Shirakura Nihō (1896–1974)
Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao on Mount Tiantai
Japan, c. 1926–1974
Pair of six-panel screens; ink and color on paper
Gift of Terry Welch, 2021 (2021-03-091a-b)
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According to a Chinese legend first appearing in a fifth-century compendium of “strange stories” (zhiguai), the two men Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao set off for Mount Tiantai (in the modern southern province of Zhejiang) in 61 CE to gather medicinal herbs. While on the mountain they encountered two women, with whom they stayed for several months. However, upon returning home they found that more than three hundred years had passed. After sharing their story, they left once again in 383 CE, never to be heard from again.
Liu and Ruan are depicted on the right screen, balanced by the two female immortals on the left screen. Several indicators convey that this is no ordinary landscape, including luminous mineral greens and blues (a style in East Asian painting associated with antiquity); lingzhi (reishi in Japanese), a rare fungus believed to bring good health and long life; peaches, associated with the divine peaches of the Queen Mother of the West, highest deity of the female pantheon, which gave fruit only once in several thousand years; and an ancient pine, symbol of long life since its needles remain green throughout the winter.
Further listening
According to a Chinese legend first appearing in the fifth-century, two men, Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao, set off for Mount Tiantai in the year 61 C.E. to gather medicinal herbs. While on the mountain they encountered two women, with whom they stayed for several months. Upon returning home they found that more than three hundred years had mysteriously passed. After sharing their story, they left once again in 383 C.E, never to be heard from again.
Liu and Ruan are depicted here on the right, balanced by the two female immortals on the left screen. Several clues convey that this is no ordinary landscape, including luminous mineral greens and blues (a reference in East Asian painting to antiquity). The magical nature of the scene is further indicated by lingzhi (reishi in Japanese), a rare fungus believed to bring good health and long life; peaches, associated with the divine peaches of the Queen Mother of the West, highest deity of the female pantheon; and an ancient pine, a symbol of long life since its needles remain green throughout the long winter.