A reporter visiting the exhibition hall on January 18, 2021 (Photographed by Qi Lansen/Vision Chongqing)

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- There are 100 cows walking or lying in a peach forest on a 4.34m picture titled as “Picture of 100 Cows in Peach Forest”(《桃林百牛图卷》). Such a picture is an exhibit seen by the reporter on January 18 and displayed on the “Spring Festival Culture Series Exhibition” organized by China Chongqing Three Gorges Museum. Since January 19, people can visit the Museum and enjoy the festive atmosphere through its collection of more than 100 items related to cattle.

The exhibition is composed of two parts. The micro exhibition hall themed on “Ox Carrying Five Blessings” is located in the atrium of the lobby on the first floor, showing the main images and connotations of “ox” in traditional Chinese culture. On the third floor, the main exhibition hall themed on “The Ox”, telling the story of the different roles of cattle as domestic animals in Chinese society from ancient times to the present day.

The “Picture Scroll of Five Cows”(《五牛图卷》) on display is a copy of Qing Dynasty painter Pan Lin’s version. How is it different from the ““Picture of Five Cows” (《五牛图》) created by Tang Dynasty painter Han Huang? Ai Lulu, Associate Research Fellow at China Chongqing Three Gorges Museum, said the order and layout of the cows in the two works were different, and that compared with the original painting, “Picture Scroll of Five Cows” has a more restrained ink and color using, with the elegance of Ming and Qing paintings.

Entering the main exhibition hall themed on “The Ox”, the reporter was attracted by the work titled as “Picture of 100 Cows in Peach Forest” created by Yan Songfu in 1939. This work fully covers 100 cows in different gestures and manners, including that some are eating grass, some are at rest, and even some calves nestle to cow.

It is worth mentioning that the “Picture of 100 Cows in Peach Forest” was donated by Yan Songfu’s family to China Chongqing Three Gorges Museum, and the Museum made it available to the audience through the form of exhibition.

In addition to the “Picture of 100 Cows in Peach Forest”, there were many rare treasures in this exhibition, such as Shang Dynasty’s “Niu” in oracle-bone and Warring States’ copper plowshare. (Translated by Liu Hongyan, Fathom Language Limited)