First, the background of "Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou"
Yangzhou has been famous for its economic prosperity since Sui and Tang Dynasties. Although it experienced the disaster of changing soldiers, it always recovered quickly after the war because of its superior geographical position, convenient transportation, fertile land and rich products. In the Qing Dynasty, although it was destroyed by the massacre on the 10th, it developed in the three generations of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, and became a metropolis along the southeast coast of China and an important trade center in China. Dajia, a wealthy businessman, is rich in many places around, especially salt industry.
Economic prosperity has also promoted the prosperity of cultural and artistic undertakings. Scholars and celebrities from all over the world gathered in Yangzhou. At the initiative of local officials, poetry receptions are often held. Poetry creation enjoys a high reputation throughout the country. Some salt merchants, who are rich and arty in themselves, attract more receptions to celebrities from all over Yangzhou. Yangzhou has thus attracted many celebrities from all over the country, including many poets, writers and artists. Therefore, Yangzhou at that time was not only the economic center of the southeast, but also the center of culture and art.
In order to meet the needs of their luxurious life, wealthy businessmen have great demand for exquisite handicrafts, precious pearls and jade, fresh clothes, delicious food and other material and spiritual products, and are more keen on collecting calligraphy and painting. As far as the wind is concerned, middle-class families among ordinary people even seek rooms for hanging calligraphy and painting to show elegance. There is a folk proverb called "there is no calligraphy and painting at home, it is not an old home." The huge demand for calligraphy and painting attracted and produced a large number of painters. According to "Yangzhou Painting Boat", there are more than 100 well-known local painters and painters from all over the world, many of whom were famous at that time, and "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" is one of them.
The works of Yangzhou Painting School, represented by "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", have distinct personalities in both material selection and composition. The formation of this artistic style is closely related to the innovation trend of painting circles at that time and the change of people's aesthetic taste. In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, China's painting was trapped by conservative thoughts, with copying as the mainstream, and the painting world lacked vitality. This fading wind has aroused the dissatisfaction of people of insight and talented painters. Shi Tao, a great painter who advocated innovation, appeared in Shi Tao, Yangzhou, and put forward the slogan of "pen and ink should keep pace with the times" and "can't get away from it", which shook the painting world like footsteps in an empty valley. Shi Tao's theory and practice "opened a school of Yangzhou", and finally gave birth to a group of innovative painters such as "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics".
2. Who are the famous "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou"?
There are different opinions about which painters "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" refer to. Some people say it's eight, others say it's more than eight; Some people say these eight, others say the other eight. According to various writings, there are as many as fifteen people. Because Li Yufen's Introduction to Ou Boluo's Painting and Calligraphy is the earliest and most complete record of the Eight Eccentrics, most people still take the Eight Eccentrics proposed by Li Yufen in the late Qing Dynasty as the standard. Namely: Wang, Zheng Xie, Gao Xiang, Jin Nong, Li Yi, Huang Shen, Li,. As for the painters mentioned by others, such as Hua Yan, Min Zhen, Gao, Li Mian, Chen Zhuan, Bian Shoumin, Yang Fa, etc. , can also be merged because of similar painting styles. Because the word "eight" can be used as an adjective or as a divisor.
"Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" has a wide range of knowledge and is good at poetry. Life was bumpy for most of my life, and I finally embarked on the road of selling paintings for a living. Although they sell paintings, they express their feelings with paintings, and they have higher pursuit in the art of painting and calligraphy, and are unwilling to flow into the ranks of ordinary painters. Their knowledge, experience, artistic accomplishment, profound skill and artistic pursuit of innovative ideas are different from ordinary painters. They reached the realm of new ideas, new compositions and new techniques, created a new generation of painting style, and made immortal contributions to the development of China.
China's painting has a long history, in which literati painting flourished from the Tang and Song Dynasties, gradually enriched and developed, and formed a complete theoretical system, leaving a large number of works, which is the pride of China's painting. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there have been many painting schools in China, each with its own characteristics. Yushan and Loudong, headed by the "Four Kings", have the greatest influence, while in Yangzhou, the painting style of "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", headed by Jin Nong and Zheng Xie, has been formed. These painters inherit and carry forward the tradition of Chinese painting, but they have different views on inheriting the tradition and creating methods. Yu Shan, Lou Dong and other painting schools emphasize copying and learning from the ancients, take observing the ancient law as the principle, take strengthening the ancient law as their own responsibility, and pretend to be "authentic". Their creative method, as Wang Hui, an "authentic" painter, said, is "a great achievement to paint with the straight ink of Yuan people, to transport the mountains and valleys of Song people and to polish the charm of Tang people". They followed the ancients and followed suit, and their works were mostly imitations of ancient masters (of course, there were also antique creations), which formed a rigid situation and bound the painter's hands and feet. "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" also respects tradition, but it is different from "authentic". They inherited the creative methods of Shi Tao, Xu Wei and Zhu Da. , did not copy the ancient laws. For example, Zheng Banqiao worships Shi Tao and he learns from Shi Tao. He also "stayed half, learned half, and never learned all."
Shi Tao has an important influence on the formation of the artistic style of "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics". He put forward "learning from nature" and "using my method", opposed "mudding", required painters to absorb creative materials in nature, and emphasized that works should have strong personality. He believes that "the ancients could not bear my face; The hearts of ancient people could not enter my stomach. I feel my heart spontaneously and show my eyebrows. " Shi Tao's painting thought laid a theoretical foundation for the emergence of "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" and applied it to practice. "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" found inspiration from nature, sought themes from life, and wrote books by itself, not willing to be like others, which was refreshing at that time. People often regard their rare things as weird, so they feel strange about the works of "Eight Eccentrics" that express their hearts and gallop freely, and call them weird. There are also some painters who are used to tradition. They think that the paintings of "Eight Eccentrics" are beyond the limits, so they belittle the Eight Eccentrics, saying that they are partial teachers and heretics, and that they are "unconventional and only popular in thyme". Admirers praised his works for their bold brushwork, getting rid of the shackles of the established method and the ancient method, breaking the rigid situation at that time, bringing new vitality to China's paintings and influencing and nurturing later artists such as Zhao, Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi.
3. Where is the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou"?
There are different opinions about where the "Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou" is. Some people think they are strange, but in fact, they are not. Eight eccentrics have experienced ups and downs themselves. They are full of injustice and infinite anger, and show deep sympathy for the poor. They attack ugly things and people with the keen insight and kind sympathy of intellectuals, whether in poetry or painting and calligraphy. This kind of thing is not uncommon in the history of China, but it is not