Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Shang Xi
Xuande-era court painter with Embroidered Uniform Guard rank, traditional author of Guan Yu Capturing an Enemy General
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 Weiji
Shang Xi, courtesy name Weiji (also given as Hengji), served at the Xuande court as a painter with the rank of commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He painted figures, landscapes, flowers and birds in the Southern Song academy manner, carefully drawn and richly coloured, with forceful figure work. The large unsigned hanging scroll Guan Yu Capturing an Enemy General in the Palace Museum, showing Guan Yu taking Pang De prisoner, is traditionally attributed to him, as is the Xuande Emperor's Pleasures handscroll in the same museum; the National Palace Museum, Taipei, holds Four Immortals Offering Birthday Wishes and other works under his name.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active in the Xuande reign