2021 is the year of the ox (牛). In March, a set of stamps about the famous Tang Dynasty painting, Five Oxen, came out. It allows more people to know better the great art of ancient China, as well as the importance of agriculture (农业) in history.
Han Huang (723-787) was the painter of Five Oxen. He worked as a government official in the Tang Dynasty. His paintings were loved by many because the animals he painted were so alive. Unluckily, Five Oxen is probably his only painting left.
Five Oxen is one of the best animal paintings in China's art history. In the painting, the five oxen are in a line. They are of different colors and shapes. And each has a different appearance (形态), walking or standing, holding their heads high or low. With lively expressions and bright eyes, the oxen show the spirit of doing hard work without complaints (抱怨). As the name suggests, ___▲__. It makes people focus (关注)on the oxen themselves.
The painting was missing in 1900. Luckily, it returned to China during the early 1950s. However, it was terribly broken with many holes in it. Great efforts were made to save it. Now Five Oxen, probably the oldest Chinese painting on paper, is kept with care in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
