80 x 47,3 cm Condition Su Wu Tending Sheep, China, ca. 17th ct. Hanging scroll, ink and colours on silk. Unsigned, one collector's seal. Su Wu was an official under Emperor Wudi (140-87 BC) of the Han dynasty. In 100 BC, he was dispatched on a peace mission to the Huns (Xiongnu) in the north who were a source of great trouble to the empire. At the court of the Khan, his fellow-envoys revolted and entered the service of the Huns. But Su Wu resisted and remained loyal to the Han dynasty, upon which he was imprisoned and afterwards sent away north to tend sheep. In the year 86, peace was made with the Huns and the Emperor asked for the return of Su Wu. The Khan replied that he was dead, but the Chinese told him that the Emperor had shot a goose with a letter tied to its leg with the whereabouts of Su Wu. So in BC 81, he was finally released and returned to China after his captivity of nineteen years, tending sheep in the grasslands. There is also another meaning inherent in the picture: Three Sheep open the time of spring (san yang kai tai). The twig of plum blossoms and the red bats of fortune point to this interpretation. Jerg Haas (1940-), Chinese name Xia Hansi, was a teacher at Shanghai International Studies University from 1965 to 1967, after an invitation by Zhou Enlai. While in China, he was an avid collector of Chinese paintings.-Acquired at Klefisch, Cologne, 13th June 1989, auction 39, no. 582-Very minor damage due to age