Li Kan (1245-1320) Kan was a northern Chinese who entered the service of the Mongol government at an early age and rose to a high position in the Yuan court. He was the author of an authoritative treatise on bamboo painting, Li completed these panels in 1318, the year the regime reinstituted the civil-service examinations, the chief means for scholars to gain access to official positions., expressing the hope that this would help end the schism in society.
Original size each: 189.9 x 55.2 cms
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. 1973.120.7a, b