Plum, orchid, bamboo and stone (chrysanthemum) have become the themes of literati painting, just like what happened in landscape painting, which also means a historic change in painting interest. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, flower-and-bird painting and landscape painting formed an independent painting category, but the subject matter was much wider. Some art historians believe that flower-and-bird painting even predates landscape painting, and the painted pottery culture originated in the Neolithic Age is a pattern with plants and animals as its motif. It is recorded in the Tang Dynasty that there are more than 80 people who can draw flowers, trees and animals, among which many people specialize in painting flowers and birds. Flower-and-bird painting was once an important carrier of court interest, and the works completed by Huang Quan (903-965), a court painter of the Five Dynasties, represented this type. Living in the forbidden palace for a long time, Huang Quan focuses on depicting rare birds and animals, exotic flowers and herbs and royal rocks. Xu Xi, a contemporary of his (the date of birth and death is unknown), dislikes extravagance and decadence, likes to wander among catkins in rivers and lakes, and is good at writing flowers, waterfowl, fish, insects and vegetables with light colors and ink pens. Similarly, Huang Quan, who was criticized as "rich", and Xu Xi, who was criticized as "wild", attached great importance to sketch. The original works by Huang Quan and Xu Xi are rare. During the Song and Ming Dynasties when the Academy of Painting flourished, Huang Quan's Yellow Body was inherited and developed by court painters, while Xu Xi's painting style was inherited and developed by opposition painters. Careful observation of flower-and-bird paintings in this period shows that these images, which aim at depicting microscopic images, lead us to the lofty realm of "natural theology" like landscape paintings in the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty. In this regard, a passage in Xuanhe Huapu Flower and Bird Description is extremely true:
Flowers to peony, peony, birds to husband and wife, Kong Cui, will make it rich; And pine, bamboo, plum, chrysanthemum, gull, heron, goose, will see leisure. As for grandeur, the fighting of eagles, the sycamore of willows and the Cooper of Qiao Song, the age is cold and open, and those who have the heart to raise people can seize nature and divert their mental daydreams. If you visit, you will get something.
The exquisite flower-and-bird painting of professional painting has not stopped developing, especially in the palace painting academy, it is still the goal of painters to portray flowers, birds and animals seriously and vividly. He specializes in painting plums, bamboo stones, orchids and grapes. In particular, ink painting makes it an independent painting discipline and a remarkable phenomenon of literati painting. Xuan He Hua Pu said: "Those who are lightly brushed and completely inclined are not specialized in modeling, but unique in image, often not because of the history of painting, but mostly because of the works of the poet Mo Qing." For example, Su Shi and Wen Tong. Scholars don't want painters to crawl in front of natural objects and study them carefully, so they certainly despise the "corpus luteum" prevailing in the painting academy. Apart from symbols and metaphors, the objects they choose are not strict in shape, such as strange rocks and dead trees, which provide conditions for them to display their strengths, that is, to think of words into pictures. Compared with landscape, flower-and-bird painting is easier to show the "ink play" advocated by literati, and it is also more suitable to combine poetry, calligraphy, painting and printing with the same format to give full play to their talents. There is also a class of painters, between court painters and literati. They may appreciate the elegance of literati painting, but they are immersed in the natural interest gained from sketching. There are many works of "Ink and Wash Double Hook" (also known as "writing while working") in Yuan Dynasty, including Wang Yuan (date of birth and death unknown) and Lin Liang (date of birth and death unknown) in Ming Dynasty.
Plum bamboo and flower-and-bird freehand brushwork with ink and wash as the main body were very prominent in the Yuan Dynasty. Obviously, Xu Xi's wild flower-and-bird paintings can bring some comfort to those literati who have to stay away from real political events. Wang Meng, Ni Zan and Zhenwu, and Zhao Mengfu and Yuan Sizi in the early Yuan Dynasty were all great writers of bamboo and stone. Dr. Kuizhangge Ke defined what is "elegance" with his ink bamboo paintings. Wang Mian (T287- 1359), a farmer, lived in seclusion in his hometown after the imperial examination, and was called "the master of plum blossom". His ink is fresh and interesting. Xu Wei, a poet, painter and playwright who rose in the middle of Ming Dynasty, is considered to have completed the transformation of flower-and-bird painting from classical to literati painting, which is the most enlightening to modern "freehand brushwork" ink painting.
