( fl Sui dynasty, AD 581–618). Chinese painter. After the defeat of the Northern Zhou (557–81), he was summoned to Chang’an (now Xi’an, Shaanxi Province) by the victorious new emperor, Wendi (reg 582–604). He became the most influential painter of the Sui period, attaining several prestigious titles. Emperor Wendi promoted Buddhist art and sponsored sculptures and wall paintings throughout China. Zhan Ziqian was among the best of the artists who traversed the land to the growing numbers of Buddhist monasteries and temples, producing wall paintings for Guangming si, Lingbao si and Yunhua si in Luoyang (Henan Province) and Chang’an, for Dongan si in Jiangdu (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province) and for other temples in western Zhejiang Province. Tang period (AD 618–907) writers recalled Zhan’s wall painting Eight Kings Dividing the Shari (Skt sarira, the relics of a Buddha after cremation), a popular theme in Buddhist painting during the Sui period, at the Chan Buddhist monastery Longxing si in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.