Four Gentlemen

Four Gentlemen
Chinese name
Chinese
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sìjūnzi Wu Romanization sy去 ciuin平 tsy上 Hakka Romanization xi55 giun24 zii31 Yue: Cantonese Jyutping sei3 gwan1 zi2 Southern Min Hokkien POJ sì-kun-tsú
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Tứ Quân Tử
Chữ Hán
Korean name
Hangul	사군자
Hanja	四君子
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Sagunja
Japanese name
Kanji	四君子
Hiragana	しくんし
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Shikunshi

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Sìjūnzi
Wu
Romanization	sy去 ciuin平 tsy上
Hakka
Romanization	xi55 giun24 zii31
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	sei3 gwan1 zi2
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	sì-kun-tsú

Transcriptions
Revised Romanization	Sagunja

Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	Shikunshi

In Chinese art, the Four Gentlemen, also called the Four Noble Ones, are four plants: the plum blossom, the orchid, the bamboo, and the chrysanthemum. The term compares the four plants to Confucianist junzi, or "gentlemen". They are most typically depicted in traditional ink and wash painting and they belong to the category of bird-and-flower painting in Chinese art.

The Four Gentlemen have been used in Chinese painting since the time of the Chinese Song dynasty (960–1279) because of their refined beauty, and were later adopted elsewhere in East Asia by artists in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. As they represent the four different seasons (the plum blossom for winter, the orchid for spring, the bamboo for summer, and the chrysanthemum for autumn), the four are used to depict the unfolding of the seasons through the year.

Orchids and Bamboo by Zheng Xie, c. 1740

Bamboo at Qingbige Pavilion by Ke Jiusi, c. 1338

Chrysanthemums from the Xian'e Changchun Album by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766)

Plum Blossoms by Sun Long and Chen Lu, early Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)

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