The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup, c. 1520s

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Ink on paperexpand_more

Gift of Ruth and Bruce Daytonexpand_more  2008.26.4

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Hsu Lin, calligrapher, painter, poet and songwriter was born in Nanjing into the landed gentry class. He was a natural and precocious talent, highly popular, unconventional, physically attractive, a true hedonist, and friend of the Zhengde Emperor (1426-1435). On the occasion of his seventieth birthday over a hundred song girls came to the party. The festive occasions appropriate to Hsu Lin's idiosyncratic writing of Tu Fu's (712-770) famous drinking song poem shown here is easily imagined. Under the influence of wine the text was energetically scripted for an elite, well educated, audience as a type of extemporaneous performance art. It was a form of cultural activity that barely exists today. Hsu's poem is written in a bold, large format ts'ao-shu (grass script) using a dry stubby brush. The poem The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup is based on the "Eight Sages", an actual Tang dynasty wine-drinking coterie comprised of a prince, a monk, high officials, and well-known poets.

Some of the verse about the wine immortals reads as follows:

Prince Ju-yang must have three quarts before he appears in court,
and if he encounters a vintner's cart he begins to salivate,
wishing he could be re-enfeoffed in the Province of the Wine-Stream!

Li-Po writes a hundred poems for every quart he drinks;
Then goes to sleep right in the wine shops in Ch'ang'an!
If the Emperor summons him; he refuses to get into the boat proclaiming, "I, your subject, am actually an Immortal of Wine."

Chang Hsu drinks just three cups and demonstrates why he's called the "Sage of Cursive Script";
He casts off his cap, exposing his pate right in front of the princes.
He twirls his brush, drops it to the paper, producing cloud and mist!

Chiao Sui requires five quarts before he perks up to bring forth noble discourse and heroic debate, amazing all the guests at the party.

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Details
Title
The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup
Artist Life
1462 - 1538
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2008.26.4
Curator Approved

This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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