Description

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Handscroll; Color on silk; 364cm(width)*22cm(height)

This painting portrays Chan Buddhist masters from six generations. Damo is of the first generation, Huike of the second, Cengcan of the third, Zunxin of the fourth, Hongren of the fifth, and Huineng of the sixth. There are rocks, springs, pines, and cypresses among the six people, decorating the holy places of Buddhism. There are two types of strokes in Dai Jin’s figure paintings. One is fine and detailed, and the other is thick and broad. This approach is inherited from Liu Songnian and Li Tang, whose paintings are meticulous, with human figures vividly presented using heavy, thick strokes, exhibiting a smooth, free style. Dai also adopted the typical scholarly style of the Southern Song Dynasty, with a solid foundation in the use of brushes. This piece is a good example of his meticulous figure painting.

About the Author

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Dai Jin (1388–1462), also known by the aliases Wenjin, Jing’an, and the Recluse of Yuquan, hailed from Qiantang (present day Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province). In his early years he worked as a goldsmith, then later turned to painting and calligraphy. During the Xuande period he served as a court painter, but was later exiled when he became the object of gossip and slander. He excelled at landscapes, figures, bird and flower paintings, insects, and grass. He followed the traditional approaches of Ma Yuan and Xia Gui until middle age, then turned less orthodox in later years. His paintings were lofty, sublime, and boundless, with heavy, strong strokes. The birds and flowers or human figures in his work are so vividly depicted that they appear animated. Dai was the pioneer of the Zhejiang School of painting.