Lot Essay
This lot is accompanied by seven items of print reproductions.
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PROPERTY PREVIOUSLY FROM THE COLLECTION OF AN HO (LOTS 1321-1340)Born into an educated family in Beijing, An Ho (An He, 1927-2017) first determined to be an artist at the age of 7. Her mother was a painter of flowers, and An Ho learned calligraphy from a family friend. Her path as an artist was dramatically impacted when she became the student of Pu Ru (1896-1963) in 1944 when she was 16. She continued to study with him for 17 years. As Pu Ru considered it imperative that she develop her knowledge and character broadly in order to be an accomplished painter, he also instructed her in Chinese history, literature and philosophy. Throughout this unique student-teacher relationship, Pu Ru gifted An Ho numerous paintings and calligraphy. In addition, An Ho kept a substantial number of sketches, practice works and drafts of her teacher’s works. This collection provides a tremendous opportunity to witness Pu Ru as a mentor and art educator.
PU RU (1896-1963) / AN HO (AN HE, 1927-2017)
Manuscripts, Drafts, Sketches, and Teaching Materials of Han Yu Tang
Details
PU RU (1896-1963) / AN HO (AN HE, 1927-2017)
Manuscripts, Drafts, Sketches, and Teaching Materials of Han Yu Tang
356 pieces, ink on paper / ink and colour on paper
Various sizes
(363)
Manuscripts, Drafts, Sketches, and Teaching Materials of Han Yu Tang
356 pieces, ink on paper / ink and colour on paper
Various sizes
(363)
Further Details
Imparting Wisdom: An Ho’s Collection of Pu Ru’s Manuscripts
In 1949, Pu Ru (1896-1963) relocated to Taiwan. In addition to teaching at the Taiwan Normal University, he also gave private painting lessons at home as his former students in Beijing started to arrive on the island. A virtuoso in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, he told his followers that “Instead of calling me a painter, it is more appropriate to call me a calligrapher. Instead of calling me a calligrapher, it is more appropriate to call me a poet. If you want to call me a poet, it is best to call me a scholar.” Such self-labelling is consistent with how he often referred to himself: “Classic scholarship is my priority, poetry second, calligraphy third, and painting fourth.” Students at Pu Ru’s studio Hanyu tang (Frigid Jade Studio) such as Jiang Zhaoshen and Yao Yiwei have recalled that he valued one’s moral character when accepting new pupils; and much of his painting lessons focused on the study of the classics. In fact, Pu Ru’s philosophy and belief are rooted in the four skills expounded in Confucius’s Analects: “moral behavior,” “language,” “politics,” and “literature.” These four skills shared similarities with “moral conviction,” “virtuous insistence,” “benevolent following,” and “artistic enjoyment,” which are also promoted in the Analects. When he was received at the court at the age of three, Emperor Guangxu (r. 1875-1908) told him, “Your given name’s character means ‘Confucian.’ You ought to be a Confucian gentleman, not a Confucian villain.” According to the Analects, this is the same expectation Confucius expressed toward his disciple Zixia: being known as a Confucian; aiming to become a Confucian gentleman. These are the lifelong goals of Pu Ru. We will be able to fully comprehend his teaching philosophy if we can understand his conceptual principles.
An Ho (1927-2017) became a student of Pu Ru, who gave her the name Wenying. After her relocation to Taiwan, she reunited with him again and resumed her study in his Frigid Jade Studio and developed a close personal relationship with him. When Pu Ru became gravely ill in 1963, An Ho went to visit him while he was on his death bed. In his final moments, he wrote two poetic lines: “Journeying thousands of miles to visit an ill teacher, it never happened in the ancient time, but it is happening at the present.”
This piece of paper bearing Pu Ru’s final written words had been meticulously preserved by An Ho. In addition, she has also saved many other manuscripts by Pu Ru, the contents of which can be categorized as: literary manuscripts, inscriptions, painting sketches, everyday notes, auspicious wishes, calligraphy instruction, purchasing ink and colours, poetry composition, letters, knowledge in literature and history, and virtues.
In the past, Pu Ru’s manuscripts have been published, such as Pu Ru’s Calligraphy and Painting Manuscripts by Hong Kong Chinese University in 1976. This is a compilation of his manuscripts while teaching at the school. There is also Li Fu Duoro’s Collection of My Teacher Pu Ru’s Fine Works while in Japan, which includes thirty manuscripts of Pu Ru and the author and is a rare artistic heritage of Pu Ru’s time in Japan. However, these published volumes have limited scope, covering only his teaching on painting subjects such as pine, tress, rocks, figures, and landscape. Focusing entirely on artistic techniques, they do not reflect the importance he placed on the teaching of traditional classics, literature, history, and morality. Viewing An Ho’s collection of Pu Ru’s manuscripts from this perspective, we can better appreciate Pu Ru’s serious attitude in the traditional teaching style as a descendent of the Manchu imperial family.
