Ni Zan

Ni Zan 倪瓒 (1301—1374), first named Ni Ting, was a poet and painter of the late Yuan Dynasty in China. He was a master of landscape and bamboo painting, and advocated that painting should be used to express emotion rather than depict physical resemblance. Considering the political and social unrest of his time, Ni Zan’s poetry might be described as escapist, suggesting a yearning for the bucolic life of his youth. According to his epitaph writer, Zhou Nanlao, Ni Zan ‘became quieter and more withdrawn in his late years. Having lost or given away everything he ever owned, he did his best to forget his worries. Wearing a yellow Daoist cap and country clothes, he roamed the lakes and mountains, leading the life of a recluse.’