Fishing Village in an Autumn Clear Day

This painting was created by Ni Zan, one of the "four famous painters in Yuan Dynasty". Ni Zan was the most characterized one among the "four famous painters in Yuan Dynasty". It was said that Ni Zan had a withdrawn character and was hyper-neat. His family was once a big landlord and his ancestors were good at accumulating fortune, but Ni Zan did not care about fortune. He spent all day long with monks or visiting friends and admiring paintings. At the end of Yuan Dynasty when the society was quite unrest, he even sold out all his properties, dismissed all the servants, and traveled widely. At last, people even did not know where he died. Ni Zan's paintings were just his strong personal expressions. His opposed to subjective enthusiasm and imitation, but advocated "leisurely drawing" and "just to entertain oneself". His painting always gives audiences a kind of desolate and distant feeling, very simple and calm, just like his inner pursue for ultimate cleanness. The painting may depict part of Taihu scenery. In the foreground, there is a riverbank with several withered trees on the shore; in the middle, there is a water surface without any slightest waves; in the distant, there are low and slightly undulating hills. This kind of "one river with two banks" painting composition appeared almost in all Ni Zan's works, together with the feeling of indifferent dullness and loneliness, becoming a unique symbol of Ni Zan's paintings.