Bamboo in the Wind
1304
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1304
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Bamboo in the Wind is a 1304 unspecified by Puming (Xuechuang), a Ming Painting work, depicting Bamboo, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a single stalk of bamboo bending in a soft wind, leaves fluttering like thin ribbons. Bamboo doesn’t snap under snow or storm—so Chinese scholars painted it as a symbol of resilience. This artist was a monk, and the quiet curve of the stalk feels like a breath of calm. To see more of this quiet strength, look up *subject: china, yuan dynasty (1271-1368)*.
Bamboo is an evergreen plant that does not break under the weight of snow or the force of the wind, and thus became a favorite motif in literati painting and Chan Buddhism as a metaphor for the virtue of not yielding to worldly temptations. Xuechuang, also known as monk Puming, was a native of Songjiang, near Shanghai, who spent his life as a monk in Suzhou. In 1338, he presided over Yunyan temple on Tiger Hill. Here, he masterfully depicts a bamboo gently bent in a subtle breeze. Puming’s paintings were revered in Japan and Korea.
Bamboo, pine, and plum, often referred to as the "three friends of winter," are popular motifs in Chinese literati art.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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