Chen Jiru

Chen Jiru was a Chinese painter, calligrapher and writer during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). He was a native of Huating, but he did not pursue a career as an official, choosing instead to lead a secluded life in the mountains of present-day Jiangsu province. He was a prolific prose writer and poet, who wrote extensively on various subjects including literature, painting, tea, pottery, and life. He was a notable author of the xiaopin, a form of short literary essay. He also created purple clay teapots in the Yixing style and painted landscapes and elegant still lifes. His calligraphy followed the style of Su Shi and Mi Fu. He left an autobiography which contains a fictitious account of the circumstances of his own death. He was a founder of the Royalist Party, which aimed to preserve the ancestral temple of the Qing imperial clan after the fall of the Ming dynasty. He lived through the turbulent times of the Xinhai Revolution, the Warlord Era, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Chinese Civil War. He died in 1639 at the age of 81. He was transformed from a soaring crane into a phantom over the past four centuries, and his name and works were variously used and represented by different people and institutions. He has become a commercialized idol and a source of wisdom for modern people.