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"Maple Bridge Night Mooring"

Ike no Taiga Japanese
ca. 1770
Not on view
Ike Taiga, one of the most prolific and influential artists of the Nanga, or literati school, in Kyoto, excelled in a calligraphic style called karayō, or Chinese-style writing. This screen displays Taiga’s mastery of the style in his inscription of the Chinese poem “Maple Bridge Night Mooring,” by Zhang Ji (766?–830?), whose verses Taiga frequently used in his paintings and calligraphic works. The characters, most of which are rendered in grass script, or sōsho, were powerfully brushed, with contrasting wet and semi-dry brushstrokes and broad and thin lines. The poem reads:

The moon sets, crows sing, and frost fills the sky.
Maple trees along the river and fires in fishing boats
face me, sleepless with lament.
The bell of Cold Mountain Temple outside Suzhou tolls,
At midnight, the sound reaches this boat.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 池大雅書 「楓橋夜泊」屏風
  • Title: "Maple Bridge Night Mooring"
  • Artist: Ike no Taiga (Japanese, 1723–1776)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: ca. 1770
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Two-panel folding screen; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image (each panel): 53 1/4 x 22 1/8 in. (135.3 x 56.2 cm)
    Overall: 68 3/4 x 72 3/4 in. (174.6 x 184.8 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2008
  • Object Number: 2008.66
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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Landscapes in Summer and Winter, Ike no Taiga Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on silk, Japan
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Landscapes in Summer and Winter, Ike no Taiga Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on silk, Japan
Landscapes in Summer and Winter
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“Paintings by Taigadō with Colophons”, Ike no Taiga , colophons by eight calligraphers Japanese, Album, Japan
“Paintings by Taigadō with Colophons”
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Thousand Character Classic, Ike no Taiga Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Thousand Character Classic
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Fishing Boat on Reed Covered Bank and Calligraphy, Ike no Taiga Japanese, Album leaves mounted as hanging scrolls; ink on paper, Japan
Fishing Boat on Reed Covered Bank and Calligraphy
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