Tea Drinking Under the Wutong Tree
Ming dynasty (1369–1644), 1509
Medium
Handscroll; ink and slight color on paper
Dimensions
23.4 × 332.8 cm (9 3/16 × 131 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
40558
Art Historical Context
Created in 1509 during the Ming dynasty, *Tea Drinking Under the Wutong Tree* is a handscroll by Tang Yin, one of the era’s most celebrated scholar-artists. Tang Yin belonged to the Wu School of painting, a circle of literati who valued personal expression, poetry, and refined brushwork over courtly formality. The long format—measuring over three meters—invites viewers to unroll the scene gradually, mirroring the leisurely pace of the gathering it portrays. Painted in ink with delicate touches of color on paper, the scroll captures scholars enjoying tea beneath the wutong tree, a symbol of el...
About the Artist
Tang Yin · 1470–1524
Talented painter whose career as an official painter was ruined by an examination scandal in 1499. Around 1500 he began to study painting with Zhou chen. He was ultimately considered one of the Four Masters of the Ming, along with Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming and Qiu Ying.