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The "Four Gentlemen", also called the Four Noble Ones or Four Friends, in Chinese art refers to four plants: the orchid, the bamboo, the chrysanthemum, and the ume blossom (often translated as "plum blossom"). The term compares the four plants to Confucianist junzi, or "gentlemen". A painting or decoration incorporating all four plants is also known as the "Four Gentlemen". They are most typically depicted in traditional ink and wash painting.photo The "Four Gentlemen" belong to the category of bird-and-flower painting in Chinese art.
The Four Gentlemen have been used in Chinese painting since the time of the Chinese Song Dynasty (960–1279) because of their refined beauty, and were later adopted by artists in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. As they represent the four different seasons (the orchid for spring, the bamboo for summer, the chrysanthemum for autumn, and the plum blossom for winter), the four are used to depict the unfolding of the seasons through the year.
The Four Gentlemen are an important subject matter in learning to paint in the aforementioned Asian traditions, as they embody all the basic brush styles.
