The "Four Great Talents" are Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan, Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing from the Ming Dynasty. Because they have their own strengths in poetry, painting, and calligraphy, and all four of them lived in Suzhou, they were collectively called the "Four Talents" by later generations. The Four Great Talents are also known as the "Four Talents of the Wu Clan".
Four poets including Xu Zhenqing during the Chenghua and Zhengde years of the Ming Dynasty were collectively known as the "Four Talents in Wuzhong". "History of the Ming Dynasty Volume 286": "Xu Zhenqing is as famous as Zhu Yunming, Tang Yin, and Wen Zhengming, and they are called the Four Talents of Wuzhong." Xu, Zhu, Tang, and Wen were active in imitating the first seven scholars and when the retro style was in full swing, they could not rely on them. Meng, outstanding and self-reliant, took the expression of temperament as the first meaning of the poem. At that time, it was indeed rare and valuable.
Although Xu Zhenqing is among the first seven sons, he has many excellent poems and many unique points in his poetry theory. Commentators believe that he is not comparable to Li Mengyang and He Jingming. Tang Yin, Zhu Yunming, and Wen Zhengming were not only good at poetry, but also good at calligraphy and painting, and were known for their versatility.
Tang Bohu's painting achievements
Tang Yin's early paintings include "attacking Li Tang from afar" and "making close friends with Shen Zhou". In his early days, he became a disciple of Shen Zhou, the founder of Wumen School of Painting. Shen Zhou and Zhou Chen were both famous painters in Suzhou at that time. Shen took the paintings of the Yuan Dynasty as his master, while Zhou took the paintings of the Southern Song Dynasty as his master. These were the two major painting schools of the Ming Dynasty. Although Tang Yin studied under Zhou Chen, he had the reputation of being better than Lan.
Tang Yin combined his strengths and integrated Yuan people's brushwork into the style of the Southern Song Dynasty. He made rapid progress and even surpassed his teacher Zhou Chen, and became famous. Tang Yin painted the most and was most accomplished in landscape painting. Tang Yin traveled all over Mingchuan and the mountains, and his mind was filled with thousands of mountains and valleys. This gave his poems and paintings a majestic spirit that was unmatched by Wu poets and painters, and turned the simplicity into unrestrainedness. Most of his landscape paintings depict majestic and steep mountains and ridges, pavilions, creeks and bridges, and the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers at all times of the year. Some depict pavilions and gardens, and the leisurely lives of literati.
Reference for the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia—Four Talents