Xu Daoning (ca. 970–1051/53) 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 of the Northern Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 (960–1279) from Changan (now Xi'an

Xi'an

Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...

) or Hejian (河间 now Hebei

Hebei

' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...

). He started out life by selling medicine prescriptions in Kaifeng

Kaifeng

Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...

. While selling prescriptions, he also began painting nature scenes in the style of Li Cheng

Li Cheng

Li Cheng , style name 咸熙 , was a Chinese painter from Qingzhou during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and early Song Dynasty...

. After gaining popularity he took up painting murals for Chinese nobles. His most notable work is Fishermen's Evening Song (ca. 1049).

External links

• http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/CollectionDatabase.cfm?id=12243&theme=china
• http://www.artnet.com/library/09/0925/T092577.asp