CLP 161: 2005CLP 161: Notes on Bada Shanren exhibition held at Nanchang in 1986

Bada Seminar Notes

I. Notes on the 1986 Exhibition in Nanchang. (The paintings were not numbered, unfortunately , so they are listed below by rooms, with numbers I have added. They came from a variety of public and private collections in China. Measurements if any are very approximate, by eye. BDSR= Bada Shanren Memorial Museum, Nanchang. KK= Ku-kung, i.e. Palace Museum, Beijing.)

Room I (front)

1. Two Eagles in Tree . BDSR. 5’ x 3-1/2’. Not top-class but OK. Paper dirty. Latish--late signature. Fast work.
2. Crane in Tree . BDSR. Large, dirty, suspect. Not his brushwork?
3. LS on silk, some brownish color, 1679. Silk dark, but good ptg. Late sig. Not espec. strange or ambiguous, readable. BDSR. (Later, seen longer: suspect. Trees wrong? etc.)
4. Two eagles in tree, bamboo. Late sig. Big, strong. "Messy" brushwork. Good ptg. BDSR.
5. Two birds and rock, dtd. (1690?) Bent-Ba signature. Interesting insc. above by dtd. guimao=1703? Not strongest, but good.
6. Rowing Boat on Secluded Stream . Ink & lt reddish color on paper. Big LS, 6’+ tall. Sig.: late one. Damage, reptg. OK. Man in boat at bottom.
7. Tianjin handscroll again. Later: saw in storage rm, unrolled all the way. Started in 5th month of 1697, extended to 8th. Dedication to . Long calligraphy after. Ends with odd waterfalls. In tradition of Xia Chang etc. for use of handscroll form--in and out, close and further, etc.--but does very original things with it. Quite fast, rough, but well-calculated. Close to beginning, fine passage with massing of lotuses, stalks winding through area of leaves, a kind of opening back. MLG Fig. 40.
8. . LS, ink on satin, terribly damaged--ruin, but of fine ptg. BDSR.
9. Deer and Cypress: . Big, good. Late signature. Deer looking up. BDSR
10. Grapes and Rock . Two seals only. OK I guess, fast, late. Vine connects rock & overhanging bank ambiguously. Thin, oK. BDSR.
11. Big Lan-t’ing hanging scroll, callig., late sig. Worm-eaten, fine. BDSR.
12. Ducks, rocks, lotus . Not very good--fake? or just sloppy? Terrible condition. No signature? or lost. BDSR.
13. Lotus, big hanging scroll, late signature. Hardly top-class, but OK. BDSR
14. Misc. Plants . Handscroll. Zhenjiang Museum. Still looks like pastiche: no order to images; corresponds too closely with well-known works.
15. Pines & Rocks in Autumn Mts.? Tianjin Mus. Seen before.
16. Birds on rocks, 1687, Tianjin Mus. Seen before.
17. Big calligraphy scroll, Tianjin Mus., late signature, fine.
18. Another, also Tianjin Mus., also good.

Room 2 (on left)

19. *Flowers and Fruit, handscroll. KK. On silk. Ch’uan-ch’i sig. Good, altho dif. from Taiwan KK album in brushwork, etc. Not composed so tightly. Rather conventional: plum, pomegranate, Buddha’s hand. Not much of individuality yet. Wen Fong says work of 1660s. Later: Still uses cutting-off device; his interest now is in massing of ink for strong, interesting shapes. Like undated handscroll in rm. 4. Plum, pomegranate, Buddha’s hand fruit; something in dish; melon.
20. Fungus and rock by Niu Shihui, KK. Wet, strong. Brushwork more like Bada than most. But heavy ink is his. Usual signature.
21. Calligraphy: . Zhenjiang Mus. Short handscroll. Fine: small, neat characters.
22. Calligraphy: begins etc. BDSR. Fine. Signs: .

Hard to read. Paired with painting?
23. Crane and Pine, dark, awful, OK? BDSR.
24. : eagle on one leg on bare tree. OK, damaged, not top-class. BDSR.
25. Niu Shihui calligraphy, xingshu, poem. Good--also like Bada.
26. *Niu Shihui , rooster. Poem, signed ? . Strong.
27. *Cat, by Niu Shihui, BDSR: the one reprod. in facsimile by Duoyunxuan, Shanghai. Big mass of ink, continuing into tail, w/o articulation. Claws expressive. Menace. Quite fine.
28. Album by Niu Shihui, Jiangxi Mus. Four leaves showing, all birds. Like lesser Bada here--altho cock not bad. Seals only.
29. *Flowers, handscroll, ink on silk, 6 sections. KK. Sig. at end: Geshan; insc. before: Chuanqi. So between? Wen Fong says 1670s. Here, closer to Xu Wei in subject and style. Using ink & brush interestingly by this time. Later: Bada uses here, too, device of cutting off the image by pushing beyond boundaries. Big peony treated so. Otherwise, not much of interest. Brushwork tame. Like weak imitation of Xu Wei.
30. Niu Shihui calligraphy, caoshu. Jiangxi Mus. Very dark, dirty; good.

31. *Bamboo growing from bank; shoots below. Seal only, in upper right; insc. by Wu Ch’ang-shih at left, "age 81", jiazi=1924. "Uninscribed: I imagine it was work done to requite favor (sic). But strong brushwork." Just the kind that Wu would have admired--soft brushstrokes, soaking into paper. Late work. KK.
32. Callig. in xingshu, "Lin Dongpo" (after Su Shih). Late signature. Good. Jiangxi Mus.
33. Eagle in bare tree, like one in other room, but weaker, smaller. OK I suppose. Nothing special. KK.
34. Banana Palms & Bamboo . Sig.: ? no--can’t read. 1680s? Strong composition, brushwork. KK. (Later: this is Lü-wu.)
35. Lotus. Medium-size, seal upper left. Insc. by Zhu Deyi on lower left edge, dtd. 1933. Very good for late style? or is this modern? Curiously atmospheric, unlike him in important ways, although catches a lot of his style. Zhang Daqian?

