Request to Translate Drawing

[batlou]

My Father purchased this sketch from a street vendor in China 20+ years ago.  It's has been hanging in my bathroom ever since and I have always wanted to know what it says.  I am assuming it is a parable of some sort regarding drinking alcohol but I am not sure.  Any help would be appreciated.

 

[skylee]

That is about Li Tieguai, one of the Eight Immortals of the Daoist tradition. If you Google the name you can find information on him, such as this - http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Tieguai

[oceancalligraphy]

I know this is off-topic, but as someone involved in Chinese calligraphy, I think the painting needs some care. I can tell from the flash that it is framed. Is the painting mounted? If it is, based on the bubbling, the painting and the mounting paper are starting to separate. Chinese calligraphy and paintings are on what is generally called rice paper, then mounted on a thicker piece of paper with glue. In this case, the painting probably needs to be remounted. The moisture in the bathroom probably isn't helping, either.

[batlou]

This is great, I just finished reading about who he was.  Regarding the drawing, you are correct that is was created on rice paper.  It has always had those little wrinkles in it, likely from being rolled along with several others for a flight home from China.  It's in a rarely used hallway half-bath so not much moisture in there.  So does anyone have any idea what it actually says?  I have another similar sketch that I would assume is the same person with a different depiction...

 

[batlou]

Last one, I am guessing this is a different person in this sketch here.  Again, thank you for your help so far.  I am thrilled to finally have something to solve at least part of this.

 

[oceancalligraphy]

Unfortunately I don't have time at the moment to translate. If the paper has been wrinkled from the beginning, it probably hasn't been mounted onto a thicker paper. I would suggest having it professionally mounted to preserve the quality and to protect the painting. The rice paper alone is very delicate. The mounting paper is thicker and provides a better backing. Calligraphy and paintings also look much better after mounting.

[skylee]

So does anyone have any idea what it actually says?

That is about Li Tieguai

As you can see there are many words in the painting. It will take plenty of effort to translate it. If you have read the wiki, you know what is said in your painting. I am a bit amused that my reply was not considered helpful.

#4 says 醉 鍾馗

http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=1&wdqb=%E9%86%89

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhong_Kui

#5 says 不求人

http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=1&wdqb=%E4%B8%8D%E6%B1%82%E4%BA%BA

[batlou]

Sorry if I offended you, your reply was more than helpful and appreciated.  That was in no way what I mean to infer in my reply.  Because I am not familiar with Chinese writing I did not realize that it would be a great deal of work to translate.  Thank you again for your help.  All 3 of these drawings were professionally mounted and framed, I will take them apart to verify that they were also properly glued to a backer board off some sort.  Thanks again for the tip on that as well.

[oceancalligraphy]

The painting should not be glued to a board, it should be glued to a thicker piece of paper. By mounting, I mean the glueing of the painting to the thicker piece of paper. The mix of Chinese and Western art terms is confusing things. This page shows an example of mounting a Chinese painting. After the painting is treated this way, then it can be framed.