Description

‘Luohan and Incense Wood’ (Song Dynasty)
Ink on silk
Two collector’s seals: Xishi Zhi Bao; Junsheng Xinshang

The painting is part of a larger hand-scroll. It depicts a luohan seated on a mat of animal skin in royal ease with his left leg raised and right leg resting on the floor. His left arm is holding a plate of fruit and his right arm is held in pran mudra, the mudra of increased vitality. His wispy hair is gathered behind a diadem, and he is wearing a loose robe above his foreign attire, with fitted sleeves and heeled shoes. His face is gently shaded to suggest shadow and light. Curiously, in front of him is a circular drum-shaped vessel with a domed base, in which a large piece of dried wood is standing.

The painting is in archaic style, recalling that of Tang period figural paintings, especially with its use of shading on the facial features, such as that seen on the hand-scroll painting Six Hermits in the Palace Museum, Beijing, attributed to Lu Yao of the Tang dynasty. However, whereas in wall paintings of the Tang period the shading is applied as a wash, here the shading is done with very fine lines.

The drum-shaped vessel in the painting is of Song style, very similar to the drum-shaped censer dated to Southern Song period excavated in Canton (fig. 19). Similarly, the vessel in the his hand is similar in proportion to the ceramics of the Northern Song.

It is likely that this is a Song version of an earlier painting, where the figures have been faithfully copied, while the accompanying elements are given a contemporary flavour, as is often the case in later copies of earlier paintings. Another painting in the Palace Museum, attributed to Lu Lengjia of the Tang dynasty, shows a foreigner carrying a piece of rock-like object to offer to a luohan
(fig. 18). Traditionally this object has been called a qishi, or ‘fantastic rock’, but with the Buddhist theme of the painting, it seems equally likely to be a piece of incense wood, as is represented in the current painting.

The use of chenxiangmu as not only incense but something to appreciate visually is recorded in literature from as early as the Northern Song period. Su Shi, for example, gave a chenxiang mountain to his brother Su Che as a birthday present, accompanied by a composition An Ode to a Chenxiang Mountain to console him, who was in exile in Leizhou at the time (in modern day Guangdong province). Su Shi himself was in exile in Danzhou (on modern day Hainan Island), which in the Song dynasty was one of the places that produced chenxiang. He wrote in the prose:

…this little swell of a mountain, like an island so pleasant,

Like Qinling and Huashan touching the sky

It resembles the Lone Peak piercing the clouds.

Sent to celebrate your birthday,

It carries my stubborn sincerity.

You might feel the days are wasting away;

But see it as retiring home to a rice paddy.

I hope you place this on your desk,

And steep your kerchiefs with its scent.

Maybe not always so strong and forceful,

Its lingering smell lasts evermore!

The subtle yet everlasting scent of the ‘chenxiang’ mountain, its solidity and unyielding natural form, were for Su Shi qualities that were worthy of praise. At the low ebb of his brother’s life and career, he hoped the incense would bolster Su Che’s morale, and encourage him to be unwavering and retain his integrity. In the same way jade was bestowed with five virtues in the Confucian tradition, Su Shi not only enjoyed the scent of chenxiang, but delighted in the visual and allegorical connotations it provided.

本畫是手卷的一部份。畫上羅漢盤坐，旁有一鼓式香爐，中立一塊枯木。畫風古樸，有唐畫遺風，可與故宮所藏陸曜所畫六逸圖相比較。但是畫中鼓式爐卻是宋代器物，可比較廣州出土的一件南宋鼓式香爐。此畫無疑是一張宋人仿唐畫，香爐中所立枯木則應是一塊沈香木。

沈香不但可以入香，形奇者還可供擺設，不但香氣氤氳又賞心悅目，在宋代時就已有成例。蘇轍被謫於雷州，意志消沈之際，蘇軾就曾送他的弟弟一件沈香山子以為生日賀禮，並賦詩一首以慰之，其中寫道：

ے宛彼小山，嶼然可欣；如秦華之倚天，象小孤之插雲。

往壽子之生朝，以寫我之老懃。

子方面壁以終日，豈亦歸田而自耘？

幸置此於几席，養幽芳於帨帕。

無一往之發烈，有無窮之氤氳。

蘇軾認為沈香堅硬溫潤，纖細而沈重，形象小而氣象豪，又加之香氣淡雅不凡，這種種物性皆是可以用為勉勵人內心節操品格的。他希望蘇轍能藉這塊沈香山子，提醒自己在困難之中堅持自己，不受挫敗影響。就如儒家賦五德於玉，蘇軾不但欣賞沈香的香氣，還能在它身上見到種種美德，反應出他自身高超的情操。