Background
Tang Yin was born on March 6, 1470 in Suzhou, China. His family belonged to a low merchant class and Tang’s father ran a restaurant. Though, he wasn't raised in poverty, the family was far from affluent.
calligrapher educator painter poet
Tang Yin was born on March 6, 1470 in Suzhou, China. His family belonged to a low merchant class and Tang’s father ran a restaurant. Though, he wasn't raised in poverty, the family was far from affluent.
Tang was a pupil of the great Shen Zhou. In 1498, he won the first place in the provincial examinations in Nanjing. Tang was a brilliant student, however, he was accused of cheating in the national examinations, that would have guaranteed him the security of a government sinecure and comfort for the cultivation of scholarly pursuits. Immediately after that, Yin was jailed for a while, and then, he settled down in Suzhou.
In his early years, Yin served as a protégé of the poet and painter Wen Lin, who would later become his patron and advocate, helping him further his career.
Tang Yin pursued a life of pleasure. He produced paintings and then sold them to earn a living. That mode of living brought him into disrepute with a later generation of artist-critics (for example, Dong Qichang), who felt, that financial independence was vital to enable an artist to follow his own style and inspiration. While Tang was associated with paintings of feminine beauty, his paintings (especially landscapes) otherwise exhibit the same variety and expression of his peers and reveal a man of both artistic skill and profound insight.
Tang claimed himself to be "the First Talented and Romantic Scholar in South China". His landscape paintings gracefully portrayed grand and steep mountains in a sparse layout with delicate and fine lines. His figure paintings, mostly about ladies and historical stories, inherited traditions of the Tang Dynasty and employed clear and fine lines and flamboyant, elegant colors.
Yin was also good at freehand figure paintings, which were terse and full of interest. As to flower-and-bird paintings, he excelled in freehand ink-and-water paintings, which were casual, free and graceful. Besides painting, Yin was also adept in calligraphy. Also, he achieved great success in literature.
Tang Yin was an unruly, versatile and multitalented man.