Wang Yin was born in Nanking, Kiangsu province but worked primarily in Shanghai. Although a professional artist he espoused literati values and published manuals on plum, orchid, bamboo and rock painting. This classic taihu garden rock represents the Taoist embodiment of changefulness; its rhythmic form is pierced through with holes large and small suggesting the rigors and erosion of time. The inscription by Wang reads:

When the phoenix flew away, heaven turned cold and the green "Wutung" tree died as did the grass. The rock perch alone remained; it stood in the clouds and awaited the ordinary birds. The phoenix call at sunrise lasted three thousand years. It was the end of the world. I often stop playing the "ch'in" under the moonlight. It seems an immortal has emerged from the moon.

Done by Wang Ye-mei in winter; twelfth month, 1878 at Ching-ta.