Dream Journey along the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, Southern Song Dynasty

[Photo/emuseum.jp]

This hand scroll painting is one of the best ink landscapes that survived from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). It was formerly believed to be the work of Li Gonglin of the late Southern Song Dynasty, but recently the scroll has been believed to be the work of another artist, surnamed Li, who was from the same village as Li Gonglin. And this scroll was a favorite in the collection of Emperor Qianlong.

It was collected by a Japanese collector in the late Qing Dynasty. In 1923, there was a great earthquake in Tokyo and the collector’s storage caught fire. But the collector risked his life to get this painting out. So some fire marks can still be seen on the scroll. And now this scroll is preserved at the Tokyo National Museum.