Lofty Pines and Great Rock

Cheng Jiasui was a landscape painter and amateur literatus from Anhui province. Stylistically, he is seen as an extension of the Anhui school and is included in the group of artists known as the Nine Friends of Painting of the late Ming dynasty. Pine and rocks were constant themes of literati painters. Symbolic of strength, endurance, and longevity, they reflected scholarly virtue. This painting is entitled Qiaosong Pan Shi tu (Picture of Lofty Pines and Stable Rock). The name and subject are a symbolic rebus for longevity (Qiaosong) and endurance (Pan Shi).