Dong Qichang (1555-1636)

Aliases: Qichang Dong; Dong Qichang; Hsüan-tsai; Hsüeh-shih; Hua-ch'an; Sibo; Siweng; Ssu-po; Ssu-wêng; Tsung-po; Ch'i-ch'ang Tung; Tung Ch'i-ch'ang; Wenmin; Wên-min; Xiangguang; Xiangguang jushi; Xuanzai; Yüan-tsai

Professions: Painter; Calligrapher

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  DONG QICHANG (1555-1636)

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  DONG QICHANG (1555-1636)

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  Landscape and callography

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  DONG QICHANG (1555-1636)

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Dong Qichang Biography

(b China 1555; d 1636) Chinese Painter and Calligrapher. Dong Qichang began his career as a calligrapher, passing the highest level of the imperial civil service examination in 1589. He then relocated to Peking where he worked as a tutor at the Imperial Academy. At the Academy Dong Qichang assumed the role of the prince’s esteemed teacher. Involved in numerous political conflicts, Qichang retired in 1605 from the government, only to return years later in 1631 to continue his tutoring of the prince. Separate from his life as a tutor, Dong Qichang was also a highly respected artist. Stylistically, Qichang’s calligraphic works were simplistic, for he maintained a ‘less is more’ approach to his brushwork. With the influence of the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty, Qichang eliminated excess frill in his landscapes. Taking the Masters teachings further, Dong Qichang abolished all beauty, allowing only austere structures and atypical spatial relationships within his compositions. His paintings lacked naturalism, figural representation, and resisted narrative pursuits. Dong Qichang’s work remains notable for its correlation with ideas of structure and order, while continuing to influence Chinese calligraphic and landscape art today. Soon following his retirement, Dong Qichang died in 1636.

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