To Min Zhan Ten Notes - Selected Masterpieces of Zhao Mengfu's Ink Traces 11

Author: Zhao Mengquan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This scroll of calligraphy by Zhao Mengquan includes ten letters written to his friends. Among them, the letter to Renqing (also known as Gao Fuli) was addressed to a close relative of Shi Minzhan, who was a Henan native and the Minister of the Ministry of War. Therefore, Zhao Mengquan, Renqing, and Shi Minzhan shared both friendship and family ties, with a very close relationship. The ten letters were originally collected by Shi Minzhan and were given to a friend named Dai upon his death. During the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Fu acquired them from the Dai family, and the Zhang family passed them down for five generations. After the Qing Dynasty, this scroll was obtained by Wang Hongxu, whose son later presented it to Emperor Qianlong. Since the imperial collection already housed a large number of Zhao Mengquan's works, the scroll was returned to the Zhang family in the sixteenth year of Qianlong's reign. It was later collected by Pan Yanning, Luo Tianchi, Pei Jingfu, Wu Yuanyi, and others. The entire scroll measures 5315 millimeters in width, and the end of the scroll is inscribed with numerous postscripts by later collectors. It is now preserved in the Shanghai Museum. Regarding the writing time of the ten letters, some experts believe they were written between Zhao's 46th and 56th years, while others suggest they were written between his 42nd and 46th years.