China Cultural Center in Wellington shares master paintings online: revel in Chinese ancients celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival (5)

A Cup in Hand Under the Moon by Ma Yuan (Photo provided by China Cultural Centre in Wellington)

SYDNEY, Sept. 29 (People’s Daily Online) – The China Culture Center in Wellington recently shared a group of Chinese painting masterpieces in a "Micro Class" on the theme of the Mid-Autumn Festival in an online session, displaying four representative Chinese paintings touching on cultural elements related to the Mid-Autumn Festival as created by Ma Yuan, Chen Mei, Li Song, and Tang Yin.

Since ancient times, there have been numerous Chinese paintings created on the theme of the Mid-Autumn Festival, such as those depicting the beautiful scenes of Mid-Autumn Festival reunions, the raising of glasses to enjoy the moon and celebrate the night together, expressions of people's tender feelings in missing their hometown and prayers for a better future.

“A Cup in Hand Under the Moon” is a masterpiece created by Ma Yuan, an artist from the Southern Song Dynasty. The painting is unique in its composition, and with a profound artistic conception. The painting depicts a mid-autumn reunion banquet scene. A round moon is hung high in the sky, and the visit of friends creates a beautiful atmosphere of gathering together.

One of the classic masterpieces of the Qing Dynasty painter Chen Mei, “Qiongtai Moon Viewing Picture,” portrays a mid-autumn night with a crisp autumn atmosphere and fragrant laurels. The painter depicts women of the Qing Dynasty with slender figures composed of fine and smooth lines and bright and vivid colors.

“Watching the Tide on a Moonlit Night” by Li Song, a Southern Song Dynasty painter, depicts a scene of the tide coming in on a mid-autumn night in Lin'an, Southern Song Dynasty. With delicate, emotive and vivid brushstrokes, he paints a poetic picture of gazing out at the tide during the mid-autumn season.

“Chang'e Holding a Laurel” was painted by Tang Yin, one of the "Four Artists of Ming". During the Mid-Autumn Festival, when people look up at a bright and full moon, they have tended to associate it with the "Guang Han Palace" and "Chang'e" of ancient myths and legends, and painters have often created timeless masterpieces in this theme. (Zhiyuan Ren)