Bamboo and Moon

Nighttime compositions featuring plum blossoms and other wild plants illuminated by a full moon were popular in Korean monochrome ink painting since the 16th century. This scroll is unusual in that the orb of the moon (produced by brushing subtle shades of grayish ink washes around the unpainted white surface of the paper) does not appear, as it typically does, at the top of the composition. Instead, a gracefully arching thin stalk of tender leaves, arising diagonally from a dense cluster of hanging bamboo, partially obscures a full moon positioned in the lower right corner of the composition.

This unusual format is explained by the accompanying poem, written in Chinese at the upper right: By means of a chilled pole, fishing for the moon in a cold lake [or pond]. The image we see, then, is actually the reflection of the moon in water, and the bamboo stalk, a rustic fishing pole.

Though signed and sealed at the lower left of the painting, the identity of the individual who brushed this scroll remains unknown. In classical Chinese and Korean poetry, the fisherman symbolizes a sage who lives a simple, natural life. For this reason, fishing imagery in verse and in the visual arts is often associated with the activities of gentleman-scholar. It is likely that this scroll was made by an amateur painter for personal enjoyment as a sort of visualized reminiscence of the refined, leisure pleasures longed for by his elite social class.