Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Li Sixun
Tang imperial clansman and general whose finely outlined blue-and-green landscapes made him the Elder General Li and, in Ming theory, founder of the Northern School
A desk holds an unrolled sheet bearing three bold black ink strokes, with a rack of many brushes above it, a stone ink slab and ink stick, a porcelain bowl, a red lacquer box, a dish of red seal paste and a paperweight; a small seated figure shows through a round window onto bamboo.
Also known as Zi Jianxian
Li Sixun was a member of the Tang imperial clan, a grandson of Li Shuliang, Prince of Changping, and served as magistrate of Jiangdu under Emperor Gaozong. When Empress Wu purged the clan he gave up office and went into hiding, returning early in the Shenlong era as director of the imperial clan court and Duke of Longxi. In the early Kaiyuan years he commanded the Palace Army of the Left and then the Martial Guard of the Right, and was made Duke of Peng; the chief minister Li Linfu was his nephew. The Old History of the Tang says painters of its day looked up to General Li's landscapes, which were laid in blue and green with fine outlines; his son Li Zhaodao continued the manner, and the two became known as the Elder and Younger General Li. The Ming critic Dong Qichang made him the founder of the Northern School, and the Taipei Palace Museum holds a river scene attributed to him.
Life and times
Dates c. 651 CE–718 CE