▁the ▁g ong bi ▁br ush ▁technique . ▁ ▁Q iu ▁Y ing ' s ▁cour tes y ▁name ▁was ▁Sh if u ▁( 实 <0xE7> <0x88> <0xB6> ), ▁and ▁his ▁art ▁name ▁was ▁Sh iz hou ▁( 十 洲 ). ▁He ▁was ▁born ▁to ▁a ▁pe asant ▁family ▁in ▁Ta ic ang ▁and ▁studied ▁painting ▁under ▁Z hou ▁Chen ▁in ▁Su z hou . ▁ ▁Though ▁Su z hou ' s ▁ ▁Wu ▁School ▁encourag ed ▁painting ▁in ▁in k ▁was hes , ▁Q iu ▁Y ing ▁also ▁painted ▁in ▁the ▁green - and - blue ▁style . ▁He ▁painted ▁with ▁the ▁support ▁of ▁wealth y ▁pat rons , ▁creating ▁images ▁of ▁flowers , ▁gard ens , ▁religious ▁subjects , ▁and ▁land sc apes ▁in ▁the ▁f ash ions ▁of ▁the ▁M ing ▁dynast y . ▁He ▁incorpor ated ▁different ▁techniques ▁into ▁his ▁paint ings , ▁and ▁acquired ▁a ▁few ▁wealth y ▁pat rons . ▁His ▁talent ▁and ▁vers at ility ▁allowed ▁him ▁to ▁become ▁regarded ▁as ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁Four ▁Masters ▁of ▁the ▁M ing ▁dynast y . ▁ ▁Three ▁of ▁his ▁best ▁pat rons ▁were ▁art ▁collect ors . ▁One ▁was ▁Chen ▁Gu an ▁from ▁Su z hou . ▁The ▁other ▁two ▁were ▁both ▁younger ▁than ▁Q iu : ▁Z hou ▁F eng la i ▁( 1 5 2 3 – 1 5 5 5 ), ▁from ▁nearby ▁Kun sh an , ▁and ▁the ▁well - known ▁wealth y ▁collect or ▁X i ang ▁Y uan bian , ▁whose ▁home