Brewing Tea under Pines by a Stream

Description

This painting elegantly illustrates the tradition of tea
brewing and drinking in China. Two men are seated beneath
tall pines in an idyllic landscape of distant mountains, a
surging creek, lush trees, and elegant rocks. They are the
famous Tang dynasty (618–907) tea connoisseur Lu Yu (died
804) and his guest. Lu Yu wrote The Book of Tea, the world’s
first monograph on tea. It explores the plant’s cultivation,
preparation, tea brewing techniques, tea utensils, and tea
drinking. In the painting, plants resembling tea bushes grow
next to the stream, suggesting that Lu Yu was able to make
tea from freshly picked leaves. Nearby, a young attendant
fetches water for brewing tea from the clear stream.
This painting is attributed to Zhou Chen, which means that
it is unsigned, but has some characteristic features of his
work. However, while Zhou Chen’s paintings are notable for
their spontaneous and impulsive brushstrokes, the lines here
are attenuated, flat, and less modulated. Details like these
suggest it was created by a different artist with a similar style.
Fall 2015 Gallery Rotation
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Signature and two seals, commonly accepted as the artist’s
One collector’s seal
The two gentlemen seated beneath the tall pines are the famous Tang dynasty (618–907) tea connoisseur Lu Yu (?–804) and his guest. Nearby, a young attendant dips a jug into the clear stream to fetch water for brewing tea. This painting, attributed to the professional painter Zhou Chen, of Suzhou, elegantly illustrates the popularity of tea drinking in sixteenth-century China.
Gallery Rotation Spring 2012
Zhou Chen
China, active 1515–1535
Brewing Tea under Pines by a Stream
Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Mid- to late 16th century
Hanging scroll, ink, and color on silk
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund, 1963/2.3
Gallery Rotation Spring/Summer 2012
Zhou Chen
China, active 1515–1535
Brewing Tea under Pines by a Stream
Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Mid- to late 16th century
Hanging scroll, ink, and color on silk
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund, 1963/2.3
This painting, attributed to the professional painter Zhou Chen of Suzhou, elegantly illustrates the popularity of tea drinking in sixteenth-century China. The two gentlemen relaxing on the lush grass beneath the tall pines are the famous Tang dynasty (618–907) tea connoisseur Lu Yu (d. 804) and his guest. Nearby, a young attendant dips a jug into the clear stream to fetch water for brewing tea.
The environment depicted in this painting—the distant mountains, beautiful trees, soft green grass, and surging creek—evokes a poem on tea drinking by the Southern Sung dynasty (1127–1278) poet Xu Chao (d. 1211):
Sweeping the ground and relaxing in the cool clearing, the sun shines gently through the pines. In order to abate my fatigue, tea is brewed from the fresh water in the rocky spring.