This calligraphic couplet was written by Jin Yong ?? (Louis Cha, 1924–2018) in the summer of 1994 (jiaxu year). The text reads: “Only a deep bow can wear away one’s pride; Only half-drunkenness can wash away heroic ambition.” Inscribed: “Summer of Jiaxu (1994), respectfully written by Jin Yong.” The work is executed in regular script on pink speckled-gold paper. Although written in a formal script, the brushwork remains heavy and restrained, yet still carries an idiosyncratic energy that reveals the author’s unconventional spirit. In this sense, the calligraphy closely accords with the mood and meaning of the couplet itself. The text was originally written by the late Ming and early Qing literary critic Jin Shengtan ???? (1608–1661), whose original work is now preserved in the Shanghai Museum. Jin Shengtan remains one of the most influential figures in Chinese literary criticism. He is especially known for his editions and commentaries on The Water Margin and The Romance of the Western Chamber. His seventy-chapter edition of The Water Margin became the standard version read for centuries, and his idea of the “Six Books of Genius” elevated fiction and drama to the level of classical literature. The couplet itself is simple, but deeply revealing. “Pride” and “heroic ambition” were qualities traditionally admired in Chinese scholars and men of talent. Yet Jin Shengtan writes of wearing them down, softening them through humility, wine, and distance from worldly struggle. The lines do not express defeat, but rather a kind of clarity that comes after experience. It is not difficult to understand why Jin Yong chose to write these words. Jin Yong was not only the most influential martial arts novelist of the twentieth century, but also a deeply traditional literary figure. Through works such as The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, and The Deer and the Cauldron, he reshaped modern Chinese ideas of heroism, loyalty, and the jianghu world. At the same time, he was also a newspaper founder, political commentator, and later a scholar of Chinese history at Cambridge University. In many ways, Jin Yong and Jin Shengtan belong to the same intellectual tradition. Both entered the center of Chinese literary history through forms once considered “popular literature.” Both were concerned with the tension between individual character and the pressures of society. And both carried the spirit of the traditional Chinese literatus into new historical worlds. The provenance of this work is particularly important. It comes from the collection of Professor Tse-tsung Chow ??? (1916–2008), distinguished scholar of modern Chinese literature and longtime professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The couplet was written by Jin Yong at Professor Chow’s request. Another work in the same June Gallery Auction shares the same provenance: a calligraphy presented to Professor Chow by the celebrated Chinese poet Ai Qing ??? (1910–1996). Together, these works reflect Professor Chow’s close relationship with major literary and intellectual figures of the twentieth-century Chinese-speaking world, while also documenting the important cultural exchanges between Chinese writers and overseas East Asian studies programs. Therefore, this work brings together three figures from different moments in Chinese cultural history: Jin Shengtan of the seventeenth century, Jin Yong of modern Hong Kong, and Professor Tse-tsung Chow of the American academy. Across several centuries, the Chinese literati tradition reappears here in just fourteen characters. {Each: H 50 x W 13 inches (128 x 34 cm)} ?????????1924–2018??1994???????????? “???????????????????” ???“??????????” ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????1608–1661???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????“??????”???????????????????????????????????? “??????????????????”????????????????????????????????“??”?“??”????????????????“???”“???”???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????“????”?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????1916–2008???????????????????????????????Department of East Asian Languages and Literature, UW–Madison???????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????? June Gallery Auction ?????????????????????——??????????1910–1996?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????50????13???128 × 34???Condition: For condition report, please contact the Asian Art Department.

For condition report, please contact the Asian Art Department.