“Co-branding” a Cainü and ­­a Garden: How the Zhao Family Established Identities for Wen Shu (1595–1634) and Their Garden Residence Hanshan

This paper examines two paintings by Wen Shu (1595–1634), each of which was inscribed by her husband who declared that Wen Shu painted what she saw in their garden residence Hanshan. With this claim, the family reinforced the image of “Wen Shu the artist” as a cloistered gentry woman and an amateur painter despite the fact that she painted for financial reasons. At the same time, this claim exalted the existing image of Hanshan. By establishing images for Wen Shu and Hanshan, the family worked together to reaffirm and enhance their social standing. This research contributes to the understanding of how a woman painter and her family utilized, participated in, and derived benefits from the prevalent garden culture of seventeenth-century China.