Chinese painting has a long history, and painters of past dynasties have created many famous flowers that will last through the ages. There are famous masters of Chinese traditional painting from ancient times to the present. This post will introduce the top 10 Chinese painters.

1. Gu Kaizhi顾恺之

Gu Kaizhi (348-409), courtesy name Changkang and small character Hutou, was born in Wuxi, Jinling. He was an outstanding painter, painting theorist and poet in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Gu Kaizhi is erudite and talented, good at poetry, calligraphy, and especially good at painting. He is known as the three masters: painting, writing and infatuation; together with Cao Buxing, Lu Tanwei and Zhang Sengyou, he is called “Four Masters of the Six Dynasties”. Gu Kaizhi’s works include “Portrait of King Sima Xuan”, “Portrait of Xie An”, “Portrait of Liu Lao”, “Portrait of the Emperor Jin”, “Picture of the Beauty of Guiyang King”, etc. Among them, the paintings “Picture of Female History Proverbs”, “Picture of Luoshen Fu” and “Picture of Lie Nurenzhitu” and “Zhuqintu” are treasures.

2. Zhao Mengfu赵孟頫

Zhao Mengfu, October 20, 1254-July 30, 1322, Ziang, Han nationality, nicknamed Songxue Taoist, also known as Crystal Palace Taoist, Oubo, once signed Mengfu in his middle age. A native of Wuxing, Zhejiang. Famous calligrapher, painter, and poet from the late Southern Song Dynasty to the early Yuan Dynasty. Zhao Mengfu is erudite and talented, good at poetry and prose, economics, calligraphy, fine painting, good at gold and stone, and appreciation. Especially in calligraphy and painting the highest achievement. In painting, he created a new style of painting in the Yuan Dynasty, known as “the crown of the Yuan Dynasty”. His style of calligraphy is charming, elegant, well-organized, and well-versed in brushwork. He created “Zhao Style” calligraphy, and he is also known as the “Four Great Masters of Regular Script” together with Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing, and Liu Gongquan.

3. Mi Fu米芾

Mi Fu (1051-1107), originally named Fu, later changed to Fu, styled Yuanzhang, self-signed name Mi or Qian, was born in Xiangyang, Hubei. A calligrapher, painter, and painting theorist in the Northern Song Dynasty, together with Cai Xiang, Su Shi, and Huang Tingjian, they are collectively known as the “Four Schools of Song Dynasty”. He once served as a school secretary, a doctor of calligraphy and painting, and a member of the Ministry of Rites. His ancestral home was in Shanxi, but he moved to Xiangyang, Hubei, and later settled in Runzhou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). Capable of poetry, good at calligraphy and painting, fine identification, calligraphy and painting are self-contained, and founded “Mi Dian Shanshui”. A collection of calligraphers, painters, connoisseurs and collectors. He has a weird personality and crazy behavior. When he encounters stones, he is called “brother” and worships him endlessly, so he is called “Mi Dian”. Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty was a doctor of calligraphy and painting, also known as “Mi Xiangyang” and “Mi Nangong”.

4. Wu Daozi吴道子

Wu Daozi (approximately 680-759 AD), a famous painter in the Tang Dynasty, was honored as a saint in the history of painting, also known as Daoxuan. Han nationality, from Yangdi (now Yuzhou, Henan). He was born around 680 AD (the first year of Yonglong) and died around 758 (the first year of Qianyuan). Less lonely and poor, he was famous for his paintings when he was young. He used to be the county lieutenant of Yanzhou Xiaqiu (now Ziyang, Shandong) and resigned soon. Later, he lived in Luoyang and engaged in mural creation. During the Kaiyuan period, he was called to the court for his good paintings, and served successively as enshrinement, doctor of internal education, and Ning Wangyou. I once studied calligraphy with Zhang Xu and He Zhizhang, and experienced the way of using brushes by watching Gongsun Da Niang dance sword. Good at Buddhism and Taoism, gods and ghosts, figures, landscapes, birds and beasts, vegetation, pavilions, etc., especially good at Buddhism, figures, and mural creation.

