It's the most famous flower of China, 'Mu dan'. Formal English name: Paeonia suffruticosa.
Since the antient time, it has a noble reputation. We always use the idiom "國色天香" to describe it. 國: Nation, Country 色: Color, Lustre 天: Sky, Heaven 香: Fragrance That means this flower has the best appearance and smell. And it represents our nation. It always connects to prosperity and extreme happiness. So, in antient time, normal civilians didn't deserve to grow and enjoy it. Only people who has a certain social status did.
Now it's no longer so popular in our lives. Girls like roses more But the tradition lasts. And in Chinese painting, it's always the leader.
In this painting, the letters on the very right margin indicates following: First three letters '王道中': The artist's name, Wang Daozhong Next two letters '工筆': The painting technique that is used. It's a delicate painting technique, which paints in details. (You may see other Chinese painting, and they are not so detailed and sort of abstractive.) Next two letters '牡丹': The flower name, 'Mu Dan'. Four letters at the bottom '國色雙輝': The title of this painting. I'll explain the meaning later.
P.S. All the letters in the painting are in traditional Chinese characters. That's also a tradition of art. So, in order not to make confusion, I type traditional Chinese characters in this mail.
On the top-left of the painting, the letters indicates following: The four big letters on the right side '國色雙輝': As we talked, it's the title of the painting. 國: Nation, Country 色: Color, Lustre The same with the idiom we mentioned. Normally, when we see the word '國色', we know it's talking about the flower 'Mu Dan'. 雙: Double 輝: Glory Because in the painting, there are two flowers with different colors.
The following smaller letters on the left give a brief introduction of the planting history of 'Mu Dan'. The general meaning is like this: 'Mu Dan' is a kind of ornamental flower. People began to grow it in 'Tang' Dynasty(618 - 907 A.D.). It became the most popular in 'Song' Dynasty(960 - 1276 A.D). In 'Tang' Dynasty, people researched and grew several different colors. When it came to 'Song' Dynasty, people achieved different breeds(from single petal to multi-petal), and 24 different colors. In the painting, with jet black and yellowish, the flower is a very rare breed of 'Mu Dan'.
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Date: 15 Nov 2012 14:43 (UTC)no subject
Date: 19 Nov 2012 06:05 (UTC)It's the most famous flower of China, 'Mu dan'. Formal English name: Paeonia suffruticosa.
Since the antient time, it has a noble reputation. We always use the idiom "國色天香" to describe it.
國: Nation, Country
色: Color, Lustre
天: Sky, Heaven
香: Fragrance
That means this flower has the best appearance and smell. And it represents our nation.
It always connects to prosperity and extreme happiness.
So, in antient time, normal civilians didn't deserve to grow and enjoy it. Only people who has a certain social status did.
Now it's no longer so popular in our lives. Girls like roses more
But the tradition lasts. And in Chinese painting, it's always the leader.
In this painting, the letters on the very right margin indicates following:
First three letters '王道中': The artist's name, Wang Daozhong
Next two letters '工筆': The painting technique that is used. It's a delicate painting technique, which paints in details. (You may see other Chinese painting, and they are not so detailed and sort of abstractive.)
Next two letters '牡丹': The flower name, 'Mu Dan'.
Four letters at the bottom '國色雙輝': The title of this painting. I'll explain the meaning later.
P.S. All the letters in the painting are in traditional Chinese characters. That's also a tradition of art. So, in order not to make confusion, I type traditional Chinese characters in this mail.
On the top-left of the painting, the letters indicates following:
The four big letters on the right side '國色雙輝': As we talked, it's the title of the painting.
國: Nation, Country
色: Color, Lustre
The same with the idiom we mentioned. Normally, when we see the word '國色', we know it's talking about the flower 'Mu Dan'.
雙: Double
輝: Glory
Because in the painting, there are two flowers with different colors.
The following smaller letters on the left give a brief introduction of the planting history of 'Mu Dan'.
The general meaning is like this:
'Mu Dan' is a kind of ornamental flower. People began to grow it in 'Tang' Dynasty(618 - 907 A.D.). It became the most popular in 'Song' Dynasty(960 - 1276 A.D).
In 'Tang' Dynasty, people researched and grew several different colors.
When it came to 'Song' Dynasty, people achieved different breeds(from single petal to multi-petal), and 24 different colors.
In the painting, with jet black and yellowish, the flower is a very rare breed of 'Mu Dan'.
And then, the date of place he painted this work
no subject
Date: 19 Nov 2012 06:07 (UTC)