A Study of Su Shi’s Calligraphy Scroll Containing “Rhapsody on Dongting Spring Colors Wine” and “Rhapsody on Pine Wine of Zhongshan”

This article discusses what is physically the longest of Su Shi’s surviving calligraphic scrolls, which joins together his “Rhapsody on Dongting Spring Colors Wine” and “Rhapsody on Pine Wine of Zhongshan” (the scroll is held in the Jilin Provincial Museum). Although most reproductions of Su Shi’s calligraphy contain the Two Rhapsodies Scroll, and there are also specialized studies of it, treatments of it are incomplete and inadequate. In addition, from stone engravings, calligraphy models, and historical sources, we know that before the two rhapsodies were combined in a single scroll, Su Shi wrote out his “Rhapsody on Pine Wine of Zhongshan” as a single piece, and the Qianlong emperor himself made calligraphic copies of this work. The stone engraving, calligraphy models, and Qianlong imperial copy of these compositions all have differences, which have greatly complicated understanding of the original work. This article seeks to sort out the basic documentation concerning the Two Rhapsodies Scroll and clarify its history of filiation, to provide a broad framework for understanding it. The article then goes on to analyze the content of the scroll’s various colophons and examine the significance of the scroll in the history of calligraphy.