The Three Friends of Winter is an art motif that comprises the pine, bamboo, and plum.[1] The Chinese celebrated the pine, bamboo and plum together, for they observed that unlike many other plants these plants do not wither as the cold days deepen into the winter season.[2] Known by the Chinese as the Three Friends of Winter, they later entered the conventions of Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese culture.[3][4][5][6] Together they symbolize steadfastness, perseverance, and resilience.[7] They are highly regarded in Confucianism as representing its scholar-gentleman ideal.[1][8]
History
Three Friends and a Hundred Birds by Bian Wenjin, Ming dynasty
The Three Friends of Winter are common in works of art from Chinese culture[9] and those cultures influenced by it. The three are first recorded as appearing together in a ninth-century poem by the poet Zhu Qingyu (朱慶餘) of the Tang dynasty.[8] Artists such as Zhao Mengjian (趙孟堅, c. 1199–1264) of the Southern Song dynasty and other contemporaries later made this grouping popular in painting.[8]
The earliest literary reference to the term "[Three] Friends of Winter" can be traced back to the Record of the Five-cloud Plum Cottage (五雲梅舍記) from The Clear Mountain Collection (霽山集) by the writer Lin Jingxi (林景熙, 1242–1310) of the Song dynasty:[2][10]
For his residence, earth was piled to form a hill and a hundred plum trees, which along with lofty pines and tall bamboo comprise the friends of winter, were planted.[2]
Kadomatsu (門松) decorative pillars for Japanese New Year, featuring branches of pine, bamboo and plum
The Three Friends are known as shōchikubai (松竹梅, lit.'pine-bamboo-plum') in Japan.[11] They are particularly associated with the start of the Lunar New Year, appearing on greeting cards and as a design stamped into seasonal sweets.[12] They are sometimes also used as a three-tier ranking system; in this context, the pine (松, matsu) is usually the highest rank, followed by the bamboo (竹, take) as the middle rank, and the plum (梅, ume) as the lowest.[13][14]
In a Korean poem by Kim Yugi [ko] (숙종; 肅宗; 1580–1658), the three friends are brought together in order to underline the paradoxical contrast:
Peach and plum of springtime, don't flaunt your pretty blossoms;
Consider rather the old pine and green bamboo at year's end.
What can change these noble stems and their flourishing evergreen?[15]
In Vietnam, the three along with chrysanthemum create a combination of four trees and flowers usually seen in pictures and decorative items. The four also appear in works but mostly separately with the same symbolic significance. They are known as Tuế hàn tam hữu in Vietnamese.[16]
