Yun Shouping

Also known as Chu Ming Ge · Zi Zhengshu · Hao Nantian · Hao Baiyun Waishi

Yun Shouping, first named Ge, was known by his courtesy name Shouping and later also called himself Zhengshu, with the sobriquets Nantian and Baiyun Waishi; he came from Wujin in Changzhou. He lived through the fighting of the Ming-Qing transition as a boy and afterwards never took office, supporting himself by painting. He began with landscape and was a close friend of Wang Hui, but turned to flowers, reviving the boneless manner of the Northern Song painter Xu Chongsi, in which colour is laid on without outline. His fresh, delicate studies drew many followers, known as the Changzhou school. He was also a poet and calligrapher, and his writings are collected as Ouxiangguan ji. He is counted with the Four Wangs and Wu Li among the Six Masters of the early Qing; surviving works include an album of flowers and landscapes made jointly with Wang Hui.