Mini Post #1: Gengshuo Ge

 The Lady with the Xiao, Yin Tang, 1520, silk

    
    The Lady with the Xiao, translated from the title in Chinese, 吹箫仕女图, was painted by Yin Tang in Ming Dynasty in 1520. From the title and the work, we can know that this work is a typical painting of the beautiful person picture, and there was a gorgeous lady who was playing the xiao, which is a Chinese version of the flute. From the emotion of the lady, it is obvious to find that she was so focused on the playing, but when we have a closer look at the painting, we will find that the lady did not feel happy at all, and she was thinking about something else. The lady is the only person in the painting, so people can feel that she is lonely and helpless, and the voice from the xiao is melancholy, which can enhance the atmosphere of grief. 

    Let us take back our focus on the painter, Yin Tang, who was born in a wealthy merchant in Ming Dynasty, and he was so brilliant and lucky that he was the number one in all his imperial examinations until the final and the most crucial one, and unfortunately, he was prisoned by cheating with other people. The fraud meant that his official career ended, which was a huge strike on Yin, so most of Yin’s artworks in his old age are about the hope of an official career and the grief of himself. Also, there was another reason that made that situation, which was his wife and his son died before him. Thus, Yin kept his style in the beautiful person picture, though that style was not popular as before, and he wanted to use the glamorous of the clothing and people to make a contrast on his upset and pity. Yin’s personality was complex because he not only wanted to work for the empire, but also he wanted to be a drunk and celebrity to travel all over the empire. Thus, Yin often used beauties and ladies with fantastic clothing as the subject of his works, but he also would use other things or emotions to embody the sadness of himself. In conclusion, Yin had a big dream in his life, but unfortunately, they could only achieve these dreams in his paintings.

link:
www.hihey.com/artwork-22935.html
baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%98%8E%E5%94%90%E5%AF%85%E5%90%B9%E8%90%A7%E4%BB%95%E5%A5%B3%E5%9B%BE