Orchid is regarded as one of the Four Gentlemen in the world of flowers. Originally grown in deep mountain valleys, it symbolized elegance, beauty, modesty and purity in Chinese culture.
In ancient China, an orchid is always compared to the virtuous man the Confucius compared. Therefore, orchids can always be found in ancient Chinese paintings. They stood for the qualities of integrity, humility and refinement – even a perfectly cultured gentleman and scholar’s all virtues can be found in the orchids.
The paintings of orchids became popular in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). One of the excellent orchid painters was Zheng Banqiao (1693-1765). He paid much attention to the nature of orchids and enjoyed painting wild orchids.
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