# Returning Peasants in a Spring Evening

- By: Tao Hong (Chinese, active c. 1610–1640)
- Date: early 1600s
- Medium: album leaf, ink and color on silk
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Overall: 24.5 x 26.7 cm (9 5/8 x 10 1/2 in.)
- Culture: China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
- Credit line: Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Lee
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1999.223)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/1999.223/1999.223_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Although little known today, Tao Hong was a versatile artist who here depicts farmers returning home after a day in the fields. The shallow stream and dormant rice fields, the returning birds, and light sprinkles of green foliage all indicate the beginning of the farming season and hope for a good harvest. While this leaf depicts rural life, the second one,1999.224, is of a more poetic nature. A lone crane stands in a bamboo grove. By using light colors and nuanced brushwork, Tao Hong achieves an effect of natural light and luminosity.