This article presents a re-examination of Cao Zhongda and the‘Cao family style’. The author examines the dates of Cao’s birth and death and those aspects of his life which are known,demonstrating that Zhang’s career represented a shift from the Southern Dynasties to the Northern Dynasties.The author examines the line of transmission from Cao’s teachers down on through his students as revealed in histories of painting,revealing his discovery that he studied the new painting style of the Southern Liang painters Zhang Sengyou and the Scythian(Saite)[Zhuang] Qin from Central Asia.The author then examination the formation of the‘Cao style’and concludes that it had both southern and northern artistic sources,as well as encompassing different elements drawn from Zhang’s complex social,religious and cultural status.The author examines related images from a long time span and a broad frame of reference to re-create the Cao style.On the basis of his concrete research,the author then suggests the adoption of post-modern research techniques related to the study of style.
