Plum Blossoms by Jin Nong

After the Four Monk Painters, the Qing Dynasty saw the rise of another revolutionary painting school in the Eight Eccentric Painters of Yangzhou . The eight painters are Jin Nong, Huang Shen, Zheng Xie, Li Shan, Li Fangying, Wang Shishen, Gao Xiang and Luo Pin. Their paintings did not follow the old brushstroke conventions, making them look strange compared with other paintings of the time. In addition, these painters were proud and uncontrolled and had bold personalities; thus they were named the Eight Eccentric Painters.

By Jin Nong　

Jin Nong (1687-1764), a native of Hangzhou , is the most famous of the eight eccentrics. He was talented in many fields and started to paint in his 50s. Living a poor life, he could draw figures, flowers and birds, landscapes, but was best at picturing plum blossom. His paintings were carefully designed with simple shapes, and his best known paintings are Ink Plum Blossom and Moon And Flower. He also created a unique calligraphy style which he called lacquer calligraphy.

The Drunk Monk and Shepherd Su Wu by Huang Shen

Huang Shen (1687-1768) was a native of Ninghua, Fujian Province . His family was poor when he was young, and he studied Huai Su's calligraphy style. His paintings also show the cursive script style in his rough sketches.

The Flower, Bird, Grass and Warm by Huang Shen

His best field was figure painting. He preferred to draw religious figures or lower class people, and his works include The Drunk Monk and Shepherd Su Wu.

Li Shan (1686-1762) was a native of Xinghua, Jiangsu Province. He was interested in painting in his childhood and made a name for himself in painting circles at the age of only 16. He served as a county magistrate in the Teng County of Shandong Province . His painting style was influenced by Xu Wei and Shi Tao, and he used light colors and adopted splashed ink skills to capture an unrestricted quality. His well-known paintings are Autumn Sunflower and Pine, Orchid and Stone.

Waving Bamboo in the Wind by Li Fangying

Li Fangying (1695-1755), a native of Nantong, Jiangsu Province, spent 20 years as a county magistrate. He was on good terms with Jin Nong and Zheng Xie and was accomplished at painting pines, bamboos, plum blossoms and orchids. In his later years, he concentrated on painting plum blossoms. His best known works are Swimming Fish and Waving Bamboo in the Wind.

By Gao Xiang

Gao Xiang (1688-1753), a native of Yangzhou, lived a poor life but was very conceited. He admired Shi Tao very much and was good at painting landscapes, birds and flowers, especially plums.

Wang Shishen (1685-1759) was a native of Xiuning, Anhui Province . He lived in a poor family when he was young and then made a living in Yangzhou by selling paintings. He lived happily in spite of his poverty and carried out painting research. He was good at drawing plums too, and his best known painting is The Ink Plum Blossom. He and Jin Nong, Gao Xiang and Luo Pin are known as the four great plum painters of the time.

Alcoholic Zhong Kui by Luo Pin

Luo Pin (1733-1799), a native of Shexian County, Anhui Province, was a student of Jin Nong. He was the youngest among the Eight Eccentrics, but had rich knowledge and a unique painting style. He refused to serve the Qing government, led a poor life and made a living by selling his paintings. He is known for his paintings of Ghost and Alcoholic Zhong Kui.

Zheng Xie, commonly known as Zheng Banqiao, was a native of Xinghua, Jiangsu Province. He was the most successful candidate in the highest imperial examination and had served as a county magistrate in Shandong Province.

He offended the higher officials because he opened a shelter to relieve the poor, so he resigned. He then lived in Yangzhou, selling his paintings to earn a living.

He was active and creative, and accomplished a great deal in poetry, calligraphy and painting. He was good at drawing bamboo, orchids and stones, and created a new calligraphy style by combining the regular, cursive, official and seal scripts. He was deeply concerned about ordinary people's lives.

The Ink Bamboo by Zheng Xie

Once, when working as a county magistrate, Zheng Xie wrote on one of his bamboo paintings: "Listening to the waving bamboo lying in my office, I imagine it to be the complaints of the people; low is the rank of a county magistrate, I am concerned about every detail of the life of my people."

The eight eccentric painters had similar life experiences, ideas and sentiments. They were all born in poor but intellectual families, served but resigned from (or never served) the Qing imperial government and made their living by selling their paintings. They looked down upon the Qing officials because of their corruption, and expressed their anger and discontent in their paintings and calligraphy.

Most of their flower and bird paintings were drawn in free sketches, and their paintings were unconventional and had strongly subjective moods. Their paintings were not fully understood by many people at the time and were considered eccentric. But they opened a new era in Chinese painting history and created new flower and bird painting methods.