China, c. 1840-1920. Ink and watercolors on silk. The circular fan painting depicts two scholars seated by a rocky table, engrossed in a game of weiqi (go) beneath a pine tree by the riverside. One scholar confidently places a stone on the board, holding back his long sleeve, while the other watches with a sense of dread, his expression contrasting his opponent’s assurance. The scene is enriched with bamboo swaying in the wind and the swirling currents of the river.

Provenance: From a private estate in France.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, few creases, little browning.

Dimensions: Image diameter 21 cm, Size incl. frame 29.3 x 28 cm

Mounted and framed. (2)

The popular motif of two men playing weiqi is based on the legend of Lanke, or ‘[The Mountain of] the Rotten Axe Handle’, a Chinese legend recorded in Ren Fang’s Shuyiji (Tales of the Strange). The legend of Lanke has often been compared to that of Rip Van Winkle, although it predates it by at least 1000 years. One of the plot elements of the legend features two immortals playing a board game, interpreted in later times as weiqi (go). See a woodblock print by Hong Zicheng in Xianfo Qizong (Marvelous Traces of Transcendents and Buddhas), 1602, depicting Wang Zhi watching the Game of the Immortals.

The legend features Wang Zhi and his encounter with two immortals in the mountains. Wang Zhi was a hardy young fellow who used to venture deep into the mountains to find suitable wood for his axe. One day he went farther than usual and became lost. He wandered about for a while and eventually came upon two strange old men who were playing weiqi, their board resting on a rock between them. Wang Zhi was fascinated. He put down his axe and began to watch. One of the players gave him a date to chew on, so that he felt neither hunger nor thirst. As he continued to watch he fell into a trance for what seemed like an hour or two. When he awoke, however, the two old men were no longer there. He found that his axe handle had rotted to dust, and he had grown a long beard. When he returned to his native village, he discovered that his family had disappeared and that no one even remembered his name.