The Chinese handscroll is designed to be brought out, carefully unrolled, viewed scene by scene, then returned to storage. The scroll design demands that the painting be viewed only from time to time. Each viewing can reveal something new, perhaps a detail or an image, that escaped the viewer's eye the previous time. The experience can be compared to rereading a favorite book or seeing a movie several times. Each encounter with the scroll provides a richer experience for the viewer. The ceremony and anticipation surrounding the viewing of a Chinese handscroll make it a truly special event.
Because of its small size and scroll format, the Chinese handscroll may only be viewed by one to two people at a time. Unlike Western paintings that can be viewed from afar, Chinese handscrolls must be enjoyed up close. Unrolling them demands physical contact. The viewer has complete control over how fast she moves through the images. She can quickly scroll through some and stop to contemplate others.
Handscrolls are painted on a continuous roll of paper or silk. This format allows the artist to tell a story from the beginning to the end of the scroll. Chinese handscrolls are viewed as Chinese is read: from right to left. Each scene moves the viewer along in the narrative. Much like the reader of a book turns the pages to continue the story, the viewer of a handscroll unrolls the scroll to see what happens next. He has the luxury to go back and view previous images, just as the reader can go back and reread a favorite passage.
Chinese handscrolls are stored in individual wooden boxes that carry an identifying label. When the viewer removes the lid, she will likely find the scroll wrapped in silk. Unwrapping the silk, she will find the scroll bound with a silken cord that is clasped together with a jade or ivory toggle. After unlatching the toggle, the viewer begins the process of unrolling and viewing the scroll before carefully rolling it up, wrapping it in the silk, binding it with the silken cord and placing it back into the box.
The Chinese handscroll often contains inscriptions that include the title of the work, poems composed by the painter or a few written lines explaining the painting in some way. Many handscrolls also contain a colophon panel. Colophons are commentary written on additional sheets of paper or silk. These colophons may be written by the artist, people who owned the handscroll at one time, or various viewers of the handscroll. They can contain biographical information about the artist, comments about the quality of the painting, or responses to earlier colophons. Many collectors and viewers sign the painting with personal red seals.