Life and career
Puming, also known as Xuechuang, was a Chinese Chan monk associated with the Suzhou region and with ink orchids and bamboo. His precise life dates are uncertain and older records differ. Paintings and their inscriptions, seals and later attributions supply a partial history; works transmitted to Japan also illuminate networks of religious and artistic exchange.
Works across a career
Selected examples, not a complete catalogue. Read date ranges and attributions before inferring a career sequence.
- 01
1300s
1300s
Bamboo in the Wind
- Material / technique
- Hanging scroll; ink on silk
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Broad or uncertain date: not a secure career stage.
John L. Severance Fund · Image: public domain (CC0)Museum catalogue note
Bamboo is an evergreen plant that does not break under the weight of snow or the force of the wind, and thus became a favorite motif in literati painting and Chan Buddhism as a metaphor for the virtue of not yielding to worldly temptations. Xuechuang, also known as monk Puming, was a native of Songjiang, near Shanghai, who spent his life as a monk in Suzhou. In 1338, he presided over Yunyan temple on Tiger Hill. Here, he masterfully depicts a bamboo gently bent in a subtle breeze. Puming’s paintings were revered in Japan and Korea.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 - 02
Yuan dynasty; exact date uncertain
View this work at the source
Reference entry · image not reproducedYuan dynasty; exact date uncertain
Orchids and Rock
- Material / technique
- Painting; consult catalogue for support and medium
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- Kyoto National Museum, AK235
- 03
1343
View this work at the source
Reference entry · image not reproduced1343
Orchids and Bamboo
- Material / technique
- Painting; see exhibition catalogue
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- Museum of the Imperial Collections; Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum exhibition checklist
Materials, marks and colour
Media and surface
Ink painting makes brush loading and the support central to leaf and stem effects.
Marks and structure
Flexible leaf strokes and firm stems connect botanical observation with calligraphic movement.
Palette and light
A narrow ink palette creates variety through dilution, density and open space, not bright pigment.
Sources and further reading
Original educational interpretation; catalogue descriptions are separately credited. Each study links to its source. Reference entries without images are not added to the comparison timeline.