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snowynight ([personal profile] snowynight) wrote2024-02-01 02:38 pm
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HalfaMoon Day 1: Female artists in ancient China

[community profile] halfamoon

Prompt: Day 1: Black / White / Shades of Grey

Shan shui painting is a style of traditional brush and ink Chinese landscape painting. In ancient China, women had less freedom to education and travel, so it was harder for them to pursue art or observe the nature. However, some female artists's shan shui paintings survived to this day.


Huang Yuanjie (1620?-69?) came from an educated but poor family. Huang's husband was a poor scholar, so Huang Yuanjie was the actual breadwinner, unconventional at the time. She was a family tutor, professional writer and artist, travelling around for job opportunities.

When the Ming Dynasty was overthrown in 1644, Huang lost her husband and became a war fugitive. She continued her teaching and creative career to support her children's and her living, and was well known for her talent. She wrote over 1000 poems, but few survived.

Huang's fan landscape painting

Some of her paintings

Wang Duanshu (1621?-1701?) also came from an educated family. She was a scholar, literary critic, poet and artist. She was the first person to edit an anthology of woman's writing across history in China.

Wang's landscape painting

Liu Rushi (1618-64) was a Chinese performer, poet, calligrapher, and painter. Many of her creative work survived. She was very independent, and also known for her love of her husband and country. Scholar and writer Chen Yinke said she was "a heroine, a belle, a wordsmith, and a patriot" .

Selected paintings
lilacsigil: 12 Apostles rocks, text "Rock On" (12 Apostles)

[personal profile] lilacsigil 2024-02-01 09:27 am (UTC)(link)
Liu Rushi is particularly interesting, thank you for posting about these artists for Halfamoon!
muccamukk: Kono smiling. Text: I dream of the ocean (H5-0: Dream of the Ocean)

[personal profile] muccamukk 2024-02-01 04:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow. Their art is incredible! I didn't know about these women at all. Thank you for sharing about them.
sisterdivinium: mother superion from warrior nun (Default)

[personal profile] sisterdivinium 2024-02-02 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
I would say I was upset at not having heard of any of these artists before, but then that might hide the pleasure of getting to know of them now. Thank you for this. The true sadness is knowing there are works that have been lost...
apachefirecat: Made by Apache (Default)

[personal profile] apachefirecat 2024-02-02 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you for sharing this information! I never thought about some of the Chinese cultures' earliest drawings being on their fans! I love that, and also find it amazing that the first collection of women's stories was done back in the 1600s in China! Thank you so much for sharing all this! <3
alexseanchai: Katsuki Yuuri wearing a blue jacket and his glasses and holding a poodle, in front of the asexual pride flag with a rainbow heart inset. (Default)

[personal profile] alexseanchai 2024-02-04 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
oooh intriguing