Xu Wei (1521-1593) was born in Yin Shan, Zhejiang (now Shaoxing). When I was young, I wrote the zaju Four Sounds Apes, which was praised by Tang Xianzu, a great dramatist in Ming Dynasty. Xu Wei was down and out all his life, failed many exams, and was once insane, so that he was arrested for killing his wife by mistake. He was in his twilight years when he was released from prison, at the age of 73. His real artistic career is only over ten years. He once wrote a poem:
Half-life became an old man, and self-study roared in the evening breeze. The pearls at the bottom of the pen have nowhere to buy, and they are left in the wild vines.
Xu Wei's flower-and-bird painting and calligraphy, known internationally as the "green vine style", absorbs the strengths of Song, Yuan and Shen Zhou, and opposes the quiet and elegant taste of literati painting in Wumen. Instead, it directly expresses surging emotions, boldly breaks through the pictographic limitations of objective images and endows them with strong personal feelings. The work or object is lyrical, or played by the topic. With a wild brushwork, the image is slightly different, and the pen and ink are moist and unrestrained, giving full play to the halo effect of raw rice paper. Existing works such as Peony Reef Map, Ink Grape Map and Ink Flower Map are full of ink and vivid. Zheng Xie (Zheng Banqiao), a painter and painter in Qing Dynasty and one of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", was greatly surprised when he saw his paintings. He once carved the seal of "Ivy's next running dog" with "pomegranate branches of fifty gold and easy Tianchi (Xu Wei)" to show his admiration. In modern times, when Qi Baishi mentioned Xu Wei, he couldn't wait to say that he was born 300 years earlier and was "a green vine grinding ink and managing paper" to express his infinite respect.
Xu Wei's freehand brushwork in ink and wash, similar to crazy grass calligraphy, is very inspiring to the painting styles of Zhu Da, Shi Tao, Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics, modern painters Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi in Qing Dynasty.
"Southern and Northern Sect"
At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu put forward the theory of "ancient meaning", which is to trace the source of the next generation of classics to restore their decline in the Southern Song Dynasty, thus creating a new style. Zhao Mengfu himself and Yuan Sijia completed the transformation of their expected painting style. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties after Yuan Sijia, the negative influence of retro-ism was finally fully revealed, and the wind of archaizing prevailed, so that "every family has its own strengths and every family has its own madness", even the last-rate painters flaunted themselves as followers of Huang and others. Painters in Ming Dynasty no longer explore nature, but they still yearn for "seclusion", but they yearn for ancient paintings instead of real landscapes. From schema to pen and ink, whether painting mountains, stones or trees, they can find the "source" in the works of a generation. They can't let go of their masterpieces. It seems that copying and summing up copying experience is the best way to get noble painting interest. In addition, the commercial prosperity of Jiangnan and the distance from urban life make it impossible or unnecessary for people to enter nature again.
The Ming Dynasty restored the painting academy banned by the Yuan Dynasty, and the focus of literati painting was in Jiangnan. Activities are held in Shenzhou (1427- 1509), Wen Zhiming (1470- 1559), Tang Yin (1470- 1523) and Chou Ying near Suzhou. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the dominant position of "Wumen Sect" was replaced by Hua Tingpai such as Mo Shilong (1539- 1587) and Dong Qichang (1555- 1636). Dai Jin (1388- 1462), Lan Ying (1585- 1664), the "Wulin School" or "Zhejiang School" of Hangzhou School, to some extent, is the continuation of the Southern Song School represented by Ma Yuan and others, but it is impossible to avoid the Yuan Dynasty. Paintings of Ming Dynasty tends to refine and formalize Song and Yuan paintings. Literati painters in Song and Yuan Dynasties opposed the stylized expression of painters in the Academy of Painting, calling it "chiseling" and "shaping". Painting is regarded as something other than calligraphy. Su Shi and others paint, on the one hand, to entertain themselves, on the other hand, to declare an idea and emphasize the freedom of thought and behavior. After the development of Yuan Dynasty, literati painting left enough classics in Song Dynasty and formed its own set of norms and conventions. Moreover, the landscape painting of Shen Zhou, a literati painter, was originally an ancient classic that was reformed from ancient times and adopted by them. Painters and connoisseurs in the Ming Dynasty have repeatedly said that Mi Fei and Yuan Sijia in the Song Dynasty seem to think that their task is to explain, sort out and summarize the ideas and techniques of various schools of literati painting.
