Xing Cijing

CHINA, Shandong, Liaocheng; Ming dynasty

Xing Cijing, also known as Putuan Zhuren or Lanxue Zhaizhu, was a calligrapher and painter from Linyi (present day Linqing, Liaocheng). Intelligent and gifted since childhood, she was a multi-talented artist, and was equally famed as her elder brother Xing Tong. She was a skilled calligrapher and painter of bamboo and rocks, specializing in line drawings. Also proficient at embroidery, Xing once used real hairs to embroider an image of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva that was highly praised. Her fresh and elegant painting was modeled after the works of Guan Daosheng. Adept in portraying Buddhist figures, in her later years, Xing lived alone as a widow and devoted herself to Buddhist artwork and practices.
Artwork by Xing includes a painting of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva in soft and flowing lines inscribed with words of praise. In addition, she painted a set depicting the Thirty-Two Manifestations of Avalokitesvara in gold, each piece of which is inscribed with a verse of praise in 32 characters; only 24 of the original 32 paintings survive today and are kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. Xing’s painting of Plum Blossom is kept at the Shanghai Museum, while her copy of a calligraphic piece by Wang Xizhi is at the Nanjing Museum in Jiangsu.