Rare blend of reality and fantasy

Artist Yu Hong's ongoing exhibition at the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts includes the show's centerpiece, A Garden of Dreams, paintings that portray girls who strike gymnastic poses against backgrounds of sheer cliffs. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The title, A Garden of Dreams, or Youyuan Jingmeng in Chinese, is borrowed from the Chinese Kunqu Opera classic The Peony Pavilion, or Mudan Ting, which is based on the work of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) playwright Tang Xianzu.

The original play is based on a romantic encounter between an official's daughter, Du Liniang, and a young scholar, Liu Mengmei.

But what Yu communicates through her painting is unrelated to the plot.

She says the phrase "youyuan jingmeng (walking in the garden and having an interrupted dream)" is to show that when one takes a stroll, one is bound to encounter unexpected, surprising things.

In the painting, she portrays the well-known Chinese fable "mangren moxiang", or blind people touching an elephant.