The Tokyo National Museum and Taito City
Calligraphy Museum have kicked off the 2020 season with an ambitious, joint
exhibition that examines the life and times of multidisciplinary Chinese artist
Wen Zhengming (1470-1559). Spanning the vaunted halls of both museums, the sprawling
exhibition places a particular emphasis on Wen’s calligraphy, while also
introducing audiences to the vibrant milieu of fellow culturati active in his
hometown of Suzhou. Although relatively unknown in 21st century
Japan, Wen Zhengming’s legacy lives on in China, where his name remains
synonymous with the Ming dynasty. Despite a well-deserved reputation as one of
the foremost masters of his craft, Wen is rumored to have been quite a late
bloomer. A lackluster calligrapher in his youth, his subsequent success is a
sterling testament to the virtues of diligence, perseverance, and lifelong
practice.
In this article, Katsunori Mutobe, Assistant Curator of Asian Calligraphy at the Tokyo National Museum, provides a rundown of the many treasures that await at the exhibition, titled: Wen Zhengming and Artworks of the Ming Dynasty – Celebrating the 550th Anniversary of Weng Zhengming’s Birth.
Please tell us a bit about the present exhibition.
The exhibition explores the work of Suzhou-born calligrapher Wen Zhengming and his circle of wenren literati, as a lens by which to introduce the sociopolitical dynamics which would have characterized life in the mid-Ming period. Part of an ongoing collaboration between the Tokyo National Museum and the Taito City Calligraphy Museum, this year’s installment marks the 17th annual joint exhibition of its type.
Why the focus on Wen Zhengming?
Wen Zhengming was born in 1470, and lived to be nearly 90 years old. Although revered in China as one of the “Four Masters of the Ming dynasty,” he remains woefully underrepresented in Japan. In fact, this may very well be the first Japanese exhibition to ever shine a spotlight on the artist’s prolific oeuvre. As 2020 marks the 550th anniversary of his birth, we felt it was about time Wen Zhengming received his long overdue introduction to contemporary Japanese audiences.
Wen Zhengming’s calligraphy was in demand among Japanese collectors in the Edo period (1603-1868). All the pieces featured in this comprehensive exhibition were sourced from extant Japanese collections.
What can visitors expect to see at the Tokyo National Museum?
As the exhibition’s central focus is the
calligraphy of Wen Zhengming and his milieu of artists in Suzhou, such works
constitute the bulk of the exhibition at both the Tokyo National Museum and the
Taito City Calligraphy Museum. Both museums are also displaying a selection of
pieces from the Jiangnan region that bear traces of the Suzhou school’s
influence. However, only at the Tokyo National Museum will you find calligraphy
from the early Ming dynasty, as well as work from the cohort of professional
painters in Suzhou.
The exhibition begins with Wen Zhengming’s Orchids and Bamboo, displayed alongside The Thousand-Character Classic in Cursive Script. In a sense, I think these two pieces manage to encapsulate the entire exhibition. The former is a hanging scroll depicting orchids, bamboo, and stone. The latter is a handscroll, bearing a poem known as the Thousand-Character Classic, a collection of rhymed poems frequently referenced by students studying calligraphy. Each of the thousand hanzi characters appears only once in the text, consisting of 250 individual, four-character verses. Truth be told, Wen Zhengming was a rather poor calligrapher in his youth. His subsequent success was the product of a stringent practice regimen, and he would have diligently practiced each of these thousand characters on a daily basis. Even after establishing his reputation as a master calligrapher, he continued to grapple with the Thousand-Character Classic throughout his long life. He created this particular iteration at the age of 76. I believe the work reveals a good deal about his personality.
“Wen Zhengming possessed an outsized work ethic that matched his ambitions. As you can see, his painting acumen rivals even his calligraphy.” According to Mutobe, the painting was formerly attached to the text as a larger handscroll.
Wen Zhengming was a quintessential late bloomer. What pieces are particular highlights of the exhibition?
I would have to say that Poems in Standard Script is an unparalleled masterpiece. It was created when Wen Zhengming was 83 years old. Each character is exquisitely small and delicate. This piece is a fine example of the small standard script, a moniker which refers to the diminutive scale of the lettering. We measured the manuscript, and found that each square is less than a centimeter across. It’s an incredible feat in terms of technical skill, made all the more impressive by the sheer willpower required to continue producing such intricate calligraphy at his advanced age. It’s truly delicate, meticulous work. The text itself comes from the Chu Ci, an anthology of classical Chinese poetry. Specifically, Wen reproduced the anthology’s opening poem, Encountering Sorrow, alongside verse from TheNine Songs. He also added an inscription, stating that the work was produced in the comfort of his own room, accompanied by a steaming cup of tea, the smell of incense wafting through the air, and black ink freshly ground to perfection. I would highly recommend this work for its window into Wen’s technical prowess, and for the insights it provides into the literati lifestyle that was emblematic of the era.
Detail from Poems in Standard Script, Wen Zhengming (1552) Gift of Mr. Kikujiro Takashima Tokyo National Museum Collection*
It truly is an incredibly intricate piece.
