(b Qingjiang, Jiangxi Province, 1098; d after 1167). Chinese painter. Although documented primarily as a painter of plum blossom, he is also reported to have specialized in the human figure and to have painted bamboo, pine trees, rocks and narcissus. Xia Wenyan, writing in 1365, noted Yang’s personal integrity in refusing to serve the government of the Song dynasty (960–1279) because of its policy of appeasement towards the Jurchen, a nomadic people who conquered northern China and ruled as the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). Yang was one of the earliest exponents of the tradition of painting plum blossom in monochrome ink, subject-matter approved of by the literati painters whose ideals dominated painting of the following Yuan period (1279–1368). He was preceded by the Chan Buddhist priest Zhongren (d 1123), whose paintings define the shape of the blossoms solely in ink wash. In contrast, Yang created the circled petal (quanban) technique wherein the flexibility of the brush hairs is employed to outline the shape of the whole flower. In placing greater emphasis on control of the brush, Yang brought the genre closer to calligraphy, the most scholarly of the Chinese arts. The only securely attributed example of Yang’s painting that survives is Four Stages of Blossoming Plum (handscroll, ink on paper, 1165; Beijing, Pal. Mus.). Four separate scenes depict the blossom in various stages from bursting buds to full flowering with petals beginning to fall; the subtle rendering of the blossom combines with crisp, controlled strokes describing dark branches.

• Yang Buzhi
  • China, §V, 3(vi)(c): Painting: Bamboo, plum and ink-flowers
  • China, §V, 3(vi)(c): Painting: Bamboo, plum and ink-flowers