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Lot Essay
The Chinese ballad inscribed on this painting is by Li Yannian (c. 140-87 BCE), a Han-dynasty court musician and the brother of the beautiful Lady Li, an entertainer. He sang her praises before the Emperor Wu. The short verse, written in irregular, five-syllable meter, is a transitional form between a song or ballad (yuefu) and poetry (shi). Burton Watson translates the poem in his Courtier and Commoner in Ancient China: Selections from the History of the Former Han [by Pan Gu] (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974), p. 247:
Beautiful lady in a northern land,
standing alone, none in the world like her,
a single glance and she upsets a city,
a second glance, she upsets the state!
Not that I don't know she upsets states and cities,
but one so lovely you'll never find again!
This led to the emperor meeting the sister and taking her as one of his favorite concubines.
In Edo-period popular culture, keisei (upsets a city, or castle-toppler) and keikoku (upsets the state), were synonyms for courtesan.
Beautiful lady in a northern land,
standing alone, none in the world like her,
a single glance and she upsets a city,
a second glance, she upsets the state!
Not that I don't know she upsets states and cities,
but one so lovely you'll never find again!
This led to the emperor meeting the sister and taking her as one of his favorite concubines.
In Edo-period popular culture, keisei (upsets a city, or castle-toppler) and keikoku (upsets the state), were synonyms for courtesan.
