Phoenix and Peacock in a Landscape

Across the expanse of a pair of six-panel folding screens, a magical landscape replete with brilliantly colored and auspicious fauna and flora unfolds; in the background the silhouettes of craggy mountains appear amid bands of gold mist. Dominating the composition on the right screen is a meticulously painted mythological phoenix (hōō) beneath a paulownia tree in bloom. This pairing of the phoenix and paulownia constitutes a traditional auspicious motif, symbolizing the virtuous reign of a just sovereign. On the right, beneath the branches of paulownia, plum blossoms and dandelions of early spring and lush read and white peonies of late spring—another symbol of regal aspiration in East Asian art—represent seasonal allusions. Bamboo, a symbol of endurance in trying times, emerges from craggy boulders on both screens. Various avian species rest on branches, flitter in the sky, and float in the waters that reach the foreground.

Facing the phoenix on the left screen, a male peacock stands beneath the bending branches of pine trees. Beneath the pine branches, chrysanthemums, hollyhocks, and rose mallows announce a transition to autumn, and on the far left an outcrop of late winter camelias suggests the cycle of the seasons will recur. In the middle ground, behind the peacock on the left, is a highly stylized waterfall that flows into the expansive lake at the center of the composition.