Ni Zan

A Chinese painter and poet from the late Yuan dynasty. He is known as one of the four great painters of the late Yuan dynasty, along with Wu Zhen, Huang Gongwang, and Wang Meng. He was said to be the most spirited of the four great painters, using simple techniques to depict landscapes and dead trees, bamboo, and rocks with a high sense of elegance. His original name was Tei. His pen name was Yuanzhen. He was known by the pen names Yunlin, and was also known by the names Genkasei, Jingbanmin, Jingmyo Jushi, and Zhuyang Mansion Master. He was from Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and was born into a wealthy and distinguished family. He loved learning and the arts, built the Qingming Pavilion and other buildings in his mansion, collected ancient paintings, antiques and books, was devoted to Taoism, and associated with many literati, including Zhang Yu and Huang Gongwang. He did not enter the government service and lived an elegant hermit life, but at the age of 52, he suddenly distributed his possessions to his close relatives and set off on a journey with his wife and children, spending the latter half of his life for over 20 years. He returned home for the first time at the age of 74, and died of illness in the same year. He was a very fastidious person, and there are several anecdotes about him. His landscape paintings, which stand in a unique artistic realm with a tranquil atmosphere, were called the "Xiao-san style." His representative works include "Autumn Rain at the Fisherman's Mansion" (Shanghai Museum) and "Rong Zizhai" (National Palace Museum, Taipei), and his poetry collection "Yunlin Poetry Collection."

[Shinya Hoshiyama]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、元(げん)代末の画家、詩人。呉鎮(ごちん)、黄公望(こうこうぼう)、王蒙(おうもう)とともに元末の四大家とよばれる。簡素な描法のうちに高い風韻を感じさせる山水や枯木竹石を描き、四大家中気韻第一といわれた。初名は珽(てい)。字(あざな)は元鎮。号は雲林、別に幻霞生(げんかせい)、荊蛮民(けいばんみん)、浄名(じょうみょう)居士、朱陽館主などと号した。江蘇(こうそ)省無錫(むしゃく)の人で、富裕な名家に生まれた。学問、芸術を愛し、邸内に清悶閣などを建て、古書画・古器物・書物を収集し、道教に傾倒し、また張雨、黄公望をはじめ多くの文人と交わり、仕官せず風雅な隠者生活を送ったが、52歳のころ、突然、家財を親近者に分かち与え、妻子とともに流浪の旅に出て20年余の後半生を過ごした。74歳のとき初めて帰郷し、同年病死した。非常に潔癖な性格で、逸話がいくつか伝わる。その描いた山水は、ひっそりとした趣(おもむき)のある独自の画境にたつ山水画様式で「蕭散(しょうさん)体」とよばれた。代表作に『漁荘秋霽(しゅうせい)図』（上海(シャンハイ)博物館）、『容膝斎(ようしつさい)図』（台北・国立故宮博物院）があり、詩集に『雲林詩集』がある。

［星山晋也］

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