Painting in National Palace Museum, Song dynasty part2

Welcome to the National Palace Museum's collection of paintings from the Song dynasty! These works of art were created by some of China's most talented painters, and they provide us with a unique insight into Chinese culture during this period. You will find landscapes such as Autumn Colors among Streams and Mountains, Pair of Wild Geese on an Autumn Islet and Wind in Pines Among a Myriad Valleys. There are also bird-and-flower paintings like Blue Magpie and Thorny Shrubs and Magpies and Hare. Other works include Bamboo in Monochrome Ink, Travelers Among Mountains and Streams, Early Spring and Children at Play in an Autumnal Garden. Finally there is Lohan, which was painted by Liu Sung-nien in Ch'ien-t'ang during the Ch'un-hsi era. We hope you enjoy exploring these incredible artifacts!

1. Autumn Colors among Streams and Mountains

This painting has multiple layers of mountains with different areas of slope and elevation. The peaks are rounded and shaded with light ink to create a misty, lyrical quality to the landscape.

2. Pair of Wild Geese on an Autumn Islet

This painting shows a pond on an autumn day with a slight breeze. The geese are resting on a shoal in the middle of the pond, surrounded by dry reeds, red polygonum, and withered lotuses.

3. Bamboo in Monochrome Ink

Wen Tong was gifted in poetry, prose, and calligraphy. He is also credited with inventing the genre of ink bamboo painting. This painting depicts bamboo extending into the composition from the upper left, probably growing from a cliff left unseen.

4. Travelers Among Mountains and Streams

Fan K'uan was a painter from Hua-yuan in Shensi province. He was known for his kind personality, straightforward personality, and love of drink and the Tao. He is now famous for his landscape paintings.

5. Early Spring

Kuo Hsi, who is from Wen-hsien in Honan province, served as a court painter under Emperor Shen-tsung. He started his career by painting large screens and walls for palaces and halls in the capital, which caught the attention of the emperor.

6. Blue Magpie and Thorny Shrubs

Huang Chu-ts'ai, also known as Po-luan, was a famous bird-and-flower painter from Szechwan province. He followed in his father's style of thin brushstrokes and vibrant colors.

7. Magpies and Hare

Ts'ui Po was a painter from Anhwei province who was especially good at painting birds and flowers. This painting depicts two magpies crying out at a hare.

8. Wind in Pines Among a Myriad Valleys

Li T'ang was a painter who lived during the Northern Sung dynasty. He fled to the south when the dynasty fell in 1126, and eventually settled under the Southern Sung government. This painting bears his signature, which is dated to 1124.

9. Children at Play in an Autumnal Garden

Su Han-ch'en was a painter who specialized in painting Buddhist and Taoist figures. He worked at the imperial academy during the Hsuan-ho era (1119-1125) under Emperor Hui-tsung of the Northern Sung.

10. Lohan