Background
Mi Fu was born in 1051 in Huaiyin in the Jiangsu province, China. His mother was emperor Ying Tsung’s wet nurse, so he was raised within the imperial premises, where he could freely mix with the imperial family.
米黻
calligrapher painter art collector scholars poet
Mi Fu was born in 1051 in Huaiyin in the Jiangsu province, China. His mother was emperor Ying Tsung’s wet nurse, so he was raised within the imperial premises, where he could freely mix with the imperial family.
Little Mi grew up in the privileged location of the imperial palaces. He showed his great intellect as very young, since he was able to learn more than a hundred poems per one day, and recite them all with complete preciseness. This incredible memory was combined with an interest in arts and letters, showing great talent for calligraphy. He received formal lessons to become official and start working for the imperial family but he despised these lessons. However, he demonstrated an amazing level of understanding of what he was taught, and besides calligraphy, he also had a great gift for painting and poetry.
He started his career as a Reviser of Books at the imperial library, before moving on to Henan province, where he changed three posts. Mi was more than a capable official but his position had to be changed often due to his sharp tongue. He would often criticize official ways and refused to submit to conventional rules. He became a doctor of philosophy in 1103, before returning to capital in 1104 to become a professor of painting and calligraphy. Mi’s next position was as a secretary to the Board of Rites, and he moved on to become a military governor of Huaiyang. He died at this position in 1107.
Mi lived in the 11th century when the majority of painters were intellectual scholars. Painting wasn’t their professional occupation but merely a way to express their intellectual reactions or views of life. Although there were many who were masters of ink painting and calligraphy they avoided becoming a professional artist and receiving the deserved fame.
One of these ‘gentlemen-painters’ was Mi Fu. He had an incredible gift for artistic observation, as well as a literary ability. Combined with the sense of humor and courage to write what he saw with his own eyes, this profiled him as one of the most prominent Chinese art historians. His writings help to get a better grip on his idea and character, as well as the ideas of other artists he wrote about.
Perhaps the most significant event in Mi’s life occurred in 1081 when he met Su Shih, the great calligrapher, poet and art theorist of his time. They started forming a circle of extraordinary artists, which included Huan T’ing-chien, calligrapher and poet, Li Kung-lin, antiquarian and painter, and Chao Ta-nien, art collector and painter. Together, they came up with the concept of literati painting (wen-jen-hua), the most dynamic branch of painting all the way to today. Along with his colleagues, Mi did a lot for Chinese art history. They rediscovered the works of Tu Fu, who is now regarded as ‘the greatest poet of China’, and rescued Wang Wei and K’ai-chih, two brilliant scholar-painters, from obscurity.
Mi was most famous and most brilliant as a calligrapher. He was so good that the standards he set served to rate calligraphers for the centuries to come. He believed in originality and criticized artists that failed to have personal expression. Mi claims that you could often see this in the works of professional painters, who weren’t encouraged to express themselves. He even claimed that the academy murdered one of its members because he was too original.
Mi was also known for painting misty landscapes in his own style. He used big wet ink dots (“Mi dots”) and applied them using a flat brush. He would begin with a very pale ink on a mildly wet paper, to amass clusters of shadowed forms. He would then gradually add darker ink to build up mountain silhouettes bathed in cloaking, wet mist. The painting “Tower of Rising Clouds” presents the style that will become known as the “Mi Fu” style despite the fact that he wasn’t appreciated at the Song court due to the uninhibited style he was known for.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of painting attributed to him that cannot be guaranteed to be Mi’s original creations. This is not the case with his calligraphy samples, whose authenticity can be confirmed and this is why he is predominantly remembered as a skilled calligrapher. Mi was one of the best calligraphers in Song Dynasty. He found inspiration in the previous dynasties but added his own mark. He was accused of being an imitator, and his own son even witnessed that he always used the work of another master of calligraphy as a model, but nobody can deny that Mi was a brilliant calligrapher.
His writings were comprehensive. Hua Shi (Account of Painting) and Baozhang Daifang Lu (Critical Description of Calligraphics in Mi Fu’s Collection) contain records and criticism of his and painting of others, as well as essays on aesthetic history.
(One of the Mi Fu's paintings where his style of painting ...)
Although there is no reliable data regarding Mi Fu's religious views, it is safe to presume that he had confucianism beliefs.
Although he did often confronted and differed from the official ways, he was an official during the Song dynasty. He was even the military governor of the Huaiyang province.
Mi Fu was known as a great eccentric. Aside from being extremely fond of cleanliness, he developed a passion for collecting stones. He even found a stone and declared it to be his brother, whom he would bow to as an act of devotion. This is how he earned the nickname "Madman Mi".
His great passion was art collecting. He inherited some of the old writings and painting, but he acquired the rest. He went a long way to get the samples he desired. One anecdote claims he was so thrilled with a sample of writing he found while he was on a boat with his friends that he threatened to jump overboard unless he was given the sample as a present.
His collection became so great that scholars came to take a look at it. He kept one pair open to the visitors, while the other was kept only for the eyes of his friends.
Quotations: “When a man of today obtains such an old sample it seems to him as important as his life, which is ridiculous. It is in accordance with human nature, that things which satisfy the eye, when seen for a long time become boring; therefore they should be exchanged for fresh examples, which then appear double satisfying. That is the intelligent way of using pictures.”
Mi Fu was a capable official and a man full of talents but he possessed an obvious hostility towards authority. He often criticized official ways and encouraged independence in each person, as he tried to be as independent and unique as possible. He appreciated originality and didn't hesitate to state his own opinion, even when it was different to the one of the majority.
He was extremely fond of cleanliness, he even washed his face often while he was working. Mi was also known as a drinker.
Physical Characteristics: Sources state that Mi Fu attracted the attention of the crowd wherever he went, with his behaviour as much as with his physical appearance. Mi was verly peculiar in the way he dressed, refusing to wear anything that was worn by another person.
He was married and had five sons and eight daughters.