The Rise of Cloudy Bamboo: Wu School Painters and the Transformation of the Motif “A Myriad Stalks of Bamboo in Mist and Rain”

Painters have intentionally observed, recorded, and painted the morphology of bamboo under varying weather conditions since the Yuan dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, A Myriad Stalks of Bamboo in Mist and Rain emerged as a popular motif depicting dense bamboo groves under specific climatic conditions. During the early Ming, the motif was favored by the bureaucratic class. Painters such as Wang Fu and Xia Chang suggested rain and wind through the tilting and drooping of bamboo leaves, yet did not explicitly render mist, requiring viewers to use their knowledge of the “Xiaoxiang” imagery to imaginatively supply the sense of mist. By the mid-Ming, clouds and mist began to appear, and by the late Ming, they had developed into large-scale formations enveloping bamboo groves.

The Wu School was important in this transformation. Early Wu painters reinvented the “cloudy mountain” tradition to depict empirically observed weather. Their followers, such as Lu Zhi, Wen Jia, and Wen Boren, further integrated clouds into bamboo landscapes, creating an idealized atmosphere described as “clouds drift and rain bestows, all things unfold in their perfected forms.” Their practices, along with their longevity, became exemplars of the “supportive nourishment of clouds and mist” theory in late Ming art, solidifying clouds as standard features of bamboo landscapes.

Consequently, the motif’s function and meaning shifted: from early Ming “a spiritual travel through the Xiaoxiang” to late Ming longevity-themed paintings. Although both depict springtime bamboo groves, the mood transitioned from desolation and melancholy to contemplative enjoyment and appreciation of the season.