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pay closer attention to the use of ink, especially the rhythm
and nuances of light ink. Returning Home on a Moonlit Night can
only be considered a late work of the Zhe school, and does not
fit easily into Zhu Bang’s stylistic oeuvre. The identity of the
painter of this work awaits further research.
The existence of Portrait of an Official in Front of the Beijing
Imperial Palace contradicts the record that Zhu Bang only had a
broad and free painting style, noted above. Instead, he also
painted in a more elegant style. Picking Lotuses (Cailian tu 采蓮圖)
(Pl. 6.11) in the National Art Museum of China is another
example that has a poetic atmosphere, and is similar to the
more refined style of the painting in the British Museum.
Based on his surviving works, it seems that Zhu Bang’s
painting style falls into two main categories: one is gongbi 工
筆 (skillful brush) in colour and the other is xieyi (sketching
the idea) using monochrome ink. Zhu Bang’s early career
would have been dominated by the former style, while his
subsequent career was dominated by the latter.

Versions similar to Portrait of an Official in Front of the
Beijing Imperial Palace
There are four known hanging scroll paintings that depict
the same subject matter as Portrait of an Official in Front of the
Beijing Imperial Palace (hereafter the Zhu Bang version). They
are Imperial Palace in Beijing (Beijing gongcheng tu 北京宮城圖) in
the National Museum of China, hereafter the National
Museum version (Pl. 6.12); Palace and Gardens of the Ming
Dynasty (Mingdai gongyuan tu 明代宮苑圖) in the Nanjing
Museum, hereafter the Nanjing Museum version (Pl. 6.13);
Plate 6.10 Anonymous, Returning Home on a Moonlit Night (Xiye Painting of Xu Gao (Xu Gao xiang 徐杲像) and Imperial Palace of
guizhuang tu 夕夜歸莊圖), Ming dynasty, early to mid-16th century. the Ming Dynasty (Mingdai gongdian tu 明代宮殿圖), both in the
Hanging scroll (mounted on panel), image height 155.1cm, width National Palace Museum, Taipei (Pls 6.14–15). All of these
107.1cm. Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
D.C., Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1916.401 works are by anonymous Ming painters. Their composition
and style are largely similar, except that in the case of the
(sketching the idea) paintings usually have several areas of Zhu Bang version, the figure of Kuai Xiang is depicted on
broad brushstrokes and heavy ink that are used to invigorate the left of the painting instead of the right.
the composition. It is possible to determine which of these five versions were
The Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. has an painted by court painters and which were not, based on the
anonymous painting entitled Returning Home on a Moonlit Night accuracy of the palace architecture they depict. One point
(Pl. 6.10) that has been linked to Zhu Bang. In the past this that is very easily overlooked is the direction of the pointed
painting was attributed to a Tang-dynasty painter, Lu Hong cloud-heads extending from the four huabiao 華表,
盧鴻, but this has been refuted by James Cahill, who ceremonial columns that are located inside and outside of the
suggested that it is a work by Zhu Bang, based on comparisons Chengtian Gate – they should all be positioned so that the
to an anonymous painting in the Osaka City Museum of Fine cloud-tail points outwards (Pl. 6.16). The design of this type
Arts. Using an anonymous painting to verify the painter of of structure had reached maturity by the Ming dynasty, and
16
another anonymous painting seems insufficiently convincing. could not be freely changed. Another example of a Ming-
Although Returning Home on a Moonlit Night contains texture dynasty ceremonial column can be found at Lingxingmen
strokes (cunfa 皴法) that are similar to Zhu Bang’s ‘large axe 欞星門 (Elite Star Gate; restored in 1754) at the Temple of
cut’ texture strokes (da fu pi cun 大斧劈皴), Zhu Bang tends to Confucius in Qufu, Shandong province. The cloud-tails on

Plate 6.11 Attributed to Zhu Bang 朱邦, Picking Lotuses (Cailian tu 采蓮圖), Ming dynasty, 16th century. Handscroll, ink on paper, height
22.8cm, width 110cm. National Art Museum of China

62 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450