Ren Renfa

Ren Renfa (1254–1327), courtesy name Ziming (子明), pseudonym Yueshan Daoren (月山道人; lit. "Taoist on the Moon Mountain"), was an expert of irrigation works, artist, and a government official of the Yuan dynasty. He was born in Qinglong Town, Songjiang (松江青龙镇 – present day Qingpu District, Shanghai).

Despite his position under alien Mongol emperors, Ren did not shy from producing works with a political subtext. His inscription on Fat and Lean Horses explains that the "fat horse represents the self-satisfied, wealthy official and the lean one the humble, poor, self-deprecating official."

Ren's hydrological works include dredging the area in what is now Beijing to improve the water supply and leading a team to build embankments after the Yellow River burst its banks. The work was already held in high esteem by the Ming dynasty, as literati painter Zhang Ning (1426–1496) wrote: "Black, Yellow, Red, White, and Mottled Horses. Every horse is worth a thousand taels of gold."

In 1922, after the fall of Qing dynasty, the scroll was taken from the Forbidden City by Pu Yi, the last emperor of China.