Research to date on the Yuan Dynasty painter Wu Zhen (1280–1354) has concentrated on his paintings, but his poetic inscriptions on paintings have been relatively neglected, even though they are of a high standard. This article seeks to redress the balance by focusing on Wu Zhen's poetic inscriptions on paintings by his own hand and those of past masters, and argues that inscriptions and colophons are an essential key to understanding Chinese literati art. It examines the literary functions of Wu Zhen's poetic inscriptions, and includes an exploration of the depiction of objects, the narrative, discursive and symbolic aspects, the lyrical qualities, and the expansion of time, space and vision of the paintings, as well as the relationship between the two media, in order to appreciate their wholeness.