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Alfreda Murck

Columbia University, Art History and Archaeology, Adjunct

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An independent scholar of Chinese visual culture, I lived in Taipei and Beijing from 1991 to 2013. My publications include Poetry and Painting in Song China: The Subtle Art of Dissent (Harvard Asia Center 2000), “Golden Mangoes –– The Life Cycle of a Cultural Revolution Symbol,” Archives of Asian Art, vol. 57 (2007), Zhao Lingrang’s uses of poetry in Summer Mist along the Lakeshore (Ars Orientalis vol. 49, 2019), and Cui Bai’s ’Magpies and Hare’ as a Commentary on Marriage, Eunuchs, and Self-awareness” (Journal of Song Yuan Studies vol. 49, 2020). Before living in Asia, I was Associate Curator of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum. I received a PhD from Princeton University.

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Frédéric TIXIER

Université de Lorraine

University of Maryland

Francois Baratte

Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV)

François Cuynet

Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV)

University of Missouri Columbia

Columbia University

Columbia University

Philippe Lorentz

Sorbonne University

Nathaniel B Jones

Washington University in St. Louis

University of East London

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Papers by Alfreda Murck

.6 建国瓷创作促成的景德镇复兴-姜斐德

Revival of Jingdezhen and State Dinnerware, 2012

The Trope of Falling Leaves in Chinese Literature, Ceramics, Painting, and Song Lyrics

Significations in Chinese Landscape Painting, 2024

Press, forthcoming [2024]). References to "falling leaves" have appeared in Chinese literature an... more Press, forthcoming [2024]). References to "falling leaves" have appeared in Chinese literature and arts for two millennia. One key to understanding the image appears in the annotations to an ancient hymn. For a description of autumn, annotators extended the meanings beyond season to laments for talent wasted and a world in disorder. This essay briefly traces the development of the falling leaf image (luo ye 落葉, mu ye xia 木葉下) and asks: When do falling leaves simply signal autumn and when do they refer to the poem's critical commentary? Could artists use the image of drifting leaves to tacitly express criticism, frustration, or grief? 1

Wosun A Noble Vegetable

The Cleaver Quarterly, 2015

In Chinese literature and painting, metaphors emerge from unexpected places. The eighth century p... more In Chinese literature and painting, metaphors emerge from unexpected places. The eighth century poet Du Fu made the mild green vegetable woju 莴苣 or wosun 莴笋 a useful image of the superior man. With humor and multiple contradictions, William Kentridge over laid an inky painting of the vegetable with old and new phrases and slogans.

Paintings of Stem Lettuce, Cabbage, and Weeds: Allusions to Tu Fu's Garden

Archives of Asian Art, 1995

This article proposes that two poems by the great Tang dynasty poet Du Fu (712-770)—Planting Stem... more This article proposes that two poems by the great Tang dynasty poet Du Fu (712-770)—Planting Stem Lettuce (Zhong woju) and Delivery of Vegetables from the Supervising Gardner (Yuan guan song cai)—were textual allusions behind paintings of long-stemmed leafy-green vegetables. When Du Fu compared the refined man君子to a long-stemmed vegetable 萵苣he created a new metaphor. The antithesis of 萵苣was weeds and thorns 野草与荆棘. The poems gave painters the potential to convey Confucian rectitude and a sense of moral outrage. A more innocent set of associations that developed around long-stemmed vegetables is also explored. Du Fu’s vegetable was painted by little-known Yuan dynasty artists, by famous painters such as the late Ming dynasty scholar-official Huang Daozhou, the Ming loyalist Yun Shouping, and the 20th century descendent of the Manchu imperial house Pu Xinyu.

Su Shi Old Tree and Rock

Su Shi Wood and Rock, Christie's Hong Kong auction catalogue, 2018

Su Shi (1037--1101) painted dozens of old trees and rocks. This is one of the rare surviving work... more Su Shi (1037--1101) painted dozens of old trees and rocks. This is one of the rare surviving works that can be considered authentic. This article examines Su Shi's signature seal, the quality of Su's painting, and the authenticity of the poetic inscription by Su Shi's famous contemporary Mi Fu (1052--1107). All elements suggest that the scroll dates to the mid 1090s.

