Wen Zhengming

Wen Zhengming (1470–1559), born Wen Bi, took the art name Hengshan. He was a Suzhou painter, calligrapher and poet and one of the Four Masters of Ming painting. In 1489 he became a pupil of Shen Zhou, founder of the Wu school.

He failed the provincial examinations nine times before winning a Hanlin Academy post in 1523; he resigned in 1526 and spent the next thirty years leading the Wu school in Suzhou.

The Humble Administrator's Garden inspired his poems and paintings. Famed for his regular and running script, he died in 1559 while writing an epitaph.