Calligraphy of Wang Anshi’s Poems

Subject Matter:

The text of this work is:
白紵众山顶，江湖所萦带。
浮云卷晴明，可见九州外。
肩舆上寒空，置酒故人会。

The text could be tentatively interpreted as:

At the summit of Baizhu Mountain, one can behold lakes and rivers. The swirling clouds intermittently reveal a clear sky, offering distant views. Seated in a sedan chair, wines are arranged to welcome old friends.


Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940), a significant Chinese philosopher and politician, left an enduring mark on the trajectory of modern Chinese education. As an influential figure, he contributed substantially to education reform through the development of his unique educational ideology. Serving as the president of Peking University and founding the Academia Sinica, Cai Yuanpei was renowned for critically evaluating Chinese culture and skillfully synthesizing Chinese and Western thought, which notably included elements of anarchism. Active in pivotal movements such as the New Culture, May Fourth Movements, and the feminist movement, his diverse body of work encompassed topics ranging from aesthetic education to politics and education reform.

Cai Yuanpei and Lo Chia-Lun entered Peking University in the same year, with Cai as the president and Lo as a student. In 1926, when Lo was appointed president of Tsinghua University, Cai became one of his most influential supporters.

Physical Description:

Calligraphic hanging scroll with three vertical lines of black text and a small red seal at the lower-lefthand corner.
 

This piece is written in running script and is to be read from right to left, top to bottom. The main part of the work consists of the right two lines and the top three characters of the leftmost line, forming the initial six sentences of Wang Anshi’s poem “Baizhushan.”

The fourth to ninth characters of the leftmost line read "zhi xi wu xiong tong xue," indicating that this work is dedicated to Lo Chia-Lun. The final three characters represent the calligrapher's name, Cai Yuanpei.

A seal is inscribed with the characters "Cai Yuanpei Yin."

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