Artwork Page for Pan Lang (Han Rō)

Details / Information for Pan Lang (Han Rō)

Pan Lang (Han Rō)

early 1600s

Unkoku Tōgan 雲谷等顔

(Japanese, 1547–1618)
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Culture
Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615)
Medium
one of a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, light color, and gold on paper
Measurements
Image: 155.5 x 360 cm (61 1/4 x 141 3/4 in.); Overall: 172 x 374 cm (67 11/16 x 147 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 2006.135.2
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

This is one of the pair of screens depicts episodes from the stories of famed Song-dynasty poets Su Shi of the 1000s and Zhou-dynasty official Pan Lang of the 900s. Both men were banished by their rulers for their perceived missteps. Su Shi’s comments on a series of economic reforms were seen as criticism of the emperor. Pan Lang composed an ill-advised verse about one of the king’s horses. In this screen Pan rides backward on his donkey as he returns from exile so that he may have a last look at his now beloved Mount Hua. Su Shi, on the other screen, is shown embarking on his journey into exile. The artist of these screens, Unkoku Tōgan, was the founder of the Unkoku school of painting, which emulated the style of renowned ink painter Sesshū Tōyō (1420–1506). Tōgan was the official painter of the Mori family of what is now Yamaguchi prefecture in the south of Japan.
A horizontal six-panel folding screen in ink and light color depicts the scholar Pan Lang riding a gray donkey backwards. Wearing voluminous robes and a hat, he faces our left while a boy leads the animal toward our right. To our left, sparse bamboo and misty hills rise behind a dark, jagged rock. Fine lines define the figures, while soft, gray washes create a hazy, atmospheric landscape across the panels.

Pan Lang (Han Rō)

early 1600s

Unkoku Tōgan

(Japanese, 1547–1618)
Japan, Momoyama period (1573–1615)

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