Li Bai's Poem 'Singing on the River'
Date2018
MaterialsInk and colors on paper
DimensionsH. 38 9/16 in x W. 24 7/16 in, H. 98 cm x W. 62 cm (image); H. 72 7/16 in x W. 31 1/8 in, H. 184 cm x W. 79 cm (overall)
Credit LineGift of the Au Ho-nien Cultural Foundation
Object number2019.73
ClassificationsPainting
Signed鈐印
豪年 (朱文)，歐介(白文)，用寄幽懷(白文)
InscribedIn the boat of shatang wood with magnolia oars,
Musicians with jade flutes and golden pipes at both ends.
A thousand cups set in a vessel for delicious wine,
Carrying singing girls to flow with the drifting water.
Fairies wait in flight on yellow cranes,
Seamen have no desire to follow the white gulls.
Qu Yuan’s [339–278 BCE] verse shines forever as bright as the sun and moon,
While King Chu’s palace has vanished from hills. Sated with wine, swiping my brush with its power to move the Five Mountains,
My poem completed, my proud laughter echoes over the blue sea. If fame and glory could last forever,
Then the Han River would flow backward toward the northwest.
—“Singing on the River” by Tai Bai [Li Bai], Ho-nien at 84, the clear summer of 2018.
款識
木蘭之枻沙棠舟，玉簫金管坐兩頭。
美酒樽中置千斛，載妓隨波任去留。
仙人有待乘黃鶴，海客無心隨白鷗。
屈平辭賦懸日月，楚王臺榭空山丘。
興酣落筆搖五嶽，詩成笑傲凌滄洲。
功名富貴若長在，漢水亦應西北流。
太白[江上吟]詩並錄，戊戌清夏八十四歲豪年。
More InformationThis work exemplifies Au Ho-nien’s primary style, derived from traditional Chinese literati works in which painting, poetry, and calligraphy were often integrated. Quoting “Singing on the River,” a poem by Li Bai (701–762), on his painting, Au depicts Li’s travel in Jiangxia, Hubei province, in 725. Here, Li sits in the center of a boat, accompanied by three girls serving wine and playing the flute.
Turning his back on an offer of honor and wealth from Emperor Xuanzong (reigned 712–756), Li chose to wander throughout the empire, seeking the Way (Dao), drinking with friends, and composing poems. “Singing on the River” effectively expresses his idealism. It celebrates the poet’s free spirit and his love of wine and of Jiangxia’s expansive rivers and mountains.
