Poems in Cursive Script (Caoshu)

The sense of national identity and pride of both Ye Gongchuo and his nephew Ye Gongchao is apparent in their collecting activities following the end of the second Sino-Japanese War. Many important works of art left China during the Japanese occupation, which began 1937, and Ye Gongchao in particular made a concerted effort to purchase as many such works as possible when they were put on the market.

This piece is an example. It is accompanied by a letter from Guo Yimin, a Chinese living in Tokyo, who sent the piece to Gongchao for purchase consideration in 1950. In his letter Guo stated that he had only seen about ten or so works by Huang Daozhou in Japan, and that this handscroll of poems was exceptional. He also traced its provenance back to collectors in China.

In this handscroll Huang Daozhou remarks on a gathering of three scholars at which each attempted a composition on five themes—sky, nature (tian); clarity, purity (qing); wind (feng); rain (yu); and to listen, know, or be heard (wen)— to be accompanied by five specific tunes. Huang then presents five verses, one on each of these topics. He concludes with the statement that the excellence of Tang dynasty (618–906) writers could not be attained by contemporary people.