Nine Songs

Unidentified artist

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this handscroll, the poems’ deities are presented here in a single continuous landscape composition, each marked with an identifying inscription. The Nine Songs actually consists of eleven poems, each dedicated to a different divinity; ten are depicted here, followed by a portrait of the exiled minister Qu Yuan, who is traditionally considered the author of the poems.

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