In this painting, a rooster proudly stands on a rock in the foreground, with peony bushes above and below; thus these three elements—rooster, rock and peonies— combine to create an image rich in auspicious imagery. The rooster (ji 雞) represents “luck” (ji 吉), while its comb (jiguan 雞冠) is said to resemble an official’s hat (guanmian 冠冕), inviting associations with success in officialdom. The addition of peonies, which represent wealth and honor, reinforce these meaningful associations. Finally, the rock (shi 石) on which the bird stands is a rebus for “family or clan” (shi 氏), so the painting as a whole can be read as a wish that wealth and success will be visited upon one’s family.Patricia Bjaaland Welch, Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery (Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 2008): 85-87. Although the image is a straightforward wish for good fortune, the inscription alludes to compassion. These words would have reminded the recipient of the need to think of others less fortunate, to be compassionate, a responsibility that accompanies increased status and wealth. In short, the painting sends a dual message: first, wishing the recipient's family honor, success, and prosperity, and secondly, advocating compassion. What can we make of this calling for compassion? Comparison with a painting by Li Shan 李鱓 (1686–1762), one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, in the collection of the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, may offer a clue.Li’s work was recently donated to the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, from the family of Deng Tuo鄧拓 (1912–1966). It was exhibited in the museum in May 2012. Li Shan's painting, which depicts the same subject matter and has a nearly identical inscription, was created in 1753, when Zhang Yu was 19 years old, 39 years before Zhang painted his own version.

Despite the similarities between the two works, there are significant differences. First, Li’s painting appears more commonplace—the rooster feeds off the ground, a pose which lacks the high-mindedness of Zhang’s rooster. Indeed, Li’s painted rooster appears at odds with the aspiring rooster described in his poem. Li Shan was in an impoverished state that affected his career at the time the painting was done. He had been dismissed from the Qing painting academy, and appointed a prefectural official in Shandong province, a position which he held only for a short period of time. Afterward, he earned a living by selling paintings.See ‘Li Shan he ta de hua李鱓和他的畫,’ Guangming ribao 光明日報, February 1961. Perhaps Li’s rooster was self-portraiture, in which the need for subsistence did not permit him to fulfill his ambition to care for others.

As Zhang’s painting was based on Li’s work, it seems that the different portrayals of the rooster suggest dissimilar mindsets of the painters. Evidently Zhang did not portray the rooster as domestic poultry; Zhang’s rooster crows. As such, Zhang may well have identified with the aspiring rooster in the poem.

This identification also sheds light on the style and composition of the painting. The rooster’s red comb and impressive dark black tail feathers attract the viewer’s eye to the center of the painting. In the prominent tail, the variation in tone and wetness of the ink gives the impression of the sheen of actual bird feathers, thereby further animating the rooster.

© 2013 by the Seattle Art Museum