Pien Wen-yu was born in Suchou where he remained loyal to his artistic roots working with other early seventeenth-century Suchou painters, such as Shao Mi, Sheng Mao-yeh and Ch'en Yuan-su. He became part of the orthodox lineage of artists defined by the great literatus Tung Ch'i-ch'ang and was included as one of the "Nine Friends of Painting" by later critics.

The inscription suggest that, by aligning oneself with nature, a person could expect to live a quiet life of peace and tranquility, a sought-after goal during the political and social chaos of the early seventeenth century. It reads in part:

Surrounded by ten-thousand li of water is

white cloud village, amidst the flowers is

built a grass hut;

Evening lotus are reflected in clear pools,

good friends face one another on verandas…

The river-side mountains are green without end,

and often seem to float in an endless expanse.

On a summer day in the year 1614, I entrusted (my ideas) to the brush at the Northern Suburb Mountain Cottage. Pien Wen-yu.