Room 3 (on right)

36. Two deer, big, late signature. Nanjing Mus. Fungus lower right; one deer gazes up into cypress tree. Pot-boiler, crude.
37. *Fine small LS, Shanghai Mus. Late signature. Soft brush. Unpublished? Trees lower left, bank pushing up at right w. trees, peak above, pavilion upper left for looking twd. distant mts. This is worth reproducing--late? diffuse manner. Blurry but strong.
38. Xingshu callig., Shanghai Mus., signs --like one in other room. Quite fresh, but OK I guess.
39. *Big Shanghai Museum landscape, 1694. Wonderful. Sense of excess, too many trees, dian, lumpy forms--but makes it work. Circle of trees dominates FG; shape repeated in main form in upper part. Complex, absorbing ptg. MLG Fig. 39.
40. *Nanjing Mus. Peony and Rock again. Bent-Ba signature. Interestingly angular, sets sharp rock agst rounded bank, peonies agst. bamboo crowded into upper l. corner. Wen Fong says 1684; didn’t paint for several years after--too mad? Later: Bamboo in upper left is survival of cutting-off device from earlier ptg. Square against round, flower against bamboo.
41. Lotus, fairly small, Shanghai Mus. Dirty, nothing great. Late signature. Wen Fong says signature fake, ptg OK for 1670s.
42. Lotus and Birds: . 1692. Still bent-Ba signature. Lots of seals--loose, odd ptg. More odd than good. Experimenting with dissolution of form--scattered strokes, pull together into bird. Later: Like this better now: like Ch’an ptg. Lotus stalk and flower (all petals gone?) in wet strokes of deep ink; bird eating? with beak open. Bird done in loosely-scattered-seeming strokes; hard to pull together into bird; but contrasts light mvt. with stability, stolidity, of lotus. Really subtle. Big black dot for eye. Like very loose album.
43. Big callig. scroll, Nanjing Museum. . LIke stele. Dtd. i-[hai? 1695?) Good.
44. Deer, bird on rock. On satin, tall ptg. KK. Nothing great. LIke Contag pair (mynahs) in size, material; panel of screen?
45 . *Plum. KK. Huang Yung-ch’üan says when 59. . Early, anyway. Harsh, angular composition; good. Later insc. by him above. First insc. signed.Leaning of tree is effective, and reaching outward of branches and roots. Gesture, or posture, read into it.MLG Fig. 26.
46. . (Bathing bird, they think.) 1703. KK. Dry-brush, strong. Very fine. Big ptg. Ti P’ing-tzu insc. on mounting. Willow tendrils strong.
47. * Big LS, ink & lt color on satin. KK. Late sig. & seals. His Huang Kung-wang style, loosely. Not most exciting, but good.
48. *Screen, landscape, 6 hanging scrolls, fairly small--4’ high? Ink & lt color on silk. P’ang Yuan-chi seals. Sig. on one at right, late sig. LS w. bridge, houses. Quite late? strong. Big pine tree in center. Distant bank w. houses upper left. Well composed--he could handle large form. Nanjing Mus. (Would like to reproduce in color!) MLG Fig. 41.

Room 4 (mostly Palace Museum)
49. ** Big , bent-Ba signature. Wen Fong says 1686. Great condition, fine ptg.; use of ink outstanding. Gestures of bamboo & palm repeat. One of his finest.
50. *Handscroll, fish & ducks, Shanghai Mus. Odd repetitions throughout; expressive relat. Large & small, etc. Fish rise to climax w. big ones; then subside, development of ducks begins. (One fish has same shape as one in Freer album.) Note pale, small fish following big, heavy ones. Fine ending: flotilla of ducks, one in front w. head raised; then sleeping one agst bank; then huge one standing, sleeping, repeating but facing other way. 1689, bent-Ba signature. Genuine, fine, belongs to his oddest period, but late in it. Interesting: much fine drawing, outlines etc. Really careful style? no real wildness in execution. MLG Fig. 35.
51. Big LS, ink on paper, "imitating Dong Yuan." Some damage: two big holes in trees. brush rough, but whole is strong. Still, not tops: a certain coarseness.
52. *Bird on bare branch, fish below. 1703. Dif. from other; both OK.Series of curling movements--turning under--bird, tree. Fish oblivious to all this, swims calmly by. No real relat. between them--as usual.
53. Early landscape again, KK, on paper. Wen says ca. 1681, right after he came back to Nanchang.
54. Callig. in xingshu, big, good. Also another, part of Lanting, good.
55. Deer & Pine, huge (paper yellowed), 1702. Done in a hurry; not especially good. Pot-boiler.
56. Handscroll, flowers & fruit, long. Bent-Ba signature. Good for that period. Melons, etc. Interested in shapes; not much in textures or structure. Like Niu Shihui’s cat: massing of ink for power. Bamboo at end good. Later: this is later than handscrolls in rm. 2. Larger, blocky forms. Still uses cutting-off composition. Now crowding forms together, interesting overlaps, not in earlier ones. Rough, messy, flat brushwork. Interesting: pale strokes of wash behind some forms--flowers etc.--as if laid out composition that way? Preliminary sketching? Kerchner says must be after 1684, from Bada signature; probably 1690 or so.

57. *Another handscroll, Geshan signature. Brush loosening up; still not a distinct personal style. Still tends to spread; w/o discipline of later brushwork. Also compositionally: spreads all over. Still separate images, but running together oddly. Cautious rule-breaking. (Later: this unrolled to end: date is 1666! very early.) Later: Bigger than others; allows forms to spread out more. But cautious in brushwork, except for a few touches of oddness. One passage of overlapping: banana palm over branch of (?) MLG Fig. 20.

