What do the four gentlemen in Chinese painting mean? What do you mean by "three friends in a cold year"?

"Four Gentlemen" is the theme of China traditional culture. Plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum are called the four gentlemen. They refer to plum blossom, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum respectively. Known as the "Four Gentlemen", their qualities are: pride, quietness, modesty and ease.

Three friends in cold years refer to pine, bamboo and plum. These three plants are named after their tenacious vitality in the cold winter, and they are symbols of noble personality in China traditional culture.