Wáng Yuánqí 王原祁

Chinese, 1642–1715

BiographyWang Yuanqi (Wang Yuan-ch’i; Wáng Yuánqí 王原祁; courtesy name Màojīng 茂京; sobriquet Lùtái 麓台; 1642–1715) was part of a distinguished family from Taicang, Jiangsu province. He studied painting under his grandfather Wang Shimin (Wang Shih-min; Wáng Shímǐn 王时敏 / 王時敏 (1592–1680) who was a former student of the influential painter and calligrapher Dong Qichang (Tung Ch’i-ch’ang; Dǒng Qíchāng 董其昌; 1555-1636). Wáng Yuánqí and Wáng Shímǐn, along with two other unrelated painters surnamed Wáng, Wang Hui (Wáng Huī 王翚 / 王翬; 1632–1717) and Wang Jian (Wang Chien; Wáng Jiàn王鉴 / 王鑑; 1598–1677), made up a group known as the Four Wangs, who were the anchors of the Orthodox literati school in the early Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Having passed the highest level of the Civil Service Examinations in 1670, Wáng became a county magistrate and went on to receive a number of promotions. At about the age of sixty, Wáng Yuánqí eventually was put in charge of the imperial collection of painting and calligraphy by the Kangxi emperor (r. 1662–1722) who appreciated Wang’s artistic as well as literary accomplishments. Although never a court painter, he dominated the court academy during the latter decades of his life. By order of the emperor in 1705, Wáng Yuánqí, together with other court painters and literati, started to supervise the editing work of Pei wen zhai shu hua pu 佩文齋書畫譜, a large series of books that recorded connoisseurship of paintings and calligraphies, artists’ biographies, famous inscriptions, court collections and artworks by previous emperors throughout past centuries. Wáng Yuánqí perpetuated what had been one of the main strengths of the literati tradition: the capacity for using old forms and techniques in fresh ways, taking advantage of the discoveries of his predecessors and the evolution of painting over the centuries, but utilizing them for personal statements. He was regarded by Wáng Shímǐn as the only painter who could capture both the spirit and the form of works by Huáng Gōngwàng 黃公望 (1269–1354), one of the most prominent literati painters of Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). Wang and his students including Huáng Dǐng 黃鼎 (1660–1730) and Táng Dài 唐岱 (1673–after 1752) formed the Lóudōng School 婁東派 which was named after the hometown of Wáng Yuánqí and Wáng Shímǐn. In addition to teaching, Wang also wrote two articles on his painting theories, Yu chuang man bi 雨窗漫筆 and Lu tai ti hua gao麓台題畫稿. He died in Beijing in 1715.

References:

Tsao, Jung Ying. “The Loudong School.” Chinese Paintings of the Middle Qing Dynasty. San Francisco: San Francisco Graphic Society, 1987. Pp. 22-3.

Zhao, Erxun. Qing Shi Gao / Juan 504. Wikisource. n.p., n.d. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%B8%85%E5%8F%B2%E7%A8%BF/%E5%8D%B7504.