5. Zhu Da朱耷

Zhu Da (1626-about 1705), a painter in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, was a master of Chinese painting. His real name is Zhu Tongtuo, his courtesy name is Xuege, his nickname is Badashanren, Geshan, Renwu, Daolang, etc. He is of Han nationality and a native of Nanchang, Jiangxi. Good at calligraphy and painting, flowers and birds are mainly freehand brushwork in ink and wash, with exaggerated and peculiar images, condensed pen and ink, and majestic and timeless style. He is good at calligraphy and poetry, and uses very little ink. Zhu Da had a rough life and was once mentally disturbed. After learning from the pain, he chose to turn his back on it, isolate himself from the world, and put his lonely soul in his creation. In his own words, “There are not many ink spots and many tears, and the mountains and rivers are still the old mountains and rivers. The coconut trees in the chaotic world are left to Wenlin to figure out carefully.”

6. Xu Wei徐渭

Xu Wei (March 12, 1521-1593), Han nationality, was born in Shanyin, Shaoxing Prefecture (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang). At first, it was written as Wenqing, and later it was changed to Wenchang, and its name was Qingteng Laoren and Qingteng Taoist. Famous writers, calligraphers and painters, dramatists and military strategists in Ming Dynasty. Xu Wei is versatile and unique in poetry, drama, calligraphy and painting. Together with Xie Jin and Yang Shen, he is known as the “Three Talents of the Ming Dynasty”. He is the founder of China’s “Splash-ink Daxieyi Painting School” and the originator of the “Qingteng School of Painting”. His paintings can absorb the essence of the predecessors and be reborn. Flowers are the most outstanding, creating a style of painting for a generation, which has a great influence on the painting circles of later generations (such as Bada Shanren, Shi Tao, Yangzhou Eight Monsters, etc.).

7. Dong Qichang董其昌

Dong Qichang (1555-1636), courtesy name Xuanzai, nicknamed Sibai, Xiangguang Jushi, was born in Songjiang Huating (now Maqiao, Minhang District, Shanghai), a calligrapher and painter of the Ming Dynasty. Jinshi in the 17th year of Wanli, awarded the editorship of the Imperial Academy, the official to Nanjing Ministry of Rites, posthumous posthumous “Wenmin”. Dong Qichang is good at painting landscapes, learning from Dong Yuan, Ju Ran, Huang Gongwang, and Ni Zan. Using Buddhist Zen as a metaphor for painting and advocating the theory of “Northern and Southern Schools”, he is an outstanding representative of the “Huating School of Painting” and has the beauty of “face, bone and Zhao posture”. His paintings and painting theories had a great influence on the painting circles in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Calligraphy entered and exited the Jin and Tang Dynasties, forming a style of its own, capable of poetry and prose.

8. Zhang Daqian张大千

Zhang Daqian, formerly known as Zhengquan, later changed his name to Yuan, styled Jiyuan, nicknamed Daqian, nicknamed Daqian Jushi, a native of Xiali Hong Kong, and named Dafengtang. He is a Chinese modern Chinese painter and a member of Jingxing Society. The prestigious master of Chinese painting“. He successively worshiped the calligraphers and painters Zeng Xi and Li Ruiqing as teachers, focusing on Wei Bei, and also learning Xing, Cao, Zhuan, Li and other styles. On April 2, 1983, he passed away. Representative works “Lotus Picture”, “Love Trace Lake”, “Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River”, “Autumn Sunset Picture” and so on.

9. Qi Baishi齐白石

Qi Baishi, courtesy name Bingsheng, nicknamed Baishi, Baishi Shanweng, Laoping, Hungry Old Man, owner of the Borrowing Mountain Chanting Hall, old man in Jiping Hall, rich man of three hundred lithographs, a master of modern Chinese painting. Qi Baishi is good at painting flowers and birds, insects and fish, landscapes, and figures. The fish, shrimp, insects and crabs are very interesting. His calligraphic skills in seal and official script were based on the Qin and Han steles, and his running script is very simple and clumsy. Seal cutting is self-contained, and he is good at writing poetry. Representative works include “The Sound of Frogs Coming from the Mountain Spring”, “Ink Shrimp” and so on. He is the author of “Baishi Poetry Grass”, “Baishi Old Man’s Self-narration” and so on.

10. Xu Beihong徐悲鸿

Xu Beihong, formerly known as Xu Shoukang, is a modern Chinese painter, art educator, member of Jingxing Academy, and is honored as the founder of modern Chinese art education. Together with Zhang Shuqi and Liu Zigu, they are called the “Three Masters of Jinling” in the painting circle. The Chinese paintings he made are complete in color and ink, and are especially famous for galloping horses. He advocated the development of the improvement of “traditional Chinese painting”, based on Chinese modern realism art, and put forward the “On the Improvement of Chinese Painting” under the background of the decadence of modern Chinese painting. On September 26, 1953, he died of illness at the age of 58.