Inscriptions:
1) “Deeply drunken I cannot bear the noise of bees and butterflies,
Rising up I drew a flower from Guangling. Qinfeng.” Seal: Qinfeng
2) “Emulating an authentic work by Tang Liuru (Tang Yin). Zhai Jichang from Xiushui.”
Seal: Qinfeng
3) “Picture of Spring Wind. Done in emulation of the manner of Xu Chongsi. Qinfeng.” Seal: Qinfeng
4) “The boat on spring water looks like it is sitting in heaven. Using the brushwork of Baiyun Waishi (Yun Shouping), I painted a line from Shaoling’s (Du Fu) poem. Zhai Jichang.” Seal: Qinfeng
5) “Transcendent species have no names, but this happens to be called blossoming plum. Qinfeng.” Seal: Qinfeng
6) “Done in emulation of Zhang Zizheng’s light red manner. Qinfeng .” Seal: Qinfeng
7) “Before the fifteenth day of the third lunar month of the year 1820, done by Qinfeng.” Seal: Qinfeng
8) “I had seen a painting by Baishiweng (Shen Zhou) done after a round fan painting by a Song master. Happening to recall it, I imitated it to some degree.” Seal: Qinfeng
Zhai Jichang, zi Nianzu, hao Qinfeng and Mochu (emaciated by ink), was registered in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, but lived and was probably born in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, to which city his father had moved. As the son of the famous Zhai Dakun (d. 1804), Zhai Jichang learned to paint very early and already when young had earned the respect of other members of the previous generation. His early works were said to be small in format but all-encompassing in vision; versions of such earlier Wu-school paintings as “Spring in Jiangnan” were held to be of value equal to that of the original.
Zhai’s approach to painting is suggested by several of his recorded comments. “Song paintings are antique and awkward. Yuan works are antique and elegant; one should combine these in one and the same hand. “If one paints the whole day there will certainly be no wondrous passages, life and energy from the heavenly well-springs is obtained during moments of leisure.”
Only in his later works, according to early critics, did Zhai begin to free his brush and to paint with less strict control. In works done after Shen Zhou of the Ming and Wu Zhen of the Yuan, Zhai Jichang achieved stronger, more antique brushwork and much bolder visual effects. According to a friend, Jiang Baoling, “In his later years he was often sick, but in his house one had to stand because of the bolts of silk sent by those wanting his paintings. Persevering in his efforts to quickly respond, he thus did many paintings which were not thoughtfully planned.” Another friend remarked on this to Jiang: “Even when Qinfeng’s (Zhai Jichang) paintings have rough brushwork they still are not lacking in life and interest, so superior was his natural talent.”