58. .Early? Angular, thin cave at beginning, w. peach-trees & stream seen through it; then pines, waterfall, fishermen approaching houses, people meeting him in small area in upper right. Very odd: contracts as story goes on, as if seeing from greater & greater distance. Spatially incoherent. Is it reproduced? Wen, Liu Jiu’an, all say fake. No signature or seal--callig. by him follows ptg. (Later: saw Bada calligraphy, on Taohuayuan story. Good, dtd. 1696. Ptg, if his, would have to be much earlier--but more likely someone else?

59. Big pine tree, ink on paper, bent-Ba signature. Lots of seals lower right. Heavy ink, strong composition. lighter ink put on in indistinct strokes behind needle pattern. Branches coming out and back--fine. Seems thin, unsupportive connection in lower left, but holds it. Wen Fong says ca. 1690.

Room 5: all Shanghai Museum. Back center.

60. **Great Shanghai Mus. album, 1694: all leaves showing? Condition as good as Sumitomo; ink very strong, fresh. Leaves virtually interchangeable. By this time, has perfect control over materials--knows how paper will absorb, how to put on dry & wet strokes, ink values. Not like Orthodox masters, but same kind of control, variety, richness. Note how successive wet strokes on bird’s body gives physical structure, shape.

61. . Big, 1696. Neither bird really looks at other. Tree & rock overlap slightly, as if nudging. (Gestures, again, human movements read into them.) Detail (bamboo, peaches, etc.) kept to two areas, to make structure stronger. Outlines waver, tree thinner at base.

62. Deer on rock, another going diagonally up, cypress tree, cliff. 1700. Soft, late style (cf. small LS in their collection.) Big--8’ tall? Good for late style, but more odd than good. Dumb-looking deer.
63. Geese ptg--seen often on exhibition in Shanghai Mus.
64. *Big scroll of callig. in xingshu. Very fine.
65. . Single powerful eagle. Cf. Lin Liang. Brushwork messy but strong. (Same was true of Mu-ch’i!) Sets apart blank, hollow-like space, like Mu-ch’i’s Kuan-yin. Interestingly related. Bird grasps rock like Lin Liang’s phoenix.

66. *Landscape, 1699, dedicated to . Large arching movements in brushwork & forms, sutained from below by trees. Rooftops of houses treated like boulders, abstracted, going up valley. W/o any attempt at refinement. Emptiness at right is bold move.
67. . Illegible date? OK, I guess; but Zhang Daqian could have done this.

Room 6: Back right

68. *Eight-leaf album, horizontal leaves, one in Taishan series w. cat, chickens, etc. KK. Pa-huan seal etc. close to Freer album, but this finer. Mentions Xu Wei in inscription opposite last leaf (banana palm & bank.) Cat less inarticulate than reproduction looks. Later: insc. opposite several leaves--reprod. in album? Seem important: translate if used. Opposite rock: good; could reproduce two together. Rock needn’t be large. Hard to read, but-Chickens: charming, but w/o power of other; nice domestic scene. Insc. opposite plantain mentions Xu Wei; but his poems? Can’t read. Cat: asleep, or just very contented/complacent. Mainly flat area of ink. Still light-dark contrasts strong; in flat shapes, not modeled as later. Like Princeton album.

69. Handscroll, dtd. 1699, late signature. Vegetables, ink on paper. Very oddly composed. cucumber? garlic? etc. Lotus root; large peach? in dish. What is point of arrangement? scattered on ground at random? KK.
70. Pomegranates. Single album leaf, Shanghai Mus. Same sig. & seal as Freer album, could almost go in (but larger?) Good.
71. Handscroll of callig. (4 large characters, as if title). 1673. Good. Jiangxi Mus.
72. Six album leaves, horizontal, bent-Ba signature. 1684. (Kanaoka album is 1683.) Starts using Bada signature then. Kanaoka’s 10 leaves; originally 20. Strange cat, sinister, with big black eyes; vegetables, strangely distorted; chickens, likewise; peaches? Herons and lotus; bamboo. KK. His oddest period. Very interesting--too bad not published? would reproduce chickens, vegetables, on one plate. Seal same as on Princeton album. "New discovery," according to Wang Shiqing. Vegetables leaf is radish in front of peach? or melon? all run together, hard to separate. Just at point where he becomes really interesting. Later: Leaf with two chickens: brushstrokes broad, square, create oddly-structured space, which birds occupy; but they seem affected, distorted by pressures from outside. Like set of Caligari, or some expressionist stage-set, or Feininger etc. Must include! in my chapter. Vegetable leaf: he is learning about dry and wet brushwork now. Still short of perfect control. Could he see good paintings? Handling of radish, geometricized in 3-D! is extraordinary, quasi-Cubist treatment. Plays this agst. rounder melon? behind. Leaves of radish intersect those of root vegetable at right, but differ in ink tone, shape. (See p. 34 of notebook for identification of vegetables in this leaf.)

First room, again.

