Yelü Chucai (Khitan, 1190–1244), Poem of Farewell to Liu Man 元 耶律楚材 行書贈別劉滿詩 卷, dated 1240, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). Handscroll; ink on paper. Image: 14 1/2 x 111 3/4 in. (36.8 x 283.8 cm) Overall with mounting: 15 in. x 37 ft. 7 11/16 in. (38.1 x 1147.3 cm). Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989.363.17 © 2000–2016 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Yelü Chucai played a pivotal role in mitigating the harsh rule of the Mongols over the occupied territories of North China. A trusted adviser to both Chinggis Khan and his son Ögödei, he introduced fiscal reforms and an amnesty for tax debts. Unfortunately, many of his administrative reforms were short-lived.

The blunt, monumental writing on this handscroll, with its emphatic hooks and dots and square character forms, recalls the unrestrained style of Huang Tingjian (1045–1105), a Northern Song master who advocated "driving every brushstroke with full force." The poem lauds the virtuous administration of a young official in an era of widespread exploitation and reflects Yelü's own attempts to institute more humanitarian policies: 

Half the population of Yun[zhong] and Xuan[de] have fled 
their homes;
Only the few thousand people under your care are secure.
You are among our dynasty's most able administrators.
Your good name is as lofty as Mount Tai. 

On the sixteenth day of the tenth lunar month in the winter of the gengzi year, Liu Man of Yangmen requested that I write a poem on the eve of his departure. I wrote this for him in admiration of his administrative ability. Abusive officials and wily functionaries should feel ashamed! Yuquan [Yelü Chucai].

This work is exhibited in the "Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the Metropolitan Collection" exhibition, on view through October 11th, 2016.