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Wang Juzheng (Northern Song), The
Spinning Wheel, detail
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Why do you think these paintings would have been considered auspicious? Do you think these children are all engaged in typical play activities? Anonymous Song artist, One Hundred Children Celebrating Spring
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Compare the following views of children. Click below to see the full painting: |
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Full Image [In the guide, below] Are these children wearing their everyday clothes?
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Full Image [In the guide, below] What do you think these boys are playing with?
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Full Image [In the guide, below] What can you infer about family structure and expectations of gender roles from this image?
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The peacock feather banner the children are playing with is like the one used in dramas to signal a general or leader of troops. Where do you think this scene might be taking place? Do you think these children are dressed in their everyday clothes? Scholars believe this painting, nearly six and a half feet tall, may have been one of a pair or a set of similarly themed works originally hung in the royal apartments. Why do you think this might have been considered an appropriate location for this type of work?
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Su Hanchen (active 1130s-1160s), Winter Play
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Anonymous Song, Palace Children Playing
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This unusual variation on a familiar theme of children captivated by the novelties provided by the itinerant peddler may have an allegorical component, but many figure painters of the Song specialized in portraying ghosts and demons for their sheer entertainment value. Ghosts and demons also commonly appear in dramas of the period. |
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Li Song (active 1190-1230), attr., Skeleton Fantasy Game
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When women appear in official records in China, very little about their everyday lives, habits, and appearance is mentioned, so the abundance of paintings of women that lived during the Song and Yuan dynasties is of special interest to historians. Often painters portrayed upper class subjects larger than their servants. Performers at banquets were more likely to be professional musicians than the guests themselves. What differences in status are evident among the women? Can you tell who might be host, guest, and servant or entertainer in this painting? Anonymous Northern Song artist, Palace Concert
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Despite having prolonged conflict with their neighbors to
the north, the Chinese included studies of nomadic life among the
subjects they painted.
Why do you think these women have their faces covered? Anonymous Five Dynasties artist, Nomadic Horsemen (detail)
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What do you think is idealized here? |
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Couple with Banquet Attendants, wall painting from 1099 tomb
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MORE: [In the guide, below] | |||
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Most paintings of women were made by artists who specialized in the genre of Palace Women and Children (like Su Hanchen, above); Wang Juzheng, the artist of the painting below, was best known for his portrayals of palace beauties. Views of women from the lower classes are quite rare, and this example shows sensitivity towards description of physical imperfections and maintains a sense of dignity in its treatment of the women's expressions. As you look more closely, can you tell how old both of these women are? What do you think their relationship is? Where do you think they are? Are they in the private space of the home, or at work? Is this a moment of leisure? |
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Wang Juzheng (Song), The Spinning Wheel | |
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For a closer view of a detail... [In the guide, below] |
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Move on to the Private Realm of the Literati
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