Zhu Yunming (1460-1526), zi Xizhe, was born with an extra finger (zhizhi in Chinese) in his right hand and thus called himself Zhishan and Zhizhisheng.  He earned the juren degree in 1492, but he failed to advance further in the civil examinations and had an unsuccessful career in office.  During the Zhengde reign (1505-21), he served as Magistrate of Xingning Prefecture in Guangdong and Prefect of Yingtian County, but retired to his hometown several years later to devote himself to poetry and literature.

An avid reader, Zhu Yunming was a skilled poet and calligrapher, and his fame attracted followers of his poetry and artwork.  As a calligrapher, he was adept at regular, running, cursive, and other scripts, and especially at wild cursive and small regular scripts.  He first studied the calligraphic styles of the Jin and Tang periods and learned from various masters without losing his authentic individuality.  Unlike his contemporaries, he advocated archaism in calligraphy, proclaiming that one should "follow the Jin [masters] and travel with the Tang [masters]; maintain and do not lose [their tradition]."

Zhu Yunming, Xu Zhenqing (1479-1511), Tang Yin (1470-1524), and Wen Zhengming (1470-1524) were known together as the Four Talents of Wuzhong.  Zhu was also the author of 60 volumes of poetry and over 100 volumes of miscellaneous writings.