The subject of Monk of Longmen (龍門僧) ultimately derives from a now-lost composition by the Yuan dynasty master Ni Zan (倪瓚, 1301–1374) titled Dragon Gate: The Solitary Monk (《龍門獨步圖》). The painting was well known in later centuries and was recorded in the imperial painting compendium Peiwenzhai huapu (《佩文齋畫譜》) compiled under the Kangxi emperor. The Qianlong emperor also composed a poem in praise of the work. Although the original painting has not survived, it was seen and copied by later artists, including the Ming–Qing painter Zha Shibiao (查士標, 1615-1698), who produced his own interpretation after the composition.

According to Qian Du’s inscription, after Ni Zan’s original there were further versions by Xu Ben (徐賁, 1335-after 1393) and Zhao Yuan (趙原, active 1350-1375). The present painting by Qian Du follows Zhao Yuan’s interpretation of the subject. Qian Du notes that his approach avoids the use of conventional “moss-dot” texturing, only coaxing out the cool elegance and antique refinement among the grasses, an effect he believed captured the spirit of the earlier masters.

Qian Du also inscribed a poem responding to a verse by Zhao Yuan, whose evocation of the Longmen landscape he admired for its quiet elegance:

After the autumn rain clears at Longmen,

fragrant jade-like grasses stretch to the horizon.

The Northern Dipper hangs upon the blue cliff;

in the Heavenly Pool white lotuses open.

The Daoist, long entered into meditation,

sits cross-legged, his right shoulder bare.

He hastens into the bitter-bamboo grove,

cupping his hands to draw cinnabar spring water.

Pine blossoms fall into the wind-stove;

the stone kettle sounds cool and clear.

I wish to learn the art of refining the body,

like the cicada casting off its shell, to pursue the flying immortals.

Through this inscription and poetic response, the present work situates itself within a lineage tracing back to Ni Zan’s celebrated but lost composition, demonstrating how later literati painters continued to reinterpret and transmit revered models across the centuries.

款識：（一）龍門僧圖。迂翁作後，更有徐幼文﹑趙善長各為一幀。此仿善長本，不用苔點，只剔草間之蒼秀古雅，似在迂翁上矣。庚子（1840）二月，錢杜記。鈐印：「雲松館」、「錢杜」
（二）龍門秋雨霽，瑤草香接天。北斗掛青壁，天池開白蓮。道人入定久，趺坐袒右肩。走入苦竹林，手汲丹砂泉。松花落風爐，石銚聲冷然。願學煉形術，蟬退追飛仙。趙善長一詩，愛其幽雅，因並和之。度又記。鈐印：「尗美」
鑒藏印：（朱榮爵）「靖侯鑒賞」、「子孫寶之」
（翁斌孫）「翁斌孫印」
（王季遷）「王季遷海外所見名跡」
「了陰堂藏」、「小記室山房珍賞」、「賜福堂主人珍藏經籍碑帖書畫記」、「履無咎齋」