Major eighteenth-century Qīng court painter and theorist of flower-painting; zì Xiǎoshān 小山, hào Ràngxiāng 讓鄉, of Wúxí 無錫. Lifedates 1686–1772 (CBDB matches catalog meta). Yōngzhèng dīngwèi 5 (1727) jìnshì; rose through the Hanlin and the Southern Studio to Nèigé xuéshì 內閣學士 with the rank of Right Vice-Minister of Rites (Lǐbù shìláng 禮部侍郎). A favoured court flower painter under the Qiánlóng emperor, he was commanded in Qiánlóng 21 (1756) to paint 36 species of yángjú 洋菊 (western chrysanthemum) — a key episode in the history of botanical illustration at the eighteenth-century court. Married into the Yùn 惲 family of Chángzhōu — son-in-law of Yùn Shòupíng 惲壽平 (1633–1690), the great Cháng-zhōu-school mòjīng 沒骨 flower-painting master, from whom he received the family painting transmission. Author of KR3h0071 Xiǎoshān huàpǔ 小山畫譜, the principal Qīng theoretical handbook on flower-painting, distilling the Bāfǎ Sìzhī (Eight Methods and Four Knowings) framework.