A Gathering of Scholars in a Garden ('Touhu tu')

Painted by You Qiu late in the sixteenth century, this elegant scroll depicts seven scholars at leisure in a garden, distinguished by a bamboo balustrade, a towering rock, a wutong (Firmiana simplex) tree, and a banana tree. The scholars enjoy the pleasures of a summer afternoon: four scholars, relaxing around a table, sip wine and converse in front of a screen, while three scholars in the foreground compete in a game of touhu, or "pitch pot," an ancient arrow-tossing game. A woman bearing a duster observes the gentlemen, and eight young boys, their hair in topknots, attend them. The son-in-law of the literati painter Qiu Ying (d. 1552), You Qiu was a member of the most elite artistic coterie of his day, the Wu school, which emphasized elegant composition, delicate colors, and refined brushwork. He is best remembered for his figure paintings in baimiao, or "plain drawing," technique, which eschews color in favor of sure lines and occasional ink washes. Taking inspiration from Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) paintings, You Qiu's figural compositions possess an antique flavor that sets them apart from the work of his Ming dynasty (1368-1644) contemporaries.