Image of Peony Blossom with Foliage

Peony Blossom with Foliage

Peony Blossom with Foliage was painted in the 15th century by an unknown artist. The painting was likely painted for a wealthy family of high status. In ancient China, peonies represented feminine beauty, wealth, and the aristocracy.

Selling Tattered Peonies is by the Tang-dynasty (618–907) poet, Yu Xuanji. She is one of the most renowned female poets in Chinese history. Her poem builds on the symbolism of peonies and their ephemeral nature. Yu Xuanji’s poems frequently question traditional gender roles. Selling Tattered Peonies is no exception. During the Tang dynasty, women were required to marry while still in their mid-teens. Those who weren’t married by the end of their teens were shunned by society. The antiquated painting and poem call to mind a flower—representing a woman—that has suffered the passage of time but remains unquestionably beautiful.

Poem selection and label by Kela Harrington ’19

Image of Album of Landscapes, Flowers and Birds

Album of Landscapes, Flowers and Birds

Fan Qi and Du Fu are famous for their emphasis on realism. Both lived during turbulent times. Fan Qi witnessed Manchu invaders sack Nanjing in the final days of the Ming dynasty, while Du Fu saw the havoc wreaked by An Lushan’s rebel forces on Chang’an in the late Tang-dynasty.

In contrast with the wartime chaos Fan lived in, the painting lulls viewers into a comforting natural environment. The mandarin ducks lounge gracefully in the moonlight. Reeds bend in the wind. Even the inscription recounts the elegance of the scene without mention of its historical backdrop. Unlike his contemporaries, Fan Qi used bright colors to convey the liveliness of the scene. Nature is a common motif in his work. Through it he invokes nostalgia for a calmer past, perhaps to disconnect from the terrors of the present. Du Fu, on the other hand, delves into the pain and suffering of the present. His poem captures the isolation, hopelessness, and dread of civilians in the heat of civil war. Its message of desolation and strife carries through generations. While Fan Qi dwells on natural beauty in an escapist style, Du Fu focuses on the coexisting realities of an elegant spring occurring alongside the destruction of his homeland.

Poem selection and label by Ava Friedlander ’20, Kela Harrington ’19, Lucy Liang ’17, Yuxiao Meng ’19

Image of Listening to the Moon

Listening to the Moon

The magical utopia that poet Tao Yuanming (365–427) wrote about in 421 comes to life in Listening to the Moon. Zhu Xiuli, born in Shanghai in 1938, moved to Anhui Province to get away from the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) in Nanjing. His new approaches to traditional Chinese painting, paired with Li Bai’s poem Dialogue in the Mountains, present the viewer with an ideal, reclusive life. Writing about his reasons for staying in the sapphire hills, Li alludes to Peach Blossom Spring, Tao Yuanming’s famous ideal world.

When Li Bai alludes to Tao Yuanming in his work, he emphasizes his happiness in reclusion. Li Bai lived during the Tang dynasty’s (618–907) most prosperous times. His poetry reflects the optimistic atmosphere he lived in. Looking at these two works together, the viewer discovers something more than a beautiful, peaceful setting. It is also magical, and exactly what the figure in the painting has been searching for. These works are a love letter to nature, a thank you for making someone’s heart feel at peace after such intense times of turmoil. Nature is the magical utopia that resolves all problems. These two works combined share that message with the viewer.

Poem selection and label by Ava Friedlander ’20

Image of Landscape (HUANG Binhong)

Landscape (HUANG Binhong)

In traditional Chinese paintings, mountains symbolize strength, stability, and perseverance. Huang Binhong, a famous landscape painter, lived through China’s turbulent times. Deeply influenced by traditional landscape painting and Western Impressionism, Huang developed a unique style that captures the spirit of mountains with dark shading contrasted with the void. In Landscape, Huang paints a mountain cuddling a river and trees, and dedicates it to an old friend, Cangsou. Apart from the spatial monumentality, Huang suggests the inclusive and nurturing nature of the mountain. Through this, he praises Cangsou for reaching such spiritual elevation.

