Animal Paintings of the Yuan Dynasty
2 min readDuring the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), the Han literati who were deprived of any political privileges had to paint landscape, birds and animals to vent their feelings.Naturally, it became an important period for the development of Chinese literati painting in history.
Ocasionally, some artists even used animalthemed paintings to attack by innuendo social evils of the times. Citing Ren Renfa’s “Picture of Two Horses”as an example,a lean and a fat horse were likened to upright and corrupt officials respectively, thus showing up the seamy side of the official circles.
Perhaps because the ruling Mongols were originally nomadic tribes in the north, saddle horse became a favorite subject of many animal painters of this period; even Zhao Mengfu,a descendant of the Song royal family and the generally acknowledged leader of literati painters, was no exception. Zhao who drew nourishment from various ancient artists had created a lot of horse paintings rich in simple and unsophisticated appeal, and his style was reminiscent of that of Wu Daozi, the most celebrated painter of the Tang Dynasty.
Carrying on such a family tradition, both Zhao’s son Zhao Yong and grandson Zhao Lin were ace equine artists of their days.
Other Yuan Dynasty painters very skilled in portraying saddle horses included Ren Xianzuo–the son of Ren Renfa, and Liu Guandao whose most representative work was the”Picture of Emperor Shizu Going Hunting,”depicting the grand spectacle of Kublai Khan and his entourage hunting in the wilderness.
