Guo xi biography

Guo Xi (Wade-Giles romanization Kuo Hsi), like fellow Chinese artist Yi Yuanji lived during the Song Dynasty. He was born around 1020 and died around 1090. Xi lived in the Henan Province and is remembered not only for his paintings but for The Lofty Message of Forest and Streams, a book in which he discusses what he considers the proper way to paint an landscape. He was a student of Song Di.

Xi was a highly educated, court professional who worked in the academy of Emperor Shenzong. Shenzong lived for only 36 years, ruling for half of them, and is most remembered for his reforms designed to improve the lives of the peasantry and unemployed. Many of Xi's works are believed to help promote this spirit of harmony and were viewed as political works by Shenzong's successor Emperor Huizong, a painter in his own right.

Guo Xi's brushstroke techniques were employed by later painters. He refused to subscribe to the preconceived notion that paintings should represe