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Bamboo and Insects

竹蟲圖

late 1100s

Wu Bing 吳炳

(Chinese, active 1190–1194)
China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)
Album leaf; fan painting, ink on silk
Image: 24.8 x 26.8 cm (9 3/4 x 10 9/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1964.154
Location: not on view
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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.
Bamboo and Insects

Bamboo and Insects

late 1100s

Wu Bing

(Chinese, active 1190–1194)
China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)

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