36 THENATIONALGALLERYOFART 



In the very early years of the ninth century, according to one authority, 

 there appeared certain men from the Hsin-lo nation, who "bought up at a 

 high price several tens of Chou Fang's pictures, and carried them away to 

 their country." This entry is of some importance, Hsin-lo being an old 

 kingdom in the southwest of Korea, from which country Japan is said to have 

 received her first lessons in Chinese art. Huang Po-ssiS, the art critic, points 

 out that Chou Fang made his name first of all by Buddhistic pictures and 

 that later on his Taoist pictures were among the finest of his day. " But 

 now," he adds, "we see nothing save his men and girls, which is very 

 much a matter for regret." Herbert A. Giles. 



HAN KAN. T'ang Dynasty, Eighth Century. 



Han Kan, known to the Japanese as Kan-kan, was bom at no great dis- 

 tance from Ch'ang-an, the once famous capital in Shenci, and "in his 

 youth was employed as potboy by a neighboring publican. Before Wang 

 Wei and his tjrother had made their mark they often bought liquor on 

 credit to take with them during their rambles; and when Han Kan went 

 subsequently to their house to dun them for the money he used to beguile 

 his hours of waiting by drawing men and horses on the ground. Wang 

 Wei was so struck by these efforts that he gave Han Kan annually a sum 

 of 20,000 cash (say £5), and set him to study painting for over ten years." 



Elsewhere we read, "Han Kan was a portrait painter of a high order, 

 but his forte was horses. At first he studied under Ts'ao Pa, but later on 

 he worked by himself. There was actually a popular rhyme of the day, 



saying, 



Han Kan's horses 



Came from Ts'ao Pa's courses. 



The Emperor was very fond of large horses, and in his stables he had as 

 many as 40,000 animals, so that he obtained a fine and large breed. From 

 Ferghana in the west he annually received some as tribute, and these he 

 sent up north to be taught to amble." The writer adds that "in speed 

 they were equal to the wind, and the ground reflected on their shining 

 coats. ' ' 



The following story is perhaps the most widely known of all, true and 

 false alike, that have been handed down concerning this painter: "In 

 the middle of the T'ien-pao period (742-756) Han Kan was summoned to 

 Court, and the Emperor bade him study horse painting under the guid- 

 ance of Ch'en Hung, of whom anon. Later on His Majesty reproved Han 

 Kan for not having obeyed orders, whereupon the latter replied, 'Sire, I 

 have teachers of my own. All the horses in the Imperial stables are my 

 teachers'; at which answer the Emperor was much astonished." 



A great many of Han Kan's Buddhist pictures are recorded, Bodhisat- 

 vas, demons, and the like, mostly painted on the walls of temples. He 

 also painted many portraits of eminent Buddhist priests. Among his 

 horse pictures the most remarkable are: "The Emperor Trying Horses," 

 " Horse Physiognomy, " and especially, "A Hundred Colts. " This picture. 



