China Stamp: 2009-6

Sheetlet

China Stamps
Name: Selected Masterpieces of Shitao
Number: 2009-6
Date of Issue: 22 March 2009
Value: 6 stamps/set

Denominations:
80分 (6-1): Painting of Chaohu Lake
1.20元 (6-2): Painting of Enjoying Fountain Sound
1.20元 (6-3): Painting of Double Chrysanthemums
1.20元 (6-4): Painting of Plum Blossoms and Bamboos
1.20元 (6-5): Painting of Horse and Its Owner
1.20元 (6-6): Ink Painting of Lotuses

Shitao (1641 - about 1718), born in Guangxi, was China's famous painter in Qing Dynasty. His original name was Zhu Ruoji, In order to avoid war disaster, he was converted to Buddhism with the religious name of Yuan Ji. He styled himself Shitao and had the sobriquet of Kugua Heshang (Balsam Pear Monk) and Da Dizi. He was known as one of the "Four Famous Monks in Early Qing Dynasty", together with Hong Ren, Kun Can and Zhu Da. Shitao was adept in painting mountains and water, flowers and figures, and had made great achievements in painting theory research. He published the Research of Kugua Heshang on Painting. Insisting on "learning from the ancient people to develop painting theories of today", he widely absorbed advantages of the previous painters; he also learned from the nature and insisted on "searching all the exotic peaks before painting mountains". Featuring novel composition, Shitao's paintings were dynamic with unrestrained strokes, diversified light-ink dots, great momentum and boundless scope, exerting extremely profound influences on the development of Chinese in Qing Dynasty and even in modern China.