Overview

Dai Li, also known as Shuoyong, used the penname, Shiping. He was from the Xinghua region of the province of Jiangsu, China, near the city of Yangzhou. He studied paintings under Li Shan from the area of Baquai in Yangzhou, whose distinctive style attracted people's attention. Dai Li was especially skilled in drawing plums. This work illustrates a blooming plum tree by a rock in ink, and bears the poem on the nine protective characters written by the monk Tianmu. The additional note at the end says that Dai Li completed this work at his studio in the temple of Baoding Jingshe located in the north of Yangzhou castle, at the celebration of the 40th birthday of a person named Linglao. Although the composition and brushwork style resemble those of his teacher, Li Shan, the elegant depiction of plum blossoms is rather closer to the style of Chen Zhuan.