73. Hibiscus, banana palm, rock: . BDSR. Two seals only; tall and narrow, part of set? screen? Broad brush. Not much in itself, altho’ OK.
74. Another: hibiscus, orchids, and rock. Only seals--like above? tall, narrow. Damaged and reptd. OK. BDSR.
75. Calligraphy, xingshu, BDSJ. Late sig. Damaged, good. Some collectors’ seals lower right.
76. Deer & Pine. Some light reddish color on deer, also pine. Bluish color behind bunches of needles? Two seals only. Deer in curled position. BDSR. Routine work.
77. Calligraphy, BDSR.
78. Famous portrait. Ink on paper. Face, hands fine. Some shading. A little like Southern tradition of fig. ptg., Fukien. His inscription on left.
79. Lotus, fairly small. Bent-Ba signature, like Freer etc. BDSR. Not terrific but good. Paper pieced on at top? looks so. Brushstrokes still fairly flat.
80. Pine tree: . BDSR. Inscr. upper left: . late signature. Wu Ch’ang-shih insc. in lower left. Broad brush, good--shaded strokes, twisting etc. Late style, minor work within it. Soft, wet strokes.
81. Bank w. hibiscus, two fish. Late signature. Minor; is it even genuine? Maybe not. Insc. by somebody at left. Still, has some quality, e.g. black-dot eye of lower fish. Maybe just quick work.
82. Small LS with three figures, ink & lt color on silk, ! Late signature. Seems fine, although damaged.

II. Miscellaneous notes from symposium papers and discussion
- Jao Tsung-i paper (handout): finds Ch’an buddhist references and content in inscriptions in early Ch’uan-ch’i album.

- Lin Shuzhong (Nanjing Academy) on Peacocks ptg. as . Expressive postures etc. of birds. Question of tradition vs. individualism: inf. of Xu Wei in birds and flowers, Dong Qichang in LS. Different people understand his ptgs. differently--like Dream of Red Chamber. Used artistic language to express attitude, thought, resentment. Hawk: usually solitary, like heroes. Not Bada’s: feathers thin, scraggly. Defeated heroes. Express Bada’s inner world.(Discusses trad. of realism vs. abstraction; Bada used these as foundation, twisted them. Outsider, person in wilderness. etc.)

-Shen Tongmin (? p. 112) On his poetic inscriptions on ptgs. Also discusses Chan content. Zen represents freedom within Buddhism. Bada’s obscurity: doesn’t want to be accessible to everybody. Like Zen kôans. Monks shaved heads, called "donkeys" (ears stuck out?)

- Who? Shanghai Academy man, talked of resemblance of Bada’s ptgs to designs on Jingdezhen porcelains. Folksy, awkard, popular imagery. Broke out of limits of wenrenhua. Too much emphasis on ya, literary refinement. Designs like Bada ptgs on jJngdezhen shards. Fu Shen question: did Bada, then, influence porcelain design? Shanghai man: some evidence: Tang Yun, 1966; even now, Bada inf. ceramic designs. Workers studied his ptgs, copied.

Jingdezhen man (works with Historical Mus. there): porcelain designs inf. Bada in early period? He has made study; hasn’t published. Will do so. Two books publ. in Taiwan of designs from Tianqi period porcelains: Bada must have seen some like these. Two types at Jingdezhen: guanyao for court etc.; minyao for popular use. Former stiffer, latter freer, done in quantities--up to 1000. Everyday use. Found lots of shards. Better than imperial ones. (Goes on to make comparisons with Bada ptgs: flying bird, etc.) Workers very poor, depressed, so put in eyes that way, like Bada, or even before Bada. [! standard habit of always attributing expression of ptg to feeling of artist, even in collective work of this kind.] Bada learned abbreviated style from them; they couldn’t take time to paint on porcelain--had to be fast. Later, artists learned from Bada. [Leaves out factor of woodblock books, etc., fenben; other sources of popular designs.] Records of Bada going to Jingdezhen in 1688; watched artisans all day. [Whence information?] Chen family has oral tradition...

- Me: Problem of Chan ptg. and Bada. Not related to Jingdezhen, except that both are fast, rough-brush; ptd. same thing over & over. Bada studied both; both helped him escape confines of wenrenhua in subject & brushwork etc., get back to something more natural, direct, expressive. Helped provide him with artistic means to carry out his expressive projects.

At beginning, only plant subjects--interesting but not yet great Bada. Did landscapes only later. (Early one in KK and one other, dtd. 1681? in Taiwan.) His fish and birds subject from when? only from 1680s? Period of instability, artistic as well as psychological. Breaking out of safer confines (cf. Buddhism); finding own independent way, with difficulty. Succeeds in 1690s: his great period. Central problem of Individualists: getting away from restraints of Orthodox style, wenrenhua tradition more generally, creating new expressive forms. When successful, danger of being labeled xiepai etc. by others.

- Chu-tsing Li on Contag/Nelson Gallery pair. Originally two of eight; four others in Sackler col. Seals only; also seals of Song Lo. Probably done for him ca. 1691--he left Jiangxi in following year. Very large, impressive ptgs. Song was prefect then. Prob. painted while Song was in Nanchang.

- Wen Fong. Kanaoka album is 1683; published by Jao Tsung-i [in Hong Kong i-min symposium volume.] 1680s is period of greatest distortion, eccentricity. When Shao interviewed him. By 1690, when Song Lo left, was settling down. (His argument about importance of studying calligraphy.) Wen Fong thinks set of four landscapes (Melbourne) also ca. 1692.

Later (lunch conversation with WF): By 1671 he had essentially left Buddhist order--death of teacher, acc. to insc. on 1674 portrait which reports him as saying: From now on, regard me as a Guanxiu, i.e. ptr-itinerant monk (making living by painting.) By end of decade, madness comes from self-loathing, falseness of position (?) Relationship with Hu Yitang perfectly amicable. Wildest period of painting (& calligraphy?) in 1680s. From 1685 for several years, nothing: too deranged? Perhaps we should speak of 1690s as post-madness period?

- Zhu Xuchu, special asst. to director of Shanghai Museum. Talks at length: wenrenhua reaches end? with (as in Li Xiaoshan’s notorious article, young man in Nanjing) Huang Binhong, Fu Baoshi, Pan Tianshou; now time for something else. (Picks up ideas fast, can juggle them, perform with them in impressive way.)