Ma Yuan, Composing Poetry on a Spring Outing, Nelson-Atkins Chinese

Masterpieces of Early Chinese Painting and Calligraphy in American Collections, 2012

The handscroll in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Composing Poetry on a Spring Outing《春游赋诗图卷》，is comple... more The handscroll in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Composing Poetry on a Spring Outing《春游赋诗图卷》，is completely without documentation save for its title slip and a few late seals. It is not signed nor dated. It has lost its series of colophons. Much can be learned, however, from a careful reading of the style and imagery. It is clearly in the manner of Ma Yuan马远 (act. before 1189-after 1225) and for good reasons has been attributed to that master, although other hands may have been involved. It seems to have been painted in the late 12th century. The patron was likely the unabashedly wealthy Zhang Zi张鎡 (1153–after 1211) who was an amateur painter, a scholar-official and a poet of some merit. One of his poems is the sole surviving contemporary description of Ma Yuan’s art. My hunch is that the scene documents contemporary events in Zhang Zi’s garden, and that the four figures on the periphery are poets of the past drawn to the event by the host’s inspired poetry. That is, Composing Poetry on a Spring Outing is a visual rendition of the idea of “communing with spirits” (shenjiao神交).

Golden Mangoes-The Life Cycle of a Cultural Revolution Symbol

Archives of Asian Art, 2007

O n 5 August 1968 Mao Zedong sent mangoes from Pakistan to the Worker-Peasant Propaganda Teams wh... more O n 5 August 1968 Mao Zedong sent mangoes from Pakistan to the Worker-Peasant Propaganda Teams who were then bringing warring factions of Red Guards under control at Qinghua University. The exotic fruit inspired something close to religious awe. Among those who remember the events, mangoes were a token of Mao's love and concern for the people. At the time, the gift accompanied an important political directive and symbolized a turning point in the mass campaigns of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The mangoes announced that, in forwarding the Cultural Revolution, student Red Guards were no longer needed; instead, the working class would henceforth be in charge (Fig. 1). Using documentary evidence, eyewitness accounts, artifacts, period photographs, and retrospective interviews, this essay traces the improbable story of the mango's sudden emergence into mass political discourse and its subsequent disappearance. It asks how symbols are constructed and why some flourish whereas others perish.

"Panjiayuan" (Hong Kong 2008): 55-62

Beijing: Portrait of a City, Compiled by Alexandra Pearson and Lucy Cavender , 2008

This is a snapshot of Panjiayuan, Beijing's largest flea market at the beginning of the 21st cen... more

The John M. Crawford, Jr., collection of Chinese calligraphy and painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art : checklist

Huang Tingjian’s Laments

Poetry and Painting in Song China, 2000

The meaning of the 'Eight Views of Hsiao-Hsiang' : poetry and painting in Sung China

Mao's Golden Mangoes and the Cultural Revolution

In August 1968, the Pakistani foreign minister visited Beijing and presented Chairman Mao with a ... more

A Chinese garden court

Du bon usage des images: Autour des codes visuels en Chine et au Japon

Ce numéro s’intéresse à l’utilisation singulière des codes visuels dans les traditions iconograph... more Ce numéro s’intéresse à l’utilisation singulière des codes visuels dans les traditions iconographiques chinoise et japonaise, au travers de divers procédés : jeux sur différents niveaux de signification, allusions multiples, cryptage délibéré de séquences graphiques ou détournement des conventions. Ce recueil offre à travers cinq études l’analyse d’un corpus représentatif de ces pratiques : peintures narratives, lettrées, art bouddhique, calendriers cryptés, ou encore mise en image de l’espace politique. Riche d’une ample matière au regard de la question des conventions, comme de celle de la communication, cette réflexion se verra confrontée au « regard extérieur » de deux spécialistes des codes visuels occidentaux (iconographiques, symboliques et graphiques)

