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| A Study on Dai Jin’s Biographical Events |
| Zhao Jing |
| School of Art and Archaeology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China |
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Abstract Dai Jin enjoyed great fame during his lifetime and remained highly celebrated for a long time after his death, earning the reputation of “the foremost painter of the Ming Dynasty”. A wealth of legends about him have circulated, yet extant records are a mixture of fact and fiction with numerous contradictions, which have hindered research into the authentic details of his life. This paper explores four key issues concerning Dai Jin’s life: first, whether he worked as a silversmith in his early years before turning to painting; second, whether he was reprimanded by grand secretaries for painting on behalf of Xie Huan; third, whether he was forced to return to his hometown due to a lack of recognition from the emperor and high officials after arriving in the capital in 1428, the third year of the Xuande reign; and fourth, the approximate time of his return to his hometown Hangzhou in his later years.The claim that Dai Jin initially worked as a silversmith and later turned to painting after his metalworks were melted down was widely circulated in the Qing Dynasty. Similar accounts appear in Biography of Dai Jin by Mao Xianshu and Miscellaneous Records of the Eastern City (Dongcheng Zaji) by Li E, and are still cited and accepted by many modern scholars. However, this story emerged relatively late, and no record has been found in surviving Ming-dynasty documents, rendering it highly questionable. Born into a registered artisan household, Dai’s family belonged to the Five Ink Artisans, professional painter-craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore it would have been unreasonable for him to engage in metal craftsmanship. The earliest surviving work by Dai Jin is Returning to the Country for Birthday Celebration (Guitian Zhushou Tu), completed in 1407, the fifth year of the Yongle reign. A finely wrought painting, it was created when he was only nineteen years old, indicating that he had studied painting for at least five or six years, and maybe more than a decade. He simply did not have sufficient time to become a highly skilled, well-paid gold and silversmith before dedicating himself to painting. Therefore, the claim that Dai Jin was a master metal craftsman is untenable.Li Kaixian’s Zhonglu’s Commentary on Painting (Zhonglu Huapin) records that Dai Jin was reprimanded by four grand secretaries—Zhang Ying, Chen Xun, Gao Gu, and Miao Zhong—for producing paintings on Xie Huan’s behalf, and was consequently compelled to return home. Historical research verifies that the four officials entered the Grand Secretariat across a span of two decades. Zhang Ying served permanently in Nanjing after 1429, the fourth year of the Xuande reign, and passed away years before the other three assumed grand secretary posts. Chronologically, it was impossible for all four ministers to jointly discover Dai Jin acting as a ghost painter for Xie Huan. Furthermore, Dai Jin maintained close social ties with numerous grand secretaries and Hanlin Academy dignitaries throughout the Xuande and Zhengtong reigns. The story of his reprimand for ghost-painting is thus incredible.The argument that Dai Jin was forced to leave Beijing and dwell in his hometown for several years after his arrival in 1428, only to return to the capital during the Zhengtong reign, is also invalid. From 1428 to 1438, the third year of the Xuande reign to the third year of the Zhengtong reign, Dai Jin engaged in continuous artistic creation and social activities in Beijing. In a poem written for Dai Jin in 1438, Zhou Chen referred to him as “having settled by the golden terrace for ten years”, confirming that Dai Jin never left the capital for an extended home stay from the mid-Xuande to the early Zhengtong period.Regarding the exact time of Dai Jin’s final return to Hangzhou in his later years, documentary evidence of his works Leisure Pleasure Painting (Xingle Tu) and Double Integrity Painting offers clear clues. Dai Jin was still in Beijing in 1449, the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong reign, when he painted Leisure Pleasure Painting for Zhou Renjun, son of Minister of Works Zhou Chen. He also completed Double Integrity Painting for Censor Zhu Xuan in the late Zhengtong era, proving that his return to home town could not have occurred before 1449. Minister of Personnel Wang Zhi presented poems to Dai Jin upon his departure from the capital, which means his homecoming took place no later than 1457, the first year of the Tianshun reign, when Wang Zhi left Beijing. Based on the above evidence, it can be concluded that Dai Jin returned to Hangzhou between the end of 1449 and the early Jingtai reign.
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Received: 09 October 2025
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2026, Vol. 56 
