Ten Chants on Tea Sets

The painting depicts two thatched cottages situated in shade at the foot of a verdant mountain. The owner of the house sits cross-legged, accompanied by books and teapots, while a young page is brewing tea next door. According to the inscription, the time is three days before the Grain Rain Festival (guyu, the sixth solar term) when Tianchi, Huqiu, and other places in Suzhou held various gatherings for tasting tea. An unexpected illness prevented the artist from joining the activities. Instead, his friends brought him fine tea to taste, which occasioned this painting. He tasted and evaluated the tea, enjoying the leisure of a peaceful life. Suddenly he recalled the poem "Miscellaneous Chants of Tea: Tea Sets" (Chazhong zayong: chaju) of Pi Rixiu (791-864) and "Ten Chants on Tea Sets" (He chaju shiyong) of Lu Guimeng (act. ca. 9th c.). Both were poets of the Tang dynasty. Cherishing their delicate sentiments, Wen versified the circumstance and mood into ten poems. The painting is fully composed. The vertical format with inscriptions displayed in the upper half and imagery in the lower half draws viewers to deep reverie. The brush strokes are exquisite and dynamic; the ink wash is pale yet delicate. The painting has an elegant scholarly style.
Above the painting, ten pentasyllabic octets were composed and inscribed by Wen Zhengming. The poems are all related to tea and feature the topics tea connoisseur, tea sprouts, tea box, tea cottage, tea stove, tea vessel, tea bowl, and tea brewing. The painting was affixed with connected seals reading "Zheng" and "Ming". Wen Zhengming stated in his inscriptions that he finished the painting in 1534, the thirteenth year of the Jiajing reign (1522-1566) when Wen Zhengming was sixty-five years old (in sui).