Takashima Unpō (1894–1987) 
Red Cliff 
Japan, 20th century 
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk 
Gift of Terry Welch, 2021 (2021-03-035)

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The Red Cliff, on the Yangzi River in southern China, was the location of a massive naval battle in 208–209 CE that initiated centuries of political division between northern and southern China. At one point in his political career the great scholar-official-poet Su Dongpo (1037–1101) was exiled to the south, and while there he visited the purported site of the battle by boat, inspiring him to write one of his greatest masterpieces, Red Cliff Ode. 
 
The poem, a meditation on the changing nature of all things, had a tremendous influence on later poetry, painting and calligraphy across East Asia, all three of which are combined here. Unpō shows Su and his friends sailing down the Yangzi River in the lower register, while the cliff rises on the left. An impressive pine tree directs the viewer’s attention to the right, where Unpō has included the entire text of Su’s poem in fluid, dense calligraphy that is effectively balanced by the overall spaciousness of the rest of the composition.