Yin Yang Fish Wall Scroll

Close up view of the artwork mounted to this silk brocade wall scroll

This artwork features some antique-style xuan paper. The paper is handmade and has been stained with tea. There are some artifacts and irregularities in the paper, but this is the style of this paper. The artwork was mounted to a fresh white silk wall scroll by hand in our workshop. The whole wall scroll looks like an antique that is in excellent shape. Or perhaps just a traditional and classic look.

The painting in this wall scroll represents the balance in life known as "Yin Yang" in the Asian world.

In traditional Chinese culture, people believe that everything has balance...

The artist is such a cool old Chinese man. He is 62 years old, but has the heart of a teenager. I always have a good time when I visit his studio. He gets as excited as I do when he is showing me a new piece that he has just finished. Then he tries to teach me how to paint (a futile effort). I always wish him long life and happiness when I leave. I really hope he lives forever, the world needs more people like Mr. Yu
(The not-so-Chinese-looking guy in this picture is me)

These fish are associated strongly with both Japanese and Chinese cultures. Beautiful garden parks in the cities around China are often graced with a pond full of these fish throughout the year. They are a very strong fish as they can be seen swimming slowly under thick sheets of ice in lakes during the brutal Winter of northern China.

Also, in Mandarin Chinese, "fish" is pronounced "Yu" which is the same pronunciation as the word meaning "wealth" or "being rich". So many Chinese people believe that having a painting of fish in your home will bring you wealth and riches.

Materials used are black and red Chinese ink on rice paper. The painting was then mounted to a hand-made silk wall scroll by our master-scroll-maker.

The artist's name is "Yu Gong-Quan" but his pen name is "Mao Zhi".

Yu Gong-Quan was born in Shanghai in 1941.

He studied art for many years in Anhui Province. After perfecting his skills he started his career as an artist.

For the last 30 years of his life, he has continued to develop his unique style.

He is currently a professor of art at an institute in Beijing, China.