The Six Masters of the early Qing period () were a group of major

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

artists who worked in the 17th and early 18th centuries during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. Also known as orthodox masters, they continued the tradition of the scholar-painter, following the injunctions of the artist-critic

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

late 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 ...

. The Six Masters included the flower painter

Yun Shouping Yun Shouping (Chinese: 惲壽平; 1633 – 1690), also known as Nantian (Chinese: 南田), was a Chinese calligrapher and painter. He was a major artist of the early Chinese Qing dynasty. Along with the Four Wangs and Wú Lì, he was regarded as ...

and the landscapists

Wu Li Wu Li, SJ (); ca. 1632-1718 was a Chinese landscape painter, poet, calligrapher and Jesuit from Jiangsu who lived during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). Wu was born in Changzhou in the Jiangsu province of China. His style name was 'Yu Shan' ...

as well as the

Four Wangs The Four Wangs () were four Chinese landscape painters in the 17th century, all with the surname Wang. They are best known for their accomplishments in ''shan shui'' painting. The painters They were Wang Shimin (1592–1680), Wang Jian (159 ...

Wang Shimin Wáng Shímǐn (; c. 1592–1680) was a Chinese landscape painter during the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). Born in the Jiangsu province, Wang grew up in an artistic, scholarly environment. His grandfather was a p ...

, Wang Jian,

Wang Yuanqi Wang Yuanqi (; pinyin: Wáng Yuánqí; 1642–1715) was a Chinese painter of the Qing dynasty. Wang was born in Taicang in the Jiangsu province and tutored in painting by his grandfather Wang Shimin (1592–1680). His style name was 'Mao-ching' ...

, and Wang Hui.Cihai: 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 Page 958. The works of the Six Masters are generally conservative, cautious, subtle, and complex, in contrast to the vigorous and vivid painting of their "individualist" contemporaries. One of the most famous works produced by a member of the group is the ''White Clouds over Xiao and Xiang'', a

hanging scroll A hanging scroll is one of the many traditional ways to display and exhibit East Asian painting and calligraphy. The hanging scroll was displayed in a room for appreciation; it is to be distinguished from the handscroll, which was narrower and ...

after

Zhao Mengfu Zhao Mengfu (; courtesy name Zi'ang (子昂); pseudonyms Songxue (松雪, "Pine Snow"), Oubo (鷗波, "Gull Waves"), and Shuijing-gong Dao-ren (水精宮道人, "Master of the Water Spirits Palace"); 1254–1322), was a Chinese calligrapher, pa ...

by Wang Jian, made in ink and colour on paper, 1668, which is exhibited in the

Freer Gallery of Art The Freer Gallery of Art is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. focusing on Asian art. The Freer and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. The Freer and Sac ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

References

{{reflist Qing dynasty landscape painters Qing dynasty artists Sextets

See also

References