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Folding Screen Depicting Lanting Gathering, Longshan Gathering
(Rantei Kyokusui , Ryozan Shokai Zu)

Running your mouse over the work or tapping it on your screen will allow you to see the ultrahigh-resolution image. We hope that you will enjoy not only his free brush strokes and fresh colors but also his detailed depictions of a rich array of human emotions.

【How to use】
For PCs：
Zooming in and out: Use the scroll wheel on your mouse
Scrolling up and down: Click and drag with your mouse
For smartphones：
Zooming in and out: Pinch (touch the screen with two fingers and move them in or out)
Scrolling up and down: Swipe (make a slipping motion)

【Recommended environment】
For PCs：The latest version of Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari
For smartphones： Google Chrome on Android 6.0 or later; Safari on iOS 12 or later
*Outside of the above recommended environment, it may not work as intended.
* For smartphones, it is recommended that you use the function in a good wi-fi environment.


Date: 1763
Dimensions: Each folding screen is 158.0×358.0
Material: Color on paper
The Lanting Gathering motif originates in the account that a purification ceremony took place at the Orchid Pavilion in modern Zhejiang Province when Wang Xizhi (303–361) summoned 41 literati on the 3rd day of the 3rd month of the 9th year of Yonghe (353) in China’s Eastern Jin Dynasty. In this ceremony, Cups were floated down a stream, and the assembled literati would each compose a poem before the cups passed them. If someone failed to compose a poem, he would have to down the rice-wine in one of the cups as punishment. The theme of the Lanting Gathering was very popular among artists in Edo period, and Taiga’s screen painting majestically depicts the literati and the flowing stream. The scene configuration, depicting these literati at play in this deep, open waterfront space, shows the influence of Ming/Qing paintings of gatherings of literati in gardens.
The Longshan Gathering depicts the story of Meng Jia, who has been invited to Chong Yang drinking banquet held on Longshan Mountain on the 9th day of the 9th month. At the center of the party, Meng Jia didn’t notice that the wind had blown the hat from his head and was consequently ridiculed by his colleague in a poem, but he easily responded with an excellent poem, which astonished the onlookers. Longshan Gathering differs from Lanting Gathering in that it had not been commonly depicted by painters before Taiga’s day, and the possibility has been noted of enjoying the work by superimposing an actual image of a from-life painting of a gathering of literati in a garden. The rocky, overhanging mountains of Longshan Mountain, seeming to undulate, and its depiction of giant trees staring each other down, along with its overwhelming expression of extensive space, which is created by a contrast between the foreground and background across the water... all of these facets leave a vivid impression. This masterpiece shows Taiga’s 41st-year artistic style, which was composed of various styles.

Ike no Taiga1723-1776

池大雅1723-1776(享保8-安永5)

Ike no Taiga was a Nanga painter and calligrapher, active in the mid-Edo period. His family name was Ikeno while his given name was Kin, which was later changed to Arina. His courtesy names included Kasei and Kobin. Apart from his most famous art name, Taiga, he also used a multitude of others, such as Kyukasansho and Sangakudosha. He was born in Kyoto to the silver minter Ikeno Kazaemon. He showed tremendous talent beginning in his youth, and in 1737, when he was still in his 15th year, he started his career as a fan-maker. He performed seal engraving and fan painting using such works as The Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual and The Manual of the Eight Kinds of Painting, learning the art of literati paintings from Chinese woodblock painting manuals. Through his contacts with the Obaku-school monks of Manpukuji Temple, and the first-generation Nanga painters like Yanagisawa Kien (1704–1758) and Gion Nankai (1676–1751), he was able to deepen his understanding of literati paintings. By incorporating the works of the various traditional schools of painting in Japan and the expressions of western art, he was able to achieve a painting style characterized by stretchy brush lines, clear coloring, and spatial expression, and became the great master of Nanga.