Morality and virtues were at the core of Pu Ru’s life. Every year he transcribed classics with his own blood for his mother. He also edited a book on mothers’ teaching to promote mothers’ role in education. It was common for him to compose original aphorisms and to transcribe classic ones, as is evident in An Ho’s collection.
Since Pu Ru deemed knowledge acquisition of literature and history, as well as cultivation in calligraphy, as essential, they became the basic training for disciples in his Frigid Jade Studio. Jiang Zhaoshen, Xiao Yiwei, An Ho, among others, have all written about their personal experiences there. Jiang Zhaoshen has said that “In the year of jichou (1949), I wanted to learn the six principles of painting as theorized by the fifth-century writer Xie He. My teacher Pu Ru prohibited it, because he believed learning to paint was not a priority, but leaning literature was. Since then, he was always quite delighted when I submitted my practices of poetic and literary compositions for his review. Occasionally I turned in a painting, he would scowl as if in displeasure.”
As his education began with literature and history and he obtained concepts of painting through calligraphy, Pu Ru adopted his own path of learning in his instruction, emphasizing the significance of comprehensive knowledge of traditional education. This is quite similar to Zhang Daqian’s method of urging his students to further their academic learning. Besides the classics, Pu Ru also taught his students etiquette in letter-writing and social occasions. At the time, this type of instruction only existed in the curriculum of college students majoring in Chinese literature, but regardless of their disciplinary categories, Pu Ru considered these an integral part of traditional Chinese culture. While imparting knowledge in literature, history, and philosophy, he also taught how to select paper, ink, brush, and colours. Minutiae such as “When buying malachite and azurite, be sure to say you want the same kinds used by Zhang Daqian and Pu Ru;” “Use ink to colour hair and rocks;” and “Use Garcinia yellow, vermillion blush, and white to stain the whole face and hands” were explained in detail.
Pu Ru’s instruction and demonstration were so comprehensive, they even encompassed the identification of different components of swords, names of archaic bronzes and decorative objects, landscapes, and figures. As a teacher, he was rather serious and stern; but in everyday life, he was friendly, nonchalant, and witty. In this collection of An Ho’s, there are auspicious well-wishes Pu Ru composed for his students to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which reflects his concern for them. In addition, she also possesses an approximately 11 meters long Treatise on Calligraphy by Sun Guoting scroll, written by her teacher and given to her for study purposes.
Furthermore, from his notes such as “Don’t need to wait for me to eat,” one can observe his daily insouciance. His sense of humor is also palpable through casual sketches such as “The mirror is smiling back at me.”
Over half of a century, these manuscripts of Pu Ru’s have been carefully preserved by An Ho, which shows her fond memory of and respect for her teacher. Her remembrance of him has given us a rare opportunity to understand the breadth and depth of Pu Ru’s teaching inside the Frigid Jade Studio. Such a realistic and rich legacy serves to confirm our new perspective on Pu Ru and his art.
In 1949, Pu Ru (1896-1963) relocated to Taiwan. In addition to teaching at the Taiwan Normal University, he also gave private painting lessons at home as his former students in Beijing started to arrive on the island. A virtuoso in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, he told his followers that “Instead of calling me a painter, it is more appropriate to call me a calligrapher. Instead of calling me a calligrapher, it is more appropriate to call me a poet. If you want to call me a poet, it is best to call me a scholar.” Such self-labelling is consistent with how he often referred to himself: “Classic scholarship is my priority, poetry second, calligraphy third, and painting fourth.” Students at Pu Ru’s studio Hanyu tang (Frigid Jade Studio) such as Jiang Zhaoshen and Yao Yiwei have recalled that he valued one’s moral character when accepting new pupils; and much of his painting lessons focused on the study of the classics. In fact, Pu Ru’s philosophy and belief are rooted in the four skills expounded in Confucius’s Analects: “moral behavior,” “language,” “politics,” and “literature.” These four skills shared similarities with “moral conviction,” “virtuous insistence,” “benevolent following,” and “artistic enjoyment,” which are also promoted in the Analects. When he was received at the court at the age of three, Emperor Guangxu (r. 1875-1908) told him, “Your given name’s character means ‘Confucian.’ You ought to be a Confucian gentleman, not a Confucian villain.” According to the Analects, this is the same expectation Confucius expressed toward his disciple Zixia: being known as a Confucian; aiming to become a Confucian gentleman. These are the lifelong goals of Pu Ru. We will be able to fully comprehend his teaching philosophy if we can understand his conceptual principles.
