A woodcut of Qu Yuan, by Chen Hongshou, the Ming Dynasty. [file photo]

Zhao Mengfu from the Yuan Dynasty, Chen Hongshou of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and Xu Bangda, a modern painter, have also created paintings illustrating the Nine Songs. Most of these paintings also adopted outline drawing.

It was more than 1,500 years after the death of Qu Yuan when Zhang Wo painted Painting of Nine Songs, from which we can see that the Chinese have a long history of commemorating Qu Yuan. The reason people commemorate Qu Yuan is his patriotism, loyalty and talent – all features of the ideal scholar according to traditional Chinese thought. Therefore, Qu Yuan was a historical figure commemorated by many dynasties.

In 1616, Chen Hongshou drew 11 inserts within two days for Xiaoshan Laiqin’s Notes for The Songs of Chu. They were created in accordance with Qu Yuan’s Nine Songs. Chen then made a woodcut painting called Qu Yuan Sang while Walking, which reveals the scene when Qu Yuan was banished to Xupuxian county. Since then, this has become the standard features Qu Yuan is usually depicted with.

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