Yao Shou was a native of Jiaxing, Jiangsu and attained the jinshi degree during the Tianshun era (1458-1464). His official career included a posting as an investigating censor and later a prefect. He retired in the 1470's and devoted himself to painting. Favoring bamboo, old trees and bird and flower paintings, Yao Shou followed closely in the artisitic footsteps of the Yuan dynasty masters, especially Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322) and Wu Zhen (1280-1354). A hanging scroll of bamboo and a large rock in the National Palace Museum, Beijing contains a similar composition, use of loose texture strokes in the rock and shape of the bamboo as the painting above (Shanghai People's Fine Art Press, Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, vol. 6, Shanghai, 1988, no. 83).