Ink Butterfly with Colophon

Li King-hong painted Butterflies in ink in 1930 and inscribed a poem using lines from the poetry of the Qing poet Sun Yuanxiang (1760 -1829). Li specialized in Chinese paintings of plum blossoms, ink butterflies, ink dragons and calligraphy, especially the regular script. In 1947, Li further inscribed a ci-poem of his own and added eleven seven-character quatrains composed of lines from Xi Peilan's poetry - Xi was Sun's wife and a disciple of the renowned Qing scholar, Yuan Mei. Li also invited members of Shuoguo Poetry Society to inscribe twenty-tour poems.