
1780
This scene exemplifies the swan-hunt theme in Chinese painting, which was first developed by the Khitan people during the Liao dynasty (907–1125) and later adopted as a prominent visual motif by the Jurchen in the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). The inscription on the left states that Yoshida Rankō painted it after a work by the Emperor Huizong (1082–1135) of the Song dynasty. The painting he saw, or maybe a copy, was sold at a Christie’s auction in New York in 2015.