Flowers in Rain through the Four Stages of Meditation
Four clusters of flowers—orchid, chrysanthemum, narcissus, and peony—hover on this scroll as if emerging from a dense mist. This is one of the earliest extant paintings by Xugu, a scholar of the late Qing dynasty who first pursued a career as a military officer before retreating to life in and around Buddhist monasteries. Xu’s late works are known for nervous, fractured lines, but this piece shows his mastery of the “boneless” technique, in which washes of color are applied without bounding lines. The flowers may symbolize a seasonal progression from summer to spring, but the scholar Cheng Songwan, who gave the painting its title frontispiece, saw a Buddhist significance.
Artwork Details
- 清 虛谷 四禪花雨圖 卷
- Title: Flowers in Rain through the Four Stages of Meditation
- Artist: Xugu (Zhu Huairen) (Chinese, 1823–1896)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: 1866
- Culture: China
- Medium: Handscroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions: Image: 12 5/8 × 8 ft. 6 15/16 in. (32 × 261.5 cm)
Overall with mounting: 13 3/16 in. × 30 ft. 6 15/16 in. (33.5 × 932 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Jane DeBevoise and the Calello Family, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.549.52
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Xugu (Zhu Huairen)
dated 1890
Xugu (Zhu Huairen)
ca. 1880s
Xugu (Zhu Huairen)
1894
Xugu (Zhu Huairen)
dated 1893
Xugu (Zhu Huairen)
19th century
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.