The composition of the painting seems to have borrowed depictions of the Three Laughers of Tiger Creek, a popular allegorical story about the meeting of three famous figures.
Ming Dynasty
The smoke from incense was used as a link between the earthly realm and the heavenly world.
Li (tripod)-shaped cloisonné incense burner
Artists during the Ming dynasty often honored their patrons by portraying them in a garden studio, thus commenting on the owner’s character and aesthetic taste.
Shen Zhou, A Spring Gathering
This Chinese calligraphy piece is written on a folding fan.
Wang Wen, Poem in cursive script
Painted in lavish mineral-based colors of blue, green, and brownish yellow, this painting is a typical “blue-and-green” landscape in Chinese art
Qiu Ying, Journey to Shu
A scholar playing a zither while enjoying some beautiful scenery is a popular genre in Chinese landscape paintings.
Copy after Qiu Ying, Playing the Zither ...
This handscroll vividly portrays eleven dancing dragons.
Eleven Dragons handscroll
This painting depicts the most important festival in China—the Lunar New Year.
Palace Women and Children Celebrating the New ...
This canteen exemplifies the dynamic flow of ideas and objects between the Islamic world and China that invigorated both artistic traditions.
Canteen
This ivory image of Guanyin of art shows extreme attention to decorative details
Standing figure of Guanyin as Buddha
The Temple of Heaven, founded in the first half of the 15th century, is a dignified complex of fine cult buildings set in gardens and surrounded by historic pine woods
Temple of Heaven
The Ming dynasty’s almost three hundred-year span witnessed unprecedented economic and cultural expansion and the near doubling of its population.
Ming dynasty (1368–1644), an introduction
Wintry Trees is a hanging scroll produced by Wen Zhengming at a time of personal loss.
Wen Zhengming, Wintry Trees
During the Ming dynasty the state issued coins and paper money.
Ming banknote
A painting that gives the impression of a vast landscape that stretches for eternity
Congyi, Cloudy Mountains
Many of the porcelain vessels produced during Emperor Zhengde reign show Islamic influence
Brushrest with Arabic inscription
A Ming bowl with a specific design from seventeenth-century Portugal, Holland and Iran
‘Kraak’ bowl, from Jingdezhen
Journey to the Purple Mountain and the burial of the first Ming emperor
Spirit path to the tomb of the ...
An ancient Greek story on a tapestry made in China, for export back to Portugal.
The Abduction of Helen Tapestry
A 14th-century physician climbs Mount Hua.
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