Wu Men's Shen Zhou and his changeable style of meticulous painting can best reflect this awareness. Shen Zhou, who has never been an official in his life, seldom wastes his energy on other affairs except poetry, painting and calligraphy. He can be said to be a scholar-type professional painter. His two important works "The High Map of Lushan Mountain" in the National Palace Museum in Taipei look magnificent and colorful, and the whole picture adopts the painting method of Wang Meng in Yuan Dynasty. Obviously, sorting out and summarizing Wang Meng's painting methods has become the main theme of Lushan Mountain High Map. Shen Zhou did not use this technique in other works. The night sitting map depicts a night mountain. At the foot of the mountain, there are several huts, in which a man is sitting in danger. This time, Shen Zhou adopted a stable and moist center, namely Zhenwu, another member of Yuan Sijia, while retaining Zhenwu's aloof and reclusive style. At the top of the painting, the author wrote more than 400 words of the book Sitting at Night, which integrated painting, literature and calligraphy. Sitting at Night is beautifully written and full of philosophy. It tells the painter's reaction and excitement when he sits still at night and hears all kinds of sounds of nature, and tells the realm of "quiet outside and quiet inside" and regrets for the "noisy people" in the world. Shen Zhou even copied the works of Dai Jin, a contemporary "Zhejiang School" painter, which can be explained as that he inadvertently read the "ancient meaning" from the other side's paintings and was inspired, thus finding a more thorough expression of the "ancient meaning". Shen Zhou's hometown Wen Zhiming is also his student. Both of them are weaker than Shi Jin, and they are both local celebrities with excellent poetry, calligraphy and painting. Most of Wen's paintings are meticulous landscapes, which look more like Wen Xiu. They make good use of heavy green colors, have a beautiful and elegant style of meticulous brushwork, are more lyrical, and are chic and clean. Shen Hewen is the most suitable for comparison. Their indifferent attitude, relatively simple experience and rich family allow them to spend their literati career and engage in painting in a enjoyable way.
Compared with Shen Zhou's indifference, Dong Qichang and his remarks are quite controversial. Dong's paintings are based on Dong Yuan, Mi Fei in the Northern Song Dynasty and Ni Zan and Huang in the Yuan Dynasty. His landscapes and rocks are graceful and luxurious. Dong Qichang's position and influence in the history of painting is more due to his grandiloquence about "painting is divided into the North and the South".
Dong Qichang, whose real name is Xuanzang, whose word is Sibai, was born in Huating (now Songjiang, Shanghai). He was born a scholar, a university student and an official, and was once a teacher of the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty. He is both a famous painter and an important connoisseur and collector. He not only collected fine works, including Huang's Fuchun, but also collected Dong Yuan's five generations of original works, which were extremely rare at that time. He is diligent in painting and calligraphy, writing books and advocating literati painting. The theory that painting is divided into north and south factions has a great influence in the history of painting, involving the origin of painting and the evaluation criteria of literati painting. Mo Shilong, who is also a Hua Tingpai with Dong Qichang, first introduced the analysis of the two major sects of Buddhism in China into the narrative of painting history. He said:
There are two schools of Zen, the North and the South, which were divided into different schools in the Tang Dynasty. There are northern and southern sects in the painting, as well as in the Tang Dynasty, but their people are not northern and southern ears.
Painting is divided into "southern school and northern school", which does not depend on whether the author is a southerner or a northerner, but on the painting style and style. "Northern School" painting began with the royal painters Li Sixun and his son in the Tang Dynasty, and was inherited by Ma Yuan and Xia Gui of the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy in the Song Dynasty. "Southern Sect" can be traced back to Wang Wei, a poet and painter in the Tang Dynasty, and passed down by four masters, namely Dong Yuan in the Five Dynasties, Mi Fei in the Song Dynasty and Huang in the Yuan Dynasty. Mo Shanlong is a fellow traveler, close friend and elder of Dong Qichang. He has a lot of daily communication and has the same views. Dong inherited and developed Mo's viewpoint, thus clarifying the origin and development of literati painting:
Literati painting began with Wang Youcheng (Wang Wei), followed by Dong Yuan, monk Ju Ran, Li Cheng and Fan Kuan. Li Longmian, Wang Jinqing (), Mi Nangong and Hu Er (Mi Fei and Mi You) all came from Dong and Ju until: Huang Zijiu, Wang Shuming (Wang Meng), Ni (Ni Zan) and Wu (Zhenwu). My (Wen Zhiming) and Shen (Shen Zhou) are far apart. Ruoma (), Xia (Xia Gui), and Liu Songnian were also sent by General Li, not by Cao Cao.
Dong's countryman and countryman Chen Jiru further said:
Li Pai (Northern Sect) is extremely thin and has no morale; Wang School (the Southern School initiated by Wang Wei and Wang Wei) is ethereal and scattered, which is Huineng's Zen and beyond the magic performance.
