Splashed Ink Soaring Dragon: Ink Rhyme of Chen Rong from Southern Song and Its Spread Eastward
Interpretation Date: 2026-10-01
Artwork Information
Interpretation Content
Chen Rong's "Nine Dragons Scroll" employs splashed ink techniques to depict the dynamic vigor of dragons, with dense and light ink hues intertwined and bold brushstrokes. As a fusion of Southern Song court painting and literati art, this work breaks away from traditional meticulous brushwork, using large blocks of ink to render clouds and dragon bodies, resulting in a unique rough texture characteristic of "ink dragons."
Chen Rong's splashed ink method directly influenced the later tradition of Chinese dragon painting, inspiring artists such as Wang Zhao of the Ming Dynasty and Ren Yi of the Qing Dynasty. More profoundly, after being transmitted to Japan, this work became a model for schools like the Kano and painters like Hasegawa Tōhaku. Japanese cloud-dragon paintings widely adopted Chen Rong's ink wash shading and dynamic composition, even being regarded as symbols of Zen painting spirit. This scroll, collected by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, remains one of the pinnacles of dragon-themed art in East Asia.