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Ink painting from Yuan Dynasty depicts bamboo dancing in the breeze

Updated: 2025-09-15 15:43    |    China Bound
Bamboo in the Wind, ink on paper, Gu An, Yuan Dynasty, from the collection of the Shanxi Museum [Photo/provided to chinaservicesinfo.com]

In this rare surviving work by Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) painter Gu An (1289-after 1365), two slender bamboo stalks sway gracefully in the breeze. With masterful brush control — light and heavy, fast and slow, dry and wet, dense and sparse — Gu An created a vivid scene, as if the bamboo itself were performing a melody of nature. Now housed in the Shanxi Museum, this painting showcases Gu An's unique artistic strength and delicate sensitivity.