The Social Life of Inkstones: Artisans and Scholars in Early Qing China. By Dorothy Ko . Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017. xii, 315 pp. ISBN: 9780295999180 (cloth)

The Journal of Asian Studies, 2018

Décor on Republican Era Tea Wares

Poetry and Painting in Song China

Magpies and Hare': Cui Bai's Commentary on Marriage, Eunuchs, and Self-awareness

Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, 2020

Words in Chinese Painting

Powers/Companion, 2015

Emperor Huizong by Patricia Buckley Ebrey

Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 2015

Emperor Huizong 徽宗 (r. 1100-1126), traditionally viewed as a fatuous and incompetent ruler who br... more Emperor Huizong 徽宗 (r. 1100-1126), traditionally viewed as a fatuous and incompetent ruler who brought a tragic end to the Northern Song dynasty, becomes the only Song emperor who has a biography in English. In this wellresearched and highly readable book, Patricia Ebrey aims to rescue Huizong from Chinese morality-based accounts and to understand him as a real person. This is not Ebrey's first study of this figure. In 2006, she coedited a collection of essays, Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China, with Maggie Bickford. 1 Two years later, she published a monograph, titled Accumulating Culture, on Huizong's art collections and his building of cultural authority in the empire. 2 In both of these books, Ebrey questions the established view of Huizong in Chinese historiography and reexamines him through new cultural, political, and linguistic readings. The current work is the third in this series, summarizing the author's twenty years of endeavor by providing a comprehensive account of this controversial ruler. The main thesis of this book is that Huizong was not worse than other emperors in Chinese history. An outstanding and talented artist and poet, pious Daoist, and avid cultural patron, Huizong paid great attention to cultural and religious activities and constantly sought splendor and magnificence in his life. The failure of the Northern Song had multiple causes, and Huizong need not bear all of the blame. Even in the years when he was a captive of the Jurchen Jin, he could still maintain certain levels of humanity and dignity, struggling to lead or at least help his imperial family members when they were relocated to northeast Asia. Ebrey disagrees with the mainstream view of Chinese historians as they often portray this ruler as inept and condemn him and his policies without sound reasoning. She reminds readers that official histories and surviving scholarly accounts are often influenced by a morally centered agenda, shaped by anti-reformists and Neo-Confucian thinkers of the Southern Song period. Thus, it is necessary to have a more neutral reading of the sources in order to construct a balanced view of Huizong and his policies.

.6 建国瓷创作促成的景德镇复兴-姜斐德

Revival of Jingdezhen and State Dinnerware, 2012

The Trope of Falling Leaves in Chinese Literature, Ceramics, Painting, and Song Lyrics

Significations in Chinese Landscape Painting, 2024

Press, forthcoming [2024]). References to "falling leaves" have appeared in Chinese literature an... more Press, forthcoming [2024]). References to "falling leaves" have appeared in Chinese literature and arts for two millennia. One key to understanding the image appears in the annotations to an ancient hymn. For a description of autumn, annotators extended the meanings beyond season to laments for talent wasted and a world in disorder. This essay briefly traces the development of the falling leaf image (luo ye 落葉, mu ye xia 木葉下) and asks: When do falling leaves simply signal autumn and when do they refer to the poem's critical commentary? Could artists use the image of drifting leaves to tacitly express criticism, frustration, or grief? 1

Wosun A Noble Vegetable

The Cleaver Quarterly, 2015

In Chinese literature and painting, metaphors emerge from unexpected places. The eighth century p... more In Chinese literature and painting, metaphors emerge from unexpected places. The eighth century poet Du Fu made the mild green vegetable woju 莴苣 or wosun 莴笋 a useful image of the superior man. With humor and multiple contradictions, William Kentridge over laid an inky painting of the vegetable with old and new phrases and slogans.

