With the old name Zhu Da, Bada Shanren (1626-1075) was among the Four Monks of the painting circle in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). A native of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, Zhu was a descendant of a Ming royal family. After the downfall of the Ming, Zhu, at the age of 19, refused to talk to anybody because of his great sorrow. At 23 he had his head shaved and became a monk, changing his name to Bada Shanren. Zhu found no other way to express his sorrow except to paint.

His painting style was curious, with an indifferent atmosphere. Most of Zhu's paintings contained metaphors that expressed his feelings. Different from political metaphorical paintings, Zhu's works were of a higher aesthetic value. Zhu was also fond of writing poems, most of which appeared in his paintings. There are more tears than ink in my paintings, wrote Zhu, a line that formed the conclusion of his theory on aesthetics in metaphorical paintings. Concentrating on revealing the inner world of figures and literary tastes in painting, Zhu made metaphorical painting into a new school.

Most his landscape paintings were ink and wash. Drawing from the style of Dong Qichang, Zhu developed his own style. He was able to represent a moist effect by using the dry-brush stroke, achieving the highest standards in flower-bird painting. Zhu personified objects and expressed his feelings in paintings. His flower-bird painting style can be divided into three successive periods. In the early monk period, before the age of 50, Zhu focused on subjects like vegetables, flowers, pine trees and plum blossoms. The style in this period was quite prudent and exquisite. From age 50 to 65 was Zhu's middle period when the style experienced a transition to magnificent strokes, using fish, birds and beasts as subjects. After 65 came Zhu's later period characterized by mature, artistic techniques and an exaggerated composition. Some birds he painted appeared to be quite tenacious, which became the authentic depiction of Zhu himself.

Though Zhu's paintings did not have strong influence in the early Qing Dynasty, he exerted far-reaching success in later generations. From the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou of the mid-Qing period and the Shanghai School in the late Qing, to modern painters, such as Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Pan Tianshou and Li Kuchan -- all of them were deeply influenced by Zhu.