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Su Shi was a Chinese writer, calligrapher, poet, painter, gastronome, pharmacologist, and politician who lived during the Song dynasty. He played a major role in the political affairs of the Song dynasty. He is credited with producing some of the best-known poems, prose, and essays and is considered one of the most decorated personalities in classical Chinese literature.
Gao Xingjian is a Chinese-born émigré and French naturalized playwright, novelist, critic, photographer, film director, translator, and painter. He is best known for winning the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000. Gao Xingjian has also received other major awards, including the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement.
Wang Wei was a Chinese poet, painter, musician, and politician who lived during the Tang dynasty. Widely regarded as one of the most popular poets of his generation, Wang Wei had a profound influence in the West. Many of his works are well-preserved and 29 of his poems were included in an influential anthology titled Three Hundred Tang Poems.
Wang Xizhi was a Chinese writer, calligrapher, and politician. Best remembered for his extraordinary skills as a calligrapher, Wang is regarded as the greatest calligrapher in the history of China. His works were greatly admired by Emperor Taizong of Tang, who helped popularize his poems. Apart from being a popular personality in China, Wang also remains influential in Japanese calligraphy.
Tang dynasty Chinese figure painter Yan Liben is remembered for his scores of portraits of scholars and emperors, one of the most notable being the Thirteen Emperors Scroll. He also painted many Buddhist and Taoist subjects. Apart from being a painter, he was also an imperial court official.
A renowned calligrapher and painter of the Ming dynasty, Dong Qichang was a child prodigy in many ways, having cleared the prefectural civil service entrance exams at 12. An art theorist, too, he classified the history of Chinese painting into the Northern and Southern schools, charting out their unique characteristics.
One of the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty, Chinese painter Wang Meng was born into a family of painters and was the grandson of painter Zhao Mengfu. He was mistakenly associated with a conspiracy against the Ming dynasty emperor Taizu and spent the final years of his life in prison.
