Pu Xinyu（溥心畬）

PU Xinyu (1896–1963), born into the Aisin Gioro imperial family of the Qing dynasty, was one of the most influential painters, calligraphers, and poets of twentieth-century Chinese art. Known alongside Zhang Daqian as “South Zhang, North Pu,” and together with Huang Junbi and Zhang Daqian as one of the “Three Masters Crossing the Sea,” he later taught at the Department of Fine Arts at National Taiwan Normal University. Deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, Pu excelled in poetry, calligraphy, landscapes, bird-and-flower painting, and figure painting, and was often regarded as “the last great literati painter.” Yet beyond preserving tradition, he developed a highly distinctive artistic language that combined classical refinement with a modern sensibility. His elegant small-format paintings, innovative boneless landscape techniques, and even humorous comic-like works revealed both profound scholarship and remarkable creativity. After relocating to Taiwan, Pu created numerous works inspired by local scenery such as Taroko Gorge and Beitou’s Phoenix Pavilion. Rather than simply depicting nature, he transformed personal experience and poetic imagination into expressive visual worlds, embodying the literati ideal of “poetry within painting, and painting within poetry.” For PU Xinyu, painting was not merely a technical discipline, but the culmination of scholarship, character, and spiritual cultivation. Through his mastery of tradition and innovative artistic vision, he opened new possibilities for modern literati painting and remains one of the defining figures of modern Chinese art.