Image:Ts'ui Po 001.jpg

English: "Double Happiness"

English: This large handscroll, perhaps originally part of a large screen painting, was painted by the Chinese artist Cui Bo, active during the reign of Shenzong (r. 1067-85) of the Song Dynasty.

Cui Bo was a painter who traveled to the capital to seek employment as an artist, like many of his provincial peers. Emperor Shenzong had Cui Bo appointed as a personal painter in his entourage of artists. Although Cui Bo was acknowledged as an artistic genius, he was viewed by others as a bit eccentric.

This painting, featuring two magpies, was entitled "Double Happiness", because "two magpies" in Mandarin Chinese is pronounced the same as "two happinesses". The painting would have been meant as a gift to someone to congratulate them in some way, most likely for a wedding.

The painting is signed and dated 1061, making it the earliest such signed and dated painting.

Info from http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/painting/4courmo3.htm