Visiting a Friend in Summer

Zhu Lunhan (1680-1760) was born in Shandong province. After passing the imperial martial-art examination and obtaining a Jinshi degree in 1712, he entered the government and the most senior post he held was Lieutenant General of the Han Army. Zhu was also an accomplished painter and calligrapher excelling at different types of scripts. Zhu furthered his painting skills through an accident. He began painting using charcoal at the age of four. One day, while climbing a cart, the young Zhu accidentally fell to the ground with the right hand's middle finger broken. Discovering that the fingernail of the cured finger was thicker and had a dent on it, which could be used for holding ink, Zhu thus used the finger as his brush to paint.