NEW YORK - Poetry and painting are deeply intertwined in Chinese culture. Many painters took ancient poetry as their inspiration, either directly illustrating famous verses or attempting to evoke them more subtly in the mind of the viewer. The poetic tradition, which reaches back over two millennia, provided these artists with a rich wellspring from which to draw, including verses on nature, religion, and ancient ritual and customs. For painters who were themselves poets, one of the greatest ambitions was to create a work that combined their original poetry, calligraphy, and painting into a coherent artwork, known as the “three perfections” in Chinese—a chance to stand on the shoulders of their poetic heroes and add their voice to the tradition.

This exhibition explores some of the ways in which Chinese painters engaged with poetry to build connections and develop layers of meaning in their art. Featuring 90 works drawn almost entirely from The Met’s collection, the exhibition presents a selection of painting, calligraphy, and decorative arts. Spanning works inspired by ancient Chinese poetry such as the Book of Odes (Shijing), poetry of the Tang Dynasty, Chan/Zen Buddhist poetry, and more, the exhibition examines the ways in which the image and the verse inspired and impacted one another over time.

"There is a saying: ‘Poetry is formless painting; painting, poetry in form.’ Wise men have often talked of this idea, and it has been my guide. Thus, on idle days, I leaf through ancient and modern poetry of the Jin and Tang, finding beautiful lines that give full expression to the feelings that pass through men’s hearts and the scenes before their eyes."

—Guo Xi (ca. 1000–ca. 1090), translation after Susan Bush and Hsio-yen Shih

The exhibition is made possible by the Joseph Hotung Fund.

Travelers in a Wintry Forest, Unidentified artist Chinese, active early 12th century, Traditionally attributed to Li Cheng (Chinese, 919–967), Song dynasty (960–1279), early 12th century. Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk. Image: 161.9 × 100.3 cm; Overall with mounting: 313.7 × 124.5 cm; Overall with knobs: 313.7 × 135.6 cm. Purchase, Fletcher Fund and Bequest of Dorothy Graham Bennett, 1972, 1972.121. © 2000–2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

During the tenth and eleventh centuries, majestic trees rivaled panoramic landscapes as sources of artistic inspiration. The hermit-painter Jing Hao (act. 900–930), for example, saw in the pine tree "the moral character of the virtuous man," while the preeminent landscape master Li Cheng (919–967) is said to have painted desolate scenes of winter because "men of virtue are now found only in the wilderness.

Travelers in a Wintry Forest follows a well-known composition by Li Cheng as described by Mi Fu (1051–1107) in his History of Painting. The scene is a microcosm of the natural cycle of growth and decay, with the great pine, symbolizing the virtuous gentleman, surrounded by trees ranging from youthful saplings to a shattered ancient hulk. The stoic silence of the wintry forest is matched by the unyielding spirit of the scholar on his donkey—the noble recluse who has entered the mountains to rediscover in nature the moral order that is lost in the human world.

Odes of the State of Bin, Ma Hezhi (Chinese, ca. 1130–ca. 1170), and Assistants. Calligraphy attributed to Emperor Gaozong (Chinese, 1107–1187, r. 1127–1162), Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), mid-12th century. Handscroll; ink, color, gold and silver on silk. Image: 27.8 × 663.6 cm; Overall with mounting: 35.1 × 1398.3 cm. Ex coll.: C. C. Wang Family, Purchase, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, by exchange, 1973, 1973.121.3. © 2000–2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This handscroll is one of a set that illustrates the 305 poems in the Shijing (The Book of Odes), a work traditionally believed to have been compiled by Confucius (551–479 B.C.). The scrolls were made at the court of Gaozong (r. 1127–62), the first emperor of the Southern Song dynasty, and the transcriptions they bear, probably inscribed by either a scribe or a consort, are written in Gaozong's regular-script style. The accompanying paintings are the work of Ma Hezhi, a court artist known for his "orchid-leaf" brushstroke, a distinctive type of undulating brush line.

