A BAMBOO 'RED CLIFF' BRUSHPOT, BITONG18th century Exquisitely carved in high relief with a boat containing a table with incense burner and books, a boy preparing tea, floating along the river beside craggy rocks and cliffs, the banks with gnarled pine trees and bamboo groves, the winding path with bearded scholars and boy-attendants, hongmu stand. 16.5cm (6 1/2in) high. (2). 十八世紀 竹雕赤壁夜遊圖筆筒 When the Song dynasty literatus Su Dongpo (1037-1101) was first sent to Huangzhou in exile for opposing reformist policies at court, he passed by the supposed site of the naval battle of the Red Cliffs (AD 208). Su wrote the two poems on the Red Cliffsmemorating the valour and bravery of the historical heroes that fought in the battle long past, while also voicing his own sense of nostalgia, loss and receding into the pages of history. His poems have since entered into the Chinese literary canon and are a continuously popular motif for artists and poets; see R.Egan, Word, Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi , Cambridge MA, 1994, pp.221-228. pare with a related brushpot carved with a scene of Su Dongpo in a boat under the Red Cliff, late 18th century, illustrated by Ip Yee and L.Tam, Chinese Bamboo Carving , Part I, Hong Kong, 1978, pp.288-289.