UC Santa Barbara

Zhao Mengjian’s (1199–before 1267) Narcissus, a monochrome ink painting of a field of intricately interwoven daffodils, exemplifies the nuanced relationship between literati painting and poetry in the late Southern Song (1127–1279). In Chinese painting the narcissus flower has thematic associations with two potent symbols of dynastic loyalty: the patriotic poet-hero Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BCE) and the Xiang River goddesses, who were loyal consorts to the mythical Emperor Shun. Later collectors and art historians came to interpret Zhao’s Narcissus as a symbol of loyalty to the Song dynasty, both because of its iconography and because of Zhao’s relation to the Song imperial family. However, biographical data suggests that Zhao’s original intention could not have been to eulogize the Song since he died before the fall of the dynasty. By reexamining Narcissus through the lens of literati poetry and painting during Zhao's lifetime, new interpretive possibilities emerge. Zhao’s Narcissus may have originally been a sensual, apolitical work that borrowed from the literary and painterly traditions of yongwu 咏物 “singing of things” poetry and xiaojing 小景 or “small scene” landscape painting. These late Southern Song forms revel in the rich allusive meanings of objects to express an author’s intents obliquely. They concentrate attention on an object through the use of small scenes and emphasize poetic mood over naturalistic representation. The repetitive, miniature world of Narcissus allowed Zhao to align himself symbolically with a patriotic hero while capturing a poetic mood that echoed the erotic imagery and impressionistic form of the poetry of his time.