Bamboo and Insects

竹蟲圖

late 1100s

Wu Bing 吳炳

(Chinese, active 1190–1194)

Culture

China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)

Medium

Album leaf; fan painting, ink on silk

Measurements

Image: 24.8 x 26.8 cm (9 3/4 x 10 9/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1964.154

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Location

Not on view

Description

Wu Bing, a native of Piling, gained Empress Li’s favor and served as a painter-in-attendance at the court in Hangzhou during the Shaoxi reign (1190–94). The round fan painting shows a dragonfly hovering over a stalk of bamboo, a bush cricket (luowei) perching on a leaf, and a flying wasp.

Yellow leaf tips suggest the late summer or early autumn season. The chirping of the cricket sounds similar to the sound of a working loom; the insect is therefore also called weaving lady (fangzhi niang). The weaving season starts when the weather is about to turn cold—the cricket symbolizes early autumn.