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One Hundred Flowers, scroll painting, Qing Dynasty

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One Hundred Flowers, scroll painting, Qing Dynasty

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After Yun Shouping (Chinese, 1633–1690)
Qing dynasty (1644–1911)

Public domain photograph of Chinese silk textile, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

The Qing dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 1644 to 1912. It was founded by the Manchu people, who came from Manchuria in northeastern China. Their history, language, culture, and identity were distinct from the Chinese population, whom they conquered in 1644 when China was weakened by internal rebellions. The Manchus forged alliances with certain Chinese and Mongol groups that aided their conquest of China. Manchu rule did not completely uproot the government of China or its social and cultural life; instead, Manchu rulers selectively continued and adapted aspects of Chinese life they admired. They developed a style of rule befitting the multiethnic empire they commanded, of which the Chinese were the largest population. The Manchu rulers modeled many of their government practices on those of the previous Chinese Ming dynasty (1368–1644). For example, they employed a civil service examination system much like in previous Chinese dynasties to recruit Chinese government officials. In addition, the emperors were bilingual in Chinese and Manchu. Simultaneously, the Manchu rulers maintained and promoted many Manchu customs at court and within the general populace. The Qing dynasty was known for its strong and centralized government, as well as its accomplishments in art and culture. Some of the most notable emperors of the Qing dynasty include Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. The Qing dynasty also saw several significant events, such as the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion. Ultimately, however, the dynasty was unable to adapt to the changes brought about by the industrialization of the West, and it was overthrown in 1912, marking the end of imperial China.

Yun Shouping (惲壽平, 1633–1690), sobriquet Nantian (南田), was a major Chinese artist of the early Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Together with the Four Wangs and Wu Li (吳歷, 1632–1718), he is grouped among the “Six Masters” of the early Qing period. He and these other artists continued the orthodox tradition of painting, following the great codifications of the painter and art theoretician Dong Qichang (董其昌, 1555–1636). Yun Shouping had an adventure-filled early life. Following the collapse of the Ming dynasty, Yun was taken along in flight by his father, a Ming loyalist, then separated from his father and adopted by a high-placed family among the ruling Manchus, and, finally, restored by stealth to his father in a Buddhist monastery. Yun Shouping refused to serve the foreign Manchus but instead cultivated the learned arts of poetry, calligraphy, and painting. He was a contemporary and close friend of the rich and famous Wang Hui (王翬, 1632–1717), and Yun much admired him—even to the extent, it is said, of admitting the other’s greater mastery in the art of landscape, and thus focusing on flower painting instead. Yun Shouping is generally associated with the painting of flowers, usually in a “boneless” (沒骨, mogu) manner that emphasizes washes instead of lines. Yun earned the respect of both his contemporaries and later generations as an appropriate representative of the school of “literati painting”.

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Date

1600 - 1700
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Source

Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Public Domain Dedication (CC0)

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