Yi Yuanji

Yi Yuanji (; Wade-Giles: I Yüan-chi; c. 1000, Changsha, Hunan – c. 1064) was a Northern Song dynasty painter, famous for his realistic paintings of animals. According to Robert van Gulik, Yi Yuanji's paintings of gibbons were particularly celebrated.

The 11th-century critic Guo Ruoxu in his Overview of Painting (图画见闻志, Tuhua Jian Wen Zhi) says the following about Yi's career:

He spent months roaming the mountains of southern Hubei and northern Hunan, watching roebucks and gibbons in their natural environment. Van Gulik identifies the monkey as a macaque.

The image of Yi Yuanji, with his intimate knowledge of nature, has attracted attention from modern Chinese painters.