Calligraphy, Zhang Jian, c. 1900

Calligraphy, Zhang Jian, c. 1900

ink on paper, h 167.5cm × w 37.3cm More details

This pair of calligraphy scrolls is a gift from a scholar to his scholar friend to hang in the study. The texts read in translation: ‘The things that are clean easily become dusty, the things that are white easily become dirty’ and (when making pottery) ‘when it is hard, it is easy to break, when it is soft it is easy to shape.’