Crippled Zhang Meets Hunchback Li

This painting depicts two wise men in animated conversation under a pine tree. The inscription adds a layer of political commentary to this work, which Cao Xi painted around the time of the collapse of the increasingly corrupt Ming court. The poem implies that the men, despite their stooped statures, stand straighter (that is, have more upright characters) than the officials of the corrupt court. It reads: Crippled Zhang, carrying dishes of food, off to visit kin, meets hunchbacked Li along the way, and exchanges words of wisdom with him. The two men clap their hands in glee, and laugh out loud: Ha, ha! Nowhere in this world is there a man who stands quite straight!