First Day Cover
首日封
Sobrescrito de 1.º Dia
TaiwanAncient Chinese Painting - “Three Friends and a Hundred Birds”
Date of Issue : 22 November 2012
The painting “Three Friends and a Hundred Birds” is by the Ming Dynasty painter Pien Wen-chin (邊文進) from the National Palace Museum collection. The souvenir sheet features three stamps, each highlighting a portion of the original masterpiece
Pien Wen-chin (邊文進) was an important bird-and-flower painter at the early Ming Dynasty court. The "Three Friends of the Winter" refer to pine, bamboo, and plum blossom. Among them, plum blossom symbolizes integrity for its cold hardiness; bamboo is a homonym of a Chinese character that means "blessing", and pine symbolizes longevity. Though the painting depicts 97 birds, it includes "a hundred birds" in the title to indicate the multitude of birds being featured. Furthermore, the number 100 is regarded as auspicious in Chinese. In consideration of the fact that it was painted for the court, it may also signify "the hundred birds pay homage to the phoenix", an expression of great reverence.
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