Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Yü Chih-ting
YÜ Chih-ting 禹之鼎 (T. 尚吉, 尚基, 上吉, H. 愼齋), 1649–1702, painter, was a native of Chiang-tu, Kiangsu. In his youth he was a pupil of Lan Ying 藍瑛 (T. 田叔, H. 蝶叟, 石頭陀), a noted painter of the late Ming period. Yü Chih-ting's greatest skill lay in portraiture for which he generally used the so-called "black and white" method (白菗). He also employed the "orchid leaf style" (蘭葉法) of the great T'ang artist, Wu Tao-hsüan 吳道玄 (T. 道子, early 8th century). For more than six years prior to 1690 he held a post in the capital as usher in the Court of State Ceremonial and also served in the Imperial Court as a painter. Many contemporaries of note, such as Wu Wei-yeh, Ch'ên T'ing-ching, Kao Shih-ch'i, and Hsü Ch'ien-hsüeh [qq. v.], induced him to prepare portraits and other paintings for them. In 1645 he retired from office, making his home at Tung-t'ing shan in T'ai-hu, Kiangsu. A painting by him, entitled 王會圖 Wang-hui t'u, "Assembly of the Princes", was inspired by the chapter, Wang-hui, in the ancient work 逸周書 I Chou-shu. He presumably adapted it to the ceremonies then accorded by the Ch'ing Court to princes and ambassadors of tributary states. A painting which he made for Wang Shih-chên [q. v.] in 1701, entitled 王漁洋踏雪尋梅圖 Wang Yu-yang t'a-hsüeh hsün-mei t'u, is reproduced in the work, 中國名畫 Chung-kuo ming-hua, series eight. The 故宮週刊 Ku-kung chou-k'an (nos. 172 and 474) has also reproduced two of his paintings from the Palace Museum, Peiping.
[1/509/2b; 19/2上/47b; 20/1/00 (portrait); 27/13/7b; Chiang-tu hsien hsü-chih (1831) 6/23a; Waley, Index, p. 109; T'oung Pao 1922, p. 359; Chavannes, Ars Asiatica I, p. 55; L.T.C.L.H.M., p. 191 lists a number of paintings attributed to him.]
Tu Lien-chê