Shitao 石涛
Shitao (simplified Chinese:石涛; traditional Chinese:石濤; pinyin:Shí Tāo; Wade–Giles:Shih T'ao); (1642–1707), born Zhu Ruoji (朱若極) was a Chinese landscape painter and poet during the early part of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911).
Born in Quanzhou County in Guangxi province, Shitao was a member of the Ming royal house. He narrowly avoided catastrophe in 1644 when the Ming Dynasty fell to invading Manchurians and civil rebellion. Having escaped by chance from the fate to which his lineage would have assigned him, Shitao assumed the name Yuanji Shitao no later than 1651 when he became a Buddhist monk.