The Quiet Observer of the Inner Court Li Bingde lived during the Qing dynasty, a time when the details of the natural world were often captured within the walls of the imperial palace. Born in Wu county, he moved through the world with a focus on the small, the living, and the fleeting. His life was tied to the inner court, where his hand-painted works found a place among the collections of the era. He did not seek to paint grand lands…