Liu Songnian
Master of Southern Song Academy painting
Liu Songnian (c. 1131–1218), who styled himself Qingbo and was also known as 'Liu Qingbo,' was sometimes called 'Anmen Liu' and people referred to him as 'Little Jingshan Landscape.' He was from Qiantang (modern-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang) and was a painter during the Southern Song Dynasty in China. During the Chunxi period (1174–1189), Liu Songnian was a student at the Imperial Painting Academy. In the Shaoxi period (1190–1194), he served as an imperial court painter, and during Emperor Ningzong’s reign (1195–1224), he presented his 'Gengzhi Tu' (Plowing and Weaving) to the court and received rewards, including a gold belt. He spent his whole life working at the Painting Academy. Liu Songnian was good at painting landscapes and figures, and his artistic level was praised as 'the best among academy painters.' He, along with Li Tang, Ma Yuan, and Xia Gui, is counted among the 'Four Masters of the Southern Song.' Liu Songnian studied under the artist Zhang Dunli during Emperor Guangzong’s reign and also learned from Li Tang and Zhao Boju. Many of his figure paintings depict historical stories, the lives of literati and nobility, and Buddhist and Daoist themes. Besides 'Gengzhi Tu,' he also painted figure story works like 'Bianqiao Alliance Meeting' and 'Nine Elders.' His surviving work 'Four Scenes of Landscapes' (in the Palace Museum) represents his landscape painting style and achievements, making it a rare masterpiece among surviving Southern Song landscapes.