The painter who emphasizes painting with books is Zhao Mengfu.
Zhao Mengfu [f incarnation] (October 2, 1254-July 3, 1322), Zi Ang, Han nationality, was born in Songxue Road, also known as Crystal Palace Road, Gul Bo, and worked in Meng Fu in middle age. Xing Wu (now Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province) was originally from Lanxi, Wuzhou. From the late Southern Song Dynasty to the early Yuan Dynasty, he was an official, calligrapher, painter and poet, the grandson of Zhao Kuangyin XI of Song Taizu and the direct descendant of Zhao Defang, the king of Qin.
at the end of the southern song dynasty, Zhao Mengfu served as a steward of Zhenzhou and joined the army. After the death of Song Dynasty, he lived in seclusion. In the 23rd year of Zhiyuan (1286), Zhao Mengfu went to Dadu on the recommendation of Cheng Jufu, the imperial adviser of Taiwan, and was appreciated by Yuan Shizu, who awarded him the rank of doctor of the Ministry of War. Since then, he has successively served as a bachelor of Jixian, a general manager of Jinan Road, a Confucian scholar in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, a bachelor of Hanlin, and a doctor in Rong Lu.
from shizu to wuzong, renzong and yingzong, courtesy and respect were paid. In his later years, he gradually retired, and for six years (1319), he begged for help from illness. In the second year of Zhizhi (1322), Zhao Mengfu died at the age of 69. He was awarded the title of "Wen Min" by posthumous title, a political official from Pingzhang, Zhongshu Province, Jiangsu Province, and Wei Guogong, hence the name "Zhao Wenmin". He is the author of Song Xuezhai Anthology and so on.
Zhao Mengfu is knowledgeable, good at poetry and prose, proficient in classics and learning, skilled in calligraphy, fine painting, good at epigraphy, fluent in temperament and understanding appreciation. In painting, he created a new painting style in Yuan Dynasty, which was called "the crown of Yuan people". His paintings have a wide range of materials and comprehensive techniques, and he is good at landscapes, figures and flowers and birds. His books are drawn from Zhong You, "Two Kings", Li Yong, Zhao Gou, etc. He is good at seal script, official script, truth, line and cursive script, especially regular script and running script.
His book style is charming and elegant, with a neat structure and skillful brushwork, creating a "Zhao Ti" book, which is also called "four masters of regular script" with Ou Yangxun, Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan. In addition, Zhao Mengfu advocated learning from the ancients and emphasized that "calligraphy and painting are of the same origin". His thoughts on painting, calligraphy and painting have a far-reaching influence on future generations.