[zi Shuminghao Huanghe ShanqiaoXiangguang Jushi] (b Wuxing, Zhejiang Province, c. 1308; d 1385). Chinese landscape painter, poet, and scholar–official. He is traditionally ranked as one of the Four Masters of the Yuan, with Huang Gongwang, Ni Zan, and Wu Zhen. He was the leading figure in the development of a type of landscape that blended monumental, powerful visual presence with complex, ambiguous structures evocative of mental states and personal situations. Later generations of artists painted landscapes in imitation of Wang Meng, creating an image of his style that at times has obscured his own achievement and identity. Wang Meng was born into an eminent family of scholars, artists, and officials. His father, Wang Guoqi (1284–c. 1366), was a poet, calligrapher, and connoisseur; his maternal uncle was the painter–official Zhao Yong, and his maternal grandfather was Zhao Mengfu, the leading painter and calligrapher of the early part of the Yuan period (1279–1368). Little is known of Wang Meng’s early life except that he had a talent in poetry. Family connections were probably crucial in his securing an introduction into cultured circles. Wang moved to Mt. Huanghe near Hangzhou, from which derives his literary name, Huanghe Shanqiao ('Fuel gatherer of Mt. Huanghe'), and embarked on a career as a painter, perhaps in the early 1340s, although no genuine works survive from this period. He also traveled widely in nearby areas of southeastern China, including Suzhou and Wuxi (Jiangsu Province) and Songjiang (in modern Shanghai Municipality), visiting famous sites, attending literary gatherings, and becoming acquainted with the leading writers and painters of the day....