Lit. ink plum. Ch: momei. Paintings of plum (actually prunus) rendered in sumi 墨 ink. Along with ink bamboo *bokuchiku 墨竹, and ink wild orchids *bokuran 墨蘭, the plum was a favorite theme of Chinese and Japanese literati painters. In Chinese culture, the plum has long been a symbol of ideal Confucian values. The gnarled trunk and delicate flowers that bloom during the coldest time of the year carry associations of longevity and renewal amid transience for Chinese and Japanese literati. Ink paintings of plums also served as idealized self-images of purity and seclusion. The plum is included among the *saikan sanyū 歳寒三友 (three friends of wintry seasons) and the *shikunshi 四君子(four gentlemen). The Northern Song priest-painter Zhongren (Jp: Chūnin 仲仁, ?-1102?) and the Southern Song painter Yang Buzhi (Jp: Yō Hoshi 楊補之, 1097-1169) developed the pictorial theme, while the Yuan painter Wu Dasu (Jp: Go Daiso 呉大素; 1341-68) codified techniques and theories of plum painting in his treatise, Songzhai meipu (Jp: Shōsai Baifu 松斉梅譜). Monochrome plum painting was introduced to Japan in the 13th century. The earliest extant Japanese paintings are two of a triptych of hanging scrolls with inscriptions by Hakuun Egyō 白雲恵暁, in the Rikkyokuan 栗棘庵 in Kyoto. The theme was rendered by many artists of the Muromachi period, including Kaō 可翁 (early 14th century), Gyokuen Bonpō 玉畹梵芳 (early 15th century), Sesshū 雪舟 (1420-1506), and Sesson 雪村 (1504?-1600?). Bokubai experienced a renewed popularity among literati painters of the Edo period, although their models were often the paintings and printed manuals of late Ming dynasty painters. For instance, the 1749 screens by Sakaki Hyakusen 彭城百川(1697-1752) in the Sumitomo collection are based on the plum painting manual, Xuehu meipu (Jp: Setsuko baifu 雪湖梅譜) by the late Ming artist Liu Shiru (Jp: Ryū Seiju 劉世儒, 1517-?).
