The Painting of Plum blossoms by Wu Zhen from Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)

Wang Mian, the most outstanding master in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) was notable for his vigorous masterpiece Ink Plum Blossom.

Orchids

Grown in deep mountain valleys, orchids are one of the top ten well-known flowers in China. Chinese people usually link orchids with elegance owing to their delicate fragrance that refreshes people’s minds and the elegant figures swaying slightly in the wind

Becoming popular during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), orchids arrived later than plum blossoms and people didn’t pay much attention to orchid paintings until Song Dynasty (960-1279). It is said that Sushi (a famous poet in Song Dynasty) once painted orchids with some thorns between them, implying that a gentle man can tolerate a mean person.

Ink Orchids by Zheng Sixiao from Song Dynasty(960-1279)

With the downfall of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), people in the early Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) expressed their unyielding integrity by painting orchids. The masters in that time were Zhao Mengjian and Zheng Sixiao.