39 x 20-5/8 in. (image) 104 x 28 in. (mount) 104 x 32 in. (installed)
Gift of Mrs. John H. Roberts, Jr.
Asian Art (Chinese and other Asian)
Mrs. John H. Roberts, Jr.; given to the John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, in 1969.
In 1073 the statesman and historian, Sima Guang, 1019-1087, built his Garden for Self-Enjoyment, which he memorialized in an essay and poems. Written in retirement, they describe his happiness and present a topographical description of the garden.
The poems link each part of the garden with a historic person. The portion illustrated here, the "Studio for Planting Bamboo", is associated with a poet who died 388, and who surrounded himself with bamboo upon retirement. Sima Guang quotes the poet's famous compliment to his favorite plant:
"How can I pass one day without this gentleman?"
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