stylistic:style_transfer, quality:corruption
Calligraphy and painting

In his theoretical works, Dong Qichang (1555–1636) from Songjiang, a renowned scholar who excelled in literary composition, painting, and calligraphy from a young age, best expressed the aesthetic rules of the Imperial Painting Academy. While he was primarily known as a theoretician of painting, he also wrote about the history of calligraphy. Dong emphasized the importance of painting as a form of calligraphic expression and encouraged artists to study the techniques of past masters. In order to validate his own artistic abilities, he argued that throughout history, painters were divided into two distinct schools: the ink painting of the Southern School, which strove to express the inner essence of the subject, and the descriptive, decorative tradition of professional "craftsman" painters of the Northern School. He himself positioned himself at the end of the development of the Southern School as the true heir of literati painting, seeking to express the thoughts of the creator rather than seeking material gain. His monumental ink landscapes became the standard for traditional painting, and it was not until the 20th century that the concept of the Northern and Southern Schools was reevaluated. One of the notable painters of the Wanli era was Wu Bin, who worked in Nanjing and later at the Beijing court. He was known for his eccentric style, influenced by the local Fujian tradition and elements of the Wu School, which gave his paintings a sense of elegance and beauty. However, he also incorporated expressive techniques from the Zhe School.

Dong Qichang was a dominant figure in the theory and practice of late Ming calligraphy. In his works on calligraphy, he placed the masters of his Songjiang region above those of Suzhou. He stressed the importance of studying calligraphy from the Eastern Jin (4th century) and Tang (7th–9th century) periods, specifically highlighting the works of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. However, he did not advocate for direct imitation of their styles, but rather a thorough analysis of their techniques. Other notable calligraphers from the second half of the 16th century in Songjiang included Dong Qichang's friend Chen Jiru, a versatile artist and collector, and Xu Wei, a predecessor of individual Qing dynasty artists, known for his "flowers and birds" genre paintings and his " crazy conceptual calligraphy " style, which was similar to abstract painting.