The poems illustrated in this scroll are known as the Odes of the State of Bin, for they were believed to have been the songs of Bin (in modern Shensi Province), the ancient homeland of the founders of the Zhou dynasty (ca. 1100–256 B.C.). These odes are the last in the section known as Guofeng ("Airs from the States"), which contains poems gathered from all over the realm so that the Zhou king might learn what his people were thinking and feeling.

Courtly Odes, Beginning with "Wild Geese", Ma Hezhi (Chinese, ca. 1130–ca. 1170), and Assistants, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), mid-12th century. Handscroll; ink and color on silk. Overall with mounting: 32.4 × 1304.9 cm. Edward Elliott Family Collection, Gift of Douglas Dillon, 1984, 1984.475.1. © 2000–2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Poet strolling by a marshy bank, Liang Kai (Chinese, active early 13th century), Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), early 13th century. an mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk. Image: 22.9 x 24.3 cm. Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988, 1989.363.14. © 2000–2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Liang Kai served as a painter-in-attendance at the Song Imperial Painting Academy in Hangzhou from about 1201 to 1204; he relinquished that prestigious position to live and paint at a Chan (Zen in Japanese) Buddhist temple. Like his best-known paintings, preserved mostly in Japanese collections, this small landscape conveys a spiritual intensity. Under the great cliff, in the stillness of the landscape, a solitary figure meditates on the illusory world before him.

Mending clothes by daylight, Unidentified artist (Chinese, 13th century), Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), calligraphy datable to 1240s. Hanging scroll; ink on paper. Image: 65 × 28.5 cm. Purchase, Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Bequest, 2022, 2022.97. © 2000–2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Chan doctrine teaches that all images are illusory, and paintings such as this one, in which ink is applied so lightly that the picture seems to flicker and fade before the viewer’s eyes, are among the most eloquent artistic manifestations of that belief. Using dilute ink for most of the picture, the artist has reserved dark tones for the eyes of the main figure and the needle in his hand, imparting special emphasis to these key elements. The painting is inscribed by the prominent Chan abbot Chijue Daochong. His poem reads:

Mending rips and tears—robe mostly tattered,
It’s like chasing clouds—where to begin?
The needle glints in the rays of the setting sun,
Yet one must still squint.

Chan master riding a mule, Unidentified artist Chinese, active mid-13th century, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), before 1249. Hanging scroll; ink on paper. Image: 25 1/4 in. × 13 in. (64.1 × 33 cm; Overall with mounting: 148 × 34.3 cm; Overall with knobs: 148 × 38.7 cm.  Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988, 1989.363.24. © 2000–2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Scholars of the Liuli Hall, Unidentified artist Chinese, late 13th century, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), late 13th century. Handscroll; ink and color on silk. Image: 31.4 × 128.4 cm; Overall with mounting: 38.4 × 836.9 cm. Gift of Mrs. Sheila Riddell, in memory of Sir Percival David, 1977, 1977.49. © 2000–2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Scholars of the Liuli Hall commemorates a famous gathering hosted by the poet Wang Changling (act. ca. 713-41) at his official residence in Jiangning (modern Nanjing, Jiangsu Province). An earlier, cut-down version of the same composition, entitled simply Literary Gathering (Palace Museum, Beijing), is attributed to Han Huang (723-787). The costumes and the style in which the figures are drawn, however, relate these works to Zhou Wenju, the great Southern Tang (937-75) court painter who used a "tremulous brush line" (zhanbi) to draw drapery.

In the Metropolitan's scroll, Zhou's tenth-century style has been transformed by a thirteenth-century artist. The sensitively drawn faces are late Song in style; while more schematic than Tang (618-907) examples, they are more solidly and three-dimensionally conceived than those of the late Ming (16th-17th century). In describing the figures' robes, Zhou Wenju's "tremulous brush line" has become a virtuoso performance: elegant fluttering lines, at once playful and confident, are well integrated, and the hooks and curves representing creases and pockets show an extravagant realism matched only by the best late Southern Song Academy figure painters.