- Mae Anna Pang on four LS in Melbourne: earlier than Shanghai Museum 1694 ptg.

- Huang Yongquan. Year Kangxi came to south for first time, Bada began using that name. In 1694, his works especially many; changed way of writing name. What connection? [Attempt to relate changes in style with historical change; interesting.]

(Evening: went to local opera on Bada Shanren. Little relationship to real Bada: turned into conventions of opera. Love interest: girl becomes nun, he Daoist priest. He wants to go to Beijing to take exams and become successful official, so he can marry her, but can’t do so out of anti-Manchu feeling. Goes mad.)

- Wang Shiqing on Zhu Daolang. Born in period 1612-1622; died in period 1688-1694. At most, 83 years. Daoist of Qingmingpai (?) Before established Qingyunpu... etc. 1642-1656: left home. Came to Nanchang. Spent long time at Qingyunpu. Not anti-Qing. OK to use as Bada Memorial Museum. But Bada not Zhu Daolang.

- Me, misc. thoughts toward book chapter: Bada, like character in Nabokov, sets up set of enigmas for later people to solve; cryptic. And now Bada scholars (like Hongloumeng scholars) puzzling, deciphering, trying to understand. Differ on whether ultimately intelligible. Large literature by now.

Bada knew Chan texts (Jao Tsung-i, Shen Tongmin papers): couldn’t he have known Chan ptg also?

Communication by gestures: important in painting also: gestures of brush, gestures of pine branches, etc.

- Note how many of his trees grown narrow at bottom. Significance?

More on madness, etc.: Liu Jiuan in Yiyuan duoying #19. Early works follow Chen Shun and Xu Wei in style, subject, etc. Xueke and Lu period: brushwork more energetic & wild. He compares: 1682 (after fit of madness) with 1677 (before). Can see that his state of mind has changed. 1682: his inscription echoes Zheng Sixiao; reference to Boyi and Shuqi. No such references in ptgs of monk period.

III. Principal Sources for Reproductions of Bada Paintings. Note: when we refer to reproductions, we will use the abbreviations for these books; i.e. BS 24 will be Plate 24 in #1, the Bunjinga Suihen book.

1. Wu, T’ung et. al. Hachidai sanjin. Bunjinga Suihen series v. 6, Tokyo, 1963; second, reduced-size edition 1985. Large volume in 419A; smaller one in EAL rm. 6 (fND 1040 B86 1985 v.6.) See main Bibliography for contents. Abbreviated as BS.
2. Chang Wan-li and Hu Jen-mu, ed., Bada shanren huaji. 2 vols. Hong Kong, Cafa Pub. Co., 1969. 419A, EAL (f6150 2342 1969) Abbrev. as Cafa.
3. Bada shanren huaji. Nanchang and Shanghai, 1985. Essay by Li Dan. 419A. Abbrev. as BSH.
4. Bada shanren huaji. Shanghai, 1958. 28 paintings. EAL f6178 2040
5. Bada Shitao shuhuaji. Taipei, National Historical Museum, 1984. Various essays, with English summaries, including Wang Fangyu on Bada’s and Shitao’s mutual (i.e. common) friends; Fu Shen on "Joint Works of Pa-ta-shan-jen and Shih-t’ao"; others. EAL ND 1043.5 P3.
6. Jianjiang, Shiqi, Shitao, Bada Shanren shuhua ji (Four Monks of the Late Ming). Taipei, National Historical Museum, 1978. Same paintings as above? Better reproductions, no text except captions. 419A.
7. Bada shanren shuhua ji. Kyoto, 1956. Collection of Ch’eng Ch’i.
8. Dafengtang mingji. Collection of Zhang Daqian. Four volumes; one on Bada paintings. EAL f6178 2040. Kyoto, 1955-56.
9. T’ai-shan ts’an-shih lou ts’ang hua. Four series of ten reproduction albums each. Shanghai, 192(?)-1927. Collection of Tang Jisheng. Contains much Bada painting, important. EAL set missing v. 35-36. Abbrev. as Taishan.
10. Volumes published by Sumitomo Kanichi (all paintings now in Sen’oku Hakkokan, Kyoto): A.Sekitô to Hachidai Sanjin. Oiso, 1952. Essay by Sumitomo Kanichi. EAL f6177 2431 v. 1.

B. Hachidai Sanjin to Gyû Sekkei (Bada Shanren and Niu Shihui). Essay by Sumitomo Kanichi, with help of Yonezawa Yoshiho and Shimada Shujiro. Oiso, 1955. EAL f6177 2431 v. 4.

C. Niseki Hachidai (The Two Shi and Bada). Oiso, 195?. Essay by Shimada Shujiro on An-wan album of 1694. EAL 6177 2431 v. 5 (missing.)

11. Yiyuan duoying no. 17, Shanghai, 1982. Special issue on Bada Shanren. Includes short essay by Zhong Yinlan of Shanghai Museum, p. 41; reprints biographical sources. Chronological biography (nianpu) by Wang Zidou, pp. 42-43, continued in no. 19, pp. 39-43. Abbrev. as YD 17.
12. Yiyuan duoying no. 19, 1983. Second special issue on Bada Shanren. Includes essay by Liu Jiu’an on various problems in Bada’s paintings. Also series of letters by Bada to a certain Fang Shiguan. Texts transcribed. Abbrev. as YD 19.
13. Yiyuan duoying no. 37, 1987. One of two issues devoted to Four Monks exhibition at Shanghai Museum, October 1987; this issue on Shiqi and Bada. All works reproduced are in Shanghai Museum. Abbrev. as YD 37.
14. Wang Fangyu, ed., Bada Shanren lunji. Taipei, 198 . 2 vols.; second volume plates. Abbrev. as Lunji.
15. Wang Zidou, ed., Bada shanren shuhuaji. 2 vols. Beijing, 1983. Abbrev. as SHJ.
16. Chou Shih-hsin, ed., Pa-ta shan-jen ch'üan-chi. Taipei, 1974.
17. Akai, Kiyomi, ed. Hachidai Sanjin shoga-shû. Tokyo, 1975. All the plates reproduced from earlier reproductions, nothing new? Brief text. Author is a calligrapher. Abbrev. as Akai.
18. Wang, Fangyu and Richard Barnhart. Master of the Lotus Garden: The Life and Art of Bada Shanren. New Haven, 1990. Abbrev. as MLG.

