Withered Tree

A whithered tree spreads its branches to the left while bamboo grows in the lower right. What leaves a deep impression on the viewer is the set of contrasts created by calligraphic brush techniques in which the thickness of the lines varies greatly, some brushstrokes are wet, others dry, and still others coarse or fine. With this, the viewer is allowed a glimpse of the literati’s capricious sense of play with brush and ink.
The painter Guo Bi (1280–1335) was from Jingkou, Jiangsu (present-day Zhenjiang). He also went by the name of Tianxi, and used the alias Situi. In 1314 (Yanyou 1), he failed the civil service examination and subsequently became a clerk in educational affairs and enjoyed associating with the literati and Chan ( J. Zen) monks. He was known as a calligrapher as well.
According to the inscription on the scroll, Guo Bi painted it for the Chan monk, Wuwen ( J. Mumon, n.d.). The poem is composed to the spiritual aura that resides in the green bamboo and the withered tree. The combination of these two images was extremely popular in literati society during the Southern Song, Jin, and Yuan dynasties. The composition of the painting here emulates Tree and Bamboo by the Jin-dynasty painter Wang Tingyun (1156–1202) (Fujii Yūrin Musuem, Kyoto), but reversed.
One of the several seals on the painting is that of Xiang Yuanbian (alias Molin, 1525–1590), a preeminent Ming-dynasty collector of calligraphy and painting. Another seal belonged to Li Rihua (1565–1635) of the late Ming-dynasty who wrote the Notes from Liuyan Studio (Liuyanzhai biji), in which he entered the following: “Guo Bi from the Yuan dynasty used the alias Tianxi. For the Chan priest Wuwen, he painted a clump of bamboo grass and the root of an ancient cypress. The trunk of the cypress was horizontal. [The painting ] was remarkably powerful and energetic. It was like a yaksha’s elbow. It was an unconventional work” (Vol. 2). At the end of the scroll, there is an afterword by the historian Weng Fanggang (1733–1818) with the date 1788 (Qianlong 53). From this, it is clear how widely appreciated this painting was through generations of literati. The painting was acquired by one of the founders of the Asahi Newspaper Company, Ueno Riichi (1848–1919), and later donated to the museum.