Haku Ga Shou Shiki　伯牙・鍾子期

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Ch: Be Ya Zhong Ziqi. A pictorial theme of friendship in Chinese painting. When the Zhou　dynasty musician Be Ya (Jp:Haku Ga 伯牙) played the qin (Jp:kin 琴), his friend Zhong Ziqi (Jp:Shou Shiki 鍾子期) was able to understand his deepest thoughts. Upon Shou Shiki 's death, Haku Ga broke his qin (a stringed, zither-like instrument) in despair that there was no one left in the world to whom he could express himself. The theme became a symbol for perfect communication, the ideal communion of minds, between friends. It was long painted by Chinese artists, and, from the Muromachi period, by Japanese artists. The *Kanouha 狩野派 artists, beginning with Kanou Motonobu 狩野元信 (1476-1559), typically depicted one scholar seated, playing his qin, while another looks on intently. The motif is sometimes incorporated into paintings of the Four Accomplishments *kinki shoga 琴棋書画.

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