Minneapolis Institute of Art

Everlasting Prosperity and Spring

Sun Yi

Date

late 17th–early 18th century

Medium

Ink and color on silk

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Born in Changzhou and later active in Fuzhou, Sun Yi mastered refined bird-and-flower painting, blending Ming court naturalism with decorative elegance. His works traveled widely through maritime and diplomatic exchange, especially to the Ryukyu Kingdom, where court painters studied under him and helped form a distinct Ryukyuan painting tradition. Blossoms, peonies, and songbirds—symbols of renewal and abundance—are rendered here with meticulous gongbi fine-line brushwork and mineral pigments. Once prized as prestige gifts, Sun Yi’s paintings reveal the interconnected artistic networks linking Qing China, Okinawa, and Japan during the early 18th century. Asia

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