Portrait of Dong Fang Shuo with Two Attendants

Dong Fang Shuo, an official at the court of the Chinese emperor in the late 2nd century BC, became an immortal by stealing a peach the Queen Mother of the West had brough to China from her mountain paradise. Pao K'ai's shakey brushstrokes and the sense of humor evident in the faces of Dong Fang Shuo and his attendants are traits the artist picked up from Huang Shen, one of the famous "Yangzhou eccentrics"--18th century artist poets who lived in a southern city wealthy from the salt trade.