#chu ta

Chu Ta (1626-1705) comes from a family of royal blood, the Ming dynasty. He was educated in an environment extremely cultivated, where his grandfather and his father exercised as renowned painters and calligraphers. Since eight years, he begins to manifest their artistic talents in an exceptional way in poetry, calligraphy and engraving. In 1644 the Manchu rebellion and subsequent political censorship and control imposed by force, will determine the development of Chu Ta reacts in front of the slavish acceptance of other artists, with the deletion of the word. For years, no sound, communicating only with slight gestures and glances and delivering orally to those who addressed him, a leaflet in which you could read the word MUTE. The death of his father after the Manchu conquest, leads the artist to take refuge in the mountains, hosted by a Buddhist community. After the first few moments when suffering fits of madness, monastic life gets calm his troubled spirit. In 1653 he received the title of Master Buddhist and settled on Mount Hung-Ya, where his teachings will soon have many followers. By 1661, it departs from Buddhism to haunt the Taoist circles, which were characterized at the time by his active struggle against the Manchu power, returning to lay life and devoting definitely art. Become a celebrity, and having recovered more or less use of the word, he married and settled around 1696 in Yang-Chou, commercial and artistic center of excellence, which will get at last live in balance.