Shi Tao (1642-1708) was a painter in the early Qing Dynasty. His original surname was Zhu, and his given name was Ruoji. He was a native of Guilin, Guangxi, and his ancestral home was Fengyang, Anhui. His nickname was A Chang, and he had many nicknames, such as Dadizi, Qingxiang old man, Balsam pear monk, Blind Venerable, their names include Yuanji, Yuanji, etc. The son of Zhu Hengjia, King Jingjiang of the Ming Dynasty and Emperor Yuanzong of the Southern Ming Dynasty. Together with Hongren, Kuncan and Zhu Da, they are known as the "Four Monks of the Early Qing Dynasty". Shi Tao is a very important figure in the history of Chinese painting. He is not only an explorer and innovator of painting practice, but also an art theorist.
After a coup in his childhood, he became a monk and settled in Guangjiao Temple in Jingting Mountain, Xuancheng, Anhui Province. He traveled around for the rest of his life and made a living selling paintings. In his early years, he followed the masters of landscape painting from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and his painting style was sparse, elegant, and clean. In his later years, he used his brushes freely, dripping with ink, and varied patterns, especially in album sketches; the flowers are free and bright, innocent, and refreshing; the characters are vivid Clumsy, simple and unique. Skilled in calligraphy and poetry. His extant works include "Shi Tao Arhat's Hundred-Open Album", "Drawing Pictures of Searching for Strange Peaks", "Pictures of Landscapes with Silent Sound", "Pictures of Bamboo and Stone", etc. He is the author of "Bitter Melon Monk Painting Quotes". His famous sayings include "Theory of One Painting", "Search all the wonderful peaks to make a draft", "The pen and ink should adapt to the times", etc.
There is a lack of reliable data on the dates of Shi Tao's birth and death. He died in the 44th year of Kangxi (AD 1705), around the age of seventy. Shi Tao's common surname is Zhu, and his given name is Ruoji, also known as Ah Chang. He is from Guangxi. His father, Zhu Hengjia, King of Jingjiang, after Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, in order to resist the rule of foreigners, he claimed to be the supervisor of the country in Guilin, Guangxi. Due to his weak power, he was overthrown by Ding Kuichu and Qu Shichu. He was captured and killed. Shi Tao was young at this time and was entrusted to the eunuch. When he grew up, he became a wealthy man with many names, some of which were very strange. The name of the Dharma is Yuanji, also known as Daoji, with the courtesy name Shitao. His nicknames include Bitter Melon Monk, Lingding Old Man, Jishan Monk, Blind Venerable and so on.
Shi Tao lived in Jingting Mountain in Xuancheng, Anhui for about ten years and visited Huangshan many times. At that time, he traveled to Xuancheng with famous poets and painters such as Shi Banshan, Shi Runzhang, Mei Qing, Mei Geng, Wu Sugong, and Jiang Zhu. They were known as the Huangshan School, with Shi Tao as the leader. When Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty visited the south, Shi Tao met him twice in Nanjing and Yangzhou, and wrote poems to record the events. In the autumn of the 32nd year of Kangxi (1693), Shi Tao returned to the south and settled in Yangzhou until his death. Shi Tao's landscape paintings are derived from sketching. They are full of vitality, philosophical and emotional, and blend together. The painting environment is flexible and vivid, and has a melancholy and majestic charm, which is unique.
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Wu Guanzhong believed that Shi Tao was the starting point of modern art. Talking about Shi Tao's position in the history of Chinese art, Wu Guanzhong once pointed out, "When did modern Chinese art begin? I think Shi Tao was the starting point." He believed that Shi Tao created the artistic concepts of "intuition theory" and "empathy theory". In fact It is far earlier than the relevant theories of Western aesthetics. When looking at Shi Tao's works, everything comes from his feelings, and his feelings are directly inspired by the visual images. He has a unique sensitivity to the beauty of form.
Wu Guanzhong also analyzed, "Contrary to the cliched landscape painting formula, Shi Tao's works are directly derived from life. He expresses the intimate feelings of being among real mountains and real waters, and mostly close shots and medium shots. Lively mountains, water, trees, and houses are right in front of you. "
Some people say that Shi Tao is one of the few great figures in the history of Chinese painting. Judging from his painting skills and theories, he is indeed. Well deserved. His artistic ideas and painting practices had an important impact on later generations, and also made important contributions to the development of modern Chinese painting. The landscapes, flowers, birds, figures, and animals he painted are all exquisite and full of innovative ideas.
Shi Tao is not only a famous landscape painter but also a famous painting theorist. His painting treatise "Painting Quotations" discusses the unity of art and reality, the unity of inside and outside, the unity of mind and matter, the unity of consciousness and feeling, as well as the theory of no method, the theory of drawing on the past to create the present, the theory of similarity of dissimilarity, and the theory of transcending the world. Wait, today the painting world is still regarded as a standard. It does not seem too much to regard him as the first person in the 300 years since the Qing Dynasty.
In the early Qing Dynasty, under the influence of the "Northern and Southern Sect" doctrine advocated by Dong Qichang and others, the trend of imitating ancient paintings became increasingly popular. At this time, the talented Shi Tao suddenly emerged and ignored this trend. He emphasized that "I use my own method" and clearly pointed out: "I am who I am, and I am." "The men of ancient times cannot be content with me." Face; ancient heart, restlessness enters my belly and intestines.
"In short, he wants to change the appearance of the ancients and innovate his own methods and set a new style. This call is a challenge to traditional concepts.
In fact, from the perspective of landscape painting, through the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, , the Ming Dynasty progressed for thousands of years, and by the Qing Dynasty, a huge burden of tradition had already formed. Since the Ming Dynasty, many painters have tried to get out of the scope of traditional habits and innovate the painting world. The freehand paintings pioneered by Chen Chun, Xu Wei and others are enough to prove them. The courage to change.
In the late Ming Dynasty, Dong Qichang used the "Sudden Enlightenment" of Zen Buddhism to inspire painting, and he used the "Nanzong" to emphasize the beauty of line forms in the "River Crossing Raft" to find life. On the other side of the ideal world of art, Shi Tao used the implicit and subtle brushwork of the "Southern School" to create the simple and bright painting style of the "Northern School", which was the beginning of modern painting. , Wang Yang was unbridled and free-spirited, taking a step closer to modern painting.
The two of them lived in similar eras, but their artistic ideas were not completely consistent. Despite this, they reached the same goal through different paths. However, their roles in history are very similar. They both prepared the development of Chinese painting into modern painting. Shi Tao's ideas and practices made painters face life again and learn from nature, laying the foundation for creating a new history.
The emergence of various chamfering techniques in the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty was the creative product of masters at that time facing life and imitating nature, realizing the sublimation of brush and ink, and also forming a traditional load. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty still followed the tradition of landscape painting in the Qing Dynasty. To achieve something, we must carry out new reforms while inheriting tradition. Therefore, the creation of new methods is inevitable for the development of landscape painting.