Chinese Calligraphy The Five Colors of Ink
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Poems in Cursive Script (detail)
By Chen Xianzhang (1428–1500), China, Ming dynasty, 1483 (Gift of Mr. Takashima Kikujirō)Asian Gallery (Toyokan) Room 8
August 25, 2026 (Tue) - October 18, 2026 (Sun)In his seminal 9th-century work On History’s Famous Paintings , the scholar and official Zhang Yanyuan proposed that ink possesses five “colors”—different shades of ink that, while uncolored, evoke the idea of color in ink paintings that thoroughly capture their subjects’ true essence. With this theory, later generations of artists came to understand and describe the diversity in shades of ink and the brushwork used to achieve them as “The Five Colors of Ink”.
The present exhibition introduces works that exhibit this diversity in ink expressions, namely hand-brushed calligraphy and stele rubbings from the 15th to 20th centuries (Ming dynasty–Republic period).
| Designation | Name | Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance |
Period | Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number |
CMT | ||
| Highlight | Poems in Cursive Script | By Chen Xianzhang (1428–1500), China | Ming dynasty, 1483 | Gift of Mr. Takashima Kikujirō, TB-1216 | |||
| Highlight | Poems in Standard Script | By Wen Zhengming (1470–1559), China | Ming dynasty, 1552 | Gift of Mr. Takashima Kikujirō, TB-1219 | |||
| Highlight | Poems of Encouragement by Zhang Maoxian in Seal Script | By Wu Xizai (1799–1870), China | Qing dynasty, 19th century | Gift of Mr. Aoyama San'u, TB-1625 | |||
| Highlight | Excerpts from Ling Xian by Zhang Heng in Clerical Script | By Zhao Zhiqian (1829–1884), China, Previously owned by Mr. Kobayashi Toan | Qing dynasty, 1868 | Gift of Mr. Kobayashi Toshiaki and Mr. Kobayashi Takaaki, TB-1702 |