji n Deyu on a painting Fang Xun did when he

was twelve years old. See Tonghua Guan Shichao, Juan 2, Ba. The Guangxu
Tongxiang Xianzhi,Juan 15, 13, says that at the age of fifteen Fang Xun was
already traveling with his father, meeting men of letters, and gaining
respec t for his pai nt ing.
32. Fang Xun is said to have spent all his earnings for the burial of his deceased

138

GLIMPSES OF THE DUANWU FE STIVA L BY FANG XUN
father. It is also said that he continued to help his mother-in-law after her
husband's death. See Jiaqing Shimen Xian zhi (1821), Juan 16, 24.
33. See Molin Jinhua ( QZC, volume 73, 131-132). An inscription on a painting
by Fang Xun also says that Fang Xun was saved (from poverty) by the Jin
family when he was young. The postscript of the ShanJingJu Hua/un, in Yu
Anlan, editor, Hualun Congkan (R epri nt Taipei 1984), volume 2, 465, dated
from 1797, mentioned that at that time Fang Xun was at the Jin's residence.
34. See Molin Jinhua ( QZC, volume 73, 131-132) and Yu Jiao, Duhua Xianping (in
Mengguang Zazhu, 1828 edition , Juan 5) , 20.
35. See Guo Lin, Lingfen Guan Zazhu Xubian, Juan 3, 7.
36. For the poems, see the numerous poetic games reported in the Tonghua
Guan Shichao. According to Duhua Xianping, 20, Fang Xun traveled with Jin
Deyu and Zhao Huaiyu to Mount Taibai in Shanxi. For the painting, which
appeared recently at auction, see Sot heby's Fine Chinese Paintings, New York,
May 30, 1990 , lot 122.
37. Duhua Xianping, 20.
38. Fanyin or yinyuan is foreign money of all sorts but in 1818 it most lik ely

was the Spanish real coming from Mexican and Peruvian mints. Among
them , the coins of the Spanish King Charles IV (1788-1808) were the most
common. In Zhejiang and Fujian , in 1818, one of these coins would be
worth 936 mace ( qian ) . Fang Xu n's painting was then sold for 13,104 cash of
official coin. An anecdote in Duhua Xian ping, 20 , also says that a merchant
offered Fang Xun severa l hundred taels (liang) for an erot ic painting that
Fang Xun refused to do. Molin Jinhua ( QZC, volume 73, 131-132) says that
people were offering several thousand gold pie ces for a painting by Fang
Xun. It is difficult to know if these amounts are real or if they are just put
in the text for emphatic, laudato ry reasons .
39. Molin Jinhua ( QZC , volume 73, 131-132) .
40. See Guo Lin, Lingfen Guan Shihua, Juan 9, 4-6, who evokes the gather ings

with Ruan Yuan, Jin Deyu, Fang Xun, Chen Hongshou, and Chen Wenjie:
"We were offering each other poetry and d r i nk s with a totally free and
relaxed spirit."
41. See Ruan Yu an , Dingxiang Ting Bita n, Juan 1, 50 -51, in which Ruan Yuan

presents Fang Xun and gives some of his poems . By comparison, Ruan
Yuan talks much more about Xi Gang in the same text.
42. Molin Jinhua ( QZC , volume 73, 131-132).
43. See the Shanjingju Hualun in Yu Anlan, editor, Hua/un Congkan (Reprint
Taipei 1984, volum e 2, 460-466) in which Fang Xun describes some of the
paintings he saw.

139

MYRIAD POINTS OF VIEW
44. Tonghua Guan Shichao, Juan 1, 11. Jin Deyu evokes in ten poems his "dear

friends." He then writes a poem about Bao Tin gbo followed by one about
Fang Xun.
45. Molin Jinhua (QZC, volume 73, 131-132) .
46. There is a Zho ng Kui painting by Fang Xun in the Shanghai Museum.

It

bears no date or inscription but is signed by Fang Xun. The signature
"Shimen Fang Xu n jin g hua" (Fang Xun from Shimen respect f u ll y painted
it) may indi cate that the painting was done at somebody's request .
47. Shanjingju yigao

( ma nu scr ipt from the Shanghai Libra ry ) ,

20 .

Appendix I: Transcription and translation of the inscriptions on the painting.
A.

Jttlil Eri
nlr.litM\::
Pfr ti 72tl=1,Jv
*t!l!Jm,icJ.:tE
w ::t9'f
:@':f :Z.tf/.J

m

)r.).: -

1tfffim 51:JUJi t(?)

'.l[(?)J!:Z.
:3/t tll:.®: +J=l7'B
; ff
::trt:¢

** (or ) lzsl
gi:', if t:+

)\.

This painting was made by master Fang Landi of Sh imen; i t represents a sma ll
scene of the Tian zhong fes tival. [The author] never inscribed or signed it. The
taishou (prefect) X iangs heng happ ened to acq u i re it and brought it to show it
to me. Even if it bears no signat ur e, as soon as I had a look, I knew it was an
authent ic work of the master. We must treasure it for ever (?).
In the sixth da y of the tenth month of wi nt e r of the year kengchen (1880 ),
under Guangxu, the disciple Yuanhu, Zha ng Xiong Zixiang, at the req uest of
the honorable Shen, wrote this, at th e age of 78 years.
One sea l : Zhang Xiong.

140

GLIMPSES OF THE DUANWU FESTIVA L BY FANG XUN

B. (Translation from Ju-hsi Ch ou, in Scent of In k , 10 5, except for the last
sent ence ) .
The scroll's length is not more than five [Chinese] feet. The subject concerns
the Duanwu Festival, with essential details intact. I, Hu , carefully examined
the scroll, and fe lt that this scroll must have been painted in either 1782 or
1783. At the time, my late father was residing in the Tonghua Guan (Flowering
Paulownia Studio), [at the estate of] the venerable Jin (Deyu ]. On that
occasion, elders like Zhu Fang 'ai , Zhao Hua iyu , and Bao Tingbo were pre sent.
Consequently, given the cir cumstances , (my late father] depicted the scene on
this scroll to record the festive spirit of that day. In that , he was but following
in the footsteps of the Elegant Gath ering at the Western Garden of the past.
In the eighth day of the last decade of the first lunar month of the year xinwei
(18n), under Jiaqing, I, Hu , respectfully (wrote] this note.

Appendix II: List of the plants identified in the painting (from right to left).
Bamboo
Firmiana simplex (L.) W.F. Wight. Parasol tree , wut ong Myrica rubra (Lour.)

Sieb . et Zucc. Chinese baybe rr y, Chinese waxmyrtle, yangmei.
Nerium indicum Mill. Sweetscented oleander, jia zhutao
Althaea rosea (L.) Cavan. Garden hollyhock , shukui
Eriobotrya japoni ca (Thunb.) Lindi. Loquat tree, pipa
Musa s p. Banana tree, xiangjiao
Cymbidium sp. Orchids
Salix sp. Willow
Acorus calamus L.

Sweet flag , changpu