Branch of Blossoming Plum

Liu Shiru 劉世儒

mid- to late 16th century

Hanging scroll; ink on silk; with artist inscription, signature reading "Xuehu," and seals

Arthur M. Sackler Museum

A native of Shanyin (modern Shaoxing) in Zhejiang province, Liu Shiru was one of the foremost specialists of ink plum in the sixteenth century. He is said as a boy to have been deeply impressed by the work of a renowned fourteenth-century plum blossom painter, Wang Mian (1287-1359) and to have vowed to devote his life to mastering the subject painted by this master. Not content with merely copying, Liu wandered the hills of his district studying plum trees to enrich his understanding of the subject. In addition to his few extant paintings, his illustrated manual on ink-plum painting, Xuehu meipu, survives to represent his art. Becau