The forefather and contemporary exponents of Tengstyle butterfly painting.

Key Words：Tengstyle butterfly painting, butterfly culture, forefather, contemporary, exponent

Abstract：The Tengstyle butterfly painting was originated from Prince Li YuanYing, the 22nd son of Li Yuan, the Emperor Kaotsu of Tang Dynasty. Prince Li YuanYing was created “the King of Teng" in A.D. 639; the butterfly painting therefore acquired the name of “Tengstyle butterfly paintings". The Tengstyle butterfly painting had its unique techniques and styles. General Liang, or Liang Taiwei learned the true techniques from Li ZhanRan, the son of Li YuanYing, when those techniques were passed on to Li ZhanRan, as Liang always accompanied him while Li ZhanRan was drawing. Liang had imparted those techniques for tens of generations. It was the late Qing Dynasty when those techniques were passed on to Liang GuanSan. In 1923 Tong GuanYa became the exponent of the Tengstyle butterfly paintings. In 1995, Tong QiLai, the son of Tong Guanya, became the contemporary exponent of the Tengstyle butterfly paintings. The techniques of Tengstyle butterfly paintings were not lost in more than 1 000 years from Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming to Qing dynasties. Mr. Tong QiLai is now the president of the China Henan Academy of Tengstyle Butterfly Paintings. He is a successful painter and has many Tengstyle butterfly paintings which carry forward all the techniques of the Tengstyle butterfly paintings, making the butterfly culture to have not only the illustrious past but also the brighter present and the future.