Leading writers and painter-calligraphers of the era all assembled
Possibly reconstructed later rather than an event that truly occurred
A Northeast Asian ‘School of Athens’ that condenses time and space

People stand inside and outside a rather tall hongsalmun wall, cradling paper scrolls as they talk. Behind them, a large fantastically shaped rock designed to prevent a view inward stands, and beyond a vine-covered wall a deer looks this way. Beyond that rises a high cliff, so, with no alternative, if you follow where the deer goes, you are guided to the venue of the famous gathering ‘Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden (西園雅集)’ held in 11th-century Kaifeng, China. This is how Danwon Kim Hong-do (1745~after 1806) begins the front section of the painting. It is a stroke of genius in composition, an opening that instantly seizes viewers and draws them into the picture.

This painting depicts the gathering said to have been hosted by Wang Seon of the Northern Song, who invited fifteen literary and artistic luminaries of the time, including Su Shi, to his own West Garden. Among those present were renowned men of letters such as Su Shi, Su Zhe, Li Gonglin, Mi Fu, Huang Tingjian, and Zhao Buzhi, as well as a Daoist and a Buddhist monk. Li Gonglin painted this scene as ‘The Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden’, and Mi Fu wrote <Record of the ‘Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden’ Painting>. The account by Mi Fu describes the scene of the gathering in detail and serves as an important source for ‘The Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden’.

Painted by Kim Hong-do at only thirty-four, this work amply confirms the appraisal left by Gang Se-hwang (1713~1791), a connoisseur of the time, at the top of the screen: “The brushforce is graceful and the disposition appropriate, so the figures seem as if alive and moving.” Gang Se-hwang states that he had seen dozens of versions of ‘The Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden’, and marvels that the skill in this painting was grasped in a numinous way or endowed by heaven, expressing astonishment that such a ‘divine brush’ exists in Haedong. Although Gang Se-hwang left appraisals on numerous paintings, this ranks among his highest praises.

Focusing on the inscription by Gang Se-hwang, let us look again at the painting. Whatever anyone may say, the unmistakable trademark of Kim Hong-do is ‘figures so vividly alive that they seem as if they could truly exist somewhere’.

The expression on Mi Fu, writing on the rock in the third panel, is utterly intent. The attendant boy raises the inkstone up to chest height so the writer can comfortably moisten the brush, revealing his quick-wittedness. Though shown nearly from behind, it is the smart face of a teenager, perhaps one of the most fittingly drawn profiles of this sort in a traditional painting. The next two panels are the main act of the work. In the fourth panel, Li Gonglin, sleeves rolled up and hand bracing the paper as he is about to touch the brush to it, looks on with conviction. The one who had been fanning now grips the fan, and the figure standing with a hand on the armrest mirrors us, the viewers peering into the picture. The fifth panel is the stone table where the host Wang Jinkyung sits with dignity. Su Dongpo has just set his brush to the paper. The attendant boy, arms stretched wide to hold down the paper lest even a crease form, lightens the atmosphere of this most solemn group in the gathering. Animated by the ‘divine brush’ strokes of the young Kim Hong-do, the figures carry us into the venerable gathering of 950 years ago.

Next, let us look more closely at the ‘disposition’. One might ask, ‘If the figures in the picture seem alive and moving, is that due not only to brushforce but also to disposition as a component?’ Presently one agrees, recalling the meticulous plan by Kim Hong-do that had already, at the hongsalmun, led us deep into the West Garden. In six panels he devoted two to guiding the steps into the real picture. The ‘disposition’ that Gang Se-hwang speaks of is everything apart from detailed depiction and color: the overall structuring of the field, the cast, the arrangements, the devices linking each part, and the story that completes the painting.

Let us examine a few of the devices that connect the parts of the picture. Near the deer that brought us to the entrance of the West Garden, in front of the rock wall by Mi Fu, stand two cranes looking toward the direction of Li Gonglin’s stone table. One faces that way as if to claim even a single place among the viewers. The attendant with his back turned, by not showing the whole table, displays refinement and makes us look at the picture. The boy holding a staff to the left of Li Gonglin’s table turns his head toward the adjacent table and casts his gaze there. It naturally guides the development to the next scene. Featuring twenty-six people, this painting, through meticulous structure, presents the story of the Elegant Gathering at the West Garden with coherence.

Judging from the lineup of participants and the circumstances, some consider this monumental gathering of famous writers and painter-calligraphers to have been reconstructed by later generations rather than an event that actually occurred. Precisely because it could not easily have taken place, it may have been an ideal gathering one wished to paint and contemplate for a long time. Kim Hong-do realized the period’s veneration for literature and art in the masterpiece titled ‘The Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden’.

Perhaps it is an East Asian version of the ‘School of Athens’, compressing time and space.