Night-Shining White: Traces of a T’ang Dynasty Horse in Two Media

Tlxng Studies 4 (1986) Night-Shining White: Tracesof a T"ang Dynasty Horse in Two Media SUZANNE CAHILL UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO A fine handscroll attributed to the T'ang dynasty painter of horses Han Kan ~#' (active at the imperial court 742-756), now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, shows a dappled white stallion known as Night-Shining White p.~ ~ E3(see Plate 1).1 The name indicates that the horse's brilliant coat illuminated the dark of night. This magnificent animal was a favorite of the T'ang dynasty emperor Hsiian tsung ~ *(r. 712756 ), a ruler known for his support of the arts. Hsiian tsung's talented charger could perform military manreuvres and dance while holding a goblet of wine in his mouth. A short poem entitled ((Night-Shining White" by the poet Lu Kuei-meng M:.~ (fl. 881) celebrates the horse's beauty and skill. Lu never saw Night-Shining White; he wrote over a century after the horse died. Lu's poem describes a painting. T'ang dynasty writers frequently composed poems inspired by paintings. Many of these poems survive today in the nComplete T'ang Poetry" anthology, but few paintings to which these poems referred are still extant. I would like to suggest that Lu Kuei-meng's poem describes Han Kan's painting. lChinese and Japanese connoisseurship along with a larger number of seals and colophons support the attribution of the painting to Han Kan. A painting of this title appears in numerous traditional Chinese catalogues, including: Chang Yen-yuan ~ jfj ~, Li tai ming hua chi l1!ft ~:& ~C(847); Mi Fu *ffi ,Hua shih :& re. (c. 1100); ChangCh'ou ~:1I:,Nanyang ming hua piao ffj ~! ~• ~(early 17th-e.); Wang K'o-yu .:E-iiiJ 3!., Shan hu wang hua lu IfIIt JMJ~ • jf1c.(1643), Pien Yung-yu It jk :1=, Shih ku tang shu hua hui kao j:\"2J£ i!f.1t ~ (1682); WuSheng ~ ft,Takuanlu *ftjf1c. (1712), An Ch'i 1i dI1, Moyuan hui kuan ~ *"1It ft (18th-e.). Some modern Western scholars are uncertain that Han Kan himself painted the handscroll, but most accept a T'ang dynasty date for the original work. Chang Yen-yuan of the T'ang dynasty records that the emperor Hsuan tsung commanded Han Kan to paint Night-Shining White. (See William Acker, Some Tang and Pre-Tang Texts on Chinese Painting [Leiden, 1974], II. 1,261.) 91 T 如噓'Studies 4 (1986) Night-Shining White: Traces of a T'ang Dynasty Horse in Two Media SUZANNE CAHILL UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO A fine handscroll attributed to the T'ang dynasty painter of horses Han Kan 韓幹 (active at the imperial court 742-756), now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, shows a dappled white stallion known as Night-Shining White 照 夜白 (see Plate 1).1 The name indicates that the horse's brilliant coat illuminated the dark of night. This magnificent animal was a favorite of the T'ang dynasty emperor Hsuan tsung 玄宗 (r. 712756 ), a ruler known for his support of the arts. Hsuan tsung's talented charger could perform military manreuvres and dance while holding a goblet of wine in his mouth. A short poem entitled "Night-Shining White" by the poet Lu Kuei-meng 陸龜夢 (fl. 881) celebrates the horse's beauty and skill. Lu never saw Night-Shining White; he wrote over a century after the horse died. Lu's poem describes a painting. T'ang dynasty writers frequently composed poems inspired by paintings. Many of these poems survive today in the "Complete T'ang Poetry" anthology, but few paintings to which these poems referred are still extant. I would like to suggest that Lu Kuei-meng's poem describes Han Kan's painting. lChinese and Japanese connoisseurshipalong with a larger number of seals and colophonssupport the attribution of the painting to Han Kan. A painting of this title appears in numerous traditional Chinese catalogues, including:ChangYen-yuan 張彥遠， Li tai minghuachi 歷代名噩記 (847); MiFu 米芾， Huashih 盡史 (c. 1100); ChangCh'ou 張丑， Nanyang minghua piao 南陽名盡表 (early 17th-c.);WangK'o-yil 王祠玉， Shan hu wanghua lu 珊瑚綢盡錄 (1643), Pien Yung-yil 汴永譽， Shih ku tang shu hua hui kao 式古堂書盡彙考 (1682...