Du Fu’s poem Gazing at the Mountain, written after failing the imperial examination, praises Mount Tai’s sheer size. With a peak well above the clouds and surrounding mountains, Mount Tai is an inspiration and a goal for Du Fu. He hopes to be like Mount Tai one day, being the tallest peak, where with “one glance all other mountains dwindle.” Through this poem, Du Fu shows his lofty scholarly ambitions.

Both the poem and the painting use mountains to represent spiritual or social height in life. At the same time, they both show an infatuation for nature.

Poem selection and label by Lucy Liang ’17

Image of Outing to Master Zhang's Grotto

Outing to Master Zhang’s Grotto

Zhang Gong’s Grotto is a well-known scenic cave in Jiangsu province. Named after the founder of religious Daoism, Zhang Daoling, it is considered a Blessed Place of Daoism. Countless Daoists and curious travelers flock there to witness the rumored wellsprings of nature’s creative energy.

Shitao’s painting and Chen Zuren’s poem explore these Daoist dimensions. The nine-meter long painting presents the sheer scale and exquisite details of the grotto, expressing a Daoist reverence for nature’s  forces. Shitao’s inscription hints that his illustration might have captured some of nature’s magic. The poem by Chen complements these themes by acknowledging divine creation in a straightforward way. Where Chen praises the ingenuity of heaven’s art, Shitao presents the scene with skilled artistry.

The solitude of the painted figure by the grotto parallels allusions to Peach Blossom Spring, Tao Yuanming’s famous ideal realm. The figure admires the cave, isolated from the cacophony of countryside landscape, suggesting his rejoicement in natural wonders. By comparing the grotto to Peach Blossom Spring, Chen reveals the spiritual elevation of those who appreciate nature’s divine beauty.

Poem selection and label by Ava Friedlander ’20, Kela Harrington ’19, Lucy Liang ’17, Yuxiao Meng ’19

Image of Blue Mountain

Blue Mountain

Growing up in Communist China, Qiu Deshu studied ink painting and Buddhism. Contrary to the era’s politicized atmosphere, he specialized in abstract, apolitical art. His art follows historical tradition without hesitating to deconstruct it. His Blue Mountain lends modern expression to classical Chinese landscape. Using Western acrylic paint, Qiu defines rugged peaks with vibrant blues reminiscent of rivers. Mountains and rivers, both traditional landscape elements, collide and mesh, subverting aesthetic convention. With a few strokes, Qiu reveals sensuality in steadfastness, and softness in severity.

Hanshan conveys a similar paradox with his poem. A scribe forced into seclusion by political upheaval, he soon warmed to hermetic life. Adopting the name he styled for his mountain abode, he wrote Buddhist poems meditating on his connection with the strange yet beautiful Cold Mountain. Untitled opens with two concrete images: spring water and the moonlit mountain. Yet in them, Hanshan sees emptiness. Through the stream’s constant flow, he feels how “the world grows still;” in the unyielding mountain, his “spirit becomes clear.” His epiphany counters and deconstructs conventional symbolism. In symbols of constancy, he sees cosmic volatilitya crucial Buddhist concept. Both works deconstruct artistic convention and challenge traditional symbolism. At the same time, they affirm the landscape’s role as an endlessly volatile source of inspiration.

Poem selection and label by Yuxiao Meng ’19

Image of Lotus

Lotus

Lotuses have the ability to rise from the mud and bloom into beautiful flowers. For this reason, they often represent purity, beauty, and resilience in Chinese artwork. The combination of Chen Jialing’s Lotus painting with Li Bai’s poem The Lotus creates a complementary pairing of images and words.

Born in 1937, Chinese painter Chen Jialing is known for his modern, experimental, and abstract style of painting. His work often integrates a dreamlike world with a simplistic innocence to convey themes of elegance and virtue. The beauty of the lotus illustrated in Chen’s painting is further enhanced by Li Bai’s poem. This well-known Tang-dynasty (618–907) poet spent many years of his life wandering and living a somewhat nomadic lifestyle. Li’s work addresses topics such as voyages, detachment from society, nature, and solitude. Like Chen, Li often experimented with stylistic choices in his poetry.

