Bilang Lakec. 1588 · Study 1998.78.17

Context from the museum

By the 1500s, visits to historic and scenic sites in the lower Yangzi delta stimulated an increase of printed illustrated travel books. Topographical depictions of local scenery flourished. Leaves from this album illustrates sites around Lake Tai of the two adjacent counties Changxing and Wuxing (modern Huzhou). Song Xu, who lived intermittently in Jiaxing and Songjiang, must have passed through Wuxing by boat and thus knew the region. The paintings are inscribed with gazetteerlike notations, suggesting that the album was produced for clients as commemorative works, a travel guide, or for “armchair travel” ( woyou ) in one’s mind.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected sheet measurement for Bilang Lake is 28.4 cm wide and 26.4 cm high, equivalent to approximately 11.2 × 10.4 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 1.08:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.07 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 9.5% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 135.8 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Bilang Lake in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, Album leaf; ink and color on silk, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this horizontal composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 28.4 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?