Rare Chinese calligraphy scroll resurfaces after 81 years, sells for US$22.6 million
A rare work of Chinese calligraphy long presumed destroyed in the chaos of 1945 only to resurface 81 years later, fetched HK$177.45 million (US$22.6 million) in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The work called Jishi Tie, or Accumulated Time Letter, by early Tang dynasty (618-907) calligrapher Yu Shinan, went under the hammer at China Guardian Hong Kong’s autumn auction at the Hong Kong Convention and…
An 81-year-old rare Chinese calligraphy scroll reemerged, selling for US$22.6 million in Hong Kong. The work, "Jishi Tie" by Tang dynasty calligrapher Yu Shinan, fetched HK$177.45 million at China Guardian Hong Kong's autumn auction. Yu Shinan, one of the four great calligraphers of the early Tang dynasty, taught Emperor Taizong and was a leading heir to the Wang Xizhi tradition.
Few of Yu's original pieces survived, with Jishi Tie being one of the few remaining. Unlike his formal works, this private letter reveals Yu's natural and spontaneous hand. The scroll, written to a friend, is 27cm by 52.5cm and bears inscriptions from the Ming dynasty, including one by Dong Qichang. Its passage through imperial collections and emperors' seals is documented, but the scroll disappeared during the Japanese occupation in 1945, being looted and destroyed.
The surviving sections were pieced together, and the scroll was exhibited in Beijing before its sale.
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