Ode to the Pipa, or Song of the Lute

According to his inscription, Wang Jianzhang painted this work for his friend Gong Weiliu. Gong had recently acquired a rendering of the Tang dynasty poem “Pipa Xing” (“Song of the Pipa Player”) by renowned calligrapher Wen Jia. The poem and Wang’s painting were mounted together on the same scroll. “Pipa Xing, ” written by Bai Juyi (772–846), is considered a masterpiece of Chinese literature. In it, a man encounters a woman playing the pipa (a lute-like stringed instrument) and expresses the grief stirred by her melancholy song. In Wang’s painting, the woman stands on a boat in a moonlit river. She plays her instrument with her back to the viewer, concealing both her beauty and her sorrow.