Three Friends of Winter

For his residence, earth was piled to form a hill and a hundred plum trees, which along with lofty pines and tall bamboo comprise the friends of winter, were planted. ^[2]

即其居累土為山，種梅百本，與喬松，脩篁為歲寒友。 ^[10]

Outside China

Kadomatsu (門松) decorative pillars for Japanese New Year, featuring branches of pine, bamboo and plum

The Three Friends are known as shōchikubai (松竹梅; lit. 'pine-bamboo-plum') in Japan. ^[11] They are particularly associated with the start of the Lunar New Year, appearing on greeting cards and as a design stamped into seasonal sweets. ^[12] They are sometimes also used as a three-tier ranking system; in this context, the pine (松, matsu) is usually the highest rank, followed by the bamboo (竹, take) as the middle rank, and the plum (梅, ume) as the lowest. ^{[13] [14]}

In a Korean sijo poem by Kim Yu-gi  [ ko ] (김유기;金裕器, a famous singer at the court of Sukjong of Joseon, two of the friends are brought together in order to underline the paradoxical contrast with "peach and plum of springtime", a reference to young ladies from the Chang Hen Ge:

Peach and plum of springtime, don't flaunt your pretty blossoms;
Consider rather the old pine and green bamboo at year's end.
What can change these noble stems and their flourishing evergreen? ^[15]

춘풍(春風) 도리화(桃李花)들아 고운 양자(樣子) 자랑 말고
장송(長松) 녹죽(綠竹)을 세모(歲暮)에 보려무나.
정정(亭亭)코 낙락(落落)한 절(節)을 고칠 줄이 있으랴.

In Vietnam, the three along with chrysanthemum create a combination of four trees and flowers usually seen in pictures and decorative items. The four also appear in works but mostly separately with the same symbolic significance. They are known as Tuế hàn tam hữu in Vietnamese. ^[16]

See also

• Chinese culture
• Four Gentlemen of the Year
• Four Treasures of the Study
• Trees in Chinese mythology and cultural symbology
• Mirror Flower, Water Moon

References

1. "Chinese symbols" (PDF). British Museum. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
2. "The Three Friends of Winter: Paintings of Pine, Plum, and Bamboo from the Museum Collection". National Palace Museum. January 2003. Archived from the original on 12 February 2003. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
3. "Three Friends of Winter". Colby College. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
4. "Cultivating Virtue: Botanical Motifs and Symbols in East Asian Art". Harvard Art Museums. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
5. Matthews, Jill (2018). Korean Gardens: Tradition, symbolism and resilience. Seoul: Hollym. p. 201. ISBN   978-1-56591-500-8.
6. "Nhành mai xuân trong thơ Lý – Trần". Phật giáo thuộc Giáo hội Phật giáo Việt Nam. 19 January 2022.
7. Dusenbury, Mary (2004). Flowers, dragons and pine trees: Asian textiles in the Spencer Museum of Art. New York: Hudson Hills Press. p. 248. ISBN   978-1-55595-238-9.
8. Welch, Patricia Bjaaland (2008). Chinese art: A guide to motifs and visual imagery . North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. p. 37. ISBN   978-0-8048-3864-1.
9. Welch, Patricia Bjaaland (2008). Chinese art: a guide to motifs and visual imagery . North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. pp. 20–21. ISBN   978-0-8048-3864-1.
10. "歲寒三友" (in Chinese). National Palace Museum. Archived from the original on 26 January 2003. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
11. "Three Friends of Winter". Ezen Foundation. 27 February 2024.
12. Nancy Moore Bess; Bibi Wein (2001). Bamboo in Japan. Kodansha International. p. 170.
13. "Three Friends of Winter Japanese Prints exhibition catalogue". Sotherans.
14. "Shōchikubai" 松竹梅 [Pine, bamboo and plum]. jisho.org.
15. The Bamboo Grove, ed. and trans. Richard Rutt, University of California Press 1971, poem 18
16. Văn hóa dân gian. Institute of Folklore, Vietnam Social Sciences Committee. 2005. p. 30.

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Three Friends of Winter
The Three Friends of Winter by the painter Zhao Mengjian, Song dynasty