Delicate Cotton Rose and Golden Pheasant
3 min readPainter: Zhao Ji
Painting Year: the Northern Song Dynasty
Material: silk scroll
Dimension: vertical length of 81.5 centimeters and horizontal length of 53.6 centimeters
Collection Place: the Palace Museun in Beijing
Delicate Cotton Rose and Golden Pheasant is one of existing Court Style Paintings made by Zhao Ji(Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty). It shows the beauty of natural serenity.A cotton rose extends two fower branches.A brilliant golden pheasant stands on one branch and presses it to continuously sway. At left lower corner,a cluster of chrysanthemum blooms.A pair of dancing butterflies is on right upper corner, and the golden pheasant looks up at the butterfies. Flowers and golden pheasant are outlined with refned thin lines and rendered with brilliant colors. Posture and feather quality of lifelike golden pheasant are vividly shown.
“Cotton rose passes through great frost is in the autumn, and golden pheasant braves its way with towering comb. They all understand Five Virtues, and keep calmer than gull and widgeon.”obviously, Zhao Ji compared himself to cotton rose and golden pheasant, and took advantage of brilliant painting to imply that the late Northern Song Dynasty under his reign was peaceful.
Showcase Window
Court Style Painting
Court Painting Academy was set up in the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty, where professional painters served the imperial families. Since then, such painters’ artworks are called as”Court Style Paintings.”Such paintings feature rigorous principles, refned style and brilliant style.
Cotton rose and its branches and leaves are outlined with thin lines and rendered with brilliant colors. Cotton rose is a symbol of magnificence and nobility, which fully shows the lusury of imperial court.
Art Master
Zhao Ji(1082-1135)
As Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, he was directly liable for the annihilation of the Northern Song Dynasty because of political fatuity and incompetence. He was a famous artist with proficiency in poetry, calligraphy, poem and painting. He was good at painting of fgure, painting of landscape and painting of fower and bird, who was a versatile emperor painter.
Golden pheasant features brilliant feather，refned spots and shining eyes looking at butterfies.
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Thin Gold Style
A pair of butterflies dances around cotton rose.
Zhao Ji made inscription with calligraphy in Thin Gold Style.
Abrilliant golden pheasant stands on one branch of cotton rose，and the branch droops down slightly.
A cluster of chrysanthemum 9blooms under cotton rose.
Story Corner
Zhao Ji set questions to examine painters
Court Painting Academy of the Northern Song Dynasty often employed painting talents through exams.Zhao Ji personally set a question of”ancient temple hiding in remote mountain”for an exam once.
The exam started.For some painters，they painted ancient temple in the depths of mountain，mountainside and in valley.Zhao Ji was dissatisfed.Only a painting highlighted an old monk drawing water beside the mountain streams rather than ancient temple.Zhao Ji thumped the table and praised that old monkdrawing water implied that a temple was located in the mountain although no ancient temple appeared in thepainting.This artwork highlighted”hiding”，with novelty and implicit connotations.Therefore，the painter got the frst place in this examination in the opinion of Zhao Ji.
