Zeng Xiaojun

In 1996, Zeng Xiaojun returned to Beijing after almost 15 years living in the US.  In his studio, located near Beijing, Zeng began to paint four trees from the Citu Temple, situated in the bushes of Meiling on West Taihu Mountain in Suzhou. The temple is also known as the "House of Refined Pines" after the four magnificent trees reputedly planted there by Zheng Yu, a warrior of the Eastern Han dynasty. The Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795) was a frequent visitor, and praised the trees as “qing (green), qi (elegant), gu (ancient), guai (unique).”

The trees, like their painted representations, remain distinct. "Qing" is green with a straightened main trunk rushing up to elegant, lush foliage; "Qi" is older but handsome, like a green mountain, with a body split into two containing an empty space large enough to hold a person. "Gu" refers to the trees' forms, and "Guai" refers to the strange, dragon-like twists made by the fourth tree's leaves. These four trees have inspired many generations of painters and appeared in various forms in their works. Zeng uses the four characters to portray the taste and cultivation of the Chinese literati.  The present work is the last of over ten repetitions of the tree paintings executed by Zeng in a one-year period, and reputedly the only one with which the artist is content.