Painting of the Chinese jungle mynah bird in the meticulous (gongbi) style, in colour on silk, from Bencao tupu (Illustrated Herbal). The painted illustrations in Bencao tupu were jointly executed by Zhou Hu and Zhou Xi in 1644 (the final year of the Ming period). The explanatory texts were provided by Zhou Rongqi. The book was not completed: each volume was to have contained 14-15 paintings, but only 29 are extant.
Zhou Rongqi writes: The Chinese jungle mynah (quyu) is also called quyu [a homophone using different graphs], biege, hangao (lit. 'cold riverbank'). It nests in magpies' nests, in hollow trees, and under the roof-ridges of large houses. Its body is almost uniformly black, with a white patch under each wing. It has the same powers of articulation as a human, and if kept in captivity and trained, it can carry on a conversation with humans.