IV. List of Dated or Datable Bada Shanren Paintings

(Abbrev.: KK/T = Ku-kung, Taipei. KK/B = Ku-kung, Beijing. Ex. = exhibition at Bada Shanren Memorial Museum, October 1986 (my notes), MLG - Master of Lotus Garden (Yale-S.F. catalog.)

I. Through the 1680s

(Background: Muqi and Chan Painting; Shen Zhou; Xu Wei

- Various ptgs. attrib. to Muqi: vegetables and fruits; birds in trees; goose; mynahs; gibbons; fish.

- Buffalo-and-herdboy in landscape paintings of 13th-14th cent.

- Handscrolls attrib. to Muqi, Palace Museum, Taipei; Palace Museum, Beijing. Copies?

- Paintings of similar subjects by Shen Zhou; by Chen Shun (Chen Daofu); by Xu Wei. Handscrolls of vegetables, flowers, other plants.)

- 1660 (Jan. 12). KK/T Ch’uan-ch’i album. 13 (12?) leaves of paintings. BS 1-11, MLG Fig. 13-15, 23-24. Wang Fangyu paper in 1970 Palace Museum Taipei Symposium volume. Cf. paintings by or attrib. to Muqi, Riguan, Shen Zhou, Chen Shun, Xu Wei, etc.: ink vegetables, ink flowers, ink fruits.

- 1660s. Handscroll, flowers and fruit, KK/P. YD 19, 6-7, top. Ex.19. Also Masterworks of Ming and Qing Painting #44

- Ch’uan-ch’i lotus album. BS, 60-61, MLG Fig. 45 (MLG. 1) No slides.

- "Ca. 1665," Wisteria and Moon, Shanghai Museum. "From 10-leaf album." MLG Fig. 22. Four leaves reproduced in Duoyun 15, group of plates inside front cover.

- 1666 handscroll, plants. Ex.57; YD 17, 8-9, MLG Fig. 21.

- Early 1670s. Handscroll, flowers. YD 19, 6-7, second from top. Chuanqi, Geshan signatures. MLG fig. 20, "ca. 1671." Ex. 29.

(- 1674 Portrait of Bada Shanren by Huang Anping, insc. by Bada. MLG Fig. 12, etc.)

- 1677 album of 8 leaves, blossoming plum, Geshan signature. YD 19, 6-8, MLG Fig. 17.

- "Ca. 1678", Hibiscus and Rock, fan, Zhongqing Municipao Mus. MLG Fig. 19.

(1679-1680: with Hu Yitang)

- 1681 landscape, Taishan 18, MLG Fig. 38. Cf. Landscape with man in boat, KK/P. Wen Fong: "Early 1680s." Slides; reprod. in Wen Fong’s article.

- 1682 Plum tree, Ex. 45, YD 19, 10, MLG Fig. 26. (Read Wang Fangyu, MLG pp. 51-52.)

- "Ca. 1682-83", Crab-apple Flowers and Rocks, MLG Fig. 27.

- Ca. 1682, Banana Palm and Bamboo. YD 19, 9R, Ex. 34. Lü-wu signature.

- 1683 Fish, Lunji, 76.

- 1683, Kanaoka album. Geshan, Renwu, etc. signatures. Jao Tsung-i in Wenwu 1983/10, 47-50. MLG #4. No slides.

- Princeton album, Gewu, Renwu, Geshan signatures: Wen Fong says "datable to 1681." Barnhart dates to 1683-84; better? BS, 13-23, MLG Fig. 47; MLG #3.

- 1684. Singapore, Chen Wenxi col., album, fish, rabbit, etc. BS104-107, Lunji 14-22. MLG #5.

- 1684. Six-leaf album: bamboo, cat, etc. KK/P. MLG Dtd. list #14.

- 1684? Nanjing Museum Peony and Rock, Wen Fong says 1684. YD 19, 11.

- 1686 Orchids and Bamboo in Vase, former Chiang Ku-sun. Lunji 38.

- 1686, Lotus and Rock. Yunnan Provincial Mus. See MLG dtd. list #18.

- 1687 Birds on Rocks, Tianjin Museum, Ex.16.

- 1688-89. Album of 10 ptgs, Flowers and Birds etc., Freer Gallery. BS 47-52. One recorded leaf (no longer with album) dtd. 1688-89. See MLG dtd. list #20.

- Taishan album #12: album of animals etc. No date; close to Freer in signature, seal, etc. Also another, also Taishan, very close to Freer.

- 1689. Peony. Cafa I/16. See MLG dtd. list #21.

- 1689 Fish, Lotus, Globefish, and Bamboo. Four album leaves. MLG #7.

- 1689. Sleeping Duck. Guangdong Provincial Museum. Cafa #25. See MLG dtd. list #22.

- 1689 Fish and Ducks handscroll, Shanghai Museum, YD 37,26, YD 19, 23-26.

- 1689 Lotus, Lunji 182.

- 1689. Plum, bamboo, and pine. Akai 273.

- 1689 Melon and Moon, Fogg Art Museum, YD 19, 45, MLG #52, etc. (Another version in Beijing: Tumu I, 12-193.)

- "Ca. 1689". Quince. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. MLG #9.

