Bada Shanren

Zhu Da (朱耷), also known by his pen name Bada Shanren (八大山人), was a late-Ming and early-Qing dynasty Chinese painter, calligrapher, and poet.

Fearing that he would also be purged and executed, he fled to a Buddhist temple and learned the teachings of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, becoming a monk for 30 years.

[4] He embarked on an artistic career soon after reentering secular life in 1680, producing works that featured his calligraphy, painting, and poetry.

[10] Zhu Youlang, the Prince of Gui, was crowned the Yongli emperor of the shortlived Southern Ming dynasty in 1647, centered around Yunnan with Kunming as its capital.

[13] Bada also received a classical education and passed the first-level test of the civil service examinations in the early 1640s.

[5] After the Qing dynasty takeover of China, Bada fled to a Buddhist temple west of Nanchang, fearing for his safety given his connection to the House of Zhu, the Ming imperial family.

[3] He spent about thirty years in the monkhood, studying the teachings of Chan Buddhism and the styles of past masters of calligraphy and painting.

[13] During his early years in the monastery, Bada practiced calligraphy by studying the works of Tang and Song calligraphers.

[25] Toward the end of his priesthood, Bada began to explore the exaggerated cursive script of Song calligrapher Huang Tingjian.

[25] After leaving the monastery, Bada continued to study the Song calligrapher's writing, for instance copying his essay titled “Praising the Virtue of Wine.”[26] He rendered it in a style not identical to Huang Tingjian's but combinative of various script types.

[27] Starting in 1690, Bada began to study the styles of Wei and Jin calligraphers like Wang Xizhi and incorporated them in his writing.

[28] Despite having established his own style, Bada remained devoted to the study of past calligraphic masters, including Wang Xizhi and the monk Huaisu, in the final years of his life.

[25] He painted according to the literati tradition, studying the styles of past painters like Shen Zhou and Xu Wei.

The paintings from his Buddhist years featured strokes consisting of thin and strong lines – reflective of a calligraphic style modeled on Ouyang Xun's writing.

[11] The classical education that he received in his youth paved way for his own poetic endeavors, helping him amass knowledge of a wide repertoire of Chinese literature and ancient characters.

[9] The poems that he wrote often included references to classical texts and obscure variants of characters, granting only those with the same background knowledge to decipher their meaning.

[31] While his works changed in subject matter and brushwork over time, they all bore a composition that showcased his experimental approach to pictorial space.

[25] In most of his early works, his subjects were only partially represented at opposite corners of the canvas, the majority of which he left empty.

[33] Two of Bada's rare colored works come from this period: the Lotus and Rock hanging scroll from 1686 and the Bamboo album leaf from 1689.

[6] His works displayed a wide tonal range, and his brushwork was brought to the fore due to the large scale of the hanging scrolls on which he often painted.

[8] The first two lines of the poem allude to a story written in the Shishuo xinyu, a book referenced by many of Bada's later works.

I go on seeking the place where the source enters, Perhaps there will be many beautiful clouds at sunset”[36] The names which Bada used in his seals and signatures have been referenced to determine the chronology of his oeuvre.

[37] Like most literati painters, Bada had multiple style and poetic names that each symbolized a virtue, ability, desire, or event.

[38] The twenty different style and poetic names which Bada used at distinct stages of his life reflect his changing self-image.

According to the colophon, Bada took this name from Ba da renjuejing (Sutra of the Eight Great Human Realizations), made by Yuan painter Zhao Mengfu.

[43] The album Huangting neijing jing (Scripture of the Inner Radiances of the Yellow Court) featured the earliest known instance of the Bada Shanren signature.

[33] In the 20th century, copies of Bada Shanren's art were made and studied by Chinese artists such as Qi Baishi, Wu Changshi, and Zhang Daqian.