“Guan Daosheng also known as Guan Zhongji or Lady Zhongji (her courtesy name) (Chinese: 管道昇; Wade–Giles: Kuan Tao-sheng; 字仲姬；1262–1319) was a Chinese painter and poet who was active during the early Yuan Dynasty. She is credited with being “the most famous female painter and calligrapher in the Chinese history…remembered not only as a talented woman, but also as a prominent figure in the history of bamboo painting.”[1] She is also a well-known poet in the Yuan dynasty.[2]
The focus of Guan’s work on bamboo painting was atypical for a female artist, as the subject was thought to be imbued with highly desirable masculine qualities, namely its ability to bend without breaking and greenness through the winter, symbolic of steadfast companionship. She is also believed to have depicted bodies of water alongside bamboo in her work in order to add more feminine associations to the plant.[13] A bamboo scroll of hers from 1301 was found in her husband’s studio, obviously showing her knowledge on the discourse surrounding bamboo being depicted by a woman; the scroll confidently stated: “To play with brush and ink is masculine sort of thing to do, yet I made this painting. Wouldn’t someone say that I have transgressed? How despicable; how despicable.”[14]
Poetry
“She wrote a poem called “Song of Me and You” in response to her husband’s desire to have concubines, a common practice in China during that time, especially for those who worked in the government or high-ranking officers.[18] In addition, she further wrote a poem called “Married Love” before her death. Her husband later found this piece of poem and decided not to marry a third time.”
“Guan Daosheng.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Daosheng. Accessed 18 Sept. 2021.
See more of her art:
Guan Daosheng – Google Arts & Culture
Guan Daosheng also known as Guan Zhongji or Lady Zhongji was a Chinese painter and poet who was active during the early Yuan Dynasty. She is credited with being “the most famous female painter and calligrapher in the Chinese history…remembered not only as a talented woman, but also as a prominent figure in the history of bamboo painting.”
You and me, and me and you, so much in love are we;
Guan Daosheng:
So much in love, like bathing in fire are we.
We knead and shape a clod of clay into figures of you and me:
We smash, trash our two figures, add water to admix the debris
To again knead and shape fresh figures of you and me;
In my clay then, you’ll abide, and in yours, there I’ll be.
(O you and I, in life, one single quilt we share,)
O me and you, in life, one single quilt we share,
In death, in the same coffin, please bury me.
Song of Me and You/ Clay Figures