Jin Liying

• Jin Liying, courtesy name Yunmen and sobriquets Wuyun, Dongqiao, and Yunmen Nüshi, was a female painter and calligrapher of the Qing dynasty. She was a native of Shanyin (present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang) and later lived in Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou). She was the second wife of Wang Tan (Zhongqu), a scholar and literatus from Jiaxing. Well versed in calligraphy and painting from an early age, she and her husband frequently exchanged views on poetry, literature, calligraphy, and painting, sharing lofty aspirations and refined tastes. Fond of beautiful landscapes, she traveled extensively with her husband throughout the scenic regions of Wu and Yue, exploring them almost exhaustively by boat and carriage. Her paintings therefore benefited greatly from her firsthand travels and observations. She supported herself by painting, and commissions came in such numbers that her artistic skill became increasingly refined. She excelled in a wide range of subjects, including figures, ladies, architectural paintings, landscapes, and flowers and plants, expressing her own artistic vision with great freedom. She was particularly accomplished in Buddhist painting, creating works that were solemn and exquisitely beautiful. She once personally painted twenty-five images of Guanyin associated with the Universal Gate (Yuantong). She was also highly skilled at painting plum blossoms. Her calligraphy followed the traditions of the Jin and Tang dynasties, and she was also accomplished in Han clerical script. Her poetry often conveyed a pure, ethereal, and gently melancholic quality. She was acclaimed as the “Foremost Female Painter of the Jiaqing and Daoguang Periods.”