(b Changzhou [modern Suzhou], Jiangsu Province; fl c. 1594-1640). Chinese painter. Little is known about the life of Sheng Maoye: literary sources describe only his painting style, and he provided no personal information in inscriptions on his paintings. There is no record of his having pursued an official career, no family history and no surviving contemporary criticism of his skills. This implies that he did not move in Suzhou literati circles, since painters firmly established in the scholar-amateur ?lite, such as Dong Qichang, are generally well documented. Indeed, Sheng's paintings are 'functional' rather than in the literati style (see CHINA,
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