Ge Hong Moving His Residence

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Ge Hong Moving His Residence

1644-1911

Attributed to Wen Boren (Chinese, 1502–1575)

The subject of this painting is Ge Hong (253-333), a government official and author of the important Daoist treatise the Baopu zi (The Philosopher Who Embraces Simplicity). Ge requested a transfer of his official post to the south, to a region where an important ingredient for the elixir of immortality was to be found. However, on his way through Guangzhou to his new post, he left his family and belongings and became a recluse in the Luofu mountains, where he is supposed to have succeeded in brewing the elixir of immortality. This painting shows Ge in the process of moving south. According to the inscription, Wen Boren created this painting after a 1342 painting of the same subject by the Yuan dynasty painter Wang Meng (c. 1308-1385).

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Ge Hong Moving His Residence

Date:

1644-1911

Artist:

Attributed to Wen Boren (Chinese, 1502–1575)

Medium:

Ink and color on paper; mounted as a hanging scroll

Dimensions:

7 feet 4 5/8 inches × 19 1/4 inches (225.1 × 48.9 cm) Mount: 9 feet 7 inches × 23 7/8 inches (292.1 × 60.6 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

Gift of Miss Alice Boney, 1983

Accession Number:

1983-80-1

Geography:

Made in China, Asia

Context:

Dynasty: Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

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