Listening to the Sound of Autumn in a Misty Grove

Zhang Feng from Nanjing passed the local government examinations shortly before the fall of the Ming dynasty. With the Manchu conquest, he joined the ranks of loyalists who refused to serve the new regime. He chose the intermittently frugal life of a Buddhist adept. Many of his paintings lament the loss of the empire. In this scroll, he depicts a lone figure in a stark landscape of frosty atmosphere enshrouded in mists. Close looking reveals red strokes that color the grounds, a way of expressing his loyalty to the Ming whose family name Zhu means red.