Chen portrays the flower’s beauty using light washes and fine lines, whereas Li describes the lotus’s radiance and fragrance. This poem-painting interaction evokes a sense of fluidity through the lifelike quality of the lotus leaf and the conversation of the changing seasons in the poem. Additionally, this pairing contrasts the lotus’ strength with its fragility.

Poem selection and label by Beatrice Hesselbart ’20

Image of Chrysanthemums by a Rock

Chrysanthemums by a Rock

Known as one of the “Four Gentlemen” in Confucian philosophy, the chrysanthemum became the iconic flower for autumn. Chrysanthemums are the last flowers to bloom in the year, and their presence bracing the cold weather portrays their resilient and aloof personalities. In Tao Yuanming’s poem, On Drinking Wine, No. 5, “plucking chrysanthemums by the eastern hedge, from afar I catch sight of the southern mountain” becomes the most quoted line. While the act may be commonplace in the leisure of rustic life, Tao’s detachment from society gave the flower its representation of the hermit ‘gentleman.’

This new representation of the flower inspired many other poets and artists. Gao Fenghan’s Chrysanthemums by a Rock pays homage to the drunken Master of the Five Willows (a.k.a Tao Yuanming) in the inscriptions. At the age of fifty-four, Gao lost the use of his right hand. His unorthodox style and preference for individualism became heightened by the naive awkwardness of his left-handed brushwork. The vigorous wet brushwork in the painting creates a drunken flow that connects the contrasting lush flowers to the barren rock in harmony.

Poem selection and label by Diana Chen ’17, Beatrice Hesselbart ‘20, and Francesca Harrison ‘19

Image of The Pine Tree

The Pine Tree

Pine trees stand tall and sturdy, as they are able to remain green and lively during even the harshest of winters. Thus, the pine tree has become a symbol of longevity and endurance in Chinese culture. In Liu Haisu’s The Pine Tree, he explores this symbolism by making the pine the focal point of his painting. The void background of this painting could be anything. It depicts the strength of the tree to withstand whatever conditions it exists within. This sense of endurance is enhanced by the inscription. It is from Liu Haisu to his friend, stating “Evergreen for thousands of years,” commenting on the lasting nature of their friendship, as well as longevity in both friendship and the pine in nature. The theme is applicable to Liu Haisu himself as he lived through the end of the Qing Dynasty, the rise of the People’s Republic of China, the Cultural Revolution, and many other events that could have greatly shifted his life, yet he remained himself despite changing times.

Poet Song Zhiwen in the Tang Dynasty wrote the poem On Old Zhang’s Pine Tree, which goes in depth about shifting times more literally with mentions of ending the year, a sun setting, and a cooling desolate environment. These factors all add a strong emphasis on the changing outside environment that impact the pine. Thus upon mentioning the large pine, it hints at its extreme endurance. 

Poem Selection and label by Francesca Harrison ’19

Image of Bamboo and Rocks

Bamboo and Rocks

As a symbol of perseverance, honorability, and adaptability, bamboo is considered a ‘gentleman’ plant. Both Zheng Xie’s painting, Bamboo and Rocks, and Bai Juyi’s poem, “The Bamboo By Li Ch’e Yun’s Window,” explore the symbolic relationships between bamboo and its surroundings. Zheng Xie lived in the Qing-Dynasty (1644-1912) and Bai Juyi in the Tang-Dynasty (618-907). Both progressed through examination systems to become officials, yet remained in touch with their art.

The painting celebrates the stark yet gentle features of bamboo. Straight and light strokes reveal the bamboo’s clear strength. Despite the cleancut sturdiness of bamboo, it still holds a soft essence, as its symbolic title, ‘gentleman,’ suggests. The rocks blend with the bamboo, yet the bamboo seems more prominent, emphasizing its individuality while maintaining harmony with its surroundings. The inscription suggests the bamboo’s ability to withstand the seasons. The poem highlights the uniqueness of the bamboo’s individual beauty and adaptability, while offering uses for the bamboo as a practical tool. It advises that the most important aspect is its grace and ability to enhance its surroundings. The poem ends, “it will be beautiful under the falling snow flakes,” showcasing the bamboo’s harmonious relationship with its environment.

Poem selection and label by Francesca Harrison ‘19, Diana Chen ‘17, and Beatrice Hesselbart ‘20