元 忽哥赤 和 佚名 耕稼圖 卷 |Rice Culture, or Sowing and Reaping
before 1353
Medium
Handscroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
Image: 10 1/2 x 199 3/8 in. (26.7 x 506.4 cm) Overall with mounting: 12 1/4 x 389 in. (31.1 x 988.1 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
China · Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, W. M. Keck Foundation Gift and other gifts, in memory of Douglas Dillon, 2005
Accession Number
2005.277
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite handscroll, titled * Culture, or Sowing Reaping* (original Chinese: 元 忽赤 和 佚名 耕稼圖 卷), offers a vivid glimpse into the daily labors of Yuan dynasty farmers. Created before 1353 during China's Mongol-ruled Yuan period (1271–1368), it unfolds over an impressive 199 inches, depicting men diligently sowing rice seeds, tilling fields, and harvesting. Rendered in ink and color on silk—a luxurious medium reserved for fine paintings—this work captures the rhythmic cycle of rice agriculture, essential to China's economy and sustenance. Handscrolls like this were designed for intimate, se...