<blockquote>
<p>《彎弓騎射圖<sup>1</sup>》</p>
<p>昔曹將軍畫馬骨肉兼善<sup>2</sup>，今觀劉貫道之作<sup>3</sup>，人馬精神皆善，御衣局使<sup>4</sup>不靈傳矣</p>
<p>乾隆乙丑<sup>5</sup>吳郡王寵<sup>6</sup>識<sup>7</sup></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Outstretched Bow of a Horseriding Marksman</em></p>
<p>In the past, General Ts'ao was skilled in painting both the bone and flesh of a horse. Now as I peruse the work of Liu Kuan-tao, seeing the spirit of both the man and horse are equally fine makes me lament his skill as a lost art.<sup>8</sup></p>
<p>Wu Chong of the Wu Commandery, the year Yichou of Qianlong</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/variants/rbt/word_attribute.rbt?quote_code=QTA0MjE5LTAwMQ" rel="nofollow noreferrer">啚</a> is sometimes the variant character of 圖, meaning 'drawing'.</li>
<li>General Ts'ao (曹將軍) refers to Ts'ao Pa (曹霸), a skilled horse painter in the Tang dynasty. This expression alludes to Tu Fu (杜甫)'s poem <em>On Seeing a Horse-painting by Ts’ao Pa in the House of the Recorder Wei Feng</em> (韋諷錄事宅觀曹將軍畫馬圖).</li>
<li>Liu Kuan-tao (劉貫道) was a painter in the early Yuan dynasty. The work this inscription refers to is possibly <em><a href="https://theme.npm.edu.tw/khan/Article.aspx?sNo=03009149&amp;lang=2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kublai Khan Hunting</a></em> (畫元世祖出獵圖). Specifically, this work bears resemblance to the horse-rider on the left.</li>
<li>Commissioner of the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau (御衣局使) is a title earned by Liu for his portrayal of Emperor Yuzong in 1279. 史 is possibly a phonetic loan character of 使.</li>
<li>The year Yichou of Qianlong (乾隆乙丑) is the <a href="https://zh-classical.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%BE%E9%9A%86" rel="nofollow noreferrer">tenth</a> year of his reign (or 1745).</li>
<li>Wang Chong (王寵 1494-1533) was a calligrapher in the Ming dynasty. The Wu Commandery (吳郡) was frequently used by Wang to denote his origin, the Wu County of Suzhou (蘇州吳縣). The fundamental contradiction of dynasties between the year and author, together with the fact that Wang was not a painter, makes this painting a possible forgery.</li>
<li>識 is a phonetic loan character of 記 in 款識, or inscription.</li>
<li>This is also likely to be a saying of self-effacement, especially considering the painting is an imitation of Liu Kuan-tao.</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-25T22:09:00.977Z
Thank you so much for your very insightful comments
Ole S
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-21T03:11:20.680Z
2021-02-21T03:41:52.507Z
2021-02-21T03:41:52.507Z
L Parker
<p>This is a painted silk screen showing a mongolian mounted archer. I think that the original motif was shown on a 1280 painting, but this is, of course, much later (1900?).</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/zAIV1.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/zAIV1.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/GrgVi.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/GrgVi.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>

<translation><character-identification><seal><calligraphy>
Please, help translate the text and stamps on this painted silk screen to identify the artist and date?
# Please, help translate the text and stamps on this painted silk screen to identify the artist and date?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-20)

This is a painted silk screen showing a mongolian mounted archer. I think that the original motif was shown on a 1280 painting, but this is, of course, much later (1900?).

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/zAIV1.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/zAIV1.jpg)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/GrgVi.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/GrgVi.jpg)

**Tags:** translation, character-identification, seal, calligraphy

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-02-21. Score: 3

> 《彎弓騎射圖1》
>
> 昔曹將軍畫馬骨肉兼善2，今觀劉貫道之作3，人馬精神皆善，御衣局使4不靈傳矣
>
> 乾隆乙丑5吳郡王寵6識7

> *Outstretched Bow of a Horseriding Marksman*
>
> In the past, General Ts'ao was skilled in painting both the bone and flesh of a horse. Now as I peruse the work of Liu Kuan-tao, seeing the spirit of both the man and horse are equally fine makes me lament his skill as a lost art.8
>
> Wu Chong of the Wu Commandery, the year Yichou of Qianlong

1. [啚](https://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/variants/rbt/word_attribute.rbt?quote_code=QTA0MjE5LTAwMQ) is sometimes the variant character of 圖, meaning 'drawing'.
2. General Ts'ao (曹將軍) refers to Ts'ao Pa (曹霸), a skilled horse painter in the Tang dynasty. This expression alludes to Tu Fu (杜甫)'s poem *On Seeing a Horse-painting by Ts’ao Pa in the House of the Recorder Wei Feng* (韋諷錄事宅觀曹將軍畫馬圖).
3. Liu Kuan-tao (劉貫道) was a painter in the early Yuan dynasty. The work this inscription refers to is possibly *[Kublai Khan Hunting](https://theme.npm.edu.tw/khan/Article.aspx?sNo=03009149&lang=2)* (畫元世祖出獵圖). Specifically, this work bears resemblance to the horse-rider on the left.
4. Commissioner of the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau (御衣局使) is a title earned by Liu for his portrayal of Emperor Yuzong in 1279. 史 is possibly a phonetic loan character of 使.
5. The year Yichou of Qianlong (乾隆乙丑) is the [tenth](https://zh-classical.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%BE%E9%9A%86) year of his reign (or 1745).
6. Wang Chong (王寵 1494-1533) was a calligrapher in the Ming dynasty. The Wu Commandery (吳郡) was frequently used by Wang to denote his origin, the Wu County of Suzhou (蘇州吳縣). The fundamental contradiction of dynasties between the year and author, together with the fact that Wang was not a painter, makes this painting a possible forgery.
7. 識 is a phonetic loan character of 記 in 款識, or inscription.
8. This is also likely to be a saying of self-effacement, especially considering the painting is an imitation of Liu Kuan-tao.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you so much for your very insightful comments  

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