Court lady contemplating flowers in a scholars' garden

This painting on silk created in the summer of 1984 by Chinese master Zheng Qing (郑庆) constitutes the perfect compositional and conceptual counterpart to the previous work, consolidating an allegorical pair or pendant within the genre of refined beauties (shinü图 / meiren图). The scene depicts an elegant scholar lady seated in a contemplative posture upon the balustrade or trellis of a traditional garden, delicately holding a small floral shoot in her left hand while her other rests on her lap, flanked by a scholar rock (Taihu shi) from which a pink-flowering shrub sprouts, alongside a carved balustrade outlined in white pigment. The visual language stands out for its faultless execution in the meticulous technique (gongbi), using the 'silk thread' calligraphic line (yousi miao) to define the folds of the pink and turquoise robes, as well as the flowing black shawl gracefully cascading to the ground, complemented by painstaking gold leaf applications on her comb headdress and collar embroideries. The work evidences a marked affinity with the poetic and melancholic depictions of Qing dynasty literature—particularly the imagery of Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou Meng)—and the mastery in representing female elegance by classical masters such as Qiu Ying, Gai Qi, and Ren Xiong, reinterpreted through the 20th-century lyrical synthesis introduced by Zhang Daqian. Through its compositional balance, delicate pigments, and contemplative iconography, the work connects directly with the famous albums of court ladies in gardens preserved within the imperial collections of the Palace Museum in Beijing, the National Palace Museum in Taipei, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.