Swan and Cygnets

By the Song dynasty (960-1280), the Chinese had perfected a pictorial art form called huaniao (flower-and-bird painting). Chinese artists combined a highly descriptive approach to rendering plants and animals with themes that had psychological implications. Based on a composition by the 11th-century artist Wu Yuanyu, this carefully executed painting of a swan and cygnets forms a pair with another scroll of the same subject matter. The compositions express a psychological bond between parent and child that is emblematic of the traditional Confucian value of family unity. Large, paired paintings such as these were commonly hung in the reception halls of aristocratic homes as well as palaces during the early Ming period.