A cabbage plant

Formerly attributed to Gao Huaibao (10th-11th century) · 14th-15th century

The illustrious Tang-dynasty poet Du Fu (712-770) lived during a period of great turmoil. Bitter after his once promising government career was stalled, he wrote the poem "Planting Stem Lettuce," using the lettuce as an allegory for wasted and uncultivated talent. Painted images of cabbage, may allude, then, to Du's poem and bear subtle political critiques of corrupt government. However, this quick study of lettuce on a fan suggests that some artists took a more optimistic view, seeing the cabbage as a literal representation of the world. The inscription asserts that if there is abundant lettuce, then the world abounds with prosperity.