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The Four Accomplishments
attributed to Kano Shōei (Japanese, 1519–1592)
late 1500s–early 1600s
- Medium
- One of a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and slight color on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Painting: 153 x 358.6 cm (60 1/4 x 141 3/16 in.); Mounted: 174 x 378.5 cm (68 1/2 x 149 in.)
- Culture
- Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Japanese Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- 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 Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This is one of a pair of screens that shows a group of elite Chinese gentlemen and their servants in the countryside. One man looks on as two of his companions play a board game. Nearby is a table set with a selection of books and a qin, a type of stringed instrument, still wrapped in its cloth case, waiting to be played. The mood is one of enjoyment balanced with formality. Historically, playing the qin or qi (a game similar to chess called go in Japan), and practicing or admiring calligraphy were considered three skills essential for cultured men in China.
