Keywords
Art History
Painting
Ch: Nongyuxian. Lit. "Immortal Rōgyoku 弄玉 (Ch: Nongyu)." According to legend, a court lady of the Spring and Autumn Annals period who learned to play the reed pipes shō 簫 (Ch: xiao) from her husband. The sound of her playing was like the call of the phoenix *hōō 鳳凰 and thus, one day, she summoned the phoenix and mounted it. Her husband similarly mounted a dragon and together they ascended to the heavens. Nongyuxian typically is shown as a beautiful Chinese court lady playing her shō, as in Iwasa Matabei's 岩佐又兵衛 (1578-1650) painting of the theme.