'Magpies and Hare': Cui Bai's Commentary on Marriage, Eunuchs, and Self-awareness

In 1061 Cui Bai 崔白 painted Magpies and Hare (Shuangxi tu 雙喜圖), a sensitive depiction of an autumn scene in which a hare has startled two magpies (Figure 1). ¹ At first glance the painting seems utterly naturalistic: the birds, hare, and plants are precisely observed. But when we look closely, we see that Cui Bai designed a theatrical confrontation between the lively birds and passive hare, animated by a strong wind agitating the plants. He created a bold composition with oblique angles and a masterful control of brushwork that ranges from rough descriptive strokes for the banks and tree trunks, to crisp tensile outlines for the grass, bamboo, hare, and birds.

How should we understand this painting, one of the defining monuments of the Northern Song? Historians of Chinese painting have long assumed that the bird-and-flower genre is primarily decorative and that its meanings are largely auspicious. We have supposed that well-trained, technically accomplished artists created appealing images to grace palaces and homes. We expect to find cheerful meanings in these highly-finished naturalistic pictures. ² In the eleventh century, scholars such as Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007–1072) and Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101) began to use the term "drawing from nature" (xie sheng 寫生), which they compared to scholar-amateur "drawing the meaning" (xie yi 寫意). However, the theory that colorful, mimetic painting was the realm of professionals while self-expressive ink painting was the purview of amateurs was not yet established. ³ In the Song dynasty most people assumed that paintings, whether polychrome or monochrome, were a visual medium that conveyed meanings. Viewers apprehended those meanings through their knowledge of the world and transmitted culture.

This essay attempts to convince the reader that Cui Bai's autumnal scene is more than an inspired record of nature, but was also a response to an imperial scandal that began in the fall of 1060 and continued through 1061, the year inscribed on the painting. During that period, court officials critiqued Emperor Renzong 仁宗 (r. 1022–1063) for his failure to manage his family. The precipitating incident involved Renzong's attractive daughter the Yan Guo Princess 兗國公主 (1038–1070), who preferred the company of eunuchs to that of her husband. I argue that Cui Bai alluded to the contretemps through carefully assembled images. Magpies were symbols of marriage, a hare was a metaphor for a man of uncertain gender, and plants had symbolic values: thorns for petty men (xiaoren 小人), bamboo for superior men (junzi 君子), and the chestnut grove for reference to a Daoist parable. Even common folk of the eleventh century would have been familiar with the Daoist story and the metaphorical meanings of the images. The argument consists of several parts: first, Renzong's family background; second, the scandal of 1060 with its political and social implications; third, the unusual talents of the painter Cui Bai; fourth, the imagery in Cui Bai's Magpies and Hare; fifth, the events of the autumn of 1061; and finally, thoughts on the possible recipient. ⁴

Emperor Renzong's Maternal and Family Relationships

Renzong's maternal history was complicated. He was born Zhao Shouyi 趙 受益 on the fourteenth day of the fourth month of 1010 to a palace maid surnamed Li 李 (d. 1032). At that time, the Virtuous Consort Liu 劉德妃 (969–1033) was a favorite of Emperor Zhenzong 真宗 (r. 997–1022), who had long wanted to make her his empress. He was blocked by ministers who objected to her low birth. ⁵ At age forty she adopted the maid's baby boy as her own, which may have enhanced her status. Early in 1013 Liu was made empress. Following his father's death in 1022, the twelve-year-old boy was enthroned with his "mother," Empress Dowager Liu, serving as his regent. Liu avowed that she would step down when Renzong came of age, but she later reneged. Her good friend and confidant Lady Yang 楊氏 did much of the child-rearing while empress Liu actively ruled as imperial surrogate for a full decade, establishing a model for subsequent female regents. The Song History records that Renzong fully respected...