Painting of Hermits — Special Stamps
On April 2, 2016, China National Philatelic Corporation issued a souvenir sheet cover and a firstday cover carrying a set of three special stamps titled “Painting of Hermits” with a total face value of 3.90 yuan. The pictures on the stamps are all titled “Painting of Hermits (Part)”. The souvenir sheet is titled “Painting of Hermits” with a face value of 6 yuan.
The Painting of Hermits, a colored silk scroll painting, measuring 45.2cm by 168.7cm, is one of the rare extant figure paintings of the Tang Dynasty, which is now collected in Shanghai Museum. Its painter, Sun Wei, was a noted court painter in the Tang Dynasty. A native of Kuaiji (today’s Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province), Sun was also called Yu and known by pseudonym Kuaiji Mountain Dweller. In addition to figure painting, he was also adept at depicting pines, rocks, ink bamboos, and Buddhist and Taoist subjects. The Painting of Hermits is the remained part of the Painting of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, which portrays seven hermits with superb talent in the Wei and Jin dynasties. The remained part carries only four of them. From right to left, there are Shan Tao displaying a righteous and unrestrained sense, Wang Rong holding a Ruyi in his hand, Liu Ling holding a cup while looking back, and Ruan Ji waving a horsetail whisk.
The Painting of Hermits is a rare masterpiece that demonstrates the superb art achievement of the late Tang Dynasty. In the painting, the four figures sit on embroidered carpets, with their postures and facial expressions varying from each other and four boy attendants standing aside. Through the different objects each of them holds, the painting vividly depicts their respective personalities and temperaments. In terms of painting techniques, Sun inherited the freely flowing style of Gu Kaizhi and formed an even more mature style that features flowing lines, lifelike figure depiction, and bright, elegant colors. He depicted rocks in the background with rendering and wrinkling methods, setting a precedent in the painting style of the Five Dynasties period. The painting bears no signature or stamp of the painter, but is inscribed with words “Painting of Hermits by Sun Wei”, written by Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, in “Slender Gold” style. As the painting was included in the Painting Collection of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty, it still bears seal stamps such as “Xuanhe” and “Yushu”.