Paintings of Stem Lettuce, Cabbage, and Weeds: Allusions to Tu Fu's Garden

Archives of Asian Art, 1995

This article proposes that two poems by the great Tang dynasty poet Du Fu (712-770)—Planting Stem... more This article proposes that two poems by the great Tang dynasty poet Du Fu (712-770)—Planting Stem Lettuce (Zhong woju) and Delivery of Vegetables from the Supervising Gardner (Yuan guan song cai)—were textual allusions behind paintings of long-stemmed leafy-green vegetables. When Du Fu compared the refined man君子to a long-stemmed vegetable 萵苣he created a new metaphor. The antithesis of 萵苣was weeds and thorns 野草与荆棘. The poems gave painters the potential to convey Confucian rectitude and a sense of moral outrage. A more innocent set of associations that developed around long-stemmed vegetables is also explored. Du Fu’s vegetable was painted by little-known Yuan dynasty artists, by famous painters such as the late Ming dynasty scholar-official Huang Daozhou, the Ming loyalist Yun Shouping, and the 20th century descendent of the Manchu imperial house Pu Xinyu.

Su Shi Old Tree and Rock

Su Shi Wood and Rock, Christie's Hong Kong auction catalogue, 2018

Su Shi (1037--1101) painted dozens of old trees and rocks. This is one of the rare surviving work... more Su Shi (1037--1101) painted dozens of old trees and rocks. This is one of the rare surviving works that can be considered authentic. This article examines Su Shi's signature seal, the quality of Su's painting, and the authenticity of the poetic inscription by Su Shi's famous contemporary Mi Fu (1052--1107). All elements suggest that the scroll dates to the mid 1090s.

Ma Yuan, Composing Poetry on a Spring Outing, Nelson-Atkins Chinese

Masterpieces of Early Chinese Painting and Calligraphy in American Collections, 2012

The handscroll in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Composing Poetry on a Spring Outing《春游赋诗图卷》，is comple... more The handscroll in the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Composing Poetry on a Spring Outing《春游赋诗图卷》，is completely without documentation save for its title slip and a few late seals. It is not signed nor dated. It has lost its series of colophons. Much can be learned, however, from a careful reading of the style and imagery. It is clearly in the manner of Ma Yuan马远 (act. before 1189-after 1225) and for good reasons has been attributed to that master, although other hands may have been involved. It seems to have been painted in the late 12th century. The patron was likely the unabashedly wealthy Zhang Zi张鎡 (1153–after 1211) who was an amateur painter, a scholar-official and a poet of some merit. One of his poems is the sole surviving contemporary description of Ma Yuan’s art. My hunch is that the scene documents contemporary events in Zhang Zi’s garden, and that the four figures on the periphery are poets of the past drawn to the event by the host’s inspired poetry. That is, Composing Poetry on a Spring Outing is a visual rendition of the idea of “communing with spirits” (shenjiao神交).

Golden Mangoes-The Life Cycle of a Cultural Revolution Symbol

Archives of Asian Art, 2007

O n 5 August 1968 Mao Zedong sent mangoes from Pakistan to the Worker-Peasant Propaganda Teams wh... more O n 5 August 1968 Mao Zedong sent mangoes from Pakistan to the Worker-Peasant Propaganda Teams who were then bringing warring factions of Red Guards under control at Qinghua University. The exotic fruit inspired something close to religious awe. Among those who remember the events, mangoes were a token of Mao's love and concern for the people. At the time, the gift accompanied an important political directive and symbolized a turning point in the mass campaigns of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The mangoes announced that, in forwarding the Cultural Revolution, student Red Guards were no longer needed; instead, the working class would henceforth be in charge (Fig. 1). Using documentary evidence, eyewitness accounts, artifacts, period photographs, and retrospective interviews, this essay traces the improbable story of the mango's sudden emergence into mass political discourse and its subsequent disappearance. It asks how symbols are constructed and why some flourish whereas others perish.

