Yuen T’ao Liu

Yuen T’ao Liu (circa 1450 – 1505) was a scholar and artist living in Japan during the Tanaka Dynasty. He was widely regarded as being the most skilful and influential artist of his time, assisting Emperor Tanaka with artistic pursuits – from landscaping the palace to portraiture.

Childhood

Born in Xi’an, China, in a peasant village, Yuen travelled to Ji’an as a boy of about 12 years, in search of his fortune. He left with few possessions, but among them was a brush and ink set he had received from his grandmother before her death. By all accounts, she was a talented calligrapher and hoped that her enthusiastic grandson would be the same.

Revealing his skill

Upon reaching Ji’an, Yuen was abducted by slave traders, who took him and ten other children to Yamoto, Japan, to be sold on the black market. He and fellow abductee ‘Mei’ were bought as house keepers by a well to do family nearby, and became close friends.

The family were busy with their textile business and did not take much interest in Yuen and Mei, but after working for many hours a day Yuen would retire to his quarters and paint. He used his extremely unfavorable allowance to purchase small jars of black ink, with which he created vast imaginary landscapes, exotic animals and distinguished soldiers.

Mei was fascinated by Yuen’s artwork, and would take his paintings from their quarters while he worked and leave them around the house, hoping they could somehow help the two of them find freedom. It did not take long for owners and visitors alike to take notice of their unique quality – that of an artist inherently gifted.

Discovered talent

After some months a merchant traveling through Japan from the Dutch East Indies, Bona Sijabat, took a collection of Yuen’s artwork to market to be sold in the city. As legend has it, members of the palace were visiting on that day and insisted on purchasing all of the pieces on offer. When they returned to the palace, the Emperor demanded to meet the artist.

Employment at the palace

Though he is thought to have been only 15 at the time and spoke barely a word of Japanese, Yuen was taken from the home and employed by the Emperor in Kyoto, where he was to create artwork for the palace. His distinct method of using Chinese style to capture Japanese landscape attracted a great deal of attention from visiting dignitaries and leaders. After being refused the right to purchase his work, Yuen instead offered portraiture.

With the acclaim he received from his portraits Yuen earned the right to be tutored by palace teachers. He learned of the art of literature, traditional poetry and music, and spent his free time immersed in new painting techniques.

Becoming an art scholar

Around the time of his 30th birthday, Yuen began speaking in public domains about his art and that of others. He became well known as an authority on many artistic subjects, choosing to study painting and calligraphy beyond what he had learned with his tutors. He went on to write what would become one of the most famous texts of the time – “The Art of Creating Art”.

Love

Throughout the time he spent as a renowned artist and scholar, Yuen often spoke of his young love, Mei. It wasn’t until between 1485 and 1490 that she was located, still living working as a seamstress. She was brought to live in Kyoto, where she was provided with ample employment, sewing kimonos for the royal family. Although it is believed that Yuen and Mei remained unmarried and did not have any children, they spoke of each other with only great love, and have often been pictured together in Yuen’s self portraits.

Remaining life

As Yuen’s time within the palace passed, developing methods of painting only made his work more and more beautiful. More than 400 of his paintings are believed to have hung within palace corridors, and 50 more in the Emperor’s private chambers alone. Many of his works of art remain on display around Japan in private collections. His most renowned painting – a portrait depicting him and his long-deceased grandmother – hangs in a private collection in his home land of China.

Sources

• Merrington, T.D. A History of Asian Art, 1971