Early Life and Background Ni Zan, a renowned Chinese painter, was born in Wuxi (江蘇省無錫市) around 1301 into a wealthy merchant family. His courtesy name was Yuan Zhen (元鎮), and his art names were Yun Lin Zi (雲林子), Huan Xia Sheng (幻霞生), and Jing Man Min (荊蠻民). Despite being born after the death of Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler who dominated China during the thirteenth century, Ni Zan’s family possessed considerable resources enabling them to provide him with a rigorous Confucian education—a rare privilege at the time—despite the limitations imposed by governmental positions. This upbringing insti…