石渠寶笈初編(御書房),下冊,頁1119&故宮書畫錄(卷五),第三冊,頁306-307&故宮書畫圖錄,第六冊,頁145-146&宣宗(西元一三九九─一四三五年)姓朱,名瞻基。明成祖長孫,明代第五位皇帝,年號宣德。宣宗雅尚詞翰繪事,於書畫之作,隨意自然,往往與宣和爭勝。 「三陽開泰」淺設色畫三羊,配以竹與茶花為襯景。竹諧音「祝」,「三陽開泰」詞意源於﹝易經﹞。正月為泰卦,三陽生於下,取其冬去春來,陰消陽長,有吉亨之象,多用作歲首稱頌之辭。 &Prosperity for the New Year Emperor Hsüan-tsung (1399-1435) Ming Dynasty Emperor Hsüan-tsung, whose personal name was Chu Chan-chi, was the grandson of Emperor Ch’eng-tzu (r.1403-1424). The fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty, he ruled from 1425 to 1435 under the reign name Hsüan-te. He enjoyed writing poems and painting, and he was able to produce free and natural works. He can thus be compared to Emperor Hui-tsung (r.1101- 1125), the famous Northern Sung emperor who was a renowned artist and calligrapher. Three goats, an auspicious symbol, are depicted in light colors among a background of bamboo and camellias. The title of this painting derives from the Book of Changes. The trigram for the first month of the lunar year is composed of yin and yang elements. The arrangement of these elements, however, is such that yang eclipses yin and signifies the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Because the character for goat is yang, this is an auspicious symbol of ten used at the beginning of a new year. Bamboo implies “wishing,” since it is a homophone for chu which means to express good wishes.