Liu Jun’s Snow Night Visit to Putu Axis

[Liu Jun’s Snow Night Visit Map Axis]

The Snow Night Visit Map axis, made by Liu Jun in the Ming Dynasty, is made of silk, with light colors, 143.2 cm vertically and 75 cm horizontally
This picture describes the historical story of Zhao Kuangyin’s visit to Zhao Pu on a snowy night. According to the Biography of Zhao Pu, the Song Dynasty historian, “Emperor Taizu walked several times past the house of meritorious officials, but he dared not change his clothes every time he left the court. One day, the snow asked the night, and the Puyi Emperor did not come out. For a long time, when he heard the knock at the door, Puji came out, and the emperor stood in the snow, and the Puyi worshipped in fear, and the emperor said, ‘The king of Jin has been appointed.’ When Emperor Taizong arrived, he set up a new place to sit in the hall, burning charcoal, cooking meat, drinking wine, and the emperor called for it by his sister-in-law. Because of the plan with Puyi, he went to Taiyuan.” The picture depicts this historical scene. In the privy deputy historian’s mansion with a spacious entrance and several buildings, two people sat around the fire in the middle of the front hall. Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of the Song Dynasty, was seated at the top of the table. He wore a scarf and cap on his head, a narrow sleeved robe with a collar and a waist band. He was tall and magnificent, with an extraordinary bearing. His solemn expression and the posture of leaning aside to listen properly reflected the manner and mood of visiting the sages and discussing state affairs at night. Zhao Pu, the Deputy Privy Secretary in civilian clothes, sat on the lower head and talked humbly, carefully portraying his adviser demeanor of offering sincere advice. The painter carefully described the scene while deliberately portraying the main characters. Near the rocks and distant mountains, the old trees and crows are all covered by night, and the bamboo leaves, branches and roof ridges are covered with white snow. The weather is obviously very cold. In order to highlight Zhao Kuangyin’s identity as the Son of Heaven, four bodyguards are symbolically painted outside the gate. They seem to have been waiting for a long time. These subtle descriptions deepen the theme of visiting sages on a snowy night
The composition of this painting is clear, the theme is prominent, the characterization is fine and vivid, the structure of buildings and objects is accurate, and the lines are neat. The chopping and scraping of mountains, rocks and trees not only kept the vigorous strokes of Song paintings, but also showed the trend of sparsity, reflecting the changes in the Ming Dynasty courtyard paintings.