The theory that painting is divided into two schools, North and South, was widely spread under the influence of Dong Qichang, which influenced the development trend of literati painting in Ming and Qing Dynasties and made Chinese painting form a theoretical system of schools. Regarding the division of schools, there are similar situations in the history of European painting, such as the description of Italian art during the Renaissance and northern paintings such as Holland. It seems impartial to divide schools by techniques and styles, but as a literati painter, Dong Qichang's admiration and praise for "Nanzong" is obvious. "Nanzong" has been equated with literati painting. In addition to emphasizing "epiphany", "morale" and "emptiness and mistress", it also flaunts the superiority of literati who once lived in officialdom but yearned for seclusion in sentiment and personality.
Four Monks and Four Kings
From Shunzhi (1644- 16 1) to the early years of Kangxi (1662- 1722), literati landscape painting flourished and formed two completely different artistic pursuits. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Four Kings Painting School, which inherited Dong Qichang's mantle, took antique as its purpose, was valued by the royal family and occupied an orthodox position in the painting world. A group of Ming painters, represented by the Four Monks, the Eight Schools of Jinling and the Xin 'an School, who lived in the south of the Yangtze River and expressed their feelings by painting, have the spirit of pioneering and innovating in art.
"Four Monks" refer to Zhu Da, Shi Tao, Xi Shi and Hong Ren. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Manchu, who originated in northern China, entered Beijing and established a unified Qing Empire, almost repeating the history from the Southern Song Dynasty to the early Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Da and Shi Tao are descendants of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, while Xi Shi and Hong Ren insist that they are subjects of the Ming Dynasty, and they both have strong national consciousness. They use painting to express their feelings about life experience and depression, and pin their passionate feelings on the mountains and rivers of their old country. In art, they advocate "borrowing the past to create the present", oppose Chen Xiangyin, attach importance to life feelings and emphasize the expression of individuality. They broke through the barriers of antique painting at that time and created a surprisingly bold, open-minded and unique painting style, which not only made the painting at that time full of vitality, but also had a far-reaching impact on later generations. Among them, Zhu Da and Shi Tao made the most remarkable achievements.
Zhu Da (1626- 1705) is a native of Badashan. He is not only the "prince and grandson" of the royal family, but also grew up in a scholarly family. After the demise of the Ming Dynasty, he became a monk and later became a Taoist, and lived in the "Qingyunpu Scenic Resort Scenic Area", named Eight Mountains, Snow Pavilion, Mountain, Mountain, Moon and Dao Lang. His paintings are often lyrical, with symbols, implications and exaggeration, creating strange images and expressing cynicism and the pain of national destruction. Brush and ink washing, simple and ethereal composition, fantastic scenes, cool and handsome style, reached the artistic realm of concise pen. His landscape is taken from Dong Yuan and Dong Qichang's clean, elegant and moist brushwork. Influenced by Lin Liang and Xu Wei in Ming Dynasty, flower-and-bird painting is unique, unique in structure and full of interest. On a piece of white paper, he often draws a bird, a tail fish or a flower with only ink, creating a mysterious artistic conception. Badashan people not only apply the principles of calligraphy to the use of pens, but also to the arrangement of rules and regulations. Therefore, his picture composition is based on the control of abstract thinking, showing everything, basically using only ink pens. As if the inky flowers, birds and mountains were the world he saw in his eyes, he refused to use color. Obviously, color interferes with his ink painting, and its strong sense of form and symbolism is also an adaptation to the extreme emotions he wants to express, including cursing and escaping from reality and infinite attachment and mourning for the declining Ming Dynasty.
Shi Tao and Badashan people are descendants of the royal family. Although they have never met each other, they have exchanged letters and cooperated in painting, which can be described as mutual appreciation. They are neck and neck in the history of painting in China. Shi Tao (1642- 1707), whose real name is Zhu, was renamed Yuanji after becoming a monk, also known as Shi Tao, Momordica Charantia Monk and Zi. Like Badashan people, Shi Tao became a monk, but as a descendant of the Ming Dynasty, the hidden pain caused by the collapse of the Ming Dynasty and his own tragic experience is hard to erase from his heart. Forgetting the landscape, expressing grief and feelings through painting and calligraphy has become the sustenance of life. Shi Tao's landscape is independent, the scenery is rich and novel, the composition is bold and novel, the pen and ink are changeable, the height is free and easy, and the adventure is beautiful. His travel experience is of great help to his painting. He claimed to "search all the strange peaks and make a draft", but he hardly showed indifference to tradition. No matter how he paints the sea of clouds in Huangshan, the southern water town, the clear autumn in Lu 'an and the long pine cliffs, or writes the scenery of Kuanglu, Southwest China, Huaiyang and Changshan, he has a unique idea, which is actually extracted from the sketches of primitive nature. After Dong Qichang, imitation of the old became a common practice in painting. It is rare for a painter like Shi Tao to learn directly from nature. Many of Shi Tao's paintings have been preserved, among which the famous ones are Beautiful Scenery of Mountains and Rivers, Elegant Pictures of West Garden, Clear Autumn Pictures of Huaiyang, Eight Victory Books of Huangshan Mountain, Visiting Pictures of Lushan Mountain and Looking at Pictures of Yuhang. They are all wonderful, fresh and meaningful.
