Bamboo and Rocks

Ye Gongchao dedicated this painting to Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi, 1887–1975), the former military commander China's Nationalist government and chairman of the Nationalist Party, to congratulate him on his seventy-ninth birthday. Ye chose the subject of bamboo and rock, symbolizing China's national virtue, to honor the highly formal and political celebration, employing dramatic ink tones and traditional techniques to compose this formal painting of bamboo and rocks. Although created for Chiang Kai-shek, the painting was never presented to him. Instead, it was kept by the Ye family in Taiwan. After Ye Gongchao's funeral in 1981, his daughter, Yeh Tung, decided to bring this important family legacy and other works in the family collection to her home in California. While packing the items, she was warned that an artwork with Chiang Kai-shek's name on it would not be allowed to be taken out of Taiwan, thus she removed the name with a razor, leaving a hole in the painting.