High Caliber and Integrity Bamboo
Chinese Wall Scroll

Wind of High Caliber Must Maintain Integrity

This scroll features a beautiful black ink bamboo on tan paper.

The title above is the rough translation of the Chinese written on this artwork, along with the artist's signature. The title is hard to translate, but it suggests if you reach a high level (of power), you must work hard to ensure you stay honest and honorable. The title actually talks of the knots in the bamboo, which represent being honest and honorable.

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About the artist:

The artist's name is Cao Bin. He lives with his wife in Beijing, China. I actually met him through his wife who runs a small house-cleaning business in Beijing. So technically, he is my mother-in-law's maid's husband.

Cao Bin does mostly calligraphy, but I noticed his bamboo was also quite good. I had him do several pieces for me. He's getting to be a bit famous for his calligraphy now. There's even a book in print that features his calligraphy. I was lucky enough to meet him just before his meteoric rise, so I have some guanxi (special relationship), and therefore I get slightly better prices than any gallery manager that approaches him now. That savings is passed on to you (a guanxi trickle down if you will).

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More about the painting:

This is painted on xuan paper (often called "rice paper" though not really made from rice). The raw artwork was then taken to my workshop in east Beijing where the master mounter built it into a handmade wall scroll.