Departure at Huxi

CHINA

This is an illustration of a story about Huiyuan, the First Patriarch of the Pure Land school during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420). Huiyuan stayed at Donglin Temple on Lushan, maintaining strict monastic discipline. People would come to ask questions about the Dharma and when they left, he would see them off, but would never go farther than the Huxi bridge. One day he was visited by the Daoist priest Lu Xiujing and the poet Tao Yuanming. As they were leaving, accompanied by Huiyuan, they had a lively discussion, and did not realize that they were passing Huxi. A tiger nearby suddenly roared. The three of them laughed, then the two visitors departed. This story is a popular subject for artists; the painter of this picture, Fu Baoshi, had repeated it several times.
Fu Baoshi, from Nanchang in Jiangxi, was an expert in Chinese painting and a teacher of art and art history. His style blends traditional Chinese techniques with a Japanese approach to coloring. He was the creator of the “Boashicun” technique, a method of depicting the texture of rocks using light ink strokes.
In the painting, three figures stand under a pair of large trees. The figures have realistic expressions outlined with quick, decisive strokes that display their individual characters. Extremely wet brushwork is used on the trees and bushes, giving them a vibrant appearance. The color base is ink, washed over with some ocher and blue, resulting in a mild, elegant look. The three figures are small within the landscape, but are still the natural focus of the picture. Fu Baoshi’s seals are imprinted below an inscription on the upper right.