Li Cheng, also known by his courtesy name Xianxi, was a descendant of the Tang imperial family who lived in Chang'an (modern Xi'an, Shaanxi) before moving to Yidu, Qingzhou (now in Shandong), where locals called him Li Yingqiu. A celebrated painter of the Five Dynasties and early Song period, he was a voracious reader of classics and history, a poet, and a master of the zither and chess. Yet his true genius lay in landscape painting. Initially studying under Jing Hao and Guan Tong, he later broke away by constantly sketching from real scenery, forging his own distinctive style.
Li Cheng excelled at painting northern wilderness scenes of wintry forests and natural phenomena like wind, rain, light, darkness, mist, clouds, snow, and fog. His landscape paintings emphasized composition and brushwork, with sharp strokes, refined ink techniques, a preference for light ink, and concise execution. Later generations praised him, saying:
"Li Cheng painted with great care, never putting brush to paper lightly—first using light ink, then dark, cherishing his ink and brush as if they were gold."
Li Cheng's mountain rocks appeared as if swirling clouds, a technique later known as "rolling-cloud texture strokes." Along with Guan Tong and Fan Kuan, he formed the three major schools of northern landscape painting during the Five Dynasties and Northern Song periods. It is said that many artists of the time studied his methods.
The idiom "Cherishing Ink Like Gold" originally meant that in painting, heavy ink is not used unless at a critical point, just as one does not waste gold. Later, it came to describe being sparing with one's brush in painting or writing, striving for conciseness.
Source: Tao Zongyi (Ming Dynasty), *Chuogeng Lu*
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "惜墨如金" came to describe being sparing with one's brush in painting or writing, striving for conciseness.