The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Horizontally long handscroll in muted colors with four panels depicting various outdoor scenes of people with light skin tones. Left to right, people stand at the edge of an open gate surrounding a square house. Next, a group of people, one riding a horse, hold weapons and walk right, accompanied by four-legged, grey animals. Next, three people stand among winding, leafy trees. Finally, people sit around looms, a tree rising center of the scene.

"Seventh Month" from the Odes of Bin

1200s

China, Southern Song dynasty

(1127-1279)
Handscroll; ink and color on silk
Image: 22.5 x 687.2 cm (8 7/8 x 270 9/16 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1980.187
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The Odes of Bin appears in the classic Shijing (Book of Poetry), an anthology of more than 300 poems, folk songs, and ceremonial hymns that were originally chanted to music.

Description

According to Confucian thought, the ruler looks after the well-being of his people which involves agricultural activities. Seventh Month from the ancient Odes of Bin in the Shijing (Book of Poetry) describes occupations throughout the year, including plowing, harvesting, hunting, making clothes, and observing rituals.

The earliest illustrations of these Odes accompanied by text were commissioned by Southern Song emperor Gaozong (reigned 1127–1162). As the lower Yangzi delta had become the new seat of government, Gaozong had sets of these illustrations produced by court artists to revive the dynasty and convince the Confucian officialelite of his legitimacy to rule.
  • 1600s
    Liang Qingbiao 梁清標 [1620–1691]
    ?–1980
    (Mrs. Ya-yen Yu sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1980–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Chen, Rentao 陳仁濤 [J.D. Chen]. Gu gong yi yi shu hua mu jiao zhu 故宮已佚書畫目校注. Hong Kong: Dongnan shu ju, 1956. p. 9a
    Zhang Zhao 張照, ed. Mi dian zhulin shiqu baoji 秘殿珠林 石渠寶笈. Taipei: Guoli gugong bowuyuan 國立故宮博物院, 1745, Taipei reprint 1971. pp. 977-978
    Lee, Sherman E., and Wai-kam Ho. The Nature and Significance of the Collection of Liang Ch'ing-Piao. Taipei, Taiwan: Chung-hua ming-kuo, 1981. Mentioned: p. 126, no. 97
    Murray, Julia K. Ma Hezhi and the Illustration of the Book of Odes. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Reproduced: Fig. 74, p. 147
    Liu, Cary Y., and Dora C. Y. Ching. Arts of the Sung and Yüan: Ritual, Ethnicity, and Style in Painting. Princeton, N.J.: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1999. Reproduced: p. 131, figs. 4-5; p. 133, fig. 8
    Griswold, William, Xiaofei Tian, Richard Von Glahn, Feng Zhao, S. J. Vainker, Masaaki Itakura, Jiang Wu, et al. China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. Edited by Clarissa Von Spee. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 155–157, no. 48
  • China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10, 2023-January 7, 2024).
    The Flowering of Southern Sung and its Legacy. Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC (March 15-April 29, 1985).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
    Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 11-March 29, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title="Seventh Month" from the Odes of Bin|url=false|author=|year=1200s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.187