Bada Shanren

Timeline

1. 1631–1640Nanchang · JiangxiIn the 1630s Zhu Da grew up in the Nanchang princely household, studying calligraphy and painting under his father Zhu Moutan and others, alongside a traditional education in classics and histories. During this period the Ming court's internal and external crises deepened, with frequent news of fighting in Liaodong and peasant uprisings, laying the groundwork for the artistic temperament that followed his later loss of family and country.
2. 1645–1680Xishan, Nanchang · JiangxiAfter Qing forces advanced south, Zhu Da feared a purge of the imperial clan and entered monastic life around 1645, taking Buddhist names such as Geshan, and lived in seclusion in a monastery for nearly thirty years, studying Chan and immersing himself in the calligraphy and painting of successive dynasties, laying the foundation for his distinctive late style.