Letter to Xu Shangde

Tang Yin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Not only is this letter one of the most beautiful specimens of Tang Yin's calligraphy to survive, but its contents also provide invaluable information about Tang's wide-ranging literary productions, many of which are no longer extant. The text of Tang's letter reads in part: I am getting together my past writings so I might be remembered after my death. I hope that all my writings—the three volumes of the Sanshi huqian [on the principles of fortune telling], eight volumes of Selected Literary Works, one volume of The Mirror of Painting and Calligraphy, twenty volumes of Biographies of Generals and Ministers, two volumes of Historical Discussions, and six volumes of Discussions of Current Affairs—will be remembered by you. Some day . . . I hope you will write of these works on my tombstone. (Marc F. Wilson and Kwan S. Wong, trans., Friends of Wen Cheng-ming: A View from the Crawford Collection [New York: China Institute in America, 1974], p. 74)

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art