Landscape painting auctioned in Beijing for record $12.3 mln in china

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) - A record auction price of 84 million yuan (about 12.3 million U.S. dollars) was achieved for a unique Chinese painting in Beijing.

The landscape painting by Zhu Da, also known as Bada Shanren (1626-1705), sells to a private buyer at the Council Auction held on Friday.

The previous record was put in 2007 when The Red Cliff Handscroll by the Ming Dynasty painter Qiu Ying (1494-1552) was sold for 79.52 million yuan.

A famous freehand brushwork painter and calligrapher, Zhu Da was born into the majestic family of the dynasty. He retires to the mountains when the dynasty fell in 1644.

His early paintings included albums of flowers and rocks, accompanied by poems and signed under a range of obscure names. Later he used to paint birds and fish to signal distress, painting lotuses with broken stems, and ink landscapes.