A short letter to a cousin who has gone away, written with the calm of someone who assumes the paper will outlast both of them.
Wang Xun was a grandson of the great Wang family of the Eastern Jin, and his letter is the only surviving calligraphy from that circle that scholars trust as genuine. The brush is easy, the spacing generous, the emotion held in check; this is an aristocrat writing to an equal, not performing for posterity.
Together with the two Wang Xizhi pieces, the Boyuan letter formed the Qianlong emperor’s Three Rarities. Of the three, it is the one that still lets you hear a real voice rather than a relic.
Object details
| Name | Boyuan Letter (Boyuan Tie) (伯远帖) |
|---|---|
| Artefact no. | — |
| Technique | Ink on paper |
| Period | Eastern Jin dynasty (4th century) |
| Collection | The Palace Museum, Beijing |
| Source | 北京故宫博物院 |
Image © The Palace Museum, Beijing. See the original in the museum collection.