Mi Youren
Misty landscapes via ink dots
Mi Youren (1074–1153), courtesy name Yuanhui, was originally from Taiyuan, Shanxi, later moving to Runzhou (present-day Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). He was the eldest son of the Northern Song painter and calligrapher Mi Fu, and was often referred to as 'Little Mi.' He served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and as a scholar at the Fuwen Pavilion, and was entrusted by Emperor Gaozong of Song, Zhao Gou, to appraise court paintings and calligraphy. Early on, he inherited his family's artistic tradition and was known alongside his father as 'Big Mi and Little Mi.' In 1122, during the fourth year of the Xuanhe era, he took charge of the court's calligraphy studies. After the southern migration, he developed the 'Mi-style Cloud Mountain' technique, using horizontal ink dots to link and form landscapes, capturing the misty, rainy atmosphere of Jiangnan, which he referred to as 'ink play.' His representative works, such as 'Marvelous View of Xiaoxiang' and 'Cloud Mountain Ink Play,' blend poetry, calligraphy, and painting, breaking traditional brushstroke techniques and creating a 'falling eggplant' rendering style. In calligraphy, he carried on Mi Fu's essence, pioneering the use of goat-hair brushes and expanding line variations. He was skilled in appraising and imitating ancient paintings, and many existing inscriptions on old paintings show his expertise in collecting and connoisseurship.