Tung Ch'i-ch'ang

Tung Ch'i-ch'ang , 1555-1636, leading painter, calligrapher, connoisseur, and critic of the Ming dynasty. A high official in various public offices, was also regarded as the greatest art expert of his day. He was the leader of the group that formulated basic principles of the so-called wên-jên or literati school of painting, which exerted a lasting influence on Chinese and Japanese painting and aesthetics. In his landscape paintings, executed mostly in ink with occasional touches of color, painting and calligraphy were joined harmoniously. Examples of his works may be seen at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and the Cleveland Museum, Ohio.

Bibliography: See W. Ho and J. Smith, ed., The Century of Tung Ch'i-ch'ang, 1555-1636 (2 vol., 1992).