Yan Shengsun and other three mountains in Jingkou

[Yan Shengsun and other three mountains in Jingkou]

“The three mountains in Jingkou” volume, in the Qing Dynasty, Yan Shengsun, Zhang Chunxiu and Yu Zhiding were drawn in sections, paper, ink, 26.5 cm in length, and 96.2 cm, 80 cm and 88.5 cm in width respectively
This work has no model year. The first paragraph is painted by Yan Shengsun, with the seal of “Shengsun” and the white seal of “Ouyu”. The middle section is painted by Zhang Chunxiu, with the white square seal of “see the sun”. In the lower left corner of the last paragraph, there are white seals of “Yu’s tripod” and Zhu seals of “Shen Zhai”, so it is concluded that this paragraph was painted by Yu’s tripod. Because there are Zhang Chunxiu’s collection stamps “See Yang Zi Collection”, “See Yang Calligraphy and Painting” and “Holy Artifacts” on the painting, and Yan Shengsun’s inscription on the tail paper: “Renshen in May looks like seeing Yang’s ancestor, Taichung Brother Lan Zheng”, it is inferred that this painting will be collected by Zhang Chunxiu after it is finished. The picture was painted in the year of Renshen (the 31st year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, 1692) or before, and Yu Zhiding was 46 years old
In the spring of the 29th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1690), Yu Zhiding was tired of officialdom and was physically and mentally exhausted. It was just when Xu Qianxue, the minister of the Ministry of Punishment, was dismissed from his post and returned to his hometown. He was invited by Xu Qianxue to travel southward to visit the south of the Yangtze River. He occupied Dongting Mountain in the Taihu Lake Lake and did not return to Kyoto until the 34th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1695). This period of time was a free time for his creation, and his works also conveyed a more relaxed and sincere emotion
This scroll is composed of three sections, respectively by Yan Shengsun, Zhang Chunxiu and Yu Zhiding. Jinshan, Jiaoshan and Beigu Mountain are known as the three Jingkou mountains, located in Zhenjiang. The picture depicts the scene of Jinshan and Jiaoshan confronting each other in the river from the same perspective. They are all freehand brushwork, although different in style, they are all intended to express the moist and beautiful characteristics of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River. The freehand brushwork painted by Yan Shengsun is more important than the realistic brushwork. The ink color is dry, wet, thick and light, clear, meaningful and elegant. Zhang Chunxiu’s paintings highlight the rainy and misty characteristics of the south of the Yangtze River, with a moist pen and misty atmosphere. Yu Zhiding’s painting is the most realistic, with exquisite and vivid depiction and elegant and beautiful strokes. In the picture, the buildings of Jinshan Temple are connected layer by layer. A tower rises from the ground and points to the sky. “The tower is higher than the mountain”. No matter how close you look, you can always see the temple but not the mountain, which is called “temple mountain”. By the riverside, the sails are full of shadows, and the figures are cut.

京口三山图卷首段－严绳孙绘京口三山图卷中段－张纯修绘