YU YOUREN (1879-1964)

The inscriptions of the present lot, “absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness and absolute benevolence,” are the four tenets of a social and moral reform in Taiwan originated in the late 1940s. The collector of the present lot was a strong supporter and participant of the movement during his lifetime. Although Yu Youren was not directly involved in the movement himself, he identified with its mission statements, and therefore bequeathed the present lot to the collector, who was a close friend of his, to commemorate the collector’s many years of service and devotion to the movement.