Three Friends of Winter
| Three Friends of Winter | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Three Friends of Winter by the Song Dynasty painter Zhao Mengjian | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 歲寒三友 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 岁寒三友 | ||||||
| |||||||
The Three Friends of Winter, also known as Suihan Sanyou (or shochikubai), symbolize the pine, bamboo, and plum.[1] The Chinese observed that the pine, bamboo and plum do not wither as the cold days deepen into the winter season unlike many other plants.[2] Known by them as the Three Friends of Winter, they entered the conventions of East Asian culture.[3][4] Together they symbolize steadfastness, perseverance, and resilience.[5] They are highly regarded in Confucianism and as such represent the scholar-gentleman's ideal.[1][6]
History
The Three Friends of Winter are common in works of Chinese art[7] and those cultures influenced by it. The three are first recorded as appearing together in a ninth-century poem by the Tang Dynasty poet Zhu Qingyu (朱慶餘).[6] The Southern Song Dynasty artist Zhao Mengjian (趙孟堅, c.1199-1264), among others of the time, made this grouping popular in painting.[6] The actual term "Three Friends of Winter" can be traced back to the earliest known mention in literature, the Record of the Five-cloud Plum Cottage (五雲梅舍記) from The Clear Mountain Collection (霽山集) by the Song Dynasty writer Lin Jingxi (林景熙, 1242-1310):[2][8]
- "For his residence, earth was piled to form a hill and a hundred plum trees, which along with lofty pines and tall bamboo comprise the friends of winter, were planted."[2]
- 即其居累土為山，種梅百本，與喬松，脩篁為歲寒友。[8]
Cultural symbolism
Culturally, the Three Friends of Winter—pine, bamboo, and plum—are grouped together in the context of winter because they all flourish at that season.[1] For this reason they are commonly known as the Three Friends of Winter.[1] They are also referred to simply by their linked names: Song Zhu Mei (松竹梅) in Chinese, transliterated as Sho Chiku Bai in Japanese (literally "pine, bamboo, plum").[9]
In a Korean poem by Kim Yuki (1580-1658), the three friends are brought together in order to underline the paradoxical contrast:
- Peach and plum of springtime, don't flaunt your pretty blossoms;
- Consider rather the old pine and green bamboo at year's end.
- What can change these noble stems and their flourishing evergreen?[10]
In Japan, they are particularly associated with the start of the Lunar New Year, appearing on greeting cards and as a design stamped into seasonal sweets.[11]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Chinese symbols" (PDF). British Museum. p. 1. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
- ^ a b c "The Three Friends of Winter: Paintings of Pine, Plum, and Bamboo from the Museum Collection (Introduction)". National Palace Museum. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- ^ "Three Friends of Winter". Colby College. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- ^ "Cultivating Virtue: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Art". Harvard Art Museums. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
- ^ Dusenbury, Mary (2004). Flowers, dragons and pine trees: Asian textiles in the Spencer Museum of Art (Bier, Carol; Foresman, Helen ed.). New York: Hudson Hills Press. p. 248. ISBN 978-1-55595-238-9.
- ^ a b c Welch, Patricia Bjaaland (2008). Chinese art: A guide to motifs and visual imagery. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-8048-3864-1.
- ^ Welch, Patricia Bjaaland (2008). Chinese art: a guide to motifs and visual imagery. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-8048-3864-1.
- ^ a b "歲寒三友". National Palace Museum. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
- ^ Qiu, Peipei (2005). Basho and the Dao: The Zhuangzi and the transformation of Haikai. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-8248-2845-5.
- ^ The Bamboo Grove, ed. and trans. Richard Rutt, University of California Press 1971, poem 18
- ^ Bamboo in Japan Nancy Moore Bess and Bibi Wein, Kodansha International 2001, p.170