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Antique Chinese fan painting with a poem by Song-dynasty poet Lu You.
The original poem was written around 1201 when he was 76 and describes local delicacies from the area where he grew up. The fan is signed on the lower left side by 魏惟一 Wèi Wéiyī and seal: 惟一Wéiyī. The old poem translates as the following:
Shanyin was once known as Little Penglai...
Tea leaf buds...
Shoots of herbs...
Foxnuts, "shiny pearls," carried by a hundred boats
Red bayberries, fire-like, hauled in a thousand loads
Xianghu watershield... mucilaginous and slippery
Bracken fern fiddleheads unopened, curled in fists
Bamboo shoots laying hidden, waiting for timely rain
Mushrooms on mulberry trees quivering in fear at the spring thunder
Palm blossoms steamed and dipped in vinegar sauce
Ginger buds peeled and marinated in the dregs of rice wine
Foxtail millet finely ground and made into porridge
Moist mountain yams wrapped and roasted in ashes
This ravenous old man realizes the limited power of his brush...
More information on the poem: Shanyin was once known as Little Penglai. Shanyin is an old name for Shaoxing where Lu You was from. Penglai is a mythical mountain paradise. Tea leaf buds...Beiyuan is where special tea was processed for Song dynasty emperors, some pressed into thin cakes. Shoots of medicinal herbs...surpassing Tiantai...The reference to Tiantai is probably because of its reputation in legends as a place to gather herbs. Foxnuts: seeds from a type of waterlily. Red bayberries. Xianghu watershield...A special variety of an edible waterlily-like plant from Xianghu Lake in Hangzhou, probably Brasenia officinalis. Mushrooms on mulberry trees quiver in fear at the spring thunder...These mushrooms might refer to black wood-ear mushrooms.
The way the poem is transcribed on the fan, the line is broken after "Mushrooms on mulberry trees'. The rest of the line plus the next appear out of sequence towards the end of the poem.
Palm blossoms steamed and dipped in vinegar sauce refer to the Chinese windmill palm.
In this transcription of the poem, "vinegar" is omitted, so it ends up being just "dipped in sauce".
Originally the poem was written in 20 lines of 7, but here it is arranged in alternating lines of 8 and 2 like this:
山陰古稱小蓬莱青
山萬
疊環樓臺不惟人物
富名
勝至処地產皆奇環
茗芽
落磑壓北苑藥苗入
饌逾
天台明珠百舸載芡
實火
齊千擔裝楊梅湘湖
蓴長
涎正滑秦望蕨生拳
未開
箭萌螯藏待時雨桒
蕈菌
薑茁披剝醃糟醅細
研甖
粟具湯液濕裹山蕷
供炮
煨老饞自覺筆力短
得一
蠢驚春雷椶花蒸煮
蘸醬
忘十真堪咍從今置
之勿
復道一瓢陋巷師
顏回
After the poem, there's an addition of 4 smaller characters: 煎下落𥂁 They're an addition; not part of the original poem that read something like "Cook with reduced salt"
The final line has an inscription:
紹塘先生雅正
Shào Táng xiānsheng yǎzhèng
"Mr. Shao Tang, please kindly point out my shortcomings"
,br> Artist: Wei Weiyi
Dimensions: Fan: 9 1/4" high x 20" wide. Mounted on silk: 14 1/4" high x 23 3/8" wide.
Shanyin was once known as Little Penglai...
Tea leaf buds...
Shoots of herbs...
Foxnuts, "shiny pearls," carried by a hundred boats
Red bayberries, fire-like, hauled in a thousand loads
Xianghu watershield... mucilaginous and slippery
Bracken fern fiddleheads unopened, curled in fists
Bamboo shoots laying hidden, waiting for timely rain
Mushrooms on mulberry trees quivering in fear at the spring thunder
Palm blossoms steamed and dipped in vinegar sauce
Ginger buds peeled and marinated in the dregs of rice wine
Foxtail millet finely ground and made into porridge
Moist mountain yams wrapped and roasted in ashes
This ravenous old man realizes the limited power of his brush...
More information on the poem: Shanyin was once known as Little Penglai. Shanyin is an old name for Shaoxing where Lu You was from. Penglai is a mythical mountain paradise. Tea leaf buds...Beiyuan is where special tea was processed for Song dynasty emperors, some pressed into thin cakes. Shoots of medicinal herbs...surpassing Tiantai...The reference to Tiantai is probably because of its reputation in legends as a place to gather herbs. Foxnuts: seeds from a type of waterlily. Red bayberries. Xianghu watershield...A special variety of an edible waterlily-like plant from Xianghu Lake in Hangzhou, probably Brasenia officinalis. Mushrooms on mulberry trees quiver in fear at the spring thunder...These mushrooms might refer to black wood-ear mushrooms.
The way the poem is transcribed on the fan, the line is broken after "Mushrooms on mulberry trees'. The rest of the line plus the next appear out of sequence towards the end of the poem.
Palm blossoms steamed and dipped in vinegar sauce refer to the Chinese windmill palm.
In this transcription of the poem, "vinegar" is omitted, so it ends up being just "dipped in sauce".
Originally the poem was written in 20 lines of 7, but here it is arranged in alternating lines of 8 and 2 like this:
山陰古稱小蓬莱青
山萬
疊環樓臺不惟人物
富名
勝至処地產皆奇環
茗芽
落磑壓北苑藥苗入
饌逾
天台明珠百舸載芡
實火
齊千擔裝楊梅湘湖
蓴長
涎正滑秦望蕨生拳
未開
箭萌螯藏待時雨桒
蕈菌
薑茁披剝醃糟醅細
研甖
粟具湯液濕裹山蕷
供炮
煨老饞自覺筆力短
得一
蠢驚春雷椶花蒸煮
蘸醬
忘十真堪咍從今置
之勿
復道一瓢陋巷師
顏回
After the poem, there's an addition of 4 smaller characters: 煎下落𥂁 They're an addition; not part of the original poem that read something like "Cook with reduced salt"
The final line has an inscription:
紹塘先生雅正
Shào Táng xiānsheng yǎzhèng
"Mr. Shao Tang, please kindly point out my shortcomings"
,br> Artist: Wei Weiyi
Dimensions: Fan: 9 1/4" high x 20" wide. Mounted on silk: 14 1/4" high x 23 3/8" wide.
$2,500.00
item #1452422
