2023 Metro Campaign Advert 3

Night Banquet of Han Xizai, Gu Hongzhong, China, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Southern Tang (937-975)

Cups and dishes are crisscrossed, with wine being poured and joy being expressed.

Revisiting a feast that spans a thousand years.

Artwork Interpretation:

The Southern Tang painter Gu Hongzhong used his exquisite painting skills to recreate the bustling feast from a thousand years ago. In the painting, the figure repeatedly appearing with a black high gauze hat is the host of this banquet – Han Xizai, the Middle Book of the Southern Tang. Han Xizai was originally an old court official, but seeing the Southern Tang regime in jeopardy and the new master Li Yu often suspecting him, he indulged in debauchery, singing and dancing night after night to mask his dissatisfaction with the government. Li Yu wanted to make good use of Han Xizai to strengthen national power, so he sent the court painter Gu Hongzhong to Han’s house to observe and memorize, and painted down the banquet scene on that day, admonishing the old minister to keep himself clean and take the support of the country as his primary duty. Therefore, this scroll is not only a true record of the life of the officials and nobles at that time, but also a game and intellectual duel between the monarch and his ministers.

That night, the humid air of the south of the Yangtze River was filled with songs and laughter. Han Xizai’s mansion was full of guests, and the music was floating. The painter used screens, beds, and long cases to divide the scroll, depicting five scenes of playing, watching dances, resting, playing flutes, and sending guests, as if watching a film, taking us into the bustling night banquet of a thousand years ago.

The first scene of the scroll, Han Xizai is leaning on the couch, enjoying the pipa music with the top scholar (dressed in red) and all the guests. At the banquet, fruit plates, meals, and wine are placed on the long case, and people’s eyes are attracted by the melodious pipa music. The sound of the pipa is whispering, like the sound of spring water dong, flowing in the hearts of every guest.

The second act is a carnival of dance. Wang Wushan, the famous dancer of the Southern Tang Dynasty, dances the Six One Dance, her dance posture is graceful, like a startling swan.

Han Xizai personally beats the drums, and the guests lightly clap the boards, all together to cheer for the dance.

The dance is over, and the host takes a short rest. In the third act, Han Xizai sits on the bed, washing and resting. The maidens are still in high spirits from the banquet, still talking about it with great interest. At this moment, the candlelight flickers, the music lingers around the beams and never stops, it’s like a dream.

After the break, in the fourth act, Han Xizai has taken off his private clothes, wearing only the inner lining clothes, exposing his chest, showing more unrestrained. Yue Ji is either playing the flute (blowing vertically) or the whistle (blowing horizontally), with her eyes flowing and her postures are numerous.

The music ends and the guests scatter, leaving one by one. In the last scene, the host waves goodbye to each guest. After the revelry, the quiet and loneliness of the night are even more apparent. Despite the music and laughter, Han Xizai’s heart is not truly pleased. He looks serious, as if he has foreseen the tragic end of this country. Years later, when the Song army attacked the Southern Tang, Li Yu was defeated and captured. Seeing his country in ruins, he died of depression. What remains in the world are the words he wrote during his imprisonment, “How much sorrow can one man have? It’s just like a river of spring water flowing east.”