Parting at the Gate of the Capital
Yao Shou (Chinese, 1423-1495)
Ming dynasty (1369–1644), 15th century
- Medium
- Handscroll; ink and color on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 53.4 × 461.1 cm (21 × 181 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- China
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Gift of Alice Boney
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This handscroll captures a goodbye. Along the riverbank, a boatman poised with paddle in hand stands tall in anticipation of launching. Nearby, scholars wearing black hats linger over their departure. Within the thatched pavilion, two servants diligently pack up the remains of a farewell party. In ancient China, a handscroll would be viewed by unrolling it in segments, one arm’s length at a time, from right to left. This handscroll would thus gradually reveal the travelers and the distant landscape, creating the effect of sending them off.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
