Song of a Fisherman
Wang Wên
Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Medium
Handscroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
28.6 × 605.8 cm (11 1/4 × 238 1/2 in.)
Classification
handscroll
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
75574
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Wang Wen exemplified the life of the scholar-official in Ming dynasty China. He retired from government service to his lakeside retreat and pursued painting, calligraphy, and poetry. For this painting, Wang Wen wrote a poem (also entitled “Song of a Fisherman”), which includes several allusions to moral integrity. This poem displays the artist’s distinctively fluid, cursive “draft script” (cao shu). Its first section reads as follows: Most men of the world fish with crooked hooks: I alone trust...