Beijing

Also known by his given name Zhu Da, Bada Shanren is one of the most daring and creative painters China has known. There is very little known about him and the little that is known is subject to much debate. It seems that he was part of the Ming imperial family and like many native Chinese at the time, found it hard to come to terms with the occupation of China by the foreign Manchu rulers. As a reaction to this occupation Bada became a Buddhist monk and dedicated most of his time to painting in relative seclusion. He is probably the most well known of the Four monks of the Qing (the other three being Hong Ren, Kun Can and Shi Tao), his paintings reveal a strong sense of dissatisfaction and loneliness. Birds, fish, flowers and mountains are portrayed by using simple forms executed by bold and vigorous calligraphic brush strokes. Distorted images, hanging cliffs and twisted trees give the viewer a strong feeling of discomfort and instability, beautifully displaying Bada’s unique talent and ability to convey the inner world of the images depicted in his art. Unlike many painters during the early Qing Dynasty who were obsessed with imitating masters of the past using highly stylized brush work (see The Four Wangs), Bada Shanren was an unrestrained individualist, he broke away from accepted conventions and offered something fresh and daring. In General it can be said that he adopted and further developed the technique of Shen Zhou and Xu Wei and brought it to its final conclusion. In Japan his paintings are highly respected and have come to symbolize the spirit of Zen Buddhism although Bada himself deserted this faith in favor of Daoism

Bada Shanren Landscape and flower-and-Bird paintings

Some argue that Bada was mentally ill, usually screaming and making weird noises as he painted, one plausible reason for this madness was the death of his beloved Buddhist master Abbot Hong Min and later his patron Hu Yitang. However, others believe that he faked insanity in order to avoid being engaged in everyday society under the Qing rule. Whatever the real story is, it is hard to ignore the eccentricity of his art and the bizarre mood it reveals. Like Qi Baishi later during the beginning of the 20th century, Bada Shanren’s art has an attractive simplicity and naïve aura that borders the crude and childish. This special spirit in his art has the power to communicate natures and mans deepest feelings, his famous signature written vertically in irregular script turned into a kind of trade mark that symbolized his unique personality and bizarre outlook.

Bada Shanren symbolizes yet another climax in the literati tradition of painting, he remains a towering figure in the art of China and is becoming better known in the west as more find interest in Chinese traditional art. For a deeper look at his art click here     

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