Xiang Shengmo’s Crane Island Map Axis

[Axis of Xiang Shengmo’s Crane Island Map]

Axis of the Crane Island Map, painted by Xiang Shengmo in Ming Dynasty, silk, colored, 65.5 cm vertically and 53.7 cm horizontally
Self-titled seal script: “Autumn Sailing on Crane Island”, Welcome: “This continent is Pei Gongmei’s other industry in the Tang Dynasty. It has been abandoned for a long time on the bank of our Heyuanyang (Yang) Lake. Zhukui stone is built to dredge trees, and it will last for 40 years, just like a deep mountain and brook. Now it is September, and there are poems and records to fill the gap. It is just enough for Lin Quan’s joy. Five days after climbing the mountain, it is written in Lang Yuntang. Xiang Shengmo.” The seal “Up and down in ancient times”. In the lower left corner, there is the seal of “Xiang Shengmo” and “Xiang Kong Zhang Shi, Calligraphy and Painting”
This picture is a painting by Xiang Shengmo for his friend Sunflower Stone. Fanghezhou is beside Yuanyang Lake in Jiaxing. Pei Xiu, the famous prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, once built a villa here, but it has been abandoned for a long time. Sunflower dredged the river channel on its site, planted trees extensively and rebuilt it. In the tenth year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1653), Sunrise invited Xiang Shengmo to visit the villa. They went boating on the lake, drank and wrote poems, and enjoyed the music of the forest and spring. The works were created to commemorate their meeting
In the picture, the crisscross rivers divide the fields and villages, and the farmers work in them, reflecting the style and features of the low-wet areas in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In the middle left of the picture, there are luxuriant trees, bridges, houses, pavilions, rockeries and spare boats, which are exactly where the villa is located. At the lower left of the picture is the temple pagoda, and at the upper end is the city of Jiaxing. The villa is integrated with the surrounding environment, and the layout is exquisite, while the building does not show off luxury. This work by Xiang Shengmo is not only realistic, but also shows the idea of Chinese literati advocating nature, that is, “benevolent people enjoy mountains and wise people enjoy water”.