Women Painters of the Ming Dynasty

Author(s): Tseng Yuho

Source: Artibus Asiae, Vol. 53, No. 1/2 (1993), pp. 249-259
Published by: Artibus Asiae Publishers
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 TSENG YUHO

ProfessorEmerita
Consultant
Honolulu Academy of Arts

WOMEN PAINTERS OF THE MING DYNASTY*

n understanding of classical Chinese women artists requires some background regarding

traditional Chinese society. Concepts about righteous womanhood at the Later Han dynasty
court were greatly tightened by the Yili (Book of Rites).I For example, women were required to
observe the sancong(Three Subordinates) toward male members of the household: Toward their father
before marriage, toward their husband after marriage, and toward their son when widowed. Chinese
women lived within a narrow social world with obligations inside the family only and no rights in
the community. In the tenth century, when the custom of foot binding swept over the nation it
affected mainly women of higher social status. The procedure crippled women physically and greatly
reduced their creative faculties. However, by the Ming and Qing dynasty, especially during the late
Ming and early Qing period, clusters of women poets and painters emerged (fig. I). Finally, in the
seventeenth century, women were accepted as professionals and the sale of their art works was
regarded as an honorable means of livelihood.

Characteristics
ofMingDynastySociety

In traditional China, parents arranged marriages when their children were still young. Should two
familiesbe especiallygoodfriends,anengagement
couldbeginevenbeforethechildrenwereborn.
Marriages generally were determined by similarities of family background, economic circumstances,
education and by bazi, horoscopes cast on the basis of the cyclical characters of the hour, day, month
and year of the births of the people who were to be betrothed. Sons and daughters had no rights in
the marital selection. After the wedding, should the marriage not be to their liking, men were free to
find paramours. Wealthy men collected as many concubines or fancy maids as they could afford.
Others were content to indulge themselves in the courtesan quarters, an activity that was never
considered immoral in traditional Chinese society.
While wives were never included in social functions of mixed company in traditional East Asian
society, the services of courtesans (better known by the Japanese term geisha), were obligatory. Parties
were generally held in the courtesan quarter; a custom welcomed by statesmen and officials, but even
more favored by poets and young scholars. Courtesans of high rank were purchased at an early age,
This article is based on a paper presented in Chinese at the Symposium on Painting of the Ming Dynasty, sponsored by the
Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, in October 1988, where time and space limitations
necessitated my omitting two of the five women artists included in the original Chinese symposium manuscript. This English
version, compressed from the Hong Kong paper with a brief discussion of the social background of the period, discusses only three
womenartists.
I In addition to the principlesstated in the Yili (Book of Rites), there are the two classicson female education:Lien zhan
(Biographies of Virtuous Women) by Liu Xiang (77-6 B.C.), and Nujie (Admonitions of Womanhood) attributed to Ban Zhao
(active A.D. 45-I20).

