Qian Xuan
Qian Xuan, courtesy name Shun Ju, pseudonyms Yu Tan, Xi Lanweng, and Zha Chuanweng, was a Chinese painter from Huzhou, the present day Wuxing District in Zhejiang. He lived during the late Song dynasty and early Yuan dynasty.
Biography
Qian Xuan started as an aspiring scholar-official during the rule of the Southern Song. However, he had difficulty climbing the ranks of officialdom. When the Mongol-founded Yuan dynasty took over the southern regions of China in 1276, he effectively gave up on the idea of a career in civil administration. In 1286, his friend Zhao Mengfu found and accepted a position there, and so for a time it seemed he could as well. However, he refused on patriotic grounds, while he cited old age to avoid difficulties. He nevertheless was considered a Song loyalist.His life after 1276 was devoted to painting, and he became noted as a "fur and feathers" painter. He was also adept at bird-and-flower painting, character painting, and landscape painting. He is known for landscapes that hinted at a longing for a return of native Chinese rule, such as in the work Home Again. He mixed Song realism with an archaic Tang style.