Pink and Green Plums Accompanied by Poems

A common activity at scholars’ gatherings was to collaborate on painting-and-poem compositions. In one such work, Tan Hu and Qin Shi deliberately painted two interlocking plum branches, one pink and the other green, on the right side of the fan, leaving a special blank space for the commentaries of two other associates—Huang Tiren and Li Bing; their neatly arranged rows of poems eloquently express their pleasure at this celebration of spring. The formality of the calligraphy complements the vibrant depiction of the flowers, making this work a visual document of the practice of combining sketches of real life with literary compositions.