Soga Shohaku (1730-1781), Eight Drunken Immortals (Inchu hassen), Edo period, late 18th century | 曽我蕭白　飲中八仙図屏風　江戸時代中期　18世紀後期

Kawamoto Shobei-shi shozohin, ko Inoue Sori-o iaihin oyobi Shimogyo boke shozohin nyusatsu [Auction of the Collection of Kawamoto Shobei, the Estate of the Late Inoue Sori, and Works from a Certain Shimogyo Household], 3 May 1926, Kyoto Art Club, Kyoto, Lot 132.

Soga Shohaku, burai to iu yuyoku [Soga Shohaku: The Joy of Rebellion], Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, 2005, cat. no. 81.

Rimpa meihinten [Rimpa: The Debut of Essential Rimpa Masterpieces in the Okada Museum of Art Collection], Mitsukoshi (Nihonbashi), Tokyo, 2015, cat. no. 9.

Rinpa no seika [The Essence of Rimpa], Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2015, cat. no. 12.

Kobayashi Tadashi ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 1, Tokyo, 2013, p. 152-53, no. 106.

The theme of Eight Drunken Immortals derives from a poem by the Tang dynasty (618-907) poet Du Fu (712-770). The figures are each depicted as eccentric characters in a drunken stupor, and includes the poet He Zhizhang (659-744) riding a donkey, Li Bai (701-762) heading toward a boat aided by attendants, and the calligrapher Zhang Xu (658-747), stripped to the waist, wielding his brush with dramatic energy.

Shohaku was active in Kyoto. He modelled his work on the Muromachi period (1392-1573) artist Soga Jasoku (d. 1483). He became known as one of the “Three Eccentrics” (san kijin) of eighteenth century Kyoto, including Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800) [see Lots 1016, 1020, 1066 and 1068], and Nagasawa Rosetsu (1754-1799) [see Lot 1070]. A lover of sake himself, the subject of the Eight Drunken Immortals was particularly fitting for his uninhibited brushwork.

The poem has been translated by Stephen Owen in The Poetry of Du Fu (Boston, 2015), p. 55-57:

Song of Eight Drinking Immortals

He Zhizhang rides his horse as if sailing on a boat,

spots in his vision, he falls in a well and slumbers underwater.

Ruyang will go to dawn court only after having three quarts;

meeting a mash-cart on the road his mouth drools,

he’s upset that he can’t change his fief to Alespring.

The Minister of the Left gets up each day and spends ten thousand

cash,

he drinks like the long behemoth sucking in a hundred rivers,

the cup to his lips, he enjoys the “Sage,” and claims he avoids the

“Worthy.”

Cui Zongzhi is carefree, a handsome young man,

he lifts his goblet showing the whites of his eyes and gazing at blue

Heaven,

gleaming like a tree of jade standing in the wind.

Su Jin undergoes long abstention before an embroidered Buddha,

but when he’s drunk he always loves to escape Chan restrictions.

Li Bai makes a hundred poems out of one quart of ale,

in the marketplace of Chang’an he sleeps in the tavern.

The Son of Heaven called him to come, he wouldn’t get on the boat,

he himself declared: “Your subject is an immortal in his ale.”

After three cups Zhang Xu is bruited “Draft Script Sage,”

his cap fallen off, with bare head he stands before princes and dukes,

from the brush he wields paper drops like clouds and mist.

Only after five quarts is Jiao Sui really outstanding,

his grand discussions and bold arguments shock everyone at a feast.

飲中八仙歌

知章騎馬似乘船，

眼花落井水底眠。

汝陽三斗始朝天，

道逢麴車口流涎，

恨不移封向酒泉。

左相日興費萬錢，

飲如長鯨吸百川，

銜杯樂聖稱避賢。

宗之瀟灑美少年，

舉觴白眼望青天，

皎如玉樹臨風前。

蘇晉長齋繡佛前，

醉中往往愛逃禪。

李白一斗詩百篇，

長安市上酒家眠。

天子呼來不上船，

自稱臣是酒中仙。

張旭三杯草聖傳，

脫帽露頂王公前，

揮毫落紙如雲煙。

焦遂五斗方卓然，

高談雄辨驚四筵。

來源

京都美術倶楽部，《河本庄兵衛氏所蔵品、故井上宗狸翁遺愛品及下京某家所蔵品入札》，京都1926年5月3日， 編號132

展覽

《特別展覧会 曽我蕭白 無頼という愉悦》，京都国立博物館，2005年，編號81

《琳派名品展》，三越（日本橋），東京，2015年，編號9

《琳派の精華》，岡田美術館，箱根，2015年，編號12

出版

小林忠編，《岡田美術館名品撰》，卷1，東京，2013年，編號106

曽我蕭白活躍於京都藝壇，其《八仙圖》題材源自唐代詩人杜甫詩作。畫中將八仙描繪為醉態酣然的奇崛人物，其中包括騎驢的詩人賀知章、在侍從攙扶下登舟的李白，以及粗胸執筆、筆勢奔放的書法家張旭。

蕭白以室町時代（1392-1573年）畫家曽我蛇足（卒於1483年）為範式，遂成十八世紀京都「三奇人」之一，與伊藤若冲（1716-1800年）[參見Lot 1016、1020、1066及1068]及長澤蘆雪（1754-1799年）[參見Lot 1070]齊名。蕭白自身亦好酒，故以八仙醉態主題完美契合其放逸筆法。