Yang Wuji
Pioneered elegant ink plum painting
Yang Wujou(扬无咎) (1097-1169) was a painter and poet of the Southern Song dynasty. His courtesy name was Buzhi(补之), and he was also known as Taochan Laoren(逃禅老人), as well as Qingyi Elder(清夷长者) and Ziyang Resident(紫阳居士). His ancestral home was in Chengdu, Sichuan, and he was a descendant of the famous Eastern Han writer Yang Xiong(扬雄). He claimed to be a descendant of Cao Xuan(草玄) (Yang Xiong), saying, 'Descendant of Ziyun (Yang Xiong), relocated from Shu to Qingjiang,' which is why his surname in writing uses the hand radical 扌 instead of the wood radical 木. He was born in Qingjiang (modern-day Zhangshu, Jiangxi) and later lived in Yuzhang (modern-day Nanchang, Jiangxi), spending most of his life in Jiangxi. Yang Wujou was mainly active during the reigns of Southern Song emperors Gaozong and Xiaozong. His teacher was Zhong Ren, from whom he learned ink wash techniques, and his friend was Fan Duanbo. During the Shaoxing era (1131-1162), unhappy with Emperor Zhao Gou and Qin Hui's compromise policies with foreign powers, he refused to follow Qin Hui and repeatedly declined official positions. He was famous for his poetry, songs, calligraphy, and painting, especially skilled in ink plum painting. He created a technique called 'turning black into white,' using light ink to outline flowers without adding color. Someone once presented his ink plum painting to Emperor Gaozong, who jokingly called it 'village plum,' so Yang wrote the inscription 'In Submission: Village Plum.' After the Song court moved south, his plum paintings were hung in the palace and attracted bees and butterflies. In calligraphy, he was influenced by Ouyang Xun, with strong and sharp brush strokes, and he could also write lyrics. His ink plum style directly inspired painters like Zhao Mengjian, and Wang Mian’s ink plum paintings at the end of the Yuan dynasty are considered direct heirs of this school. Today, only three authentic ink plum works by him survive, and he also left a collection titled 'Escape Zen Lyrics.' His representative painting is 'Four Plums Picture.'