Ch: Zhulin Qixian. Lit. Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. A pictorial theme based on seven Chinese literati who, to escape the social chaos of the Wei-Jin periods (220-589), fled to a secluded bamboo grove chikurin 竹林 where they could express their personalities freely by the enjoyment of pure conversation seidan 清談, music, and wine. The Seven Sages are: Ruan Ji (Jp: Gen Seki 阮籍, 210-263), Ji Kang (Jp: Kei Kō 稽康, 223-266), Shan Tao (Jp: San Tō 山涛, 205-266), Xiang Xiu (Jp: Kyō Shū 向秀, 221-300), Liu Ling (Jp: Ryō Rei 劉伶, ca. 225-280), Wang Rong (Jp: Ōjū 王戎, 234-305), and Ruan Xian (Jp: Gen Kan 阮咸, nephew of Ruan Ji). All were famous for the purity of their reclusive spirits, their strong Daoist and anti-Confucian values, and their strikingly eccentric personalities. The Seven Sages are mentioned in several Chinese texts, most notably New Specimens of Contemporary Talk (Ch: Shishuo xinyu; Jp: Sesetsu shingo 世説新語; ca. 5th century). The earliest depiction of the subject is found on a set of late 4th- or early 5th-century clay tomb tiles from the Xishanqiao 西善橋 area of Nanjing 南京. Typical Chinese iconography shows gentlemen playing musical instruments and writing poetry as well as drinking wine.
The subject was popular with Japanese painters of the Momoyama and early Edo periods who tended to transform the theme into a rather generalized image of reclusive scholars engaging in literary pursuits. Thus, the Seven Sages theme was often mixed with depictions of the four accomplishments *kinki shoga 琴棋書画 or paired with the Four Hermits at Mt. Shang *shōzan shikō 商山四皓. Noteworthy examples include works by Kano Motonobu 狩野元信 (1476-1559; Tokyo National Museum), Kaihō Yūshō 海北友松 (1533-1615; Kenninji 建仁寺, Kyoto). Sesson 雪村 (active 16th century) took early liberties with the theme, painting his famous "Dancing Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" Chikurin shichken butō-zu 竹林七賢舞踊図 (private collection) in 1574. The Seven Sages theme, with its philosophical Chinese overtones and popularity with military and priestly patrons, later became a favorite target for parody pictures *mitate-e 見立て絵 by *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists substituting beautiful women for the gentlemen.
