Mynah Bird on an Old Tree 1703

Bada Shanren painted this ink on paper work, called ‘Mynah Bird on an Old Tree’, sometime in the late 17th or early 18th century. As a social historian of art, I’m interested in how the artist's identity might have affected their work. Shanren was a member of the fallen Ming imperial family, who became a Buddhist monk after the Qing dynasty was established. This is a classic example of bird-and-flower painting, but it is charged with the artist's own political feelings of loss and displacement. The tree appears gnarled and lifeless, the bird is hunched and withdrawn, and the fish seems to be swimming in empty space. These images might stand for the artist's own sense of alienation. By examining the artist’s biography, alongside the political and cultural history of the time, we can see how art provides a powerful commentary on social upheaval.