Category: Infatuation with Nature

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

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

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

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

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

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 volatility—a 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