Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 7, 2015
Hu Zhengyan (c. 1584 – 1674) was a Chinese artist, printmaker and publisher. He worked in calligraphy, painting, and seal-carving (his own seal pictured), but was primarily a publisher, producing academic texts and records of his work. Hu lived in Nanjing during the transition from the Ming dynasty to the Qing dynasty. A Ming loyalist, he designed the Hongguang Emperor's personal seal and was offered a position at the emperor's remnant court, but declined the post, and held only minor political offices. 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 Nanjing, where he practised various multi-colour printing and embossing techniques. Hu's work pioneered new techniques in colour printmaking, producing delicate gradations of colour not previously achievable. He is best known for The Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy, an artist's primer which remained in print for around 200 years. (Full article...)