Handscroll

Handscroll
Section of a 13th century handscroll painting, Early Autumn by Song dynasty painter Qian Xuan.[1]
Chinese手捲
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinshǒujuàn

The handscroll is a long, narrow, horizontal scroll format in East Asia used for calligraphy or paintings. A handscroll usually measures up to several meters in length and around 25–40 cm in height.[2] Handscrolls are generally viewed starting from the right end.[3] This kind of scroll is intended to be read or viewed flat on a table, in sections.[3][4] The format thus allows for the depiction of a continuous narrative or journey.[5]

The traditional alternative format in East Asian paintings is the vertical hanging scroll, which is rarely as long.

  1. ^ "Early Autumn (29.1)". Detroit Institute of Arts. Archived from the original on 2 October 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  2. ^ Dillon, Michael (1998). China: A historical and cultural dictionary. Richmond: Curzon. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-7007-0439-2.
  3. ^ a b Laing, Ellen Johnston (2011). "Chinese Painting". Reading Asian art and artifacts: Windows to Asia on American college campuses. Plymouth: Lehigh University Press. p. 104. ISBN 9781611460704.
  4. ^ Qu, Lei Lei (2008). The simple art of Chinese brush painting. New York: Sterling. pp. 58–9. ISBN 978-1-4027-5391-6.
  5. ^ Delbanco, Dawn (2008). "Chinese Handscrolls". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 24 September 2011.