Qingxu Valley Shan Yin Cottage Map - Painted by Ren Bonian, depicting his studio residence, elegant and refined

Ink and color on paper, 283.6cm × 29.4cm, Collection of Guangzhou Museum

The painting depicts a riverbank with rocks, several thatched huts, shady trees, and lush bamboo groves. The environment is beautiful, tranquil, and elegant—truly a paradise on earth!

Xu Gu (1823-1896), a native of Xin'an (now Shexian County), Anhui Province, whose secular surname was Zhu and given name was Huai Ren, once served as a general in the Qing Dynasty. Unwilling to be ordered to fight the Taiping Rebellion, he became a monk, but did not observe vegetarianism or Buddhist rituals. He entertained himself with painting and calligraphy, traveling far and wide to make a living by selling his works. In his early years, he studied traditional Chinese painting, specializing in figure painting. He was particularly famous for his paintings of flowers, fruits, birds, fish, landscapes, goldfish, and squirrels, and his calligraphy was also exquisite. He inherited the style of Jianjiang and Cheng Sui of the Xin'an School, tracing back to the Song and Yuan dynasties, and was also influenced by Yangzhou painters such as Hua Xinluo. His brushwork was mature and unconventional. He employed dry brushstrokes and slanted tips, using mainly light colors, occasionally incorporating strong contrasting colors. His style was cool, novel, elegant, and vibrant, without any stagnation. His ingenuity and unique approach set him apart. Wu Changshuo, a master of the Shanghai School, praised him as "breaking through the past, present, and future with a single punch." He was ranked among the "Four Masters of the Shanghai School in the Late Qing Dynasty" along with Ren Bonian, Pu Hua, and Wu Changshuo.