In the eyes of Chinese people, wine and tea are the two most important things to express their emotion and voice their mind. Especially in ancient China, drinking wine usually can show people’s strong feelings to sorrow or happiness. As a Chinese proverb goes, one drunk answers thousands of sorrows. It seems that the drunk man in this Chinese painting is deeply immersed in his thoughts with two red cheeks obviously visible to us. Although we do not know whether he drinks wine for sorrow or for happiness, maybe other things in this figure painting will tear us.
With the warm-toned colors, this panting is pleasant to our eyes and mind. Through the author’s gentle strokes, the scene that a drunk man lying in the ground behind a river is enlivened to us. Especially, the teapot on his left reveals that the man is easy and relaxing now. Usually, it needs a lot time for a man before he can really savor the pleasant taste of the tea. Of course, it is impossible for a man suffering from distress or sorrow to taste tea after drinking wine. Then the bamboo flute in his hand represents that the man is free and easy in his mind, and must have an open mind toward the world. In despite of the simple composition of this picture, a kind of tranquil feeling has came out of this painting.
Drunk man - Chinese painting
