Who are the four "Yuan Sijia" in the painting?

In the history of China painting, there is a title of "Yuan Sijia". Yuan Sijia draws lessons from the pen and ink skills of Dong Yuan and Ju Ran in art, and its works mostly express the literati's seclusion thoughts through the description of natural landscapes. Their works are a collection of poems, books, paintings and prints in one furnace, which have had a far-reaching impact on Chinese painting in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and later generations.

Yuan Sijia was first named by Wang Shizhen, a writer in Ming Dynasty. He, Zhao Mengfu, Zhenwu, Huang and Wang Meng are also called the "Yuan Sijia" of the Art Garden. Later, Tu Long and Zhang Chou said the same thing.

Dong Qichang, a painter and calligrapher born 29 years later than Wang Shizhen, put forward "Yuan Sijia" in The Painter: Huang, Wang Meng, Ni Zan and Zhenwu. As Dong Qichang was a leading figure in the painting circle at that time, his painting style and theoretical views had a far-reaching impact, so most future generations followed Dong Lun. Comparing the nominations of Wang and Dong, the difference is that Zhao Mengfu was replaced by Ni Zan. Ni Zan's paintings were first learned by Dong Yuan and Ju Ran, and later by Hao Jing and Guan Tong, who created Broken Ribbon to write rocks, and the trees were also learned by Li Chengxue. His simple and complex, seemingly gentle and solid style has given new development to literati ink landscape painting. Scholars at that time worshipped him very much and called him "Gao Shi". Zhao Mengfu's poems, paintings and calligraphy are all good. His poetic style and elegance; Calligraphy is round and beautiful, and it is known as "Zhao Ti". In the history of China's calligraphy, he is as famous as Su, Huang, Mi and Cai in Song Dynasty. The painting is mainly based on shallow peaks of ink and wash, slightly green, and the modeling and brushwork are all Gu Zhuo, which is innovative. Writing ancient wood and bamboo stones with calligraphy techniques is a direct inheritance and development of the theme techniques of literati painters since Su Shi and Wen Tong. As for seal cutting (seal), it is the originator of "round Zhu Wen", and later epigraphists all studied "round Zhu Wen" based on Zhao.

Comparing the artistic achievements of Ni and Zhao, it is not difficult to find that any painter in Yuan Dynasty is not as versatile as Zhao Mengfu, and it is difficult to persuade Dong Qichang to exclude him from "Yuan Sijia". In painting art, Ni Zan is widely admired by later generations, and it is unfair for Wang Shizhen not to include him in "Yuan Sijia".