Yuan dynasty Sa Dula (ca. 1300-1350)
Angling Terrace at Yanling
- Hanging scroll, ink on paper
- 26.7 x 31.8 cm
Sa Dula was an important literary figure of the Yuan dynasty. His ancestors were from the Uyghurs of the regions to China's west. With the advance of the Mongols, his family moved into China. His grandfather enjoyed military success under Kublai Khan and the family rose to prominence. He became a regional commander under Emperor Yingzong and settled in Yanmen (modern-day northwest Daixian, Shanxi), which is where Sa Dula was born.
Unfortunately, the fortunes of the family did not continue and Sa Dula as a youth became a merchant, often expressing in poetry his frustrations at having to give up Confucian studies for business. Though he had become a jinshi (Presented Scholar) for officialdom in 1327, his career never took off as he only served in perfunctory positions. After 1337, little is known about his life.
Mounted with this work is an inscription by Sa Dula that is dated to 1339, indicating that it was painted after he had visited Yanling with the Daoist Leng Qian. Yanling had become famous as the site of fishing in reclusion by Yan Guang of the Han dynasty. The fishing terrace is shown in the painting perched over the water and the artist used the pose of the boater on the water looking up to add further height. Rocky cliffs extending in front and behind to clearly define space is much in the structural mode and composition of 14th-century landscape paintings. Furthermore, in contrast to the artistic achievements by Zhao Mengfu in using the methods of such ancient artists as Dong Yuan, Sa Dula's brushwork does not reveal traditional styles. For example, the earthen areas by the pine trees in the foreground show no apparent texture stroke method, while the dark ink washes to one side seem to indicate shadows. Perhaps to indicate more light on the other side of the earthen forms by the diagonally receding path , he used lighter ink washes. The result seems to show the effects of natural light producing shadows and defining volume in a manner rarely seen in traditional Chinese painting. This lack of a set mode of painting and the apparent depiction of actual lighting make Sa Dula's paintings stand out from other schools and artists. Sa Dula seems to have paid more attention to reproducing naturalistic effects than on creating an identifiable brush manner. Thus, his search for a style outside the boundaries of tradition and within his personal vision puts him closer to the art of his Daoist friend Leng Qian (as seen in Leng's work "Mount Baiyue," also on this website), reflecting a unique phenomenon in Yuan dynasty paintings.