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Tang Yin (; 6 March 1470Tang Yin's epitaph (唐子畏墓志并铭) by Zhu Yunming indicted that he was born on the 4th day of the 2nd month of the 6th year of the reign of Emperor Chenghua, and that he was named "Yin" as he was born in a geng'yin year. (子畏母丘氏以成化六年二月初四日生子畏，岁舍庚寅，名之曰寅...) Tang Ziwei Muzhi Bingming – 7 January 1524Tang Yin's epitaph by Zhu Yunming indicted that he died at the age of 54 (by East Asian reckoning) on the 2nd day of the 12th month of the guiwei year during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor. (卒嘉靖癸未十二月二日，得年五十四。) Tang Ziwei Muzhi Bingming), courtesy name Bohu (伯虎not to be confused with the elder brother of Song-dynasty scholar Tang Geng (唐庚), who changed his given name to "Bohu", but his courtesy name was "Zhangru" (长孺) (唐庚兄弟五人，长兄瞻，字望之，后改名伯虎，字长孺。) Song Shi, vol.443) and Ziwei (子畏),Tang Yin's epitaph, written by Zhu Yunming, addressed him by this courtesy name. was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming dynasty period.
Even though he was born during the Ming dynasty, many of his paintings, especially those of people, were illustrated with elements from Pre-Tang dynasty to Song dynasty art.
Tang Yin is one of the most notable painters in the history of Chinese art. He is one of the "Four Masters of Ming dynasty” ( Ming Si Jia), which also includes Shen Zhou (1427–1509), Wen Zhengming (1470–1559) and Qiu Ying (c. 1495–1552). His influence on the art of contemporaries, like Cai Han, is notable. Tang was also a talented poet, and together with his contemporaries Wen Zhengming, Zhu Yunming (1460–1526), and Xu Zhenqing, he was one of the "Four Literary Masters of the Wuzhong Region".
He was a brilliant student and later became the protégé of Wen Lin. His friends in the Suzhou scholarly circles included Shen Zhou, Wu Kuan (1436–1504) and Zhu Yunming. In 1498 Tang Yin came first in the provincial examinations in Nanjing, the second stage in the Imperial examination ladder. The following year he went to the capital to sit in the national examinations, but he and his friend Xu Jing (?–1507) were accused of bribing the servant of one of the chief examiners to give them the examination questions in advance. All parties were jailed, and Tang Yin returned to Suzhou in disgrace, his high hopes for a distinguished civil service career dashed forever..
Denied further official progress, he pursued a life of pleasure and earned a living by selling his paintings. That mode of living brought him into disrepute with a later generation of artist-critics (for example, Dong Qichang) who felt that financial independence was vital to enable an artist to follow his own style and inspiration. While Tang is associated with paintings of feminine beauty, his paintings (especially landscapes) otherwise exhibit the same variety and expression of his peers and reveal a man of both artistic skill and profound insight.
Tang Yin also wrote A Short Verse on Bamboo:
"The moon sinks in the fourth watch, Paper windows seem transparent; Stirring from wine, I prop my head and read awhile. High thoughts, I force myself, but can't help it; Ten stalks, still green in winter, cast profuse shadows."T'ang Po-hu hsien-sheng ch'uan-chi(Taipei, 1970 ed.), vol I, p. 252.The painting The Return Home of Tao Qian was acquired by Eve Myers in 1950, when she was an employee of General Chenault's 'Flying Tigers' in Taiwan, as thousands of refugees were fleeing Mao's regime with whatever they could carry.
Tang was the subject of a major exhibition at the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
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