This is the caption of image number 1Mi Wanzhong (1570-1628), Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
Undated, hanging scroll, ink on paper, 166.8×42.8 cm

 

Mi Wanzhong was a native of Anhua in Shaanxi Province. He moved to Beijing and served as an Imperial Bodyguard (jinyiwei). He was the descendant of Mi Fu (1051-1107). He received the jinshi degree in the highest level of civil service recruitment examinations in 1591 (the twenty-third year of the Wanli reign), and held the post of Surveillance Commissioner (anchashi) of Jiangxi Province. In 1625 (the fifth year of the Tianqi reign), Mi Wanzhong was impeached by Ni Wenhuan, a partisan of the notorious eunuch Wei Zhongxian (1568-1627), was convicted and removed from his post. In 1628 (the first year of the Chongzhen reign), he resumed the official post of "Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud" until his death later that year. Mi Wanzhong was especially interested in collecting, appreciating and painting scholar rocks. He was expert in painting landscapes, flowers, and bamboo. In calligraphy, his running script and cursive script inherited the spirit of the Mi Family, which enjoyed equal reputation and popularity with Dong Qichang. The two were called "Dong in the South and Mi in the North". Much of Mi Wanzhong's calligraphy work has survived.
  The scroll is signed "Written by Mi Wanzhong", with two intaglio seals: "Mi Wanzhong, courtesy named Zhongzhao" and "Living between the West Mount and the North Sea" (Jiazai xishan beihaijian). Zhu Mouyin of the Ming dynasty said of Mi Wanzhong's calligraphy that it captured the essence of his ancestor Mi Fu.