The aesthetic value of withered lotus was acknowledged by ancient Chinese artists, and in ancient times there were artists who specialized in depicting them. Zhu Da (1626-1705) of the Qing Dynasty was one of them. His works depicting withered lotus deeply impressed viewers for their unique compositions and desolate atmosphere. One of his representative works is Lotus Flowers and Birds. In this long, narrow painting there are withered lotus leafs and a small bird perched alone on a strangely shaped rock, with the whites of its eyes clearly visible. Zhu Da was a survivor of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty who went into hiding and lived as a hermit deep in the mountains. He missed the Ming Dynasty and loathed the Manchu Qing that toppled and replaced it but was unable to turn the tide. What he could do was express his complex emotions through his art.

    Qi Baishi (1864-1957), a great 20th-century artist, also created works depicting withered lotus. But his work differed completely from Zhu Da's in that although the lotus leafs are withered, the seedpods are erect and straight, signaling the happiness brought by a bumper harvest.

Peony: Great Wealth and High Position

    The peony is liked by people for its elegance and charm, known as the "national beauty and heavenly fragrance." Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072), an eminent scholar of the Song Dynasty, was deeply in love with peonies. He wrote a prose piece entitled The Record of Luoyang Peonies. One sentence reads, "During the 20 days when peonies are in full bloom, the whole city goes mad for the blossoms," showing the extent to which people can become infatuated with this flower. Zhou Dunyi compared the peony with the lotus flower in his A Tale of the Lotus Lover, noting: "The peony demarks wealth and rank." Therefore, peony patterns decorated the homes of royal families and high-ranking officials. The head ornament of the noble Manchu women is the peony in full bloom.

    Painting the peony is practically a required course for every artist attempting bird-and-flower paintings. Li Tang, a Southern Song Dynasty painter who did not depict peonies when he was young, composed a poem in his old age: "If I had known my works were not liked by my contemporaries, I would have bought more rouge to depict peonies." When the peony is combined with other flowers and birds, it adds beauty and complexity to the symbolism. For instance, the combination of peony and Chinese crabapple flowers is called "man tang fu gui," which means "Wealth and nobility fill your hall," since Chinese crabapple (hai tang) has the same sound as tingtang (hall). The combination of peony and lotus flower is called "rong hua fu gui," which means "glory, splendor, wealth and position," since the lotus flower is also called "fu rong hua," which has the same sound as rong hua (glory and splendor). The combination of peony and Chinese bulbul is called "fu gui dao bai tou," which means "Great wealth and high position at a ripe old age," since in Chinese bulbul is called "bai tou niao" (white-headed bird).

    The peony is often selected for beginners of bird-and-flower painting for its big corolla, monochroic color and distinct image. But it is no easy job to paint a peony. While doing sketches of peonies Yu Fei'an (1887-1959) found that spring is the best season to capture the peony – when it is in full bloom and its leaves are sparse and thin. By summer, the leaves have grown big, green and sleek, but the flowers have withered. In summer the thick leaves tend to also shade the stems, so compositions appear to be a pile of green leaves. In autumn when the leaves are partly fallen, the stems appear, albeit indistinctly, and the flower takes on poetic proportions. After years of research, Yu Fei'an found a mode of expression that departed from the older generations of artists. He combined the corolla of spring, the leaves of summer and the stems of autumn, so as to present the peony's best features in one painting.

    Wang Daozhong (1931- ) is a student of Yu Fei'an, so good at painting peonies he is known as "Peony Wang." When he was young he lived near the Forbidden City in Beijing, often haunting the Imperial Ancestral Temple (present-day Working People's Cultural Palace) to do sketches of peonies in full bloom. He learned the art of painting peonies from his teacher, but when he was about to give full play to his ambition, he was labeled a "Rightist" by the political movement of the time. Banished to remote Mudanjiang City in Heilongjiang Province to be re-educated in the city's printing and dyeing plant, he clung to his dream of being a fine artist while he designed patterns for quilts and pillow covers. In the beginning, he had difficulty accepting the cruel reality of his banishment. Later, the warmth and kindheartedness of the workers deeply touched this university graduate from Beijing. He realized that the peony has universal appeal to both men of letters and common people. After repeated reworkings, he designed a whole series of peony patterns for fabrics. In the 1970s and 1980s almost every Chinese family had quilts with pink peony patterns on a red background designed by Wang Daozhong.

    Although Wang Daozhong did not exceed his teacher's artistic accomplishments, his contribution to combining the painting technique of gongbi zhongcai (fine brushwork in heavy color) and industrial printing and dyeing, and in popularizing the technique, have proved ineffaceable.

    Chinese artists of various generations rack their brains to create variations on the peony's image as a symbol of great wealth and high position. Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) thought the big corolla and bright colors could not fully express opulent wealth and exalted rank; he resorted to using gold powder to trace the lines of the corolla. These gilded peonies glitter on the wall.

    Li Kuizheng (1942- ) was not satisfied with tracing the flowers in gold. He borrowed the techniques of Western watercolorists and other modern forms, replacing the original colors with gold to create the painting Gold Peony. The compositions by Li Kuizheng's teacher are based on a grid, so corollas, leafs and stems each occupy a part, without a single visual focus dominating. Inspired by the Song Dynasty painting Lotus Flowers Out of Water, Li Kuizheng omitted all the stems, leaving only a big flower and some leafs. By doing so he streamlined the elements, and let the viewer absorb the main motif at a glance. He also used a radiating composition, like sun rays, which was a great success in executing the Gold Peony.