Tea Gathering for Spring Water at Mt. Hui
Ch'ien Ku (1508-1578), Ming dynasty
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 66.6 x 33.1 cm

Ch'ien Ku did this work in 1570 as a record of an elegant gathering with friends on a trip to Mt. Hui in Wu-hsi to gather spring water for brewing tea. Here, an attendant gets water from a hexagonal well at the Hui Spring and two others are below a pine tree fanning flames to prepare tea. The spring water at Mt. Hui is famous for its fine and clear taste. It has been praised since the T'ang tea connoisseur Lu Yu in "Classic of Tea (Ch'a ching)" called it "the second spring under heaven". In the Sung dynasty, the renowned tea-lovers and scholar-artists Ts'ai Hsiang and Su Shih were among those who went to taste Hui spring water. Emperor Hui-tsung even went so far as to have it included as tribute to the court. In the Ming dynasty, Soochow scholars gathered there to taste the tea brewed with this water. They often wrote poems and paintings on the subject. In the Ch'ing dynasty, the Ch'ien-lung emperor also stopped at Mt. Hui during his sixth southern inspection tour to appreciate tea there. This is apparent from his poem written on this painting.

This work shows four figures in conversation as three attendants are busy in the preparation of tea using spring water. Many of the trees were rendered using dry brushwork with darker areas occasionally used for the figures. Light and dark ink complement each other with the fine brushwork, revealing the easy-going aspect of life and art among late Ming scholars.