# Playing the Qin in a Secluded Valley

- By: Wen Zhengming (Chinese, 1470–1559)
- Date: 1548
- Medium: hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Overall: 132 x 50.5 cm (51 15/16 x 19 7/8 in.)
- Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.60)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.60/1969.60_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The poem inscribed in this painting reads: "Ten thousand layered lofty mountains are presented to the cultivated eye, A thousand feet of cascading falls cleanse the dusty heart. May the harmonies of my red-stringed tune Be the humble answer to the pine wind's ancient song." Different versions of this painting exist. Scholars have suggested that the solid renderings of the rock masses and the volumetric mountain configurations as seen here appear more characteristic of Lu Zhi 陸治 (1496–1576), Wen Zhengming's pupil.