Tao Hong (Chinese, active ca. 1610–1640s), Riverside village, 1638. One leaf from an album of seven leaves. Image: 9 3/4 × 10 1/2 in. Promised gift of Julia and John Curtis. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

NEW YORK - Throughout Chinese history, the city of Nanjing served as the capital of multiple dynasties. Each time a dynasty was overthrown, it left behind another layer of cultural memory, creating an atmosphere in which artists found themselves surrounded by the past. Material traces of history—temples, city walls, ancient trees—blended with less tangible remains, such as views that had inspired famous artists and poetic verses they had written. In 1644, the Ming dynasty was violently overthrown, and the Qing took its place. A new layer of reminiscence was added, sparking feelings of loss and nostalgia, as the people of Nanjing saw their world shattered and another dynasty—their own—consigned to the realm of history.

City of Memory: Nanjing in the Seventeenth Century explores how artists lived and worked in this charged environment in the decades before and after the fall of the Ming dynasty. Through a selection of about 100 objects, mostly from The Met collection, the exhibition illuminates both the city’s lore and complex history as well as the evolution of Nanjing painting from the 1640s to the 1680s, introducing key figures, genres, and styles.

Artworks donated to The Met by Julia and John Curtis have inspired and enriched this exhibition.

The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.

Through January 3, 2027

Wei Zhike, Landscape of the four seasons, 1635, Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Handscroll; ink and color on paper. Overall with mounting: 32.1 × 1183.6 cm. Gift of J. T. Tai, 1968 (68.195) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Wei Zhike created this ambitious landscape, in which both seasons and styles change as the scroll unfurls, just a few years before the fall of the Ming dynasty. Nanjing painters of Wei’s time often depicted local sites, a reflection of the pride they and their patrons felt in the city’s millennia of history to conjure reminiscence and nostalgia. Sections of this scroll seem to resemble known locations, but as the artist did not identify them with inscriptions, the places have not been definitively identified.

Gong Xian, Wintry mountains, ca. 1679–89, Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Hanging scroll; ink on paper. Image: 165.7 × 48.9 cm. Overall with mounting: 290.2 × 67.3 cm. Overall with knobs: 290.2 × 76.8 cm. Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988 (1989.363.132) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The landscape at center is by Gong Xian, the leading painter of the 1660s–80s, and the calligraphy flanking it is by Zhou Lianggong, collector, critic, and cataloguer of the contemporary art of his day. Both the couplet and the painting, which is inscribed with a poem, reflect the dream of escaping to a solitary retreat untouched by the affairs of the world. This was a particularly poignant idea for men such as Gong and Zhou, who lived through the pain of conquest and reconstruction during the Ming-Qing transition.

Zhou Lianggong, Couplet, mid- 17th century, Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Pair of hanging scrolls; ink on paper. Image (each): 162.6 × 30.5 cm. Gift of Julia and John Curtis, in honor of Hongnam Kim, and in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary, 2020 (2020.73.2a, b) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

You may have your method;

As for me, I love my hut.

This pithy verse by Zhou Lianggong may be taken as a mission statement for the recluse: regardless of what society may wish from you, inner peace is to be found at home, behind a closed gate, in a life of self-cultivation with cherished friends. During his lengthy career of service to the Ming and Qing governments, Zhou enjoyed great heights of success and suffered terrible depths of persecution, so his understanding of the appeal of withdrawal was well-earned. After his travels and trials, he always returned to his native Nanjing in search of the recluse’s peace.

Wang Duo, Poem written on Mount Qingliang, dated 1641, Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Hanging scroll; ink on paper. Image: 351.2 × 74.3 cm. Overall with mounting: 430.5 × 99.1 cm. Overall with knobs: 430.5 × 110.5 cm. Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988 (1989.363.116) © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Rising to the position of minister of rites under the Ming, Wang Duo joined several other high officials in surrendering Nanjing to the advancing Manchu armies in 1645, and subsequently retained his title under the new regime.

Likened to twisting rattan or contorted cypress branches, Wang Duo's writing, in contrast to the graceful, suave calligraphy of Dong Qichang (1555–1636), is appreciated for its freedom and boldness. In this monumental writing, done in Wang's running script, the brush moves in a brusque, throbbing rhythm. The large work was taken from the table immediately after it was written, causing the rich black ink to run in a few places.

Wang composed this poem at a friend's banquet:

At dusk, in a lonely pavilion,

I bring a ewer of wine while the moon is new.

The river and the sky are wide and far,

A temple in the mist disappears into the emptiness.

Several fishing boats hide in the distance,

Behind sparse ancient trees from a former dynasty.

How the thought of the barbarian threat follows me,

I shall not write about it in my letters home.

To be continued