Sheng Hao Research

Sheng Mao,an artist of Yuan dynasty,whose style name is Zi Zhao,is from Weitang,Jiaxing.The birth and death date of him is unknown in history,but he lives in approximately the same period of time as that of Wu Zhen.Sheng Mao is considered more as a commercial painter,a craftsman,rather than an artist,thus he wasn't paid too much attention to in art history.Few records were found describing his life,mostly in vague;and due to the prejudice in the theories of Literati paintings,there are always complimentary comments on Wu Zhen,but downgraded comments on Sheng Mao,which criticize himfastidious on exquisite delicacy and techniques.The author of this thesis has endeavored,to the maximum extent of his capability,to collect most of Sheng Mao's artworks existing in the world.By combining them with the historical background and the ruler's attitude to art in Yuan dynasty and probing into different facets,such as Sheng Mao's life,apprenticeship,related archives and documents on his artworks,current analyses on his artworks,comparison between Wu Zhen and Sheng Mao's artworks,Sheng Mao's art style and its influences,etc.,the author tries to rectify the common viewpoints towards Yuan dynasty paintings,which were originally influenced by traditional artists and critics' viewpoints,especially Dong Qichang's viewpoints.The author also tries to analyze and render objective evaluation on Sheng Mao from different perspectives,and denotes that although Sheng Mao's art and influence can't surpass the Four Masters of Yuan Dynasty,but his art style,which integrates essence of academic paintings and literati paintings,truly is a unique feature in the art world of Yuan dynasty.