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| Listening to the Rain in the Hollow Valley：Wang Qingwei and the Artistic Community of the Jiangnan Region in the Late Qing Dynasty |
| Liu Xun1,2， Translated by Liu Xuetao3 |
| (1.Research Center for Taoist and Taoism， Central China Normal University， Wuhan 430079；2.History Department， Rutgers University， NJ 08901；3. Institute of Taoism and Religious Culture， Sichuan University， Chengdu 610065) |
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Abstract 1803， Wang Qingwei， a lay Daoist priestess at the Fuhui Shuangxiu cloister located outside the east gage of Wuxi commissioned Xi Gang， the most renowned painter at the time to paint a painting which she entitled， “Listening to the Rain in the Hollow Valley”. Perhaps partly due to the fact that the panting turned out to be one of the last few paintings Xi Gang drew shortly before his death in 1804， and partly due to the fact that Priestess Wang actively circulated it among the prominent literati scholars and the circles of calligraphers and painters， the painting became highly sought after and admired by several hundreds of Qing court officials， master calligraphers and painters， literati members and Buddhist and Daoist clergy. Either deeply moved by the transcendent Daoist visual motifs and mood in the painting， or inspired by Wang Qingwei's Daoist ascetic practice and life， many vied with one another in responding to the painting with their own poems， inscriptions and brushwork. Out of more than five hundred or so calligraphic， poetic， and inscriptive compositions， Wang selected the best to compile into an album entitled Listening to the Rain in the Hollow Valley. The album became an instant hit among the cultural elite of the Jiangnan region. Though the album was lost several times， it was assiduously and avidly amassed， reconstituted， and recompiled each time even after Wang's death in 1827. The album's repeated recompilations reflect its wide influence and extensive reception， and also mirror the creation and existence of a vibrant Daoist artistic community led by a lay Daoist priestess. The formation and evolution of the lay Daoist cultural and artistic community attest to the reality that Daoist ideals and values had also become an inseparable part of the spiritual world， aesthetic taste， daily life and forms of expression of the elite at the time. They also embody a special form of existence and vitality of Daoism in the late Qing society and culture of the Jiangnan region.
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Received: 25 July 2025
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2025, Vol. 64 
