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Calligraphic Works and Manuscripts by Hongyi from the Collection of Gao Wenxian (Lots 171-176)
HONGYI (1880-1942)
Calligraphy - Poem by Gong Zizhen
Details
HONGYI (1880-1942)
Calligraphy - Poem by Gong Zizhen
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
78.8 x 49 cm. (31 x 19 ¼ in.)
Inscribed and signed, with one seal of the artist
Dated second month, dingchou year (1937)
Dedicated to Shengjin (Gao Wenxian, 1913-1991)
NOTE:
This piece was executed in February 1937, when Master Hongyi was residing at Nanputuo Temple in Xiamen. Gao Wenxian was held in high regard by the Master, who even entrusted him with teaching some Buddhist instruction courses on his behalf. The verses transcribed here are by Gong Zizhen. In his inscription, the Master notes that he had recited this poem in childhood but had forgotten its opening line, revealing a subtle sense of nostalgic recollection. The full original poem reads:
Unfinished, after all, the heart drifts vague and faint,
In all things, better to embrace the flawed and incomplete.
Singing on to where the setting sun meets mountains beyond mountains,
Through the ages, who has ever escaped the lingering pull of feeling?
Note: The phrase "where the setting sun meets mountains beyond mountains" evokes the lyrics of the famous song Farewell, composed by the Master before his renunciation. It is tempting to speculate that the song may also have been influenced by Gong Zizhen's verse—a point well worth pondering. The calligraphy features an open, spacious structure and restrained, lucid brushwork, embodying the austere clarity that emerged from the Master's integration of Vinaya practice into his art—a hallmark of his mature late style. Works of this kind, combining literary poetry, personal memory, and teacher-student affection, are rarely seen and are all the more precious.
Calligraphy - Poem by Gong Zizhen
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
78.8 x 49 cm. (31 x 19 ¼ in.)
Inscribed and signed, with one seal of the artist
Dated second month, dingchou year (1937)
Dedicated to Shengjin (Gao Wenxian, 1913-1991)
NOTE:
This piece was executed in February 1937, when Master Hongyi was residing at Nanputuo Temple in Xiamen. Gao Wenxian was held in high regard by the Master, who even entrusted him with teaching some Buddhist instruction courses on his behalf. The verses transcribed here are by Gong Zizhen. In his inscription, the Master notes that he had recited this poem in childhood but had forgotten its opening line, revealing a subtle sense of nostalgic recollection. The full original poem reads:
Unfinished, after all, the heart drifts vague and faint,
In all things, better to embrace the flawed and incomplete.
Singing on to where the setting sun meets mountains beyond mountains,
Through the ages, who has ever escaped the lingering pull of feeling?
Note: The phrase "where the setting sun meets mountains beyond mountains" evokes the lyrics of the famous song Farewell, composed by the Master before his renunciation. It is tempting to speculate that the song may also have been influenced by Gong Zizhen's verse—a point well worth pondering. The calligraphy features an open, spacious structure and restrained, lucid brushwork, embodying the austere clarity that emerged from the Master's integration of Vinaya practice into his art—a hallmark of his mature late style. Works of this kind, combining literary poetry, personal memory, and teacher-student affection, are rarely seen and are all the more precious.
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist, thence by descent.
Literature
The Complete Works of Master Hongyi, Volume 9, Calligraphy Volume, Fujian People's Publishing House, Fuzhou,1991, p. 261.
The Complete Works of Master Hongyi, Volume 9, Calligraphy Volume, Fujian People's Publishing House, Fuzhou, 2010, p. 263.
The Complete Works of Master Hongyi, Volume 9, Calligraphy Volume, Fujian People's Publishing House, Fuzhou, 2010, p. 263.
Further details
This collection comprises six groups of manuscripts and calligraphic works by Master Hongyi from the collection of Gao Wenxian (1913–1991), a devoted disciple who served as the master’s Minnan dialect interpreter and received the Dharma name Shengjin.
Dating from the mid-1930s to around 1940, the materials reflect Hongyi’s southern Fujian period. Inscriptions reveal a close master-disciple relationship, as Hongyi repeatedly wrote Buddhist texts, poems, and Dharma teachings for Shengjin between 1933 and 1938.
The collection includes calligraphic dedications, Buddhist manuscripts, a rare blood-inscribed Amitābha title, notes, and draft fragments, documenting Hongyi’s doctrinal interests, scriptural study, and daily monastic activities.
The materials also illuminate Hongyi’s network of lay followers, including Guangqia and Yu Zhilang, offering valuable insight into the Buddhist community of southern Fujian.
Preserved by the Gao family for over eighty years, this well‑provenanced collection illuminates multiple facets of Hongyi’s later years—his teaching, writing, and personal interactions. It stands as both an artistic testament and a vital documentary legacy of his southern Fujian period, embodying Gao Wenxian’s lifelong devotion to preserving and studying the master’s heritage.
Dating from the mid-1930s to around 1940, the materials reflect Hongyi’s southern Fujian period. Inscriptions reveal a close master-disciple relationship, as Hongyi repeatedly wrote Buddhist texts, poems, and Dharma teachings for Shengjin between 1933 and 1938.
The collection includes calligraphic dedications, Buddhist manuscripts, a rare blood-inscribed Amitābha title, notes, and draft fragments, documenting Hongyi’s doctrinal interests, scriptural study, and daily monastic activities.
The materials also illuminate Hongyi’s network of lay followers, including Guangqia and Yu Zhilang, offering valuable insight into the Buddhist community of southern Fujian.
Preserved by the Gao family for over eighty years, this well‑provenanced collection illuminates multiple facets of Hongyi’s later years—his teaching, writing, and personal interactions. It stands as both an artistic testament and a vital documentary legacy of his southern Fujian period, embodying Gao Wenxian’s lifelong devotion to preserving and studying the master’s heritage.
Brought to you by
Carmen Shek Cerne (石嘉雯)
Vice President, Head of Department, Chinese Paintings
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