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High Mountains, Flowing Water: Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi

Okura Ryūzan Japanese
ca. 1840
Not on view
Zhong Ziqi, a music connoisseur who lived in China during the fourth century BCE, once encountered the statesman Yu Boya masterfully performing on the qin (zither). The two became extremely close friends and confidants, eventually coauthoring the tale depicted in this painting, Tall Mountains, Flowing Water, about their enduring friendship. In Okura Ritsuzan’s interpretation, this companionship unfolds in a contemporary Chinese garden—a setting the Sinophiles of the Edo period would have favored. Yu sits on a large Taihu rock, playing the qin, while Zhong listens intently. Nearby, a young servant fans a stove to prepare sencha. A set of small teacups lies ready on the stone table.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 大倉笠山筆　「高山流水図」
  • Title: High Mountains, Flowing Water: Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi
  • Artist: Okura Ryūzan (Japanese, 1785–1850)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: ca. 1840
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
  • Dimensions: Image: 51 9/16 × 16 5/8 in. (131 × 42.2 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 78 9/16 × 25 9/16 in. (199.5 × 65 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2019
  • Object Number: 2019.420.30
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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