On the eve of the Spring Festival, Guo Defu, a representative painter of "Confucius Painting School" who is famous for painting Confucius, spent three years in Shenyang to create a special historical group painting "Confucius New Year Pictures". This group of paintings consists of five Chinese paintings, such as Young Confucius Celebrating the New Year and Telling the Ancient Year, Confucius' teacher and student jujube hill Chorus Greeting the South Wind to Celebrate the New Year, Confucius having a snowball fight with his family, and Confucius' fireworks celebrating the New Year. For the first time, it depicts the life scene of Confucius, his family and students welcoming the Spring Festival from the special artistic angle of New Year culture, and shows Confucius' humanistic feelings of loving life, nature, family, students and pursuing beautiful ideals. It also shows the richness and long history of the Spring Festival culture.
How did the ancients celebrate the New Year?
This photo of young Confucius celebrating the New Year in China with his family depicts the young Confucius and his son Kong Li, his daughter, and his wife Guan Qi lighting the lights to celebrate the warm moment of China New Year. Confucius told his son and daughter a historical story. In the painting, Kong Li's Nuo face hanging on his arm not only adds the flavor of old customs, but also implies the legendary color of historical stories. Pictures of Confucius' Teachers and Students jujube hill's Shounian string music Nanfeng welcomes the New Year, which depicts for the first time the Chinese New Year life scenes of Confucius' teachers and students when they travel around the world in a foreign country according to the customs of their hometown. "The Picture of Confucius Playing Snow with His Family" and "The Picture of Confucius' Home Firecrackers Celebrating the Spring Festival" set the painting perspective on the harmonious and happy holiday life of Confucius celebrating the Spring Festival with his son, daughter and wife.
Guo Defu said: Does Confucius celebrate the Spring Festival? I went here specially when I traced Confucius' trip around the world. It is said that the Spring Festival originated in Shun, and it has been more than 4,000 years, commonly known as "Chinese New Year". When Confucius was in China, Lu also had the custom of welcoming the Spring. It was precisely because after the Spring Festival that Confucius didn't get the meat that the monarch should give his ministers, so he left Lu for Wei and began to travel around the world. Confucius once commented on the manners and customs in his hometown: "Harmony without flow, elder brother's eyes, Yan 'an without chaos". "Because of its ceremony, the three families are in harmony." According to relevant records, one day in 2000 BC, Shun ascended the throne and led hundreds of officials and people to worship heaven and earth. Later, people designated this day as the Spring Festival. Shun also played banjo and recited the poem "South Wind": What a warm south wind can relieve our people's sorrow; How timely the south wind is, it can increase the wealth of our people. The south wind can relieve the anxiety of our people; When the south wind blows slowly, it will enrich the people's property. Nanfeng has been praised by the past dynasties because it expresses the harmonious atmosphere of raising people and loving things. Confucius liked the poem "Xian Ge" very much, and once commented: "Virtue is like a spring. As for today, I forgot. " Based on this, I drew this group of paintings. The details of Chinese New Year's life in the group paintings, such as setting up a base in jujube hill, celebrating the 30th anniversary and setting off firecrackers, all originated from the ancient customs of Confucius' hometown when I traced his trip around the world. To build a "jujube hill" is to put dates on steamed pasta to make it into the shape of a mountain, so that a "jujube hill" can be eaten by the whole family for the New Year. "Jujube" and "early" mean to reach the peak early and have a successful career. "Shounian" comes from ancient legends. In order to avoid a "monster" who often hurts people at the end of the year, on New Year's Eve, relatives get together at home, light up and chat all night, seek good fortune and avoid evil, and pray for a harmonious and healthy New Year, which is called "keeping the old". In ancient local folklore, there was a disease called "Shan Sao", which was hot and cold in spring, but it was afraid of bamboo coming out. Therefore, when the ancients welcomed the Spring Festival, there was a custom of burning bamboo to eliminate diseases and evil spirits with the sound of its explosion, commonly known as "firecrackers". With the invention of gunpowder, it gradually evolved into firecrackers set off during the Spring Festival.
Confucius told stories for his children to protect his old age.
In order to paint this group of paintings well, Guo Defu once set foot on Confucius' journey around the world, visited the places where Confucius' teachers and students lived, and collected many vivid creative materials along the way. Guo Defu absorbed the folk decoration style of Shandong New Year pictures and integrated it with ink painting and painting techniques. He not only pays attention to the description of Confucius, his family and students welcoming the New Year, but also creates a life interest with strong folk culture. Guo Defu also wrote long articles in the group paintings to record the history with paintings and narrate the history with paintings, making the group paintings readable and ornamental, with pictures and texts.
It is reported that this kind of historical group painting depicts the life scene of Confucius, his family and students welcoming the Spring Festival for the first time from the perspective of cultural thematic art.