Li Anzhong
Master of Southern Song bird-and-flower painting
Li Anzhong(李安忠) was a painter from the Southern Song dynasty, originally from Qiantang (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang). His birth and death years are unknown. He initially served at the Painting Academy under Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song (1119–1125) and later held the position of Chengzhonglang. After the Jingkang incident, he moved south, and during Emperor Gaozong's Shaoxing reign (1131–1162) in the Southern Song, he resumed his role at the Painting Academy and was awarded a gold belt. Li Anzhong was skilled at painting flowers, birds, and animals, and was especially good at the 'zhuole' style. There are different views about the period when Li Anzhong was active. At the end of the Song and the beginning of the Yuan dynasty, Zhuang Su in "Huaji Buyi" noted that he was active at the same time as Li Di (who was mainly active during the reigns of Emperors Xiaozong and Guangzong of the Southern Song), while a slightly later source, Xia Wenyan in "Tu Hui Bao Jian," said he 'resided at the Xuanhe Painting Academy.' Some studies (like analyses of his painting "Autumn Mist in the Smoky Village," which is signed 'Dingyou,' and its style) suggest that he was more likely mainly active during the Southern Song, and that Xia Wenyan's record might have a chronological error.