Butterflies

Wen Zhengming’s great-great-granddaughter, Wen Yuanshan’s granddaughter and Wen Congjian’s daughter. Married to the seal carver Zhao Yiguang’s son Zhao Jun, she is documented in an epitaph by Qian Qianyi to be well educated and skilled in painting flowers, butterflies and insects from life.

Between the years dingsi (1617) and gengshen (1620), Wen Chu dedicated herself to producing Jinshi Kunchong Caomu Zhuang (Catalogue of Ores, Insects and Plants). It was based on Neifu Bencao Tuhui Miji (Rare Illustrations of Plants Deposited in the Office of the Palace Treasury) and was supplemented with ancient illustrations whether or not in her family collection, according to her husband Zhao Jun’s preface. There are a total of 27 chapters on ores, herbs, trees, animals, birds, insects, fruits, vegetables, grains, vines and so on, covering 1,070 plants in 1,316 illustrations. In the late Ming when illustrations were greatly popular, many admirers travelled all the way to Hanshan where the couple lived in seclusion in order to view it. The much coveted work was eventually acquired by Zhang Fang’er, or Zhang Fengyi’s nephew, for a thousand pieces of gold. Apparently, Wen Chu was a prominent painter in her lifetime, attracting many enthusiastic buyers for her paintings of ladies and numerous lady students to study the art under her. Emulation of her Catalogue of Ores, Insects and Plants has been considered instrumental to the superb painting attained by the sisters Zhou Shuhu and Zhou Shuxi.

Wen Chu’s virtuosity in painting from life is eloquently manifested by the present masterpiece. Brightly coloured and unambiguously detailed, the flowers and butterflies are faithfully and elaborately depicted in the same fashion as the celebrated catalogue such that each can be clearly identified. The plants captured in the boneless method include the dayflower, Chinese pink, daylily, max chrysanthemum, bamboo, blue daisy and other grasses whereas the 25 butterflies, lesser brimstone, eastern pale clouded yellow, peacock pancy, lethe syrcis, Indian fritillary, damora sagana, common grass yellow, dragon swallowtail, dark brand bush brown, and small cabbage white. With the butterflies painted in pairs and one of which mating, the painting must have also been intended to convey good wishes of fertility.

Although the painting had not entered into imperial collection catalogues of the Qing, five collector seals of Emperor Qianlong and one each of Emperor Jiaqing and Emperor Xuantong are found impressed on it and hence must have been longlisted for inclusion in the Shiqu Baoji Xubian (Shiqu Catalogue of Imperial Collection of Painting and Calligraphy: Series Two) that was completed in the 58th year of the Qianlong reign (1793) but falling short of final selection. In fact, the painting had been in imperial collection until it was acquired by Li Hongqiu from Liuyang. Mounted at the end of the scroll is a poem on butterflies inscribed by Yu Minglei from Wuyuan in the late Ming.

(Entry written by Ho Ka-yi, in "The Bei Shan Tang Legacy: Chinese Painting" p. 133, translated by Tina Liem.)