Background

Badashanren (1626---1705), also known as Zhu Da, was an artist in the early Qing Dynasty. Born in Nanchang of Jiangxi, he was a descendant of the imperial clan of the Ming Dynasty. After the Ming Dynasty was overthrown, he became a monk and then a Taoist priest, and had a life full of frustrations. He was also good at poetry and handwriting. In most of his works, he expressed his feelings and unyieldingness through description of things, showing a stirring, majestic character in a sad, bleak tone. His paintings, following no set pattern, oftern express much in a few strokes. The vigorous, easy style embodies the artist's strong feelings and unbending spirit. He painted fish and birds with exaggeration, drawing their eyes with a simple circle and a dot in it to give them odd looks, which is very original. Most of his paintings bear the signature of "Badashanren". His special artistic style has had a profound influence on artists of later ages.

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