Zhao Mengfu
A Song imperial clansman who served the Yuan; his "Zhao style" calligraphy and his painting set the fashion for an era.
Life
Descendant of the Song royal house
Zhao Mengfu was a descendant of Zhao Defang, Prince of Qin, son of Emperor Taizu of Song, and lived in seclusion in Huzhou after the fall of the Southern Song. In 1286, when the Yuan dynasty sought out men of talent in the Jiangnan region, he was summoned to the capital and won Kublai Khan's appreciation.
Serving the Yuan
He served under five reigns, rising to Hanlin Academician Recipient of Edicts, but as a member of the Song imperial clan serving the Yuan he was torn inside all his life and often wrote poems of self-reproach.
Zhao style and literati painting
His calligraphy, rounded and elegant, is called the "Zhao style," and he is ranked with Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan and Ouyang Xun as one of the Four Great Masters of regular script. In painting he advocated bringing calligraphy into painting and seeking the new through reviving the old, and his Autumn Colors on the Que and Hua Mountains set the tone for Yuan literati painting. He died in 1322.
Legacy
Zhao Mengfu was the most important calligrapher and painter of the Yuan era, and the "Zhao style" remains an important model for learning calligraphy today.
Major works & achievements
- "Zhao style" calligraphy
- Autumn Colors on the Que and Hua Mountains
Did you know? His wife Guan Daosheng was also a famous painter and calligrapher, celebrated for her paintings of bamboo.
Key dates
- 1286Summoned to the capital
- 1295Painted Autumn Colors on the Que and Hua Mountains
- 1316Became Hanlin Academician Recipient of Edicts
- 1322Died