Li Shida
Satirical ink paintings of scholars and customs
Li Shida(李士達) (c. mid-16th century–early 17th century), courtesy name Tongfu(通甫), art name Yang Huai(仰槐) (also written as Yang Huai(仰懷)), was from Suzhou, Jiangsu (some say Sanyuan, Shaanxi), and later lived in seclusion in Suzhou. He became a jinshi (imperial exam graduate) in the second year of the Wanli reign (1574). A Ming dynasty painter, he excelled in figure and landscape painting, and proposed the painting theories of the “Five Beauties” (Cang(蒼), Yi(逸), Qi(奇), Yuan(远), Yun(韵)) and the “Five Evils” (Nen(嫩), Ban(板), Ke(刻), Sheng(生), Chi(痴)). He was naturally independent and did not flatter the powerful. In the 29th year of Wanli (1601), when the eunuch tax inspector Sun Long gathered a crowd in Suzhou, everyone knelt, but Li Shida saluted with a long bow and walked away. As a result, he was pursued and later lived in seclusion in Xinguo, Suzhou. During his seclusion, he focused on his art. His works covered subjects including scholars, Buddhist and Daoist deities, spirits, and social satire, such as "Gathering of Elegant Scholars in the Western Garden" (Suzhou Museum), "Cold Forest Zhong Kui" (1611), and "Three Camels," the latter using ink cartoon style for satirical meaning, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing. He also created the "Xunyang Pipa Scroll" to express dissatisfaction with the world. He was skilled at depicting scholars’ gatherings and New Year customs, with works like "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" (done at age 67), "Wan Yu Reciting Immortals Scroll" (depicting the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, Hengshui Chinese Painting Museum); "New Year Poem Scroll" (1615, Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Japan), and "New Year Village Celebration Scroll" (1618, color on paper, 132.9 cm high × 64 cm wide, Palace Museum, Beijing), the latter detailing Wu region New Year rituals. In his later years, he painted "Immortal Mountains and Pavilions" (Nanjing Museum, 167.7 cm high × 79.2 cm wide) with strong, rounded lines. Li Shida set a personal rule to "paint only Chinese painting and critique only Chinese painting for life" and, in his old age, used the theory of the “Five Beauties and Five Evils” to evaluate art.