An Ho (1927-2017) became a student of Pu Ru, who gave her the name Wenying. After her relocation to Taiwan, she reunited with him again and resumed her study in his Frigid Jade Studio and developed a close personal relationship with him. When Pu Ru became gravely ill in 1963, An Ho went to visit him while he was on his death bed. In his final moments, he wrote two poetic lines: “Journeying thousands of miles to visit an ill teacher, it never happened in the ancient time, but it is happening at the present.”
This piece of paper bearing Pu Ru’s final written words had been meticulously preserved by An Ho. In addition, she has also saved many other manuscripts by Pu Ru, the contents of which can be categorized as: literary manuscripts, inscriptions, painting sketches, everyday notes, auspicious wishes, calligraphy instruction, purchasing ink and colours, poetry composition, letters, knowledge in literature and history, and virtues.
In the past, Pu Ru’s manuscripts have been published, such as Pu Ru’s Calligraphy and Painting Manuscripts by Hong Kong Chinese University in 1976. This is a compilation of his manuscripts while teaching at the school. There is also Li Fu Duoro’s Collection of My Teacher Pu Ru’s Fine Works while in Japan, which includes thirty manuscripts of Pu Ru and the author and is a rare artistic heritage of Pu Ru’s time in Japan. However, these published volumes have limited scope, covering only his teaching on painting subjects such as pine, tress, rocks, figures, and landscape. Focusing entirely on artistic techniques, they do not reflect the importance he placed on the teaching of traditional classics, literature, history, and morality. Viewing An Ho’s collection of Pu Ru’s manuscripts from this perspective, we can better appreciate Pu Ru’s serious attitude in the traditional teaching style as a descendent of the Manchu imperial family.
Morality and virtues were at the core of Pu Ru’s life. Every year he transcribed classics with his own blood for his mother. He also edited a book on mothers’ teaching to promote mothers’ role in education. It was common for him to compose original aphorisms and to transcribe classic ones, as is evident in An Ho’s collection.
Since Pu Ru deemed knowledge acquisition of literature and history, as well as cultivation in calligraphy, as essential, they became the basic training for disciples in his Frigid Jade Studio. Jiang Zhaoshen, Xiao Yiwei, An Ho, among others, have all written about their personal experiences there. Jiang Zhaoshen has said that “In the year of jichou (1949), I wanted to learn the six principles of painting as theorized by the fifth-century writer Xie He. My teacher Pu Ru prohibited it, because he believed learning to paint was not a priority, but leaning literature was. Since then, he was always quite delighted when I submitted my practices of poetic and literary compositions for his review. Occasionally I turned in a painting, he would scowl as if in displeasure.”
As his education began with literature and history and he obtained concepts of painting through calligraphy, Pu Ru adopted his own path of learning in his instruction, emphasizing the significance of comprehensive knowledge of traditional education. This is quite similar to Zhang Daqian’s method of urging his students to further their academic learning. Besides the classics, Pu Ru also taught his students etiquette in letter-writing and social occasions. At the time, this type of instruction only existed in the curriculum of college students majoring in Chinese literature, but regardless of their disciplinary categories, Pu Ru considered these an integral part of traditional Chinese culture. While imparting knowledge in literature, history, and philosophy, he also taught how to select paper, ink, brush, and colours. Minutiae such as “When buying malachite and azurite, be sure to say you want the same kinds used by Zhang Daqian and Pu Ru;” “Use ink to colour hair and rocks;” and “Use Garcinia yellow, vermillion blush, and white to stain the whole face and hands” were explained in detail.
Pu Ru’s instruction and demonstration were so comprehensive, they even encompassed the identification of different components of swords, names of archaic bronzes and decorative objects, landscapes, and figures. As a teacher, he was rather serious and stern; but in everyday life, he was friendly, nonchalant, and witty. In this collection of An Ho’s, there are auspicious well-wishes Pu Ru composed for his students to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which reflects his concern for them. In addition, she also possesses an approximately 11 meters long Treatise on Calligraphy by Sun Guoting scroll, written by her teacher and given to her for study purposes.
Furthermore, from his notes such as “Don’t need to wait for me to eat,” one can observe his daily insouciance. His sense of humor is also palpable through casual sketches such as “The mirror is smiling back at me.”
Over half of a century, these manuscripts of Pu Ru’s have been carefully preserved by An Ho, which shows her fond memory of and respect for her teacher. Her remembrance of him has given us a rare opportunity to understand the breadth and depth of Pu Ru’s teaching inside the Frigid Jade Studio. Such a realistic and rich legacy serves to confirm our new perspective on Pu Ru and his art.
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