Picture scroll of Zhuda cat stone

[Zhu Da Cat Stone Scroll]

Cat Stone Scroll, Qing Dynasty, Zhu Da painting, paper, ink, 34 cm in length and 218 cm in width
At the top right of the picture, the inscription “C wrote about the Badashan people in summer.” was stamped with “Can get immortals” and “Badashan people” (in white). There are also seals on the picture, such as “Yao Zhi” (Zhu Wen), “Xi Tang” (Bai Wen), etc. The seal at the left and right corners contains seven seals, including “Wenxin Approval” (Zhu Wen), “Baoxian Hall” (Zhu Wen), and “Mengquan Book House Calligraphy and Painting Approval Seal” (Bai Wen). “C Zi” was painted by Zhu Da at the age of 71 in the 35th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1696). The whole scene is simple. It depicts a white cat crouching on the top of the stone and stooping back, which is perfectly integrated with the rock. It closes its eyes to refresh itself, and has no intention of watching the beautiful scenery around, such as lotus and orchid. The author obviously uses the technique of symbolic metaphor to skillfully and implicitly combine the objective image with the subjective consciousness. He used his calm cat as a metaphor for his seclusion under the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The lotus leaves and nameless flowers and plants in the picture are painted with ink splashing method, and outlined with line drawing. A few strokes of cat and stone form a visual black-and-white contrast. The depth changes of different colors enrich the spatial level of the picture, so that the whole volume is both full and ethereal.