Zhirong

CHINA, Henan, Kaifeng; Southern Song dynasty

Zhirong was a monk, painter, and doctor from Bianjing (present day Kaifeng, Henan) with an original name of Xing Cheng. Beginning his career serving as an official government doctor residing in present day Hangzhou, Zhejiang, he was also commonly referred to as Doctor Xing Cao’an. Later, at the age of 50, he gave up his official post and renounced at Lingyin Temple in Zhejiang.
He was well-versed in poetry with concise and refined expressions. Also good at painting, he was equally famous as Liang Kai. Zhirong was know to have once chewed a sugar cane and dipped the end into ink to paint rocks with a few simple yet exuberant strokes.
In his later years, Zhirong enjoyed illustrating oxen. Works that remain today include Maitreya, Oxen Crossing the Creek in Misty Rain, and Returning Oxen, all of which are recorded in Collection of Gongkui. Another extant piece is Oxen Herding, currently kept in Japan.