Cedar Tree, Day Lily, and Wagtails

In traditional Chinese culture, the cedar is primarily revered for its longevity, but it can also symbolize one's father, especially when used in conjunction with the day lily, as here. In the same vein, the day lily is a common Chinese garden plant and frequent subject of paintings, but when it appears together with the cedar, the flower stands for one's mother. Similarly, the wagtail is often used as a metaphor for one's brothers. The painting may thus be viewed not only as an engaging natural scene but also as the portrait of a nuclear family.

While the soft lines in this painting are typical of Bada's late works, as are the wet, layered dots and ink washes, there is also a noticeable lack of cohesion in his representation of physical forms. The roots of the tree grow from the base of the cliff at right, for example, but the trunk seems to disappear halfway up, melting into the rock, and neither the roots nor trunk have any discernible connection to the branches that emerge at the top of the painting. Such deliberate indifference to compositional relationships is characteristic of Bada's paintings at this time.