This is the caption of image number 1Ma Shouzhen (1548-1604), Ming dynasty (1368 -1644)
Undated, hanging scroll, ink on paper, 83.5 × 47.2cm

Ma Shouzhen was born in Jinling (today's Nanjing of Jiangsu Province). She was a famous songstress and painter. Being smart and astute, she made light of wealth and valued righteousness. She was talented in versifying and painting, especially in painting orchids, bamboo and stones that prevail in literati painting.

 

With skilled strokes, the scroll inscribes features of orchids and bamboo that seem to sway in a cool breeze. Orchids and bamboo were favorite subjects of songstress painters for several reasons. First, orchid, bamboo, pine tree, and plum blossom have been praised by literati as the "four gentlemen" (si junzi). Painting orchid and bamboo could show the noble and unsullied feelings of the artist. Second, the charming but quiet orchids and bamboo stand for particular attitudes of women performers. Third, and the most important, as a communicative cultural method between literati and song girls, orchids and bamboo can be quickly painted because of their relatively simple structures. Several casual but enjoyable brush strokes can create a satisfying result. For these reasons, many women painters of orchids and bamboo emerged in the Ming dynasty, of whom Ma Shouzhen is one of the most famous. She was especially famous in the Jiangnan region for her specialty in painting orchids. She styled herself "Orchid of the Xiang River" (Xianglan).
  Ma Shouzhen concentrated on revealing the internal spirit of the orchid and bamboo. Her lines and ink application seem very casual, but in fact, they are technically accomplished. Orchids painted by Ma Shouzhen, unlike the meticulously depicted ones by Wen Chu (ca. 1594-1634) and other young lady painters, were unusually natural and elegant, which is quite similar to some male literati painters of the "Wu school", such as Wen Zhengming (1470-1559). Her paintings reveal the inclination of women painters to cater to male artists, and their appropriation of the achievements made by male painters.   (Editor:admin)