Peach Blossom Spring / Chen Shaomei (aka Ch'en Shao-mei)
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 2006/2.21
- Title
- Peach Blossom Spring
- Artist Nationality
- Chinese
- Artist Life Dates
- 1909-1954
- Medium and Support
- ink and light color on paper
- Object Creation Date
- circa 1930-1954
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- China (nation)
- Hunan (province)
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- China (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Hunan (province)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Ellen and Richard Laing
- Dimensions
- 23.1 cm x 675 cm (9 1/8 in. x 265 3/4 in.)
- Century
- 20th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Primary Object Type
- hand scroll
- Secondary Object Classification
- Painting
- Secondary Object Type
- narrative painting
- Physical Description
- In this long narrative landscape, our eyes trace the journey of the fisherman, who may be standing in the distance on the left. His boat can be seen tucked behing a rock, and the mouth of a small cave. Pink petals of peach blossoms adorn the trees along to shore of a stream.
- Subject Matter
- This panoramic view of a pastoral landscape is based on a famous story of Peach Blossom Spring written by one of the greatest poets in China, Tao Yuanming (372-427). After traveling along a stream, a fisherman came to a breathtaking peach grove, where the air was filled with the aroma of peach blossoms, and pink petals fluttered through the air. The fisherman found a cave, and after passing through its narrow walls discovered a vibrant, flourishing village. Surprised to have a visitor, the residents asked where he had come from, and explained that their ancestors had fled and settled there during the harsh Ch’in dynasty (225-209 BCE). After a few days he returned home, and promised the villagers never to share where he had been. Cunningly, the fisherman marked his return path and told his magistrate of the fertile land, yet no one was able to find the idyllic village again.
- Secondary Keywords
- scale
- bodies of water
- bodies of water and components of bodies of water
- bodies of water by size
- buildings and the land
- deciduous trees
- landform components
- landforms and landform components
- landscapes (environments)
- natural landscapes
- objects we use
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people by occupation
- people in agriculture or natural resource occupations
- people in science-related occupations
- plants
- riverine bodies
- scientists and people in science-related occupations
- settlements
- settlements and landscapes
- settlements by form
- transportation vehicles
- trees
- trees by leaf life
- vegetation and vegetation components
- vegetation components
- vehicles
- watercraft
- watercraft by general type
- woody plants
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 3323 x 856
- File Size
- 384 KB
- Record
- 2006/2.21
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2006-sl-2.21/2006_2_21b.jpg
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- Full citation
-
"Peach Blossom Spring; Chen Shaomei (aka Ch'en Shao-mei)." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2006-sl-2.21/2006_2_21b.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 28, 2024.