Is Boya playing for Zi Qi? ² Compare Confucius playing for Shi Xiang ³

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

Confucius playing for Shi Xiang

1. The title for the painting above is 伯牙鼓琴圖 Boya Plays the Qin. The original (see info), by 王振鵬 Wang Zhenpeng (1280 - ca. 1329), is in the Palace Museum, Beijing. It is often copied online (see also another example). (Return)

2. Zi Qi ( Zhong Ziqi) is traditionally said to have been a woodcutter / fuel-gatherer, but some accounts also make him out to be a scholar. (Return)

3. Confucius playing for Shi Xiang
At right is a closeup of part of an untitled illustration in the back of an illustrated book of the life of Confucius (孔子聖蹟圖，河北美術出版社，1996), originally published ca. 1930 but copying old images. The main illustration, "學琴師襄 Studying qin with Shi Xiang", has somewhat different surroundings but Confucius and Shi Xiang are in a similar relationship.

Illustrations from the life of Confucius date perhaps as early as the Song dynasty, but existing woodblocks survive from a later date. It would be interesting to find commentary on the similarity of these images. (Return)

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