Duxiu Peak, 1827
Aoki Mokubeiexpand_more
Ink and color on paperexpand_more
Gift of Willard and Elizabeth Clarkexpand_more 2015.114.23
Not on Viewexpand_more
Japanese paintings of China often depict imagined locales, but this lone mountain peak rising dramatically at river’s edge is an actual place: Duxiufeng, or “Solitary Beauty Peak,” on the banks of the Li River in south-central China. In the late 1300s, this mountain—which poets described as so beautiful that no other mountain could compare—was chosen as the site for an enormous estate constructed for a prince under the first emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the Hongwu emperor. Thereafter, generations of imperial princes called the palace home until the mid-1700s, when the dynasty came to an end. Even today the site is dubbed “City of Princes.” The mountain, palace, and the site’s 5,000-foot-long walls are all described in an inscription in the upper right of the painting by Rai San’yō (1780–1832), a scholar in Japan’s capital of Edo (now Tokyo). Another inscription, at left, is by the painter himself, who records that he modeled this work after a Chinese painting he had seen in a friend’s collection.
Details
- Title
- Duxiu Peak
- Artist Life
- 1767 - 1833
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2015.114.23
- 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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