Ni Zan (1301–1374; an alternative birth year is 1306) was a Yuan-dynasty painter and poet. He was known by the courtesy name Yuanzhen, the alternate name Ting, and the sobriquet Yunlin; his ancestral place is given as Wuxi Zhou, also Wuxi.
Life
His father was Ni Bing, and his elder brother was Ni Zhaokui (1279–1328). His wife was Jiang Yuanming (1307–1363), and he had two sons, Ni Mengyu and Ni Jimin.
In 1360, he was described as wealthy, and he was also known as a recluse with hidden virtue. His friends included Ke Jiusi, Tao Zongyi, and Huang Benzhong; he exchanged poems with Zheng Yuanyou, Chen Zhi, and Gao Qi, and had literary exchanges with Zhang Yu, Wang Meng, and Gu Dehui. In the thirteenth year of the Zhizheng era, he saw an ink-bamboo painting by Ke Jiusi and remembered him.
Literary and artistic activity
His literary activity included prefaces and letters: he wrote prefaces for works by Zhou Nanlao and Qin Yue, and wrote letters to Zhou Nanlao, Chen Zhi, and Wang Tianjue. He also wrote inscriptions or postscripts for calligraphy and paintings associated with Zheng Sixiao, Zhao Lin, Ke Jiusi, Zhang Yu, Zhu Derun, and Wang Meng.
He composed epitaphs for Dai Shiyuan, Zhou Nanlao, Zhang Duan, and Wang Bin, and a tomb inscription for Cao Boqi. He also wrote elegies for Zhang Jing and Zhang Jian, as well as portrait eulogies for Chen Zheng, Wang Duzhong, Zhang Jing, Zhang Jian, and Gu Dehui. He wrote inscriptions, commemorative pieces, or names for buildings such as 句曲外史精舍, 半野軒, 聽雨樓, and 聽雪樓.
His works include *清閟閣全集* and the one-juan *雲林堂飮食製度集*.
Influence
Later artists who took his painting style as their model included Xiang Yuanbian, Lü Youlong, Shen Zongjing, Zha Shibiao, Cao Liji, Luo Xiang, Sheng Yaomin, Hu Zongren, and Shi Sheng. The list also includes Xu Huanran, Shi Hongren, Jiang Shijie, Xie Songzhou, Shi Xinchuan, Shi Puhe, Wang Ziyue, and Xu Man.
References
- CBDB Ni Zan (33468)
- Wikidata Ni Zan (Q731030)