Wu Zhen

CHINA, Zhejiang, Jiaxing; Yuan dynasty

Wu Zhen, also known as Zhong Gui or Mei Daoren, was a painter and calligrapher. He had a reserved personality and lived a simple, reclusive life. Keen on learning Daoist traditions and Chan teachings, he was close acquaintances with several monks and Buddhist practitioners such as Huang Gongwang, Wang Meng, and Ni Zan. Together, these men were referred to as the Four Master Scholars of the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368).
Writing poems, speeches, and verses was Wu’s specialty, and he was an expert in cursive script calligraphy. Also an excellent ink painter of landscape, plum, and bamboo, he imitated the works of monk Juran, as well as the styles of artists such as Ma Yuan and Xia Gui. Wu’s paintings exude Chan teachings and evoke a limitless, pure, natural, and empty essence.
Wu’s masterpieces include paintings such as Fisherman in Seclusion on an Autumn River, Twin Pine Trees, Bamboos and Rocks, and more, kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. His calligraphic transcription of the Heart Sutra is kept at the Palace Museum in Beijing. Hundreds of Wu’s poems and postscripts were collected by descendants and published in a text known as the Calligraphy of Mei Daoren.