Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Han Huang
Tang chief minister and painter who held the lower Yangzi during the Jingyuan mutiny and shipped grain to the capital; the Five Oxen scroll is credited to him
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 Taichong · Jinguo Gong · Shi Zhongsu
Han Huang, courtesy name Taichong, was a Chang'an native and the son of Han Xiu, a chief minister under Xuanzong, and entered office through his father's privilege. Under Daizong he was vice minister of revenue in charge of state finance, known for exacting collection. In 781 Emperor Dezong made him military governor of Zhenhai and prefect of Runzhou with authority over eastern and western Zhejiang, and when the Jingyuan mutiny of 783 drove Dezong from the capital to Fengtian, Han repaired the city walls of the lower Yangzi and kept sending rice up the canal to the Guanzhong region. In 786 he went to court as chief minister with charge of finance, salt and transport and was made Duke of Jin. He died in the second month of 787 at sixty-five, receiving the honorary title Grand Tutor and the posthumous name Zhongsu. He painted rural scenes and cattle, and the Five Oxen scroll ascribed to him is in the Palace Museum, Beijing.
Life and times
Dates 723 CE–787 CE