Ni Zan (倪瓚) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Ni Zan as a calligrapher, hermit, painter, and poet. This record brings together 8 passages from 1 chapter across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Ni Zan	倪瓚	Ni Zan
Surname	Ni	倪
Alternate	Recluse of Cloud Forest	雲林居士	Yunlin Jushi
Courtesy	Yuanzhen	元鎮	Yuanzhen

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Strongly inferred · mingshi:298:s0025

Roles

Calligrapher
Hermit
Painter
Poet

Life and dates

Death

Age: 74
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0043

Age

Age: 74 · Reckoning: sui
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0043

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 洪武七年 · Western Year: AD 1374
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0043
Source Date: Text: 至正初 · Western Year: AD 1341
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0036

Career and standing

Status: commoner-disguise · Action: adopted
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0042
Status: wealthy · Action: held
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0026

Places and affiliations

Place: Wuxi / 無錫
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0025
Place: Lake Zhen and the Three Marshes / 震澤、三泖 · Relation: traveled
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0037

Learning and skills

Skill: poetry / 詩 · Level: accomplished
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0026
Skill: calligraphy and painting / 書畫 · Level: excelled
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0026

Events and relationships

Kind: personal · Role: actor · Action: distributed-wealth-to-kin
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0036
Kind: political · Role: fugitive · Action: escaped-recruitment · Other Person Id: Zhang Shicheng (張士誠)
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0038

Assessments and attributes

Kind: physical-habit · Statement: obsession with cleanliness
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0033
Item: Qingbi pavilion / 清閟 · Relation: resided-in
Explicit · mingshi:298:s0028

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

History of Ming, Chapter 298Volume 298 Biographies 186: Recluses · 8 passages

Open chapter

張介福倪瓚徐舫楊恆陳洄楊引吳海劉閔楊黼孫一元沈周陳繼儒 Zhang Jiefu, Ni Zan, Xu Fang, Yang Heng, Chen Hui, Yang Yin, Wu Hai, Liu Min, Yang Fu, Sun Yiyuan, Shen Zhou, and Chen Jiru

倪瓚，字元鎮，無錫人也。 Ni Zan, courtesy name Yuanzhen, was a native of Wuxi.

四時卉木，縈繞其外，高木修篁，蔚然深秀，故自號雲林居士。 Flowers and trees of every season encircled the pavilion outside, and tall timber and slender bamboo rose in lush, deep beauty. He therefore styled himself the Recluse of Cloud Forest.

求縑素者踵至，瓚亦時應之。 Those seeking silk scrolls for his paintings came in an endless stream, and Zan would sometimes oblige them.

未幾兵興，富家悉被禍，而瓚扁舟箬笠，往來震澤、三泖間，獨不罹患。 Before long warfare broke out, and wealthy families were ruined one after another. Zan alone, in a small boat and bamboo hat, moved between Lake Zhen and the Three Marshes and suffered no harm.

其弟士信以幣乞畫，瓚又斥去。 His younger brother Shixin sent gifts begging for a painting, and Zan drove him away once more.

士信恚，他日從賓客游湖上，聞異香出葭葦間，疑為瓚也，物色漁舟中，果得之。 Shixin was furious. One day, while touring the lake with his guests, he caught a strange fragrance rising from the reeds, suspected it was Zan, searched the fishing boats, and found him.

及吳平，瓚年老矣，黃冠野服，混跡編氓。 When Wu was pacified, Zan was already old. In a Daoist cap and rustic dress he mingled among the common people.