Plum Tree,

undated

Peng Yulin rose to prominence as a naval leader fighting rebels in the 1850s and 1860s. He long refrained from accepting governmental office but eventually became Minister of War. In addition to his high official position, he was a talented painter and calligrapher, famed for depictions in ink of plum trees. It is said that in his youth Peng Yulin grew fond of a girl close to his age, whom he called Meigu (Aunt Plum) because she was technically of a generation before his. This difference likely kept the two apart; Meigu married someone else and died in childbirth. Standing at her grave, Peng vowed to paint ten thousand plum paintings in her memory.