Chrysanthemums and Butterfly

The recipient of this work was Xiong Foxi (1900-1965), original name ‘Xiong Foxi’ (written in different Chinese characters), pen name ‘Xi Zi’, Xiong, who was a playwright of modern Chinese drama and a drama educator. Born in Fengcheng of Jiangxi Province, Xiong was admitted to Yenching University in 1920. Four years later, he travelled to the United States to study drama at Columbia University in the City of New York and received his master’s degree. After his return to China, he served as the head of the Faculty of Drama at the National Beijing Fine Art School. In 1927, Qi Baishi was invited to teach Chinese painting at the National Beijing Fine Art School by Lin Fengmian who was the director of the school at the time and therefore had worked with Xiong Foxi as a colleague.