A blog of Chinese art, culture and design

During the late Yuan and early Ming dynasty (c. 1300), Chinese scholars gathered in gardens to enjoy food and wine, compose poems, create paintings, and appreciate antiques.  These “elegant gatherings” were formally named “yaji”.   Elegant gatherings typically lasted for days and were sometimes documented in Chinese paintings, called “yaji” paintings.  There are two types of yaji paintings – historical yaji which were snapshots of actual events and imaginary yaji.   As funny as it may sound, drinking games are a common subject of both. 

An extraordinary example of yaji painting is “Palace Park”.  It is a set of eight hanging scrolls collectively depicting a scholar’s garden party with multiple games taking place including an animated drinking game involving cups of wine floating on lily pads down a garden creek.   Typically, in such a game, a participant was challenged to catch each cup floating past him.  Every missed cup required the player to produce a poem on the spot.  In another area of the scrolls, scholars are grouped together painting.  And still others are inspecting and critiquing scrolls decorated with landscapes and calligraphy.  The use of color, the monumental rocks and palms that frame the painted scene, and the bird’s eye perspective are a lovely integration of Song, Yuan and Ming dynasty paintings.

Works like “Palace Park” demonstrate how Chinese paintings could serve as a type of performance.  The number of props and minor narratives within the larger motif are an unusual approach to staging within the scope of Chinese painting. It is not a static scene. It is alive with many activities, encouraging the viewer to wander from group to group.  

This yaji painting is typical of its kind in that such paintings were created during an era of political turbulence when the literati felt alienated by the ruling Mongol empire.  The garden gatherings offered participating scholars with similar educational backgrounds and literary and artistic interests comfort in each other’s company.   These parties helped the scholars to construct and maintain an identity essential to their dignity and survival.   Using their skills in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, late Yuan scholars were able to build a community defined by cultural prestige.  

Yaji are historically driven and unique among the many traditions within Chinese painting.  Until recently, yaji was under-studied by scholars. However, now there is a renewed interest among curators and art historians to grapple with this unique style. Inscriptions that survive today support this visual documentation that social gatherings of the time were a place to comment on the art that was created and observed within this social context.

“Palace Park”, at Pagoda Red, reminds us of the importance of the garden as a social and creative space.  The use of natural elements to balance a home, allowing for contemplation and peace, is a reoccurring theme in Chinese art and texts.  Yaji paintings highlight these ideas and how they can be extended to a social context for collective creativity, conversation, and most importantly, community.

Palace Park, a set of eight Yaji hanging scrolls