The Poet Li Bo's Visit to Mount Emei

The Poet Li Bo's Visit to Mount Emei

Shiokawa Bunrin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Watery ink and small gold flecks sprinkled among valleys and mist create a luminous night scene under a hazy moon. The gentleman riding in the boat on the right screen is the famous Chinese poet Li Bo (701–762), who was inspired by moonlit Mount Emei Sichuan to compose a poem. Four years later, he returned to the area and composed a longer poem. In Japan, the two poems became particularly famous. Shiokawa Bunrin’s training was in the realist school of Shijō, but he was also familiar with the aesthetics of other artistic circles, especially the literati painters. These screens demonstrate Bunrin’s knowledge of Western perspective, especially in his treatment of the valley stream.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Poet Li Bo's Visit to Mount EmeiThe Poet Li Bo's Visit to Mount EmeiThe Poet Li Bo's Visit to Mount EmeiThe Poet Li Bo's Visit to Mount EmeiThe Poet Li Bo's Visit to Mount Emei

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.