Qiu Ying was a Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 who specialized in the gongbi

Gongbi

Gongbi is a technique in Chinese painting. The name is from the Chinese Gong chin meaning tidy . The technique uses highly detailed brushstrokes that delimits details very precisely and without independent or expressive variation. It is often highly coloured and usually depicts figural or...

brush technique.

Qiu Ying's courtesy name was Shifu (实父), and his pseudonym was Shizhou (十洲). He was born to a peasant family in Taicang (太仓 - now Jiangsu

Jiangsu

' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...

 Province) and studied painting under Zhou Chen

Zhou Chen

Zhou Chen , also known as Chou Ch'en, was a famed Chinese painter active during the middle of the Ming Dynasty. He was born in 1460 in Suzhou in the Jiangsu province....

 in Suzhou

Suzhou

Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...

. Though Suzhou's Wu School

Wu School

Wu or Wumen School is the term applied to a group of painters of the Southern School during the Ming period of Chinese history. It was not an academy or educational institution, but rather a group united largely by the artistic theories of its members...

 encouraged painting in ink washes, Qiu Ying also painted in the green-and-blue style. He painted with the support of wealthy patrons, creating images of flowers, gardens, religious subjects, and landscapes in the fashions of the Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

. He incorporated different techniques into his paintings, and acquired a few wealthy patrons. His talent and versatility allowed him to become regarded as one of the Four Great Masters

Four Great Masters

In Chinese history, the Four Great Masters can refer to Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty or Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty....

 of the Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

.

Three of his best patrons were art collectors. One was Chen Guan from Suzhou

Suzhou

Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...

. The other two were both younger than Qiu: Zhou Fenglai (1523–1555), from nearby Kunshan

Kunshan

Kunshan is a satellite city in the greater Suzhou region. Administratively, it is a county-level city within the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. It is located in southeastearn part of Jiangsu Province, China, adjacent to Jiangsu's border with the Shanghai Municipality.The total area of ​​Kunshan...

, and the well-known wealthy collector Xiang Yuanbian, whose home was in Jiaxing

Jiaxing

Jiaxing is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province of Eastern China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the province of Jiangsu to the north....

 in Zhejiang Province.

External links

• Qiu Ying and his Painting Gallery at China Online Museum
• Artnet.com