Zhao Mengfu (fǔ) (October 20, 1254 - July 30, 1322), courtesy name Zi'ang, Han nationality, also known as Songxue Taoist, also known as Crystal Palace Taoist and Oubo. In his middle age, he was signed by Mengfu. A native of Wuxing, Zhejiang (now Huzhou, Zhejiang). A famous calligrapher, painter, and poet from the late Southern Song Dynasty to the early Yuan Dynasty, he was the eleventh grandson of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin and the direct descendant of Qin King Zhao Defang.

In the twenty-third year of the Yuan Dynasty (1286), Zhao Mengfu was recommended by Cheng Jufu, the imperial censor of Xingtai, and was honored by Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty. He served successively as a bachelor of Jixian, the general manager of Jinan Road, and a Confucian scholar in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. He holds the title of bachelor's degree in civil engineering and imperial examination. He was a scholar of the Hanlin Academy and a doctor of honor and wealth. In his later years, he gradually retired and later begged to return home due to illness. In the second year of Zhizhi (1322), Zhao Mengfu passed away at the age of sixty-nine. He was awarded the posthumous title "Wenmin" by Pingzhang Zhengshi and Wei Guogong of Zhongshu Province in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, so he was called "Zhao Wenmin". He is the author of "Song Xuezhai Collected Works" and so on.
Zhao Mengfu was erudite and talented. He was good at poetry and prose, understood economics, was good at calligraphy and painting, was good at epigraphy and stone, knew laws and regulations, and understood appreciation. Especially calligraphy and painting have the highest achievements. In painting, he created a new style of painting in the Yuan Dynasty, and was known as the "Crown of the Yuan Dynasty"; Zhao Mengfu was also good at seal script, official script, Zhen script, running script, and cursive script, and was especially famous for his regular script and running script. His calligraphy style is charming and elegant, with neat structure and mature writing skills. He created the "Zhao style" calligraphy and is known as the "four masters of regular script" together with Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan.



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