Scholarly Pursuits

In imperial China, elite women mostly lived in the inner quarters of their homes, hidden away in confined spaces. On those rare occasions when they appeared in public, they were usually engaged in singing, playing instruments, and dancing to entertain male patrons or nobles. This scroll depicts groups of scholars engaging in various pursuits in a garden setting. In one scene, a group of women musicians is about to play for several comfortably seated scholars who are drinking wine. The artist intended us to compare the screen behind the musicians, painted with beautiful flowers, with the women themselves—reinforcing the idea of women as decorative objects meant for entertainment.