Qian Xuan (; 1235–1305), courtesy name Shun Ju (舜举), courtesy name Yu Tan (玉潭, "Jade Pool"), Xi Lanweng (习嬾翁), and Zha Chuanweng (霅川翁), was a Chinese painter from Huzhou (湖州), the present day Wuxing District in Zhejiang.[Ci hai Page 1704] He lived during the late Song dynasty and early Yuan dynasty.
Biography
Qian Xuan started as an aspiring scholar-official during the rule of the
Song dynasty (960–1279). However, he had difficulty climbing the ranks of officialdom. When the
Mongol-founded
Yuan dynasty took over the southern regions of China in 1276, he effectively gave up on the idea of a career in civil administration. In 1286, his friend
Zhao Mengfu found and accepted a position there, and so for a time it seemed he could as well. However, he refused on patriotic grounds, while he cited old age to avoid difficulties. He nevertheless was considered a Song loyalist.
His life after 1276 was devoted to painting, and he became noted as a "fur and feathers" painter. He was also adept at bird-and-flower painting, character painting, and landscape painting ( shan shui).[ He is known for landscapes that hinted at a longing for a return of native Chinese rule, such as in the work Home Again. He mixed Song realism with an archaic Tang style.
]
Works
File:Wang Xizhi by Qian Xuan.jpg| Wang Xizhi, by Qian Xuan (1235-1305 AD)
File:Ch'ien Hsüan 002.jpg| Yang Guifei Mounting a Horse, by Qian Xuan (1235-1305 AD)
File:Qian Xuan - Early_Autumn.jpg| Early Autumn
File:15 Qian Xuan Eight Flowers National Palace Museum Beijing.JPG
Notes
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Masterpieces of Chinese Art (page 87), by Rhonda and Jeffrey Cooper, Todtri Productions, 1997.
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Ci hai bian ji wei yuan hui (辞海编辑委员会). Ci hai (辞海). Shanghai: Shanghai ci shu chu ban she (上海辞书出版社), 1979.
External links