"Panjiayuan" (Hong Kong 2008): 55-62

Beijing: Portrait of a City, Compiled by Alexandra Pearson and Lucy Cavender , 2008

This is a snapshot of Panjiayuan, Beijing's largest flea market at the beginning of the 21st cen... more

The John M. Crawford, Jr., collection of Chinese calligraphy and painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art : checklist

Huang Tingjian’s Laments

Poetry and Painting in Song China, 2000

The meaning of the 'Eight Views of Hsiao-Hsiang' : poetry and painting in Sung China

Mao's Golden Mangoes and the Cultural Revolution

In August 1968, the Pakistani foreign minister visited Beijing and presented Chairman Mao with a ... more

A Chinese garden court

Du bon usage des images: Autour des codes visuels en Chine et au Japon

Ce numéro s’intéresse à l’utilisation singulière des codes visuels dans les traditions iconograph... more Ce numéro s’intéresse à l’utilisation singulière des codes visuels dans les traditions iconographiques chinoise et japonaise, au travers de divers procédés : jeux sur différents niveaux de signification, allusions multiples, cryptage délibéré de séquences graphiques ou détournement des conventions. Ce recueil offre à travers cinq études l’analyse d’un corpus représentatif de ces pratiques : peintures narratives, lettrées, art bouddhique, calendriers cryptés, ou encore mise en image de l’espace politique. Riche d’une ample matière au regard de la question des conventions, comme de celle de la communication, cette réflexion se verra confrontée au « regard extérieur » de deux spécialistes des codes visuels occidentaux (iconographiques, symboliques et graphiques)

The Social Life of Inkstones: Artisans and Scholars in Early Qing China. By Dorothy Ko . Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017. xii, 315 pp. ISBN: 9780295999180 (cloth)

The Journal of Asian Studies, 2018

Décor on Republican Era Tea Wares

Poetry and Painting in Song China

Magpies and Hare': Cui Bai's Commentary on Marriage, Eunuchs, and Self-awareness

Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, 2020

Words in Chinese Painting

Powers/Companion, 2015

Emperor Huizong by Patricia Buckley Ebrey

Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 2015

Emperor Huizong 徽宗 (r. 1100-1126), traditionally viewed as a fatuous and incompetent ruler who br... more Emperor Huizong 徽宗 (r. 1100-1126), traditionally viewed as a fatuous and incompetent ruler who brought a tragic end to the Northern Song dynasty, becomes the only Song emperor who has a biography in English. In this wellresearched and highly readable book, Patricia Ebrey aims to rescue Huizong from Chinese morality-based accounts and to understand him as a real person. This is not Ebrey's first study of this figure. In 2006, she coedited a collection of essays, Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China, with Maggie Bickford. 1 Two years later, she published a monograph, titled Accumulating Culture, on Huizong's art collections and his building of cultural authority in the empire. 2 In both of these books, Ebrey questions the established view of Huizong in Chinese historiography and reexamines him through new cultural, political, and linguistic readings. The current work is the third in this series, summarizing the author's twenty years of endeavor by providing a comprehensive account of this controversial ruler. The main thesis of this book is that Huizong was not worse than other emperors in Chinese history. An outstanding and talented artist and poet, pious Daoist, and avid cultural patron, Huizong paid great attention to cultural and religious activities and constantly sought splendor and magnificence in his life. The failure of the Northern Song had multiple causes, and Huizong need not bear all of the blame. Even in the years when he was a captive of the Jurchen Jin, he could still maintain certain levels of humanity and dignity, struggling to lead or at least help his imperial family members when they were relocated to northeast Asia. Ebrey disagrees with the mainstream view of Chinese historians as they often portray this ruler as inept and condemn him and his policies without sound reasoning. She reminds readers that official histories and surviving scholarly accounts are often influenced by a morally centered agenda, shaped by anti-reformists and Neo-Confucian thinkers of the Southern Song period. Thus, it is necessary to have a more neutral reading of the sources in order to construct a balanced view of Huizong and his policies.