- "Ca. 1689-90," Landscape, album leaf. MLG Fig. 36.

- "Ca. 1689-90," Cat and Chicken, two album leaves. MLG #10.

(Shao Chenheng visits him 1689-90)

II. 1690-94

- 1690 Cincinnatti Lotus and Birds handscroll, BS 68-71, MLG #15.

- 1690 Birds and Rock, BDSR Memorial Mus., Lunji 70, Wen Fong fig. 9, YD 17,16.

- 1690 Two Peacocks.

- 1690 Bird on Rock, Plantain. In Taishan album #18.

- 1690. Flower and Calligraphy. Two album leaves. MLG #11.

- 1690. Quince. Princeton Art Museum. MLG #12.

- 1690. Myna bird on rock. MLG #14.

- 1690. Myna birds and rocks. MLG #13.

- "Ca. 1690-91." Myna birds and rocks; ducks, sparrows, etc. Panels from a screen. MLG #17-18.

- 1691 Fish, Lunji 72, 74. Two album leaves?

- 1691 Eight-leaf album, birds, flowers, etc. Insc. xin chun, probably 1691. YD 17, 10-13.

- 1691 Birds and Rock, Shanghai Museum, YD 37, 2R.

- 1691 Cats? and Rock, Shanghai Mus., YD 37, 2L.

- 1691 Catfish, Spiders, Chick and Ducks. Three album leaves. MLG #21.

- "Ca. 1691." Fish and rocks. Handscroll, Cleveland Mus. MLG #22, etc.

- 1692 Album, 16 leaves, 8 on loan in Princeton. BS 55-57, MLG #24-26.

- 1692. Birds, bamboo, and rocks. MLG #23.

- 1692 Birds and Rock, Shanghai Mus., YD 37, 3R, Lunji 33. Another, YD 37, 5L.

- 1692 Bird on Lotus, Shanghai Mus., YD 37, 6R.

- 1692 Fish, Nanjing Mus., MLG Fig. 37.

- 1692 Mynas on rock. MLG #72.

- 1693 Fish and Birds handscroll, Shanghai Mus., YD 37, 13 bottom.

- 1693 album, Shanghai Mus., YD 37, 14.

- 1693 Landscape, Lunji, 84.

- 1693 Album of landscapes, bird, fish. Taishan album #30.

- 1693 Album of birds and flowers, Taishan album #34 (misleadingly labeled "shanshui" on outside.)

- 1693 Handscroll, various subjects. (Repeats motifs from well-known Bada paintings; suspect?) YD 17, 20-22.

- "Ca. 1693." Set of four landscapes. MLG #31.

-1694. Lotus, Nanjing Museum. Australia exhib. #57.

- 1694. Lotus and Small Birds. C.C.Wang. MLG #33. Cf. Lotus, style of Xu Wei, Boston M.F.A., "1692-94." MLG Fig. 82, Boston Portfolio, etc.

- 1694, Fish and Rocks. Private col., Japan (on loan to Kyoto National Museum). Cf. 1696, former Crawford col., now Met. Mus., MLG #44.

- 1694, Sumitomo An-wan album (at length)

- 1694, Shang Museum album (" " )

Note: There are quite a few other paintings dated to 1694; this is only a selection.

Addendum: 1692 Mynahs on Rock, MLG #27; cf. copy? by Ren Bonian, 1886, Palace Museum, Beijing. Authenticity problems.

- 1690: Two Birds and Banana Palm by Rock. Sotheby's, June 1983.

- 1684, Cat (Fake)

cf. Niu Shihui cat; bird on branch.

Bada Seminar Notes, continued. Sept. 18, 1990.

III. After 1694 (a selection)

- 1695 Fish, Bird, and Rock, YD 37/18L; MLG dtd. list #89.

- 1696 Mynahs in Peach Tree, YD 37/15R; MLG dtd. list #95.

- 1696 Ducks and Lotus, YD 37/19. Cf. other, undated ptgs of birds and lotus, around same time?

- 1696 Lotus, Chrysanthemum, and Hibiscus? C. C. Wang collection. Unpub.?

-1697, album of plant subjects. YD 37/21.

- 1699, album of birds and plants, YD 37/31-32.

- 1698? Birds, Plants. Asian Art Museum. MLG #54 (none reproduced--only landscapes.) Cf. 1703 album, Kiku Ishihara col., MLG 70.

- 1705, Birds, Fish, Calligraphy: album leaves. YD 17, 45-46.

- 1705, album: birds, plants, rock. Shanghai Mus. YD 37/41-42.

IV. Subjects and Forms

1. Lotus

- Leaf from Freer album, 1688-89. Others from 1691 album; from 1692 album (MLG 69h). Cf. Xu Wei, from Nanjing handscroll.

- Leaves from 1694 albums, Sumitomo, Shanghai.

- Undated, Suzhou Mus.; Palace Museum, Beijing (with duck).

- 1694, Lotus and Chrysanthemums, Nanjing Museum; 1694 Lotus and Birds, former Chang Ta-ch'ien colleciton. Another, undated, late? Palace Museum, Beijing.

- Lotus and Birds, "ca. 1691-94," Kanaoka Col. MLG #28.

- Lotus, Boston M.F.A., "in manner of Xu Wei." Early 1690s? Boston M.F.A. Portfolio, etc.

2. Mynahs in Trees

- Cf. two ptgs. in Japanese collections attrib. to Muqi. Album leaf, Huaji pl. 16.

- Two ptgs., 1703, Palace Museum, Beijing. YD 19/15.

- Cf. "Solitary Bird, Afraid Someone is Watching." Zhongguo hua Nov. 1957, pl. 27. Genuine? fake?

3. Geese

- 1702, Shanghai Museum. YD 37/40.

