The Four Friends

Traditional Chinese painting is based on the Four Friends - or the Four Gentlemen as they are sometimes called because the scholars who founded the literary style respected and identified with their characteristics.

Plum Blossom

The hardy winter flower and the first to come into bloom, year after year, symbolising constancy in love. The contortions of the wild plum resemble a fierce dragon and when it is cultivated, the Chinese often prune it to accentuate this image.

Orchid

The fragrant wild orchid that grows beside water deep in the woodland is the epitome of femininity and serene beauty in the shadows of obscurity. It was seen as the scholar's sweetheart, the curving spikes of flowers symbolising a modest maiden washing her hair.

Chrysanthemum

The emblem of China that goes on flowering in a blaze of colour long after summer flowers have faded, defying the onset of winter. Its strong bright blooms are seen as a triumph of hope over adversity

Bamboo

Sturdy, upright and vigorous, but with humility. The Chinese symbol often used to represent the joints of the bamboo also means living a virtuous life, and its hollow stems are a reminder that there is always room to acquire more knowledge.