During the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

(1368–1644), Chinese painting progressed further basing on the achievements in painted art during the earlier

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

and

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

. The painting techniques which were invented and developed before the Ming period became classical during this period. More colours were used in painting during the Ming dynasty. Seal brown became much more widely used, and even over-used during this period. Many new painting skills or techniques were innovated and developed,

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

was much more closely and perfectly combined with the art of painting. Chinese painting reached another climax in the mid and late Ming. The painting was derived in a broad scale, many new schools were born, and many outstanding masters emerged.

Development

Early Ming period

About 1368–1505, from the

Hongwu The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...

era ( 洪武) to Hongzhi era ( 弘治). The painting schools of the

still remained in the early Ming period but quickly declined or changed their styles. The painting styles which were developed and matured during the Yuan period, still heavily influenced the early Ming painting. But new schools of painting were born and grew. '' Zhe School'' and the school which was supported by the royal court (''Yuanti School'') were the dominant schools during the early Ming period. The scholar-artist style of painting (Renwen Painting, in Chinese: 人文畫) became more popular. Both these two new schools were heavily influenced by the traditions of both the Southern Song painting academy and the Yuan scholar-artist.

Mid Ming period

About 1465–1566, from the Chenghua era ( 成化) to Jiajing era ( 嘉靖). Classical Zhe School and Yuanti School declined. Wu School became the most dominant school nationwide. Suzhou, the activity center for Wu School painters, became the biggest center for the Chinese painting during this period. The Wu painters they mainly inherited the tradition of Yuan scholar-artist style of painting (Renwen painting, 人文畫) and further developed this style into a peak. Wu School was a large group of people, including teacher-student relationship (e.g. Shen Zhou was the teacher of

Tang Yin Tang Yin (; 6 March 1470 – 7 January 1524), courtesy name Bohu () and Ziwei (子畏), was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming dynasty period. Even though he was born during the Ming dynasty, many of his paintings, especially t ...

Wen Zhengming Wen Zhengming (28 November 1470 – 28 March 1559Wen Zhengming's epitaph by Huang Zuo indicate that he died on the 20th day of the 2nd month of the ''ji'wei'' year during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor. (嘉靖己未二月二十日，与严侍 ...

and so on) and family relationship (e.g. Wen family, including painters Wen Zhengming, Wen Jia (文嘉), Wen Boren (文伯仁) and so on).

Xu Wei Xu Wei (, 1521–1593), also known as Qingteng Shanren (), was a Chinese painter, playwright, poet, and tea master during the Ming dynasty. Cihai: Page 802.Barnhart: Page 232. Life Xu's courtesy names were Wenqing (文清) and then later Wenc ...

( 徐渭) from

Shaoxing Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the south ...

Zhejiang Province ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

developed the "enjoyable style" of Chinese painting ('' Xieyi'', 寫意畫) considerably, especially the "great enjoyable style" (''Daxieyi'', 大寫意). As an outstanding scholar, his accomplishments are mainly in the field of scholar-artist painting, especially in

bird-and-flower painting Bird-and-flower painting, called () in chinese language, Chinese, is a kind of Chinese painting with a long tradition in China and is considered one of the treasures of Chinese culture. The was named after its subject matter. It originated in t ...

. Chen Chun ( 陳淳) followed the teaching from Wu School of painting during his early years and then developed his own "enjoyable" style in '' Shan shui painting (landscape painting, 山水畫).

Late Ming period

About 1567–1644, from the Jiajing era ( 嘉靖) to Chongzhen era ( 崇禎). Songjiang School and Huating School were born and developed, they formed the rudiments of the later Shanghai School.

Schools and painters

*''Zhejiang School of Painting'' ( 浙派, full name in Chinese: 浙江畫派) **Jiangxia School (江夏畫派) **Wulin School or Post-Zhejiang School (武林畫派, or 後浙派) Dai Jin ( 戴進),

Wu Wei ''Wu wei'' () is a polysemous, ancient Chinese concept expressing an ideal dao, practice of "inaction", "inexertion" or "effortless action", as a state of personal harmony and free-flowing, spontaneous Improvisation, creative manifestation. In a ...

