Hu Zhengyan

Hu Zhengyan
One of Hu Zhengyan's personal seals
Bornc. 1584
Xiuning, China
Diedc. 1674 (aged 89–90)
Nanjing, China
Other namesHu Yuecong, Hu Cheng-yen
Occupation(s)Publisher, artist, seal-carver
Known forColour woodblock printing
Notable workTen Bamboo Studio Manual
Chinese name
Chinese胡正言
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHú Zhèngyán
Gwoyeu RomatzyhHwu Jenq-yan
Wade–GilesHu2 Cheng4-yen2
IPA[xǔ ʈʂə̂ŋ.jɛ̌n]
Wu
Romanizationɦou tsen-nyĩ
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationWùh Jing-yìhn
JyutpingWu4 Zing3-jin4
Southern Min
Tâi-lôÔo Tsiànn-giân
Courtesy name
Traditional Chinese曰從
Simplified Chinese曰从
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYuēcóng
Wade–GilesYüeh1-ts'ung2

Hu Zhengyan (Chinese: 胡正言; c. 1584 – 1674) was a Chinese artist, printmaker and publisher. He worked in calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, and seal-carving, but was primarily a publisher, producing academic texts as well as records of his own work.

Hu lived in Nanjing during the transition from the Ming dynasty to the Qing dynasty. A Ming loyalist, he was offered a position at the rump court of the Hongguang Emperor, but declined the post, and never held anything more than minor political office. He did, however, design the Hongguang Emperor's personal seal, and his loyalty to the dynasty was such that he largely retired from society after the emperor's capture and death in 1645. He owned and operated an academic publishing house called the Ten Bamboo Studio, in which he practised various multi-colour printing and embossing techniques, and he employed several members of his family in this enterprise. Hu's work at the Ten Bamboo Studio pioneered new techniques in colour printmaking, leading to delicate gradations of colour which were not previously achievable in this art form.

Hu is best known for his manual of painting entitled The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy, an artist's primer which remained in print for around 200 years. His studio also published seal catalogues, academic and medical texts, books on poetry, and decorative writing papers. Many of these were edited and prefaced by Hu and his brothers.