This painting depicts the Taoist story known as “Calling sheep on Gold-flower Mountain,” which is described in Ge Hong’s 葛洪 (284-363) Shen xian zhuan神仙傳:

“Huang Chuping was a native of Danxi. At the age of fifteen he was made to tend his family's sheep. There was a Taoist master who, noting his goodness and attentiveness, took him to a cave on Gold-flower Mountain. For more than forty years Chuping did not miss his family. Meanwhile, his older brother, Chuqi, searched for him without success. Then one day there was a Taoist master who excelled at divinations performing in the market nearby. Chuqi approached and requested a divination, ‘My brother is a shepherd and has been missing for over forty years and we do not know his whereabouts.’ The master said, ‘In the past I have met a Huang Chuping on Gold-flower Mountain. I wonder if he might be your brother?’ As soon as he heard this he was extremely excited and so he followed the master [to the mountain], where he searched for and finally found his brother. It was a meeting that mixed joy with sorrow. Chuqi then asked Chuping where the sheep were. He replied, ‘They are close by on the eastern side of the mountain.’ Chuqi went to see them but saw no sheep only white rock upon white rock. Chuqi returned and said to his brother, ‘I found no sheep on the eastern side of the mountain.’ Chuping replied, ‘They are there, it is only that you do not see them.’ They then went together to find them. Chuping commanded them, ‘Arise sheep!’ Thereupon all of the white rocks stirred, rising up as a herd of many myriad head of sheep. Chuqi said, ‘My brother alone has obtained the Way of the immortals, is it possible that I too could learn this as well?’ Chuping responded, ‘You just need to enjoy the Way, then you will attain it.’ With that Chuqi abandoned his wife and children, remaining with Chuping. Together they ingested sap from pine and herbal fungus for some fifty thousand days. With that, whether sitting or standing, under the sun they cast no shadow. They had the appearance of a youth. They returned again to their native village, but their relatives had all since passed away and so they set out once again.”Ge Hong葛洪, Shen xian zhuan神仙傳, in Congshu jicheng xinbian叢書集成新編, vol. 100 (Taibei: Xin wen feng shuju), 1.6 (289). Trans. note: translation based on Robert Ford Company, trans., To Live As Long As Heaven and Earth: A Translation and Study of Ge Hong's Traditions of Divine Transcendents (Berkeley [etc.]: University of California Press, 2002): 309; 496-498.

皇(黃)初平，丹溪人，年十五，家使牧羊。有道士見其良謹，便將至金華山石室中，四十餘年，脩然不復念家。其兄初起，尋索初平，歴年不得。後見市中有道士，善易而問之。吾弟牧羊失之四十餘年，不知存亡之在，願君與占之。道士曰：「昔見金華山中，有一皇初平，非君弟乎？」初起聞之，驚喜，即隋道士去求弟，果得相見。悲喜語畢。兄問初平曰，牧羊何在，答曰：「近在山東。」初起徃視之，杳無所見，但有白石壘壘。復謂弟曰：「山東無羊也。」初平曰：「羊在耳。」兄自不見，兄與初平偕往尋之。初平言叱叱：「羊起。」於是白石皆起成羊數萬頭。兄曰：「我弟獨得神仙之道，如此可學否?」弟曰：「唯好道則得爾。」初起於是便捨妻子留就初平，共服松脂茯苓至五萬日，坐在立在，日中無影，顏有童子之色。乃具還鄉里，親戚死亡略盡，乃復還去。

In Hong Kong at the famous Wong Tai Sin temple 黃大仙祠, sacrifices are made to Huang Chuping.

At the center of the Seattle painting is a dense grove of green pine and trees with red or green leaves. In the middle of the grove two human figures sit on mats. The figure facing the viewer with a white scroll laid out in front of him is Huang Chuping; his forefinger and middle finger are outstretched, pointing at the deep blue rocks; he is in the moment of “transforming the rocks into sheep.” The figure facing sideways is his older brother Huang Chuqi. The rocks have already begun to be transformed into sheep as the front half of the animals’ bodies emerge from the rocks. The two figures, clothed in the garb of immortals—not the normal garments of a shepherd—are conversing. Perhaps, as the story above suggests, they are discussing how to attain the Way. This story has been perpetuated through time; painters in particular embraced the image of the transformation of the sheep and the discussion about the nature of the Way between the two brothers. Within this painting two different narrative sequences in the story are depicted, which is called “Different temporal sequences in a single painting” (tongtu yishi同圖異時).

The Seattle painting does not have an artist signature or a collector's seal. The overall motif of the painting is a blue-green landscape, and at the same time, a painting of immortals. The towering pine trees at the center reach up to the distant mountain peaks, yet the tops of the peaks are cut off, suggesting that a small portion of the upper edge was trimmed or cut off. The tree trunks, their bark noticeably textured, are well painted by an experienced hand. The appearance of the tops of the pine trees and the intertwining of the branches is associated with the Southern Song tradition of Liu Songnian 劉松年 (ca. 1150–after 1225).The way the artist paints the trunks of the pines, with scaly bark on both sides but retaining an untextured center, is a characteristic feature of the Liu Songnian tradition.

As for the painting methods in the two immortals, the faces and bodies are simply and naturally defined. Both figures have topknots, but Huang Chuqi wears a small transparent muslin cap. They are clothed in purplish-brown and green gowns with white lining, delicately sketched with short strokes. Around the contours are small areas which have a second layer of wash to accentuate the folds and layers of the robes.

As for the very lively painting method of the trees, when compared to the painting of the immortals, there is a large difference in quality. In the example of the sheep, besides their outline they are composed of thin white pigment. The vegetation at the base of the trees is clearly of a lesser quality than the trees they surround. These qualitative differences are probably the result of the painting being done in a workshop where professional painters were assigned to work on different motifs or sections.

Based on the blue-green of the rocky peaks and the pine needles, this painting is accomplished but lacks the elegance of Southern Song. Yet at the same time it does not exhibit the wet ink and broad strokes characteristic of Ming dynasty Zhe school painting. Thus, this painting appears to date to the late 14th century or early 15th century.

© 2013 by the Seattle Art Museum