- Another, n.d., Shanghai Mus. YD 37/24L. Another, ibid. 6L.

- Another, n.d., Shanghai Mus., YD 17/3. Cf. still another, MLG fig. 115.

- Two details from another, Palace Museum, Beijing.

- Another, C.C. WAng. Cf. another, 1705 (Bada's last dated work?), MLG dtd. list #177.

4. Cranes and Pines

- 1701, YD 37/34. Another, same bird: YD 19/9R.

- Another, ink and colors on silk! Central Acad. of F.A., Beijing.

5. Eagles

- 1699, Shanghai Mus. MLG Fig. 121. Cf. C.C.Wang, 1702, YD 19/5, MLG #64. Cf. YD 17/2, 17/18.

6. Deer

- One gazing upward: YD 17/4.

- One dtd. 1698: YD 37/22 (no slide). Another, similar, with bird: Huaji 9. Another, 1700, YD 37/24.

- Herd of deer, Japanese col.? Hachidai sanjin gafu; MLG fig. 116.

7. Pine Trees

(Cf. 1682 Plum Tree)

- Pine, late 1680s? Cheng Chi, Tokyo

- Pine, early 1690s? Palace Mus., Beijing. YD 19/13.

- Odd one, 1697, long insc., Tetsubayashi col.

- 1700, Birds, Day Lily, and Cedar Tree, MLG #62.

- Late one, Honolulu Academy. Another, C.C.Wang col.

- Cypress and Secluded Orchids, 1705. Liaoning Museum.

- Pines and Rocks, col. of Liu Tso-chou, Hong Kong. Hsû-pai-chai catalog. Ca. 1690-91?

8. Handscrolls

- Early one (Ch'uan-ch'i). Cf. section of one in Tianjin Museum, undated.

- 1690, Cincinnatti, again.

- Fish and Rocks, Cleveland Museum, MLG #22, "ca. 1691." (Later?)

- Birds and Lotus, early 1690s. YD 19/14-15 bottom.

- 1696 Plants, Cat, Rocks, Palace Mus., Beijing. Yang and Weng 142-143.

- Pines, Cypress, Wutong, and Mushrooms, Shanghai Mus. YD 37/38-39; MLG fig. 44.

- 1697, Lotus and Other Plants by a River, Tianjin Mus. YD 19/20-29; MLG Fig. 40. Cf. Wang Fangyu, MLG p. 75; Barnhart on p. 174.

V. Bada Shanren’s Landscape Paintings (note: LS = landscape.)

Background: various landscapes by Anhui-school artists, 1650s-60s and later. Landscape by Da Zhongguang, 1657. Landscape by Fang Dayou (b. 1597), "age 71" so 1667; another dated 1677.

- 1681 LS again. Another, Palace Mus., Beijing, around same time.

"Ca. 1689-90," album leaf, MLG Fig. 36. (no slide)

- Liu Tso-chou, Hong Kong, Pines & Rocks, ca. 1690.

- "ca. 1693," set of four in Melbourne, "styles of four Yuan masters" (?). MLG 31, BS 77-80.

- 1694: landscape leaves in An-wan album, BS 27, 46; Shanghai Mus. album.

- 1694: LS, Musee Guimet, Paris. MLG fig. 79. (no slide)

- 1694: LS, Shanghai Mus., Hanging scroll. YD 17/17L; YD 37/15R.

- Mid-1690s? Landscape, former Akaba Untei col., in Cahill, Fantastics and Eccentrics. Cf. Dong Qichang "LS of Qingbian Mts.," Cleveland Mus., 1617, in Cahill, Compelling Image etc.

- "Ca. 1697," album of LS after Dong Qichang, MLG #53 (no slides).

- "Ca. 1696," LS, former Contag col., now C.C.Wang. MLG #41, BS 93. Cf. LS attrib. to Dong Yuan, Kurokawa col., Japan. Cf. LS in Chih-lo-lou col., HK, MLG Fig. 94R.

- "Ca. 1696," LS in manner of Dong Yuan, Stockholm. MLG #43, BS 110.

- "Ca. 1696," LS, Inokuma col., MLG #46, BS 54.

- "Ca. 1696-98": LS in manner of Guo Zhongshu, MLG #49, BS 109.

- "Ca. 1696-98," LS, Osaka Municipal Museum, MLG #50, BS 25-26.

- 1697: album of LS for Huang Yanlu, Chih-lo-lou col., HK, Jao Tsung-i article (see Biblio.)

- 1698. Landscape leaves in Asian Art Museum, S.F. album. MLG #54, BS 59-60.

- 1699, LS, Shanghai Mus., YD 37/23; YD 19/4. Cf. Luo Mu LS, 1699.

- 1699, LS, Shanghai Mus., YD 37/inside front cover. Cf. Luo Mu LS.

- 1699, album, former Crawford col. MLG #58, BS 81-92. Cf. album of LS with Lan-ting poems, 1699, former Zhang Daqian, YD 17/32-33.

- "Ca. 1702-03," album of LS, Honolulu Academy of Arts. MLG #67, BS 108.

- 1703, LS in Ni Tsan manner, Yabumoto col., Amagasaki. MLG dtd. list #157.

- "Ca. 1703-05," Shokokuji, Kyoto. MLG #71.

Some Undated Bada Shanren landscapes:

- LS, Shanghai Museum; where published?

- Set of six hanging scrolls, Nanjing Mus., ink and light colors on paper. MLG Fig. 41, pp. 74-75. No slides.

- Set of four hanging scrolls, YD 19/2-3.

- Two LS: YD 17/47, R&L (not pair).

- Birds in Tree; Landscape. Sumitomo col., Kyoto. BS 94.

- YD 37/18R.

- LS hanging scroll, Horiuchi col., Ashiya. BS 53. Others.

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