Life is Like a Drop of Dew
The text of this painting starts with "Life is like a drop of morning dew".
The meaning is that life is short - the morning dew quickly dries and is gone by the afternoon (enjoy it while you can).
It goes on to say that most people work very hard to be successful - but the more courageous person is the one who doesn't care so much about appearing successful in other people's eyes. This bold person is the one who takes time to enjoy life and good wine.
The Chinese characters are the title that I translated into English above, along with the artist's signature.
BTW: The man is relaxing inside a fantasy-sized gourd.
Trying to match them up as a set?
Please note: We are now using the exact images of the very painting that you will receive. We found many variations, including color of the handmade paper, and slight size differences. Please watch for these differences if you are trying to purchase these as a matching set. If you can't find a good match, please contact us, and we'll do our best to pick out a special group for you (we may have to get some custom made for you, but we are willing to do that if you are willing to wait).
Want a larger size Chinese philosophy painting?
If you would like larger versions of any of these titles, just let us know, and we will ask the artist to custom paint some for you.
The maximum size the artist is willing to paint is 18" x 18" (45cm x 45xm). This is double the area of the paintings we normally offer, and the price is also double for the larger custom sizes.
About This Collection of Chinese Philosophy Art
This painting is from the San Yang Collection, a great series of paintings that depict various folklore, stories, and philosophies of Chinese culture.
I have translated the stories of these paintings into English with the personal help of the artist.
This work was done in Beijing, China by Zhang Xiuzhen whose pen name is "San Yang".
She is a rather famous artist in northern China and has been painting since 1958.
Her work has been seen in many international exhibitions around the world over the last decade.
This is known as "free-hand style" painting.
This style of painting is done quickly with broad and powerful strokes. But often with a half-dry brush. This is a very specific technique that this artist has mastered, and many try to copy.
Painted with watercolor and special Chinese ink on handmade xuan paper (rice paper) with gold flecks/flakes. The paper itself is handmade in a process that takes more than a year to complete. We then mount the paper (laminate it to more sheets of xuan paper) to thicken it up an keep it flat and wrinkle-free for the framing process.
Note: Framing is not included! However, the artwork is ready-to-frame, unlike raw unmounted xuan paper that some other Chinese art galleries sell.
