Following unprecedented economic prosperity in the Kiangnan region during the middle of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), the merchant and gentry class became a dominant force in the culture of the period as their taste had a direct influence on the development of the arts. Painters such as Tu Chin, Chou Ch'en, T'ang Yin, and Ch'iu Ying were active in the cultural circles of Kiangnan and stood out as some of the finest professional painters of the age.

Among these four painters, Tu Chin (fl. ca. 1465-1505) was mostly active in Nanking and known as a professional painter with literary cultivation. The other three were born in the Soochow area. Chou Ch'en (ca. 1460-after 1535) and Ch'iu Ying (ca. 1494-1552) were strictly professional painters, whereas T'ang Yin (1470-1523) combined the talents of a literati and a professional painter. In the past, some scholars grouped T'ang Yin and Ch'iu Ying in the literati "Wu School." Others referred to Chou Ch'en, T'ang Yin, and Ch'iu Ying as the "Academic School." Tu Chin, residing in Nanking ("Southern Capital"), was distinguished as the "Ching-k'ou (Capital) School." Despite these disparate groupings, the four are not only related in terms of their study of art or as friends, but also in the similarity of their styles.     In 1499, T'ang Yin traveled to Peking for the capital examinations and met Tu Chin. T'ang presented him with a poem, and the two became friends. Consequently, T'ang Yin's works from the middle of his career often relate to the style of Tu Chin. For example, in both Tu Chin's "Enjoying Antiquities" and T'ang Yin's "T'ao Ku Presenting a Lyric to Ch'in Jo-lan," the drapery of the figures is rendered with "nail-head" and "rat-tail" strokes, and the ladies wear "three-white" makeup in the T'ang and Sung manner. Furthermore, the techniques for painting the plantain and bamboo in the backgrounds of these two works appear almost identical. Another example is T'ang Yin's "Lady Pan's Round Fan," where the hollyhock is done in the "boneless" ink-wash method similar to that in "Enjoying Antiquities." Such comparisons show the extant to which T'ang Yin was influenced by the style of Tu Chin.     The style of Chou Ch'en belongs to the academic mode associated with the Southern Sung court painters Li T'ang (ca. 1049-after 1130) and Liu Sung-nien (12th-13th c.). Consequently, his delicate style, as seen in "After the Line 'Leisurely Watching Children Catch Willow Flowers'", is similar to that in "Enjoying Antiquities." Chou Ch'en also had a more unrestrained style of painting, evident in "Ning Ch'i Feeding an Ox", which, like that of such Che School painters as Tai Chin (1388-1462) and Wu Wei (1459-1508), derived ultimately from the Ma Yuan (fl. ca. 1190-1222) and Hsia Kuei (fl. ca. 1195-1224) mode of Southern Sung court painting. This inter-relationship, as also seen in the similarity of some "pai-miao" outline figures by Tu Chin and the brushwork of Wu Wei and Kuo Hsiang (1456-1529), reveals the complexity of stylistic influence and exchange among artists in the Soochow and Nanking areas.     T'ang Yin and Ch'iu Ying are the two greatest students of Chou Ch'en. Although specializing in the Southern Sung academic mode, they also were gifted in the classical grace of the literati style, which is why they have been grouped together with Shen Chou (1427-1509) and Wen Cheng-ming (1470-1559) as the "Four Masters of the Wu School."     T'ang Yin, distinguished as "First in the Nanking Examinations," excelled at the Three Perfections (poetry, calligraphy, and painting). Combined with his unbridled and free spirit, he became known for his extraordinary character and style. In addition to the aforementioned "T'ao Ku Presenting a Lyric to Ch'in Jo-lan" and "Lady Pan's Round Fan", which evoke the lyrical academic style associated with the historical subject matter they depict, other works by T'ang Yin, such as "Lofty Scholars" and "The Zither Player", are done in more abbreviated brushwork, providing a glimpse at his free and untrammeled character.     Ch'iu Ying was praised by Tung Ch'i-ch'ang (1555-1636) as the greatest artist to appear in 500 years. Two styles are associated with Ch'iu Ying; one is fine and delicate, and the other abbreviated and forceful. His style is similar to that of T'ang Yin, but even finer and more precise. Such Ch'iu Ying handscroll paintings as "Spring Morning in the Han Palace" and "The Classic of Filial Piety" reflect a beautifully formal yet opulent style that follows the ancients but is not confined by them. When it comes to such large hanging scrolls as "Whiling Away Summer in the Shade of Plantain" and "Pure Conversation in the Shade of Firmiana", the brushwork for the trees and rocks is unrestrained and powerfully fluid, revealing a clear affinity with that of Chou Ch'en's "Ning Ch'i Feeding an Ox".     Comparing the works of these four masters reveals how the Southern Sung academic style was handed down to and transformed in the Ming dynasty. The formation of their styles may reflect certain external influences, but their talents allowed them to fuse the cultural heritage of the T'ang, Sung, and Yuan masters, bringing out the essence of the ancients to create the distinctive manner of Ming painting. Their impact on figure painting is seen in late Ming woodblock printing and the large number of later forgeries done in imitation.     This special exhibition from the collection of the National Palace Museum includes a gallery in which the paintings are displayed along with enlarged transparencies of details for further study and appreciation. It is hoped that viewers will come away with a greater understanding of mid-Ming figure painting in general and the works of Tu Chin, Chou Ch'en, T'ang Yin, and Ch'iu Ying in particular.