The Goose as Gentleman

    Apart from roosters, geese make another favorite subject for artists. In the past, many painters have distinguished themselves by doing geese, like the Song-dynasty emperor Zhao Ji (1082-1135), the Ming-dynasty Lü Ji (1477-?) and the Qing-dynasty Bian Shoumin (1684-1752). Bian Shoumin, legends say, stayed over night by a pond for many days in row to observe the bird. Chen Zhifo (1898-1962) was a great master with geese; a dozen or more large examples of his work took geese as the core subject.

    Why geese are favored so much? Because they personify all the qualities of a perfect gentleman.

    Geese are devoted lovers. Back in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), people liked to send a goose as a betrothal gift. Details about this custom are given in an ancient book entitled Wedding Rites for Scholars: a marriage began with a matchmaker employed by the male's family, and if the girl's family had no objection to the proposal, the male paid a personal visit to them with an offer of marriage – this was a formality commonly observed. Among the gifts the young man brought to his future bride, a live goose was never absent, as this was the token of his love and devotion. Artist Chen Zhifo painted an autumn scene with a goose couple affectionately nestled up to each other in a reed marsh. Autumn is a season of abundance, which means the couple has survived the hardest time of year with their love as strong as ever.

    Geese are not only favored in paintings, but also in literary and historical writings too. In the History of Han: Legend of Su Wu, the envoy Su Wu was dispatched by the Han emperor to propose peace to the Hun, and ended up imprisoned on the desolate northern border for 19 years, until another Han envoy was sent to enquire about his whereabouts. "He died," lied the Hun ruler. That evening, someone from Su Wu's entourage paid a secret visit to the new envoy, suggesting that he tell the following tale to the Hun ruler: the Han emperor hunted down a goose, and found a letter on silk tied to the bird's leg. The letter was from Su Wu, saying he was still alive and now held in a marsh. When the story was related to the Hun ruler, the later, in amazement, admitted Su Wu was indeed alive, and was thus tricked into releasing him. This story is not the only one that involved a goose as a messenger. Stories about lovers and married couples separated due to some adversity, then eventually reunited with the help of a goose, are too many to tell. People just love them.

    The admiration for geese may have reached its peak during the Song Dynasty, as was told in the classic novel Outlaws of the Marsh. Song Jiang, the leader of a band of outlaws, forbids his men to kill geese. "They are our brothers and we should extend our feelings of brotherhood to them", he said. Geese have so many virtues Chinese people admire: loving one another, loyal in friendship and love, caring for the young and respecting the old. They are intelligent and trustworthy, with a good reputation among other species. These virtues are considered to be the ones the ideal man must possess, and all of them are seen in the modest goose.

    By some misfortune, a goose can lose its companion and must travel alone; this is also a favorite subject for artists, but the mood of these compositions is sad, touching the soft spot of empathy in humans. Such a goose is also likened to people whose talent fails to attract the recognition it deserves from society. Chen Zhifo did two paintings in 1947, both featuring the lonely goose. It is thought this illustrated his, and countless others' despair with social conditions at that time; 1949 was the darkest hour before dawn – the founding of new China.

Mandarin Ducks – the Love Birds

    Traditionally, Chinese people commission a mandarin duck painting in the meticulous style for their weddings, and if a painter or painting is not available, at least have a red paper-cut done of the bird. Zhang Qiyi (1915-1968) was a master painter of mandarin ducks, and he gave paintings of this love bird to his students as wedding gifts. Many of his students have now gotten on in age, and still express their gratitude to their former teacher for this gesture.

    Folklore has it the mandarin duck always appears in pairs, and is the incarnation of a devoted young couple that lived over 2,000 years ago. The story is that while Brother Yuan and his father, employed as gardeners by a retired official, were working in the latter's yard, they heard a frightened cry from a lotus pond. Brother Yuan dropped his tool and rushed to the pond, only to see a young girl struggling for her life in muddy water. Brother Yuan jumped in and after much effort, rescued the girl from drowning. She turned out to be none other than the retired official's daughter, Sister Yang. When the official rushed to the scene and saw his daughter in the young man's arms, he jumped to conclusions and lost his temper, shouting, "How dare you make passes at my daughter!" He had the young man bound, hung from the ceiling, and soundly beaten.

    After the girl changed into dry clothes, she explained to her father what had happened, but her father refused to set the young man free. "You're my daughter and your body is by no means to be touched by a laborer." He was determined to send the young man the next morning to be jailed by the local authorities. "I can't let this young man live and tell others about this scandal," he said. At midnight, the girl stole into the stable and set the young man free. Draping over him a jacket she had embroidered herself, and thrusting a bag of silver into his hand, she urged him to leave quickly. The guard on night duty spotted the exchange, and immediately reported them to the official, who this time had the young man tied up and drowned in the pond. Broken-hearted, the girl threw herself into water and drowned too.

    Soon after, two birds arrived that had never before been seen in the pond; the male had bright colors and the female beautiful tawny spots on its body. People called them Yuan Yang, the Chinese name for these love birds.

    People believed a devoted couple could turn into a pair of birds or butterflies after death, and stories like this are legion. The belief gave rise to a custom: a girl may give her lover a cloth bag with a pair of embroidered mandarin ducks on it. This bag serves as a token of betrothal. Mandarin ducks, embroidered or printed, are also seen on quilts inside a bridal chamber. However, contrary to the common misconception, biologists have discovered that mandarin ducks do not remain single after the loss of a mate, as geese do. They will soon find a new lover and get on with life. Even so, people liken devoted lovers to the birds, simply because the birds seem inseparable.

    These loveable animal characteristics, when combined with a human longing, make a font of artistic creation. The flowering of symbolism from belief is stronger than the facts per se, making a perfect outlet for possibly suppressed feelings, a conveyance art has provided throughout history. The iconography and its lexicon of profound messages that are deliberately concealed and revealed in painted objects is one of the major distinctions between Chinese painting and other schools.