The young painter Wáng Xīmèng

王希孟 was a painter who lived from the year 1096 to 1119, during the Northern Song Dynasty. He had enormous talent! When he was only 18 years old, he completed the painting “A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains” (千里江山圖) which is 51.5 centimeters high, and almost 12 meters wide. It only took Wang Ximeng half a year to finish it. It’s painted on a piece of silk and shows mountains, rivers, villages, and nature, as well as the activities of many people. It has a very traditional green and blue tint and the lines are very fine.

Wang sadly died when he was only 23 years old. If you ever come to China, you can see this painting in the Forbidden City’s Palace Museum, in Beijing.