CategoriesCultural and Religious Styles
Yuan Dynasty
Chinese art under Mongol rule, 1271–1368: scholar painting of Zhao Mengfu and the Four Masters, and the first mature blue-and-white porcelain.
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About
The Yuan dynasty was proclaimed by Khubilai Khan, grandson of Genghis, in 1271, and the conquest of the Southern Song was complete by 1279; Mongol rule lasted until 1368. Many Chinese scholars were shut out of office or refused to serve, and painting became a vehicle for private conviction. Qian Xuan, who withdrew after the fall of the Song, painted in a deliberately archaic manner, while Zhao Mengfu, a descendant of the Song royal house who took office under the Mongols, revived earlier models to renew both painting and calligraphy.
The Four Masters of the late Yuan set the course of literati painting for centuries. Huang Gongwang's Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (1347–50) unrolls in dry, layered brushwork, and Ni Zan painted sparse riverbanks with an empty pavilion and a few thin trees. Mongol networks linked China to Iran, and Jingdezhen potters began painting porcelain with imported cobalt, producing the first mature blue-and-white.
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