Bamboo in the Wind

In the pictureBamboo stalks and leaves, swept to one side by the wind, cut diagonally across the picture. The leaves in front are painted in dark ink and those behind in pale ink, creating depth within the wind. The dark panel at the top carries text written in gold, with an inscribed poem attached below it. The only colors are ink, gold and the natural tone of the silk.

BackgroundYi Jeong (1541–1626), whose pen name was Taneun, was a member of the royal family descended from King Sejong. He is ranked as the finest painter of bamboo in the whole Joseon dynasty, and a story is told that he kept painting even after injuring his arm during the Imjin War (Japanese invasions of Korea). Bamboo, straight and hollow, symbolizes the integrity of the scholar, and wind-blown bamboo, which sways but does not break, stands in particular for steadfastness through hardship.

Puzzle tipAn ink-painting puzzle is solved by the direction of the brushstrokes rather than by color. Because the leaves all point the same way, matching a leaf piece's direction narrows down where it goes. With so many pieces of bare silk, 300 pieces is hard; 100 pieces is about right. The inscription at the top is easy to sort by the strokes of its characters, so it is a good part to finish first.