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Bata Shanren, Zhu-Da (1626-1705)
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Probably
the most madly talented, with real name of Zhu Da,
Bata Shanren was Chinese painter and poet. A descendant
of the
imperial Zhu family of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
and a
leading artist of the early Qing period (1644–1911),
Zhu Da
painted flowers, birds and landscapes in a distinctive
and highly
dramatic calligraphic style. His connections with the
previous
dynasty led him to flee Nanchang after the Manchu conquest
of
China in 1644. Adopting the sobriquet Chuanqi, Zhu
Da became a
Buddhist priest and soon a respected Buddhist master,
quickly
attaining the position of abbot. He also became an
accomplished
poet and painter; his earliest extant work is an album
of 15 leaves
(1659; Taipei, National Palace Museum).
In
1672, after the death of his Buddhist master, Abbot Hong Min,
Zhu Da relinquished his solitary monastic existence
to pursue his
fortune as an itinerant monk-artist. He joined the
coterie of Hu
Yitang, magistrate of Linchuan County, and participated
in the
splendid poetry parties held in 1679 and 1680.
Zhu Da was
thwarted in his attempts to take up an official career
because of
his imperial lineage.
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Between 1681 and
1684 he called himself Lu (‘donkey’ or ‘obstinacy and
dumpness ’), a derogatory name for monks, or Lu-hu (‘donkey
house’); from 1684 onwards he called himself Bada Shanren (‘Mountain
man of eight greatness’). Zhu Da adopted other names throughout
his life, many reflecting his state of mind or his loyalty
to the Ming dynasty.
Zhu Da developed
a school of freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting and became
an outstanding painter and Taoism believer. The individualism
of his ink paintings of flowers,
birds, fish, and landscapes appealed to the Japanese, and
his style has become synonymous with
Zen painting in Japan. His brushstrokes, which seem free and
careless at first glance, are filled
with vitality and descriptive power. His works may be seen at the
British Museum; Freer Gallery, Washington, D.C.; and Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston.
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