By contrast, I would direct you to Zhu Yunming’s Chu Shi Biao. Although similarly written in small standard script, Zhu exudes quite a different atmosphere than Wen Zhengming. Evidently, Zhu was a bit of a renegade. A real bad boy of belles-lettres, you could say. Nonetheless, Zhu Yunming was another leading calligrapher of the era, and was a close personal friend of Wen Zhengming. Whereas Wen modeled his small standard script after that of Wang Xizhi (a calligrapher active in the early 4th century), Zhu Yungming looked back over a century further to Zhong Yao, a calligrapher in the late Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period. Both Wen and Zhu were thoroughly trained in the classics. In addition to forming the theoretical cornerstone of their work, I think this classical training also revealed itself as a defining characteristic of the Suzhou touch in this era.
Zhu Yunming was promoted to Controller-General of Yingtian Prefecture, but returned home to Suzhou less than a year later, claiming illness. Upon his return, he indulged in an uninhibited life of drinking, poetry, and calligraphy with his cohorts.Detail from Chu Shi Biao, Zhu Yunming (1514) Gift of Mr. Kikujiro Takashima Tokyo National Museum Collection*
What position did the wenren literati occupy in Suzhou at the time?
Back in those days, Suzhou was the heart of China’s economy. Collectors in search of quality calligraphy flocked to Suzhou, so it became a cultural epicenter. Wen Zhengming sat for the Imperial civil service exams a grand total of nine times, but ultimately never passed. At the ripe age of 54, he finally finagled a spot in the court through a high-ranking connection. But courtly life apparently didn’t suit his sensibilities, as he resigned a mere three years later, and returned to Suzhou. He resolved to live the life of a literati, and a full life he lived, indeed. Ultimately, he continued producing calligraphy nearly until the age of 90. By the end of his life, he had become a central figure in the network of Suzhou artists, while also conscientiously helping to cultivate the successive generation.
Did he have many disciples?
He mentored a great number of direct disciples, as well as younger literati. Curiously, many disciples from the era produced work radically different from their mentor. For example, the calligraphy of Chen Chun and Wang Chong has a very different feel from that of their teacher, Wen Zhengming. Chen Chun’s work is slightly rough around the edges, with an appealing, dynamic energy. On the other hand, Wang Chong is more sophisticated and urbane. Moreover, at the time, it was expected that artists be proficient in both painting and calligraphy. As a result, they were adept at manipulating various levels of gradation with their ink.
Such anecdotes certainly add an extra dimension by which to appreciate the exhibition.
Calligraphy is a perpetual, and in a sense, vicarious field. Even if you aren’t versed in the particular written language itself, you can still understand something from the brushstrokes. When you take a closer look at each stroke, you begin to notice the bleeding and fading of the ink. You can almost sense each breath of the calligrapher, the intent with which they moved their brush across the page. It stimulates the imagination, pondering the emotional state which compelled the artist to create each work. I would also recommend Xu Wei and Dong Qichang, two calligraphers active in the late Ming dynasty. Xu Wei led a notoriously turbulent life. The sheer vitality of his brushstrokes has a uniquely expressive depth.
Detail from Plants and Creatures, Xu Wei (1575) Gift of Kikujiro Takashima Tokyo National Museum Collection*
How should visitors approach the exhibition to get the most out of the museum experience?
I don’t think patrons need to worry about visiting the exhibitions in any particular order. But I do hope everyone visits both museums! The Tokyo National Museum has 68 works on display for this exhibition, and the Calligraphy Museum offers 65 pieces. However, I will note that the Calligraphy Museum provides an exclusive window into the secondary appreciation of Wen Zhengming’s work, as well as his influence on Japanese calligraphy. That said, it’s well worth the trip to both museums for a full day with plenty to see.
Katsunori Mutobe M.A. University of Tsukuba Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences with a concentration in Calligraphy Art. Having served as a specialist at the Taito City Calligraphy Museum, Mutobe joined the Tokyo National Museum in 2014 as an associate fellow. Since 2018, he has served as the museum’s Assistant Curator. Mutobe’s passion for Chinese calligraphy took root as a university student, and continues to blossom to this day, branching out to encompass the rich cornucopia of Asian calligraphic traditions. When pressed for a particular favorite, he cites Su Shi, a uniquely versatile calligrapher active in the Northern Song dynasty.
Text: Maika Mori Photos: Kuniko Hirano Note: Photos denoted with an asterisk (*) provided courtesy of the Tokyo National Museum.
Commemorating the 550th Birth Year of Wen Zhengming and Artworks of the Ming Dynasty
■Tokyo National Museum Exhibition Venue: Toyokan (Asian Gallery) 4th Floor Room 8 Dates: Thursday, January 2nd through Sunday, March 1st, 2020 Hours: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Thursday: 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Last entry at 4:30 p.m.) Friday and Saturday: 9:30 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. (Last entry at 8:30 p.m.) Museum Closed: Mondays, and Tuesday, February 25th (Open on Monday, February 24th for the Emperor’s Birthday holiday) Admissions: Regular Exhibition ticket rates apply. Museum website: www.tnm.jp
■Taito City Calligraphy Museum Dates: Saturday, January 4th through Sunday, March 1st, 2020 Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (Last entry at 4:00 p.m.) Museum Closed: Mondays and Tuesday, February 25th (Note: Open on Monday, February 24th for the Emperor’s Birthday holiday) Museum website: www.taitocity.net/zaidan/shodou
Note: Information in this article current as of February 2020.
