Scholars Playing Go under Pine Trees
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Minneapolis, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- yesterday
- In this state since
- Sep 25, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
Five Tang dynasty (618–907) scholars enjoy a game of go (weiqi) in an outdoor setting. Along with the other ancient board games of Chinese chess (xiangqi) and double sixes (liubo), go symbolized intellectual refinement, an essential trait of any Confucian scholar. The scholar at far right sits on a very low wooden seat, possibly indicating his lower status.
Go was one of the “four arts” (siyi) required of Chinese scholars, which also included mastery of the zither (qin), calligraphy (shu), and painting (hua). This painting was probably one of a set of four, each depicting one of the four arts.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- 97.141
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art: the museum's own open data · fetched 5 days ago
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — public domain
