Cats Playing, anonymous, Sung dynasty, Hanging Scroll. The National Palace Museum, Taiwan

This painting is attributed to a Sung dynasty artist and depicts a total of eight cats of varying sizes playing in the corner of a garden. The railing encircles the scenery and provides a backdrop to link the subjects together, making the garden appear like an enclosed space. The cats play among garden rocks, clusters of bamboo, peach trees, and peonies. Whether still or moving about, they appear vivid and lively. The painter with close observation has taken a “cat's-eye” view of the world to represent this scene of cats at play, which probably took place in strong sunlight judging from the slits of the cats' eyes.