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Zhao Yan
Later Liang imperial son-in-law and finance minister, son of Zhao Chou, who was also a painter of figures and horses
In a riverside storehouse, sacks of grain and white salt blocks are stacked high; workers weigh grain in a basket hung from a large steelyard, others carry sacks along a plank onto a barge at the right, and a clerk sits at an abacus beside bundled tally sticks.
Also known as Zhao Yan (variant writing)
Zhao Yan, whose name the histories usually write with a variant character, came from Wanqiu in Chenzhou and was the second son of Zhao Chou, military governor of Zhongwu. He married the Changle Princess, daughter of Zhu Wen, founder of the Later Liang, and was made commandant-escort. Under the last Liang emperor he was minister of revenue and commissioner of taxes and dominated the government. When the Later Tang destroyed the Liang in 923 he fled to Wen Tao at Xuzhou, who beheaded him and sent the head to the victors. Guo Ruoxu's Experiences in Painting praises his figures and horses as lofty and distinctive. Eight Riders in Spring, a hanging scroll in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is attributed to him.
Life and times
Dates Birth year unknown; died 923