Lu Zhi
(b Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, 1496; d Suzhou, 1576). Chinese painter and minor poet. He is associated with the WU SCHOOL of painters active in Suzhou during the Ming period (1368-1644). Lu's surviving paintings date to 1523-74; the most distinctive, executed between 1547 and 1555, represent a synthesis between the literati style of painting (wenren hua), as exemplified by Wen Zhengming (see WEN, (1)), and the professional tradition, as epitomized by QIU YING. Lu himself was a literatus: after he passed the local civil-service examination, his studies were supported by the prefectural government, though he never succeeded in the provincial examination. In 1557, at the age of 61, he was awarded the largely honorary gongsheng degree and allowed to retire.
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