Huang Quan (903–965),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Yaoshu, was a Chinese painter during the

Five Dynasties period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...

and the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

who worked in the imperial painting academies of the

Former Shu Great Shu (Chinese: 大蜀, Pinyin: Dàshǔ) called in retrospect Former Shu (Chinese: 前蜀, Pinyin: Qiánshǔ) or occasionally Wang Shu (王蜀), was one of the Ten Kingdoms formed during the chaotic period between the rules of the Tang dynas ...

Later Shu Shu (referred to as Later Shu () to differentiate it from Former Shu, other states named Shu in Chinese history), also known as Meng Shu (), was one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China. It was located ...

and Song dynasties. Along with Xu Xi, Huang is considered a founding master of the

bird-and-flower painting Bird-and-flower painting, called () in 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 the Tang dynasty wh ...

. Huang Quan was highly prolific: the 1120 catalog ''

Xuanhe Huapu ''Xuanhe Huapu'' (宣和畫譜, "The Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings") is an 1120 Chinese palace catalog from the Song dynasty, which in 20 chapters categorized and described ~6396 paintings by 231 artists in the collection of Emperor Huizong of Song ...

'' alone critiques 349 of his works. Unfortunately few are extant.

Early life

Volailles et oiseaux près d'un étang par Huang Quan

Huang Quan was born in 903, when the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

empire had irretrievably collapsed into warlordism and civil strife. Around this time, many painters took refuge in

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

, Huang Quan's hometown and the capital of the relatively peaceful

Xichuan Circuit Xichuan may refer to these places in China: *Xichuan County (淅川县), a county in Henan * Xichuan, Gansu (西川镇), a town in Qin'an County, Gansu * Xichuan Township (西川乡), a township in Ninglang Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan *Xichuan Cir ...

, then controlled by the warlord Wang Jian. (Wang Jian founded the

empire in 907 after the Tang dynasty ended.) When Huang Quan was 12, he began his study of painting with the bird-and-flower painter Diao Guangyin (刁光胤), who had arrived in Chengdu from the Tang capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

in 903. Whereas Diao's other student Kong Song (孔嵩) never progressed beyond faithful reproduction of Diao's technique, Huang Quan sought to develop his own. He studied the water paintings of Sun Wei (孫位), another refugee from Chang'an, as well as the landscape paintings of Li Sheng (李昇), a leading local painter. By combining the strengths of all his teachers Huang was able to create a superior style. In 919, the 16-year-old Huang Song became an imperial attendant (待詔) in the Painting Academy of Former Shu, which probably lasted until 925 when the Former Shu was conquered by the

Later Tang Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The first three of the Later Tang's four e ...

empire.

Under Later Shu

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huang, Quan 903 births 965 deaths Song dynasty painters Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms painters Painters from Sichuan