thumb|right|400px|Court Lady Tuning the Lute, attributed to Zhou Fang.

Zhou Fang (; c. 730–800), courtesy name Zhonglang (), was a Chinese painter during the Tang dynasty. He lived in the Tang capital of Chang'an (modern Xi'an) and painted for the emperor. Zhou Fang came from a wealthy and prominent family, so he was very familiar with the luxurious life of the aristocratic class. He successively served as the governor of Yuezhou and Xuanzhou.

Career and works

Zhou Fang was very skilled in writing, in drawing figures such as Buddha statues, and especially in depicting aristocratic women. He had a dignified appearance, a plump physique, and soft and majestic colors, which were favored by the court officials at that time.

Zhou Fang's Buddhist paintings have long been a popular standard, known as the "Zhou family style". Standing side by side with the "Cao family style", "Zhang family style", and "Wu family style", collectively known as the "Four Family Styles", the "Zhou family style" is the earliest style in ancient China with the characteristics of a painting school and is highly praised by painters throughout history.

Heirloom works of Zhou include the "Court Ladies Wearing Flowered Headdresses" scroll, the "A painting of a lady waving a fan" scroll, and the "Tuning the qin and sipping tea" scroll.

Tang Hou, a scholar from the Yuan dynasty, said in his "Ancient and Modern Painting Mirror": "Zhou Fang is good at painting noble and wandering figures, and often portrays beautiful and plump ladies with a rich and noble aura."

Zhou created paintings of goddesses modeled after imperial court ladies, a development that indicated religious painting was to become more realistic, and that secular painting was beginning to take on its initial form. His portrait paintings emphasized real life, and, as forerunners of secular lady paintings, they influenced later paintings of court ladies. More than half of Zhou Fang's works were paintings of beautiful women. They mainly focused on the enjoyment of life among the noble concubines in the upper class society at that time, such as tea making, palace riding, spring outings, playing the flute, and playing games. The concubines in this picture have a plump figure and gorgeous clothing, but a gloomy face, display lazy behavior, and no vitality.

From the content of Zhou Fang's works, it can be seen that he served the cultural life of the upper-class aristocracy in the Tang dynasty, portraying the luxurious and indulgent lifestyle of the ruling class. Ladies depicted by him have a graceful appearance and a plump figure, with "clear and fresh eyes, eyebrows without continuous curls, red lips and white teeth, and a trimmed and hanging nose."

Followers

Zhou Fang's disciples include Cheng Xiuji, Wang Zhi, Zhao Boxuan, Zhao Bowen, and others. Among them, Cheng Xiu had been following Zhou Fang for twenty years and had the deepest relationship with him.

This ink-and-color-on-silk painting, titled Court Ladies Playing Double-sixes, measures 30.5 cm × 69.1 cm (12.0 in × 27.2 in) and depicts members of the emperor's household playing the board game liubo. It now hangs in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It reflects the lifestyle of the aristocracy at that time. This picture depicts 13 concubines and palace maids with high buns on their heads, round eyes, and long skirts dragging the ground. The entire painting presents various activities of the characters in a horizontal arrangement, such as sitting lazily with a fan, unpacking and playing the piano, dressing up in front of a mirror, embroidering and working on a desk, and relaxing with a fan. Rhythmic changes of horizontal density and looseness, as well as the hierarchical changes of vertical height, make the structure of the picture orderly and avoid monotony and rigidity in composition. The picture is rich in color, with red as the main color and various colors such as blue, gray, purple, and green. The warm and cold tones complement each other, revealing the delicate skin of the characters and the luxurious clothing materials. The clothing lines are drawn with iron lines, round and graceful, full of strength and flexibility, accurately depicting the various postures of the characters.

"The Picture Scroll of Lady with Hairpin Flowers" draws inspiration from the life of palace women, with gorgeous and luxurious concubines leisurely strolling in the garden. The characters have a plump physique, calm and leisurely movements, and peaceful expressions. The identities and lifestyle characteristics of the concubines are well expressed. Currently housed at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas, Missouri, USA.