Listen to this articleyánɡ zhōu bā ɡuài 扬州八怪
The Magical Eight Painters of Yangzhou
清代康熙到乾隆年间，活跃于扬州一带的八位画家，因其个性独特、画风怪诞，被称为“八怪”。一般指汪士慎（1686—1762？）、李鱓（shàn，1686—1762）、金农（1687—1763）、黄慎（1687—1768后）、高翔（1688—1753）、郑燮（1693—1765）、李方膺（1695—1754）、罗聘（1733—1799）等八人，亦有其他说法。他们多为失意官吏或无功名的文人，借书画表现心中不平，作画不拘成法，反对正统画风，在题画诗、书法、篆刻创作领域锐意创新，成就卓著，被当时人视为“偏师”“怪物”，“扬州八怪”由此而得名。他们对近代画家如陈师曾（1876—1923）、齐白石（1864—1957）等产生了很大影响。
These were the eight outstanding artists active in the Yangzhou area during Qing Emperors Kangxi’s and Qianlong’s reigns. They boasted unique personalities and magical styles of painting. Their names are: Wang Shishen(1686-1762?), Li Shan (1686-1762), Jin Nong (1687-1763), Huang Shen (1687-1768?), Gao Xiang (1688-1753), Zheng Xie (1693-1765), Li Fangying (1695-1754) and Luo Pin (1733-1799) (a slightly different list of names also exists). They were mostly officials who had fallen from favor or scholars who had failed to accomplish what they aspired to achieve, and therefore found an outlet for their pent-up anger through painting and calligraphy. Disdaining conventional ways of painting, they created novel styles of their own, breaking new ground in the fields of calligraphy-in-painting, pure calligraphy, and seal cutting. For their unique accomplishments, they were called “wayward geniuses” and “weirdoes” by their contemporaries. Their more honorable title was “The Magical Eight Painters of Yangzhou.” They exerted a profound influence on modern period painters such as Qi Baishi (1864-1957) and Chen Shizeng (1876-1923).
引例 Citation：
◎掀天揭地之文，震惊雷雨之字，呵神骂鬼之谈，无古无今之画，原不在寻常眼孔中也。（《郑板桥集·乱兰乱竹乱石与汪希林》）
（掀开天地奥秘的文章，如惊雷暴雨一般的文字，斥骂鬼神的言论，自古及今未曾有过的画作，寻常人眼里原本就看不到的。）
Articles which unravel the mysteries of heaven and earth, writing that triggers thunder and rainstorms, invectives unleashed against evil spirits, and paintings that defy all established rules – all these things are hardly noticed by ordinary people. (Collected Works of Zheng Banqiao)
◎所惜同时并举，另出偏师，怪以八名，画非一体。（汪鋆《扬州画苑录》）
（可惜的是，他们于同一时期兴起，师法与主流画风不合，虽以“八怪”扬名，但他们的画作并没有形成统一风格。）
It is a pity that the eight men who emerged in the same period, with their styles of painting distinct from the mainstream style of the time, did not have a unified means of expression, despite their renown as “The Magical Eight.” (Wang Jun: Biographies of Painters of Yangzhou)
