Li Shixing
Mastered bamboo, rocks, and landscapes.
Li Shixing(李士行) (1282-1328), courtesy name Zundao(遵道), was from Jiqiu (now Beijing) and was a painter during the Yuan Dynasty. He was the son of Li Kan(李衎) and reached the position of magistrate of Huangyan. He was skilled in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, and had studied under former masters like Zhao Mengfu and Xianyu Shu. In his early years, Li Shixing traveled with his father through Wu and Yue and studied at the schools of Zhao Mengfu and Xianyu Shu. In the seventh year of the Yanyou era (1320), he was appointed to govern Huangyan Prefecture, where he managed the affairs so well that the region enjoyed abundant harvests each year. Later, due to disagreements with his superiors, he claimed illness and resigned. During the reign of Emperor Taiding (1324-1328), he was in a period of retirement and did not hold office. Li Shixing once presented his painting 'The Daming Palace' to the emperor, and Emperor Renzong admired his skill, appointing him to the Central Secretariat with the fifth-rank official status. Later, upon hearing that Emperor Wen had a hidden domain in Jianye and was good at welcoming scholars, he went to pay respects but passed away at the border of Shang County (now part of Jiangsu), at the age of forty-seven. His paintings of bamboo and rocks successfully carried forward and surpassed the family’s teaching, and he was particularly good at landscapes. His ancient trees and bamboo-rock works followed the northern traditions of Wang Tingyun, Li Cheng, and Guo Xi. For landscapes, he learned from Dong Yuan and Ju Ran, blending styles to form his own unique approach. Among his surviving works are 'Ancient Trees and Clumps of Bamboo' (Shanghai Museum) and the scroll 'Autumn Evening in the River Village' (National Palace Museum, Taipei).