Inscription
Colophon by Wang Shih-mou:
Chou Yü-shün [Feng-lai] of K'un-shan was a scholarly, refined connoisseur of antiquities. He had acquired the poem written by Chao Ch'eng-chih [Chao Meng-fu] about the exchage of tea for Chao's calligraphy of the Prajna sutra. But the sutra itself, also written by Chao Meng-fu, is lost. He therefore asked Ch'iu Shih-fu [Ch'iu Ying] to do a painting and had Wen Cheng-ming, the artist-in-attendance, write the Hridaya Sutra in the "small, regular" style for replacement. Both works are so excellent that even Chao Meng-fu himself would certainly applaud if he should be reborn to see them. I, Shih-mou, had gotten possession of this scroll from the family of Chou Yü-shün, and since it was so wonderfully matched with one of the treasures in my collection. the Hridaya Sutra written by Chao Meng-fu for Priest Li in "running script," like the reuniting of two halves of a jade pi, I completed the scroll with the several colophons written for the "tea-exchange" poem. I did this because the painting of Ch'iu Ying and the calligraphy of Wen Cheng-ming are definitely masterpieces by themselves with absolutely no need to depend on any of the colophons written for the Chao Meng-fu poem. Furthermore, the two sons of Wen Cheng-ming, Shou-ch'eng [Wen P'eng] and Hsiu-ch'eng [Wen Chia]. have each written a colophon explaining the reason for replacing the calligraphy. As their writings are both acceptable for high standard, I didn't want to throw them away. [So by separating these into two scrolls] I was able to get two complete works of art in one clever stroke. I was quite pleased with myself, and hope that those who see this scroll shall not get suspicious because of the missing colophons.
Wang Shih-mou wrote in his Jih-sun-chai study, on the first day of the tenth month, in the chia-shen year of the Wan-li era [1584].
