Bada Shanren (八大山人, literally "Mountain Man of
the Eight Greats", ca.1626-1705) , born as Zhu Da (朱耷), was a Chinese
painter and calligrapher. He was of noble lineage, being a descendant
of the Ming Dynasty Prince of Ning (宁王) - Zhu Quan (朱权).
A child prodigy, Zhu Da began painting and writing poetry in his early
childhood. About the year 1658, when the Ming emperor committed suicide
and a rebel army attacked Beijing, the young man sought refuge in a
Buddhist temple and became a monk. As a loyal subject of the Ming, he
was heartbroken and refused to speak to anyone: he only laughs and
cries (as inscriptions on his paintings tell). His paintings feature sharp brush strokes which are attributed to the sideways manner by which he held his brush. Zhu Da was a leading painter of the Qing Dynasty.