Xi Shi (the year of birth and death is unknown, the monk's name is Kun Can) and Hong Ren (1665438+ 16665438, the monk's name is Jianjiang) are two "painting monks". Although they are all adherents of the Ming Dynasty, they are less resentful and more detached than Zhu Da and Shi Tao. The landscape changed from Wang Meng and Huang, taking the real scene as the powder book, depicting heavy mountains and numerous waters, dense but not crowded, dyed with thirsty pen, thick but not stagnant, magnificent and boundless. Hong Ren, a representative of Xin 'an School, took Ni Zan as a landscape and painted many famous mountains and rivers, especially the true scenery of Huangshan Mountain. The composition is simple, the mountains and rivers are secluded, the dry pen is thirsty, the pen and ink are strong, and the realm is desolate and quiet, showing the temperament of famous mountains.
Just as Yuan Sijia was widely admired in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the four monks and their painting styles in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties were also admired and sought after by modern painters and collectors. Mr. Wang Bomin, an art historian, commented as follows: "The elements of Buddhism and Taoism are quite strong in the Four Monks Picture. In artistic creation, I am often mixed with my own complex emotions such as sadness, resentment and resentment. Generally speaking, their painting features are relatively light and simple. Historically, Confucianism advocated simplicity, purity and indifference. For example,' white jade is not cut into the top grade' is the reason. As for their specific differences in painting performance, Hong Ren used an ethereal pen to win with elegance; Kun can (Xi Shi) is calm in pen and ink and wins with simplicity; Badashan people use simple pens to win with charm; Shi Tao's brushwork is bold and unrestrained, and he wins with boldness. When the painting world tends to be retro, there is a period of' everyone has been stupid for a long time'. They come forward to break the loneliness of the painting world and show it to the world with a unique painting style, which is extremely unusual in history. "
The "Four Heavenly Kings" refer to Wang Shimin (1592- 1680, whose real name is heavy smoker, whose real name is Luxi old man, from Taicang, Jiangsu Province) and Wang Jian (1598- 1677, whose real name is Xiangbi, claiming to dye incense. Changshu, Jiangsu), Wang (1642-1715), word, number Lutai), sometimes joined (1632- 17 18). Most of them take Dong Qichang's artistic thought as the golden rule, devote themselves to learning from Gu Zhuo, emphasize pen and ink techniques, and pursue peace and interest. Because of their prominent social status, extensive friends and numerous students, the "Four Heavenly Kings" have a great influence among literati, and their artistic interests are also appreciated by the royal family. Therefore, they are regarded as the orthodox school of painting and have influenced them until modern times.
The general evaluation of the "Four Heavenly Kings" is profound brushwork, and some regular experiences are summarized from the aspects of composition, charm and artistic conception. However, due to the neglect of learning from nature and the lack of concrete feelings, most of their works are monotonous and empty, lacking vitality and originality, which hinders them from achieving higher achievements. The "Four Heavenly Kings" are actually committed to raising the study of ancient paintings to an academic height that makes the world awe, but this kind of scholarship undoubtedly has personal value preference. From Dong Yuan in the Five Dynasties to Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, Guo, Mi and his son in the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Boju, and then to Zhao Mengfu, Yuan Sijia and Dong Qichang. Wang Bomin pointed out that the "Four Kings" have been studying Nanzong paintings for more than a century, and their piety is worthy of respect anyway. Just as China literati believe in the "wisdom words" of ancient sages, painters also believe that the truth of landscape needs corresponding perfect language to speak. In addition, it should be noted that the inscriptions of "imitation" and "imitation" of a certain painting in the Ming and Qing Dynasties sometimes only reflect the humility of the literati and respect for the popular fashion at that time, and may not really follow suit. The most typical example is that even painters with strong painting style, such as Shi Tao and Badashanren, will claim in their inscriptions that their works are only imitations. Of course, no one will take their words seriously.