Protest Through Art

 Protest through Art

Although Kublai Khan respected Chinese traditions and customs, many Mongols disliked the native scholars. These scholars could no longer do their work, and so many became artists or poets. Art was used as a form of protest, because the scholars couldn’t speak out against the mongols. Calligraphy and dry brush painting were popular. Many paintings showed symbols of perseverance. Bamboo was depicted covered in snow, because it bends easily under snow and springs back after the snow melts. The plum tree was also depicted with snow on its branches because its blossoms come out before any other plant. It is the first beautiful thing to bloom in the spring, often before the snow has even melted. A famous painting of an orchid with no soil around its roots represents how the Mongols stole the land of the Chinese. Another scroll shows a hawk roosting in a pine tree, a symbol of perseverance, and ignoring a pheasant, it’s usual prey, that is sitting by the foot of the tree. The hawk symbolizes the scholars who will not serve the Mongols. The scroll gives the message that they are rejecting the opportunity to make an easy living at the cost of their own principles. However, it is more accurate to say that the Mongol didn’t allow them to work for the Yuan government, not that the scholars made the choice by themselves.

An example of the type of art done during this period

"Twin trees by the South Bank"