Yang Meizi (1162-1232) was a native of Shaoxing, whose real name was Wa. Good at poetry, good at calligraphy and painting, and good at appreciation. The painting style is Southern Song Dynasty courtyard style, with beautiful colors and concise painting techniques. The scenery is painted using Ma Yuan's method, and the flowers are painted using Ma Lin's method. There are many poems written by Ma Yuan on the scrolls collected by the Imperial Palace during the reign of Emperor Ning Zong. His poem titles in small regular script are rigorous, graceful, and charming in calligraphy.
There have always been different opinions on whether Queen Ningzong of the Southern Song Dynasty and Yang Meizi belonged to the same person or two people. Tao Zongyi of the Ming Dynasty recorded in "History of Calligraphy and History": "Yang Meizi is the younger sister of Empress Yang. Her books are similar to Ningzong's. There are many distant paintings with their subjects, and the language is about emotions and thoughts, and people may ridicule them." Sun Chengze of the Qing Dynasty, "Gengzi Xiaoxia Lu" Contains: "Ma Yuan, the most famous in the painting academy, has a branch of red plum left, which is as beautiful as life. Yang Meizi wrote a poem on it. Note: Yang Meizi is the sister of Empress Gongsheng of Ningzong, and her calligraphy is similar to that of Ningzong. Every painting painted by Ma Yuan in the imperial palace was often inscribed." Wang Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty said: "Any painting from Yuan that comes to the imperial court is awarded to a noble relative, and Yang Wa is ordered to inscribe it." All of the above mentioned Yang Meizi, I think Yang Meizi She is the sister of Queen Yang. Qi Gong's "Qi Gong Collection" "On the "Yang Meizi" inscribed on the paintings of the Southern Song Dynasty" believes that Yang Wa is the wrong surname of Yang, and the surname Yang is Empress Yang. Mr. Xu Bangda believes that treating Yang Hou and Yang Meizi as two people is a mistake made by Ming and Qing scholars. There are three reasons: first, Zhou Mi's "Qidong Wild Words" and Ye Shaoweng's "Four Dynasties Scenes" both prove that Queen Yang was an orphan and had no brothers or sisters. Her brother Yang Cishan was also recognized later and has no blood relationship; second, the existing Yang Queen The calligraphy and painting inscriptions are in the same font, with only some changes in the early and late periods. There is no sign that they were written by the two people. Moreover, the seals of "Kunning Palace Hanmo", "Kun Gua" and "Kunning Palace" can only be used by the empress. Other than that, no one else can use it; thirdly, in the fourth volume of "Wu Li Bu Ji" written by Wu Shidao in the Yuan Dynasty, there is a note on the poem "Autumn Moon Picture in the Immortal Altar". There is such a record: "Palace fan, painted by Ma Yuan, inscribed by Yang after Emperor Ningzong of the Song Dynasty." Poetry, calling herself Yang Meizi".
Written by: Liu Youlin
A seven-character poem, 23.2 x 24.4 cm. Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. Donated by John M. Crawford Jr.
Picture reproduced from the website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA
A seven-character poem, collected by the Affiliated Library of Princeton University, USA
