Life on the River

This handscroll presents a virtual anthology of the typical images and stock characters found on a Chinese river. At right, a woman and young lad pole along the gentle current behind a scholar-fisherman and his serving boy who are angling in midriver. On the far bank, a herdboy rides a water buffalo followed by a calf, and a wood gatherer rests by the stream as a woman appears around the hill carrying another load. At left, four small boats filled with fishermen and young boys have drawn together to take refreshment while one of them plays a bamboo flute. From the left, another scholar-fisherman approaches in his boat. Reeds and drying fishing nets line the foreground, where an open, thatch-roofed pavilion occupies a small promontory. The air is clear and fresh and vegetation lush and full, and everyone seems healthy and content.

Near center, beneath the trunk of a large, green-leafed tree, the spurious signature of the Southern Song dynasty painter Ma Yuan (late 12th-early 13th century) appears.