Xu Daoning

Xu Daoning (simplified Chinese: 许道宁; traditional Chinese: 許道寧; pinyin: Xǔ Dàoníng; Wade–Giles: Hsü Tao-ning) (c. 970–1051/53) was a Chinese painter of the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1279) from Chang'an (now Xi'an) or Hejian (河间 now Hebei).^[1] He started out life by selling medicine prescriptions in Kaifeng. While selling prescriptions, he also began painting nature scenes in the style of Li Cheng.^[1] After gaining popularity he took up painting murals for Chinese nobles. His most notable work is Fishermen's Evening Song (ca. 1049).^[2]

Fishermen's Evening Song (detail), one of Xu Daoning's most famous paintings, located in the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri