![DaiXi Stone Bridge Mountain Tiantai Cleveland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/DaiXi_Stone_Bridge_Mountain_Tiantai_Cleveland.jpg)
Dai Xi () (1801 – 1860) was a Chinese painter of the 19th century and representative of the academic manner. His sobriquet was Chunshi (醇士) or “Pure-Minded Scholar” and his pen name was Yu'an (榆庵) or “Elm Retreat”, among others.
[Ci Hai: Page 1824.]
Biography
Dai Xi was a native of Qiantang (钱塘)near the cultural center of
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
, although Dai spent many years in Guangzhou. In 1832 he joined officialdom, becoming a member of the
Hanlin Academy
The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an.
Membership in the academy was confined to an elite group of scholars, who performed sec ...
. He later became Vice Minister of the
Ministry of War Ministry of War may refer to:
* Ministry of War (imperial China) (c.600–1912)
* Chinese Republic Ministry of War (1912–1946)
* Ministry of War (Kingdom of Bavaria) (1808–1919)
* Ministry of War (Brazil) (1815–1999)
* Ministry of Defence (Est ...
, although absenting himself later for illness.
During the
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted fr ...
Hangzhou was occupied by the rebels in 1860. Dai joined in the defense of the city and later committed suicide there by drowning himself in a pond. Dai was subsequently given the posthumous title Wenjie or "Cultured and Moderate". Dai Xi painted in the manner of the great academic master
Wang Hui of the previous century, although Dai Xi was said to have exceeded the master in artistic elegance. His work is similar to that of his contemporary
Tang Yifen and together they were referred to as "Tang-Dai".
[Ci Hai: Page 1824.] Dai's works are usually landscapes. His works include a generous mixture of genre subjects such as plants and humans.
In 1920 and in 1934 published collections of his paintings appeared in China. Dai was also an avid coin collector, publishing a three volume (卷) work on the subject "Guchuan zonghua" (古泉丛话).
Notes
References
*
* Vainker, Shelagh, ''Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum Oxford'',
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...
, Oxford, 2000, , p. 37.
China On site.* Ci hai bian ji wei yuan hui (辞海编辑委员会). Ci hai (辞海). Shanghai: Shanghai ci shu chu ban she (上海辞书出版社), 1979.
* Sickman, Lawrence, ''Eight dynasties of Chinese Paintings'', Cleveland Museum of Arts, 1980.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dai, Xi
1801 births
1860 deaths
Artists from Hangzhou
Qing dynasty painters
Painters from Zhejiang
19th-century Chinese painters
Suicides by drowning in China