Hanging scroll
A hanging scroll is one of the many traditional ways to display and exhibit East Asian painting and calligraphy. The hanging scroll was displayed in a room for appreciation; it is to be distinguished from the handscroll, which was narrower and designed to be viewed flat on a table in sections and then stored away again.
| Hanging scroll | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Chinese hanging scrolls on display | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 立軸 掛軸 軸 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | tranh cuộn | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Chữ Nôm | 𢂰𦄣 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 족자 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 掛軸 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | かけじく | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Katakana | カケジク | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Hanging scrolls are generally intended to be displayed for short periods of time and are then rolled up to be tied and secured for storage. The hanging scrolls are rotated according to season or occasion, and such works are never intended to be on permanent display. The painting surface of the paper or silk can be mounted with decorative brocade silk borders. In the composition of a hanging scroll, the foreground is usually at the bottom of the scroll while the middle and far distances are at the middle and top respectively.
The traditional craft involved in creating a hanging scroll is considered an art in itself. Mountings for Chinese paintings can be divided into a few types, such as handscrolls, hanging scrolls, album leaves, and screens amongst others. In the hanging scroll the actual painting is mounted on paper, and provided at the top with a stave, to which is attached a hanging cord, and at the bottom with a roller.