Rowing on Torrents under  a  Mountain

Kim Hong-do, Joseon Period 18th Century (1745~1806)

The subject of the fisherman was a theme commonly treated by painters of the Chosŏn period, and Kim Hong-do was among its most prolific practitioners. He returned to it with particular frequency in his later career, producing representations that ranged from the recluse who has transcended the mundane world and the figure absorbed into a life in harmony with nature, to scenes of the ordinary life of the ferry landing.

The present work depicts a single boat that has lowered its sail and is making its way down through swift currents, while behind it a group of figures haul a heavily laden vessel by rope. The boat carrying the passengers appears to be heading downstream, while the cargo-laden vessel seems to be moving against the current. The practice of connecting boats with rope and pulling them upstream by human effort is associated with the Three Gorges region (三峽) of the upper-middle Yangtze River in China, a custom well known in Korea, and the subject of this work may well be connected to that tradition. The inscribed verse — "The sail reaches the mountain ahead, and suddenly another appears behind. (帆及前山忽後山)" — gives apt expression to the ceaselessly shifting landscape of the riverbank. The ideal of the unity of poetry and painting, a defining quality of Kim Hong-do's later work, is here fully and persuasively realized. The seals impressed before and after the verse read "My heart is intoxicated by the beauty of mountains and water (心醉好山水)" and Sanŭng (士能) respectively; the former seal was widely used across the later works. Traces of subsequent retouching are visible along the contour line of the rock face in the background.