(吳偉), Lan Ying ( 藍瑛) (Lan family) The core place for this school was Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. Jiangxia School from

Hubei Province Hubei is a province in Central China. It has the seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland provinces. Its provincial capital at Wuhan serves as a major politi ...

was a branch of this school. Dai Jin was the founder of this school, and he also kept a very close relationship with the Yuanti School. Lan Ying was the last master of this school, along with his family members, they formed a branch of Zhejiang School—Wulin School, because their family was located in Wulin (武林), a place in Hangzhou near the West Lake. Most of the painters from this school, they are Zhejiang natives. *''Yuanti School'' (院體畫派) Lin Liang ( 林良), Lv Ji ( 呂紀) This school was organized and supported by the Ming central government, and it served for Ming royal court. The activity center for this school first was in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

and then went to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

because of the change of Ming's capital. The *''Wumen School'' ( 吳門畫派)

( 唐寅),

( 文徵明),

Shen Zhou Shen Zhou (, 1427–1509), courtesy names Qinan () and Shitian (), was a Chinese painting, Chinese painter in the Ming dynasty. He lived during the post-transition period of the Yuan conquest of the Ming. His family worked closely with the gove ...

( 沈周),

Qiu Ying Qiu Ying (; 1494–1552) was a Chinese painter of the Ming dynasty who specialised in the '' gongbi'' brush technique. Early life Qiu Ying's courtesy name was Shifu (), and his art name was Shizhou (). He was born to a peasant family in Tai ...

( 仇英), Zhou Chen ( 周臣), Wen Jia (文嘉) The primary location for this school was

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

, whose literary name was Wumen (吳門). Tang Yin, Wen Zhengming, Shenzhou and Qiu Ying, these four painters also were regarded as the "Big Four of the Ming Period" in Ming period painting. *''Xieyi Huaniao'' (寫意花鳥)

( 徐渭) *''Xieyi Shangshui'' (寫意山水) Chen chun ( 陳淳) *''Songjiang School'' (松江畫派)

Dong Qichang Dong Qichang (; courtesy name Xuanzai (玄宰); 1555–1636) was a Chinese art theorist, Calligraphy, calligrapher, Painting, painter, and politician of the later period of the Ming dynasty. Life as a scholar and calligrapher Dong Qichang was a ...

( 董其昌) The core place for this school was in the southern part of

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...

at that time, but now part of

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. During the late Ming dynasty, the Songjiang School rivaled Wumen, particularly in generating new theories of painting. *''Huating School'' (華亭畫派) Zhao Zuo (趙左) This school is close to Songjiang School. *''Susong School'' (蘇松畫派) This school is similar to Songjiang School.

Influence

Japan

The Japanese

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

monk painter

Sesshū Tōyō , also known simply as , was a Japanese Zen monk and painter who is considered a great master of Japanese ink painting. Initially inspired by Chinese landscapes, Sesshū's work holds a distinctively Japanese style that reflects Zen Buddhist ae ...

(Japanese: 雪舟等楊) travelled to Ming China, and stayed for about 10 years in Ming China learning painting. He was heavily influenced by the ink and wash painting, Zhejiang School of painting and the Yuanti School of painting. He resided in Tiantong Temple (Chinese: 天童寺) in Mingzhou (明州, now

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

), and also spent time in Beijing in the royal palace (

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...

). Before he went to Ming China, he studied

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

and Yuan styles of painting (Chinese/Japanese: 宋元山水畫派) in Japan, and wanted to seek for the very origin of the

Chinese painting Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as , meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western styles of art which b ...

and the real spirit inside of the

Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based on or draws on Chine ...

. After returning to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Sesshū Tōyō set up his school and further developed his own style of painting (漢畫派), a style mixed with the Japanese native traditional elements, and became the most celebrated master of painting in his era in Japan, continuing to heavily affect Japanese history to the present day.

Qing painting

Ming painting provided the basis for early Qing painting, from skills, style, subjects and theoretical basis. The concept of Northern and Southern Schools, developed by Dong Qichang in the late Ming period, influenced the more academic formal painters, such as Wang Yuanqi well as providing an inspiration for daring originality for the "Individualist" painters, such as Kun Can and

Shitao Shitao or Shi Tao (; other department Yuan Ji (), 1642 – 1707), born into the Ming dynasty imperial clan as Zhu Ruoji (朱若極), was a Chinese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and landscape painter during the early Qing dynasty. Born in the ...

.Capon and Pang, pg 91

Notes

References

* Edmund Capon and Mae Anna Pang, ''Chinese Paintings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties'', Catalogue, 1981, International Cultural Corporation of Australia Ltd.

External links

Chinese Civilization: Ming Dynasty painting
Video on The China Times
Famous Ming Dynasty Painters and Galleries
at China Online Museum
''The wilderness colors of Tao-chi''
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on this important Ming Dynasty painter {{Ming dynasty topics