The Illustrated Biography of the Eight of Yangzhou

Author: Zhou Shifeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: They share similar life experiences, have similar thoughts and emotions, possess the same attitude towards life and personality preferences. They all value individual expression in art, strive for innovation, and emphasize portraying their subjective inner world, thereby endowing their works with profound social content and intellectual depth. The Biography of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou includes biographical novels, representative works, and relevant critical texts of eight painters from the Qing Dynasty in Yangzhou, namely: Wang Shishen, Li Yindan, Jin Nong, Huang Shen, Gao Xiang, Li Fangying, Zheng Banqiao, and Luo Pin. "The Eight Eccentrics" was originally a colloquial term in the local dialect, meaning diverse eccentricities, and it was not originally fixed to eight individuals. Even when designated as eight, different accounts vary among sources. The key lies in the pervasive sense of "eccentricity" that runs through the works of these painters.