Shen Zhou (, 1427–1509),
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 ...
s Qi'nan () and Shitian (), was a
Chinese painter
Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as ''guó huà'' (), meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western style ...
in the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
. He lived during the post-transition period of the Yuan conquest of the Ming. Luckily, his family worked closely with the government and they maintained their wealthy status. Shen later end his official government service. He lived a reclusive life, spending most of his time painting artworks and taking care of his widowed mother.
He was a contributor to the more individualist
Wu School
Wu or Wumen School () is a group of painters of the Southern School during the Ming period of Chinese history. It was not an academy or educational institution, but rather a group united largely by the artistic theories of its members. Often clas ...
of Chinese art. Besides painting, he was also accomplished in history and the classics.
Life
Shen Zhou was born into a wealthy family
in
Xiangcheng, near the thriving city of
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
, in the
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
province, China. His genealogy traces his family's wealth to the late Yuan period, but only as far as Shen's paternal great-grandfather, Shen Liang-ch’en, who became a wealthy landowner following the dissolution of
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
rule.
After the collapse of the
Yuan and the emergence of the new
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, the position of tax collector was assigned to the head of the Shen family, under the
Hongwu emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
's new ''lijia'' system. This steadily and amply increased the family's wealth, while freeing Shen Liang-ch’en's male descendants from obligatory careers as Ming officials, and allowing them to live the majority of their lives as retired scholar-artists. Upon the death of his father, Shen Heng-chi, Shen Zhou decided to forgo
official examinations and devote his life to the care of his widowed mother, Chang Su-wan.
It is probable that he never intended to become an official, but refrained from making this obvious until his father had died. He thus renounced the life of official service while still preserving his reputation in an enduring act of
filial piety
In Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, and Daoist ethics, filial piety (, ''xiào'') (Latin: pietas) is a virtue of respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors. The Confucian ''Classic of Filial Piety'', thought to be written around the late W ...
. In this way, he was able to live a reclusive life, free of responsibility (except that of caring for his mother), and devote his time to artwork, socializing, and monastic contemplation of the natural world around him. Shen was privileged that he could paint what he wanted, since he was rich and therefore did not require a wealthy patron and sponsor.
Cultural and historical context
![Poet on a Mountaintop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Poet_on_a_Mountaintop.jpg)
Shen Zhou lived at a pivotal point in the history of Chinese painting, and contributed greatly to the artistic tradition of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, founding the new
Wu School
Wu or Wumen School () is a group of painters of the Southern School during the Ming period of Chinese history. It was not an academy or educational institution, but rather a group united largely by the artistic theories of its members. Often clas ...
in
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
. Under the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
(1279–1368), painters had practiced with relative freedom, cultivating a more “individualist,” innovative approach to art that deviated noticeably from the more superficial style of the
Song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
masters who preceded them. However, at the outset of the
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
, the
Hongwu emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
(reg 1368–1398) decided to import the existing master painters to his court in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, where he had the ability to cultivate their styles to conform to the paintings of the Song masters. As Hongwu was notorious for his attempts to marginalize and persecute the scholar class, this was seen as an attempt to banish the gentry's influence from the arts.
The dominant style of the Ming court painters was called the
Zhe School. However, following the ascension of the
Yongle emperor
The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...
(reg 1403–1424), the capital was moved from Nanjing to
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, putting a large distance between imperial influence and Shen's city of
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
, which was nearby Nanjing. These new conditions led to the rise of the
Wu School
Wu or Wumen School () is a group of painters of the Southern School during the Ming period of Chinese history. It was not an academy or educational institution, but rather a group united largely by the artistic theories of its members. Often clas ...
of painting, a somewhat subversive style that revived the ideal of the inspired scholar-painter in
Ming China
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...
.
Work
![Lofty Mt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Lofty_Mt.Lu_by_Shen_Zhou.jpg)
Shen Zhou's scholarly upbringing and artistic training had instilled in him a reverence for China's historical tradition that influenced both his life and his art from an early age. He was accomplished in history and the
classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
, and his paintings reveal a disciplined obedience to the styles of the Yuan dynasty, to China's history, and to the orthodox
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
that he embodied in his filial life. He is most famous for his landscapes and for his "boneless" renderings of flowers, which are meticulously created in the style of the Yuan masters. However, he did not always paint within strict boundaries.
![Landscape painting 2, Shen Zhou](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Landscape_painting_2%2C_Shen_Zhou.jpg)
Shen possessed a large collection of paintings from the late Yuan and early Ming, which he and his scholar-painter colleagues used as models in forging the revivalist approach of the
Wu style. He frequently combined experimental elements with the more rigid styles of the Yuan masters. Much of his work was done in collaboration with others, combining painting, poetry, and calligraphy at gatherings with his literati friends. It was upon these ideals that his Wu School was founded. For Wu painters, painting was a meditation, rather than an occupation. Shen Zhou never coveted his paintings, although they were frequently coveted and imitated by others. Through Shen Zhou's eyes, a painting was not a commodity, but the very extension of the painter himself.
His paintings depicts soaring mountains and towering trees, while human works are reduced to specks in this immensity. This was made to make nature feel all empowering while dwarfing the human element. His most famous work from 1487, ''Rainy Thoughts'' (now in the
National Palace Museum
The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which wer ...
,
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
), shows the rain dominating the composition while an insignificant house blurs with the mountains that towers over it. He is usually contrasted with
Wu Wei
''Wu wei'' () is an ancient Chinese concept literally meaning "inexertion", "inaction", or "effortless action". ''Wu wei'' emerged in the Spring and Autumn period, and from Confucianism, to become an important concept in Chinese statecraft and Ta ...
, a painter that places humankind as the center of attention in his paintings.
This artist should not be confused with another Chinese artist named Shen Zhou who lived in 1848–1903.
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
Cahill, James. ''Parting at the Shore: Chinese Painting of the Early and Middle Ming Dynasty, 1368-1580''. New York: Weatherhill, 1978.
*Edwards, Richard. ''The Field of Stones: A Study of the Art of Shen Chou (1427-1509)''. Baltimore: Port City Press, 1962, xvi.
*Edwards, Richard. “Shen Chou and the Scholarly Tradition.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 24, No. 1 ''Oriental Aesthetics'' (Autumn, 1965), 45-52.
*Liscomb, Kathlyn. "Shen Chou’s Collection of Early Ming Paintings and the Origins of the Wu School’s Eclectic Revivalism." ''Artibus Asiae'' vol. 52, No. 3/4 (1992),215-254.
*Shan, Guoqiang
"Shen Zhou" ''
Encyclopedia of China
The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, begin ...
'', 1st ed.
External links
Four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty: Shen Zhou Taipei: National Palace Museum.
Shen Zhou and his Painting Galleryat China Online Museum
Online Exhibition for Shen Zhou's 3 master pieces
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shen, Zhou
1427 births
1509 deaths
Painters from Suzhou
Ming dynasty landscape painters