Accession Number
1986/1.163

Title
Red Cliff of China

Artist(s)
Mori Kansai

Object Creation Date
circa 1844-1894

Medium & Support
hanging scroll, ink on paper

Dimensions
52 3/4 in. x 19 1/2 in. ( 134 cm x 49.6 cm )

Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund

Label copy
Chinese poetry became an important form of expression for Japanese literati of the late Edo period. Most educated men were familiar with Chinese classical verse from the Tang (618–907) and Song period (960–1279); most could compose in Chinese, and many wrote their death poems in Chinese. Among the most admired poets was the Song essayist and art critic, Su Shi (ëhÁg, a.k.a. Su Tongpo ëhìåö±, 1036–1101). The last three paintings in the exhibition all allude to his rhyme prose on a journey to the Red Cliff in south China, a meditation on friendship and transience. The small boat carrying Su and his companions past towering cliffs identifies the scene.
Mori Kansai was a native of Chôshû (modern Yamaguchi Prefecture), at the westernmost end of Japan’s largest island. He studied painting in Kyoto with Maruyama Ôkyo and his pupil Mori Tetsuzan, specialists in the “naturalist” school rather than participants in literati circles. Stylistically, the two groups overlapped considerably by the late nineteenth century. Like Fujimoto Tesseki, Kansai became deeply involved in the movement to overthrow Tokugawa rule; after the imperial restoration of 1867, he became one of the leading painters in Kyoto.
Maribeth Graybill, for the exhibition "Japanese Visions of China," 9/21/02 - 1/26/03

Subject matter
Chinese poetry became an important form of expression for Japanese literati of the late Edo period. Most educated men were familiar with Chinese classical verse from the Tang (618–907) and Song period (960–1279); most could compose in Chinese, and many wrote their death poems in Chinese. Among the most admired poets was the Song essayist and art critic, Su Shi (ëhÁg, a.k.a. Su Tongpo ëhìåö±, 1036–1101). The last three paintings in the exhibition all allude to his rhyme prose on a journey to the Red Cliff in south China, a meditation on friendship and transience. The small boat carrying Su and his companions past towering cliffs identifies the scene.

Maribeth Graybill, for the exhibition "Japanese Visions of China," 9/21/02 - 1/26/03

Physical Description
Three figures are sitting in a boat on a river with cliffs lining the river. On the cliffs are trees. Mist is in the air hiding part of the cliffs and other places in the background. On the bottom right corner of the painting, there is a signature and two seals.

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Primary Object Type
hanging scroll

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
China
Figures
Japan
Landscapes
boat
boats
cliffs
figures in landscape
hanging scroll
hanging scrolls
human figures (visual works)
ink
poems
poetry
rivers
trees
water