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trained to sing and dance by professionalteachers, as well as educated in arts and letters. Cultivated
high-class courtesans were addressed as jiaoshu ("readers"or "book revisors").In the Ming dynasty,
their residenceswere titled shuyu("studios").
At the age of fifteen a girl was ready to begin her formal careeras a courtesan. A wealthy patron
would often give a coming-out party to introduce or retain the new girl of talent. Chinese records
confirm that men would pay high prices just to look at a renowned beautiful courtesan. Young
student-lords gathered in the courtesanquartersto compose poetry and dramas;the girls would play
music and sing the new lyrics, which would be circulated and, eventually, spread throughout the
town. In such settings many men and women established their lyrical reputations.
These social conventions culminated in the peculiar phenomenon of many gifted concubines and
courtesans who are recorded in literature and who far outnumbered the educated women of gentry
families (fig. 2). Since ladies of good family were never allowed to associate with men outside their
own households or to step outside their front doors freely, they were deprived of public knowledge.
Gifted courtesans, by contrast, had a much better opportunity to develop themselves intellectually
and artistically. Hence the traditional Chinese saying, nuzi wucai bian shi de ("a woman without
talent is virtuous)." Superficially those restrictions might have been meant to promote decency
among women but in reality they discouraged the majority of women from developing their innate
gifts.
Shen Hao (I585-I66I), a Ming dynasty literary-artist, comments on the origins of painting in the
opening passageof his Huazhu:
Peoplegenerallygavecreditto FengMo as the firstpersonwho foundedthe artof painting.They
did not realizethe founderof painting was Lei, sister of Shun [a rulerin pre-historicChina].
Someoneresponded,"Whata pity that such a wonderfulcraftshould havebeen inventedby a
woman."
I replied,"LeisavedShunfroma murderousplot by SouXiang. Shehadcreativehands,worthyof
beingthe ancestor-founderof painting."'
In fact, Shen Hao did not have to claim a legendary person as the ancestor-founderof painting.
Recent scientific reports reveal that China was a matriarchal society during the Neolithic period.
While men were generally hunting and fishing, women remained in the village weaving, making
pottery vessels and taking care of community affairs.3 Countless examples of Neolithic painted
pottery vessels, with stunning designs of infinite variety and beautiful colors and perfect brush line
drawing, have been discovered at sites along the Yellow and Yangzi Rivers. The mature artists who
createdthese works of art most likely were women.
Jiang Shaoshu (1573-I638) included twenty-two Ming dynasty women painters in his Wusheng
shishi(History of Silent Poems). His forewordto juan five reads:

The moreexcitingandearnest[artworks]arenot by men but women.Rarepurple-fungusis not

more noble than the wild flowersgrowing along the riverbank. Paintingsdone by women are
god-given talents not on predatory drives. Often I saw paintings by women surprisingly rich in

Shen Hao, Huazhu, Yishu congshu edition (Taibei: Shijie shuju, I96I), vol. It2
3 Xi'anBanpo(Beijing:Wenwu shuju,I963), 226-228.

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 spirit and perception; their gentleness and refinement owing to concentration and quiescence.
Such ladies should not be neglected.4

Regrettably, no more than a handful of works by the twenty-two women painters Jiang Shaoshu
encountered is known to us. Following the model establishedhed by ng shishi, a few other Chinese
publications recorded the names of women artists. Yutai shushi (History of Calligraphy on Jade
Terrace), a record of women calligraphers by Li E (I692-1752), is a more comprehensive study.5 Tang
Souyu, a woman artist activ earlye in the nineteenth-century, compiled a supplement, Yutai huashi
(History of Paintings on Jade Terrace), that lists 2I6 women painters who were active throughout the
ages.6 Entries in Ytai shushi and Yutai huashi are arranged chronologically by dynasty, with a
further division according to social status, beginning with empresses and imperial consorts and
ending with maids and courtesans.
Of the 216 women painters recorded by Tang Souyu, one hundred lived during the Ming dynasty;
the majority were active during the late Ming period (ca. sixteenth-seventeenth century). During
the discussion session of the symposium on Ming dynasty painting held in Hong Kong in 1988,
Professor Rao Zongyi mentioned that he was amazed to find, in the course of his research for a
comprehensive volume of Ming dynasty (1368-I644) poetry, that half of the nine hundred Ming
dynasty poets were women, the majority of whom lived during the late Ming period. We know that
political unrest and social instability during this period agitated a surge in the number of literati-
painters. Be they male or female, those literati-painters all seemed to have a greater urge to express
their inner feelings through art and the innovative spirit of the time was high.
The number of women painters remained small in comparison with their male contemporaries,
and an even smaller percentage of their art works survives. Because of these limitations a study of
individual women artists may never be regarded as complete. This paper selects three representative
Ming period women artists whose individuality can be discussed on the basis of sufficient documen-
tation and surviving art works. They are presented chronologically, according to the year of their
birth: Ma Shouzhen (1548-I605), Xue Wu (circa 1573-I620), and Wen Shu (1595-I634).

The Personality of Women Artists

Chinese literature provides few descriptions of the everyday lives of educated women. The best
known exception is Fousheng liji (Six Chapters of a Floating Life) written by Shen Fu (I763-circa
I8Io).7 Shen Fu described his wife, Chen Yun, with lucid simplicity; her gentle personality is vividly
portrayed and one feels that she was a person of flesh and blood, loved by her husband in their modest
life style. Yet, because of Chen Yun's rather unconventional behavior, her parents-in-law could not
tolerate her and eventually forced Shen Fu and Chen Yun out of the family house. Chen Yun died an
untimely death. Shen Fu's memoir preserves details of the life of one cultivated Chinese woman.
While there are other loving accounts by scholars who did not hesitate to express affection for their
chosen paramours, most of these essays read like obituaries, remote and saturated with morality.

4 Jiang Shaoshu, Wushengshishi (N.p.: Cangxiu shuwu, n.d), juan :ILa.

5 Li E, Yutai shushi(N.p.: Congxiu shuwu, n.d.).
6 Tang Souyu, Yutai huashi (Qiantang: Shenqitang, 1824).
7 Shen Fu, Fushengliuji (Beijing: Shuangfengshe, I933). English translation by Lin Yutang, ShenFu's Six Chaptersof a Floating Life
(Shanghai: Xifengshu, 1950).

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Without the availability of sufficient art works it is difficult to recreatethe lives and personalities of
these ladies as living and active artists. Ma Shouzhen is one of the woman painters in the group to be
best documented, both by contemporaries, and later writers and her works were regarded as
collector's items.

Ma Shouzhen, I548-I605

Ma Shouzhen is better known by her artistic name, Xianglan (Orchid by the River Xiang).8 She
was not outstandingly beautiful but had an amiable and affectionate nature. She was intelligent and
could sense people's feelings at a single glance. Her sympathetic manner enabled people who were
talking with her to feel relaxed and willing to confide in her. According to an eyewitness Ma
Shouzhen's residence, situated on the bank of the Qinhuai River in Nanjing included intricate
courtyardsand chambers.In the garden attractive flowersgrew beside pools where rocks were placed
sparingly. The peaceful and comfortable ambiance was such that those who once entered her home
found it difficult to take their leave.
Ma Shouzhen may have been owned by the proprietorwho educated her from her childhood. Her
debut, at fifteen, was launched by Peng Nian (1505-66), the well-known man of letters and art
connoisseur. Once Ma Shouzhen was established in courtesan society, she attained the status of a
matriarch who trained girls as professional singers and actresses; there were nightly concerts and
opera performances in her residence. Cautious of her reputation, Ma Shouzhen admitted only
educated men. She was generous, often handing out funds to help poor students. Peng Nian, Zhou
Tianqiu (1514-95),Xu Wei (I521I-93), and Xue Mingyi (late sixteenth century) were among the better
known poets and artists who were her friends and who composed complimentary poems. One may
assume that, like contemporary restaurant owners, Ma Shouzhen requested poems from men of
letters to enhance the prestige of her business. Had she been an ordinarybrothel keeper, those men
could easily have turned down her requests. Ma Shouzhen must have had a truly critical sense for
literary gifts and possessed intelligence beyond that of the hundreds of other cultivated courtesans.
Reading those social poems one senses the genuine admiration the poets had for her and that they
were ratherpleased to be her friends. Ma Shouzhen owned a houseboat on which she held parties for
the literati while drifting slowly on the scenic lakes of Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Suzhou. During
those parties she enjoyed equal status with her guests, composing poems and painting pictures with
her male companions.
Wang Zhideng (1535-I6I2)was Ma Shouzheng's devoted lover and the two people expressedtheir
affection for each other openly. They met during the latter part of their lives when Wang Zhideng,
thirteen yearsher senior and the distinguished leading intellectual of the Wu region, was residing in
Suzhou . On those occasions when Wang Zhideng visited Ma Shouzhen in Nanjing she would close
her house to all other visitors until he left. Their mature friendship lasted until death parted them.
In 159I when Ma Shouzhen published her poems, Wang Zhideng wrote the preface. On Wang
Zhideng's seventieth birthday in I605, Ma Shouzhen, then fifty-seven, brought her storied house-
boat, together with her large entourage of musicians, from Nanjing to Suzhou for a celebration to the
accompaniment of music and dance until dawn that lasted more than a month. Ma Shouzhen fell ill

8 Ma Shouzhen used other names, including Yuejiao and Xuan (or Yuan) er.

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after returning to Nanjing. According to records, one day Ma Shouzhen lighted her lamp, burned
incense, and asked for the Buddha's blessing. She then bathed and dressed herself with special care,
sat properly in a chair and died. It is impossible to verify whether Ma Shouzhen had a premonition of
impending death or whether she took her own life. Contemporary accounts state that although aged
Ma Shouzhen retained her graceful appearance until the year of her death. Scholars preferred her
dignified departure. Wang Zhideng wrote Ma Shouzhen's obituary and composed twelve poetic
eulogies.
In addition to painting and writing calligraphy, Ma Shouzhen also composed poetry and wrote a
play that were lost. Those paintings by Ma Shouzhen that have survived to the present day include
ink landscapes, orchids and bamboo (fig. 3). She always applied colors lightly and tastefully. Unlike
the descriptions of Ma Shouzhen's decisive personality, her brush work is loose and rather timid, like
that of a young girl. Since she was a social person, many of her paintings may have been executed
quickly during parties. However, Ma Shouzhen's art works may reveal her actual feelings: insecure
and basically frail at heart (fig. 4). The collector Pei Jingfu (1894-I924) recordeda collaborativehand-
scroll with ink narcissus painted by Ma Shouzhen and rocks added by Wang Zhideng. Pei praised Ma
Shouzhen'slines as being as thin as human hair and her calligraphy as being
as elegant as that of Wen
Zhengming.9 C.C. Wang of New York mentioned having seen an example of Ma Shouzhen's xingshu,
I have not seen that work but note it here for further
or actional calligraphy, that was excellent;that
reference.

Xue Wu, circa 1573-I620

While the dates of Xue Wu's birth and death remain uncertain, she is said to have had a long life.
She was the fifth child of her mother, hence the name Wu ("five"). Her nickname, Qiaoqiao, referring
to the day she was born - the seventh day of the seventh month, a date marking the traditional
Chinese festival of needlework competitions - provides an important biographical detail. Xue Wu
had many alternate names.Io
Next to Ma Shouzhen, Xue Wu is the best remembered, talented Nanjing courtesan. When Xue
Wu made her debut at fifteen, her patron was the poet Wang Xingfu. Among Wang's friends who
visited Xue Wu's quarter regularly, was Hu Yinglin (1542-8I), one of the ten most gifted literati of
the later Ming period. Although Hu Yinglin died when he was only forty years old, he wrote
extensively and many of the poems he dedicated to Xue Wu were composed at parties given by
Wang Xingfu.
Hu Yinglin had genuine sympathy for the youthful Xue Wu and described her as the most
graceful and attractive courtesan of the time. She excelled in calligraphy and painting, and was also
an able musician and unique crossbow archer. While galloping along on horseback Xue Wu is said to
have been able to shoot a bullet into the air, which she then smashed with a second bullet while it
was still in midair. She could hit a bullet placed on the ground with her back turned or, equally
impressive, shoot a bullet off the head of a maid so deftly that the maid would not even notice."

9 Pei Jingfu, Zhuangtaogeshuhualu (Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju, I937), juan II:36a-37a.

IO Xue Wu also used other names, including, Runniang, Runqing, Susu, Xuesu, Suqing, and Suxinren.
II Tseng Yu-ho, "HsuiiehWu and her orchids in the collection of the Honolulu Academy of Arts," Arts Asiatiquesz, no. 3 (1955),197-
208.

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 Xue Wu reserved her highest regard for men of letters. She considered herself a valiant and
sometimes signed her name Wulang (Fifth Boy). When riding horseback with men, shooting and
racing around the open countryside, Xue Wu attracted scores of spectators. Hu Yinglin's collected
poems contain many descriptions of evenings spent with friends at Xue Wu's abode. Like members
of the modern jet-set, those young lords could afford wine and women, and they feasted regularly.
The only difference is that the Ming dynasty literati wrote poetry and painted between their
flirtations.
Happy days did not last very long. Wang Xingfu soon departed from Nanjing and never
returned. Hu Yinglin felt sorryfor Xue Wu and sent two poems to console her. Xue Wu then turned
her affections to two other members of the group, whose surnames were Yuan and Li. Li was
employed at the government office in change of the Man ethnic minority. When Li's superior,named
Peng, became interested in Xue Wu and paid a large sum to secure her attentions, she ignored him.
Peng took his revenge by transferringLi to the remote Man territory in southern China and did not
release him from that duty for more than ten years. Xue Wu followed Li and remained at his side.
The Man people, too, marveledat the excellence of Xue Wu's equestrianand archeryskills.
Records of Xue Wu's life become scarce after Hu Yinglin's death in 158I.At some time around
I598, when Xue Wu was in her thirties, she lived with the dramatist Shen Defu (I578-1642). Shen
was only twenty years old at the time, prompting rumors that Xue Wu possessed the witchcraft to
attract younger men.
Xue Wu was acquainted with Ma Shouzhen. One of their collaborativehandscrollswas owned by
Pei Jingfu, the twentieth-century collector. Liu Shi (I6I8-64), another well-known courtesan-artist,
had a sister named Yang Jiangzi who was a liberated woman with views that were far ahead of those
of her time. Yang Jiangzi was dedicated to Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Dressed in ordinary blue cotton
garments and holding a bamboo staff, Yang Jiangzi made her pilgrimage to many famous temples on
foot. Xue Wu admired Yang Jiangzi and called on her. The two women became friends at once;
together they discussed Chan Buddhism and composed poetry, vowing never to depend upon men
again. Xue Wu was over fifty years old at the time; she and Yang Jiangzi traveled up the Yangzi by
boat, climbed Mount Lu and Mount Emei (fig. 5), and determined to be hermits for the rest of their
lives. Finally Xue Wu tired of the secluded life; she left Yang Jiangzi in the mountains and returned
to the dusty world. According to Qian Qianyi (1582-1644), Xue Wu remained a vegetarian and an
ardent Buddhist; she died in Suzhou in the home of a wealthy admirer.
Unlike Ma Shouzhen, who was in control of herself and the life she led, Xue Wu could not obtain
lasting love even with all her talents. She was a true individualist, possessed of a personality that was
too strong for her own good and for her time. Although Xue Wu lived a long life and was the most
able courtesanpainter of the period, she never concentrated on her painting with the result that her
art works are limited (fig. 5). Having been the mistress of many men, her virtuousness was low by
traditional standards and she might easily have been considered one of the million courtesans in
Chinese history and have been forgotten. In his younger years, Dong Qichang (I555-I636), the
distinguished Ming dynasty artist, collector and connoisseur, saw a painting of Guanyin executed in
ink by Xue Wu and was so impressed that he added the text of the Xinjing (Heart Sutra)to her work.
Xue Wu's artistic reputation continues to the present day.
The handscroll depicting orchids executed in ink on paper, in The Honolulu Academy of Arts, is
an impressive and truly outstanding painting, regardlessof whether it was painted by a woman or a

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Fig. I "Painting,"one detail on a blue-and-white porcelain jar, decorated with four scenes of women playing the lute, games, chess,
practicing calligraphy and painting. Height: I3 I/2 in.; diameter: I3 in. Jingdezhen, Xuande period, late fifteenth century.
Collection of Mr. Benji Nerio, Honolulu.

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Fig. z Woodblock print depicting Li Qingzhao, the famous twelfth-
century poetess looking out at the world from inside the walls. From
Shiyuhuapu(Illustrated famous Poetry), late sixteenth century, after a
poem, "Flute Player on the Phoenix Terrace,"by Li Qingzhao.
Fig. 4 Portrait of Ma Shouzhen. Woodblock from Qinhuaibayantuyong
(Lyricson the Eight Beauties at River Qinhuai), 1892, by Zhang Jingqi.
The book contains portraits of eight famous courtesanswho lived
during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. While not made from
life, the woodblock portraits are significant for revealing the admiration
for these women during the nineteenth century.

Fig. 5 "A Lady in a Landscape," by Xue Wu. Folding fan. Dated I6I4, when the artist was around fifty years old. Palace Museum, Bei jing.

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 r 6as
Fi:g.-?;
??-,1I
-:O : ad

Fig. 3 "Orchidsand Bamboo," by Ma Shouzhen. Handscroll dated I604, the last year of the artist's life. Palace Museum, Beijing.

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Fig. 6 "Orchids,"by Xue Wu. Ink on paper. Detail from a handscroll. Height: 12 5/8 in.; length: 19 ft. 7 I/z in.; dated I6o0, when the artist was
approximatelyforty years old. The Honolulu Academy of Arts (I667.1).

Fig. 8 "Carnations"by Wen Shu. Rock executed in ink, carnation in muogu ("boneless")technique, on gold paper. Folding fan. Height: 6 I/z in.;
width 21 I/4 in. Dated I627 when artist was thirty-two years old. The Honolulu Academy of Arts (2306.I).

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man (fig. 6). The surenessof the lines and tonality of ink show Xue Wu's firm hand to be equal to any
of her contemporaryWu School artists. There is boldness in her work that matched her independent
temperament. Orchids were a common theme, but those painted by Xue Wu have their own indi-
viduality.
The few characterswritten by Xue Wu at the end of the Honolulu handscroll reveal her good
training, mentioned by Hu Yinglin, in the Huangtingjing calligraphy style of the fourth-century
master, Wang Xizhi. When this painting first appeared on the antique market it was in poor
condition, with the paper on which the signature is written partially torn loose. In 1943Gustav Ecke
had the scroll remounted in Beijing. When the Xue Wu handscrollwas exhibited at the Indianapolis
Museum of Art in 1988 questions were raised about its authenticity because of the separation of the
signature, an unfortunate circumstance that resulted merely from mishandling by a previous
owner.I2

Wen Shu, I595-I634

Wen Shu was a fourth-generational descendant of Wen Zhengming (1470-I1559),the leading

painter of Suzhou. She was the great granddaughter of Wen Jia (1501-I583),granddaughter of Wen
Yuanshan (1554-I589), and daughter of Wen Congjian (1574-I648). The Wen family was an
illustrious one in the Wu region, having produced many talented artists without interruption from
the Song dynasty. Among the literary gentry the Wen family was regardedas preserving the highest
moral standards.
Education was an essential part of the disciplined training in Wen family life and Wen Shu,
together with her brother, Wen Ran (I596-I667), began to paint when she was a child.I3Before she
was twenty years old, Wen Shu was married to Zhao Jun (died 1640), a student of her father and
descendent of another old distinguished family. The marriage was a congenial one; Wen Shu and
Zhao Jun were devoted to each other and respected their separate interests in painting and
etymology.
As the inheritance from both the Wen and Zhao families diminished, Zhao Yun, who had never
worked and detested having to attend to financial affairs, simply indulged himself in con-
noisseurship. Wu Shu assumed responsibility for their livelihood and became a professional painter
(fig. 7). The fame of her forebears must have helped Wen Shu to retain her dignity, even as a woman
engaged in the art profession. She achieved great success. There was so much demand for her work
that Wen Shu had to train some maids as assistants and unscrupulous artists took advantage of her
fame by producing forgerieseven during her lifetime.
Wen Shu excelled in painting unusual flowers and small insects, capturing their likeness in
meticulous detail. Inspired by illustrated Bencao, or books on Chinese herbal medicine, she worked in
the same manner, striving for precise identification. Painting one specimen a day, Wen Shu com-
pleted one thousand specimens in as many days; her pen-name, Hanshan, is included in the title of
the encyclopedic work Hanshan caomu kunchong zhuang (Patterns of Plants and Insects by Hanshan).

2 Marsha Weidner, ed., ViewsfromJade Terrace,ChineseWomenArtzsts, IrooI9I2 (Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art, I988),
84.
I3 Wen Shu also used other alternate names, including Duanrong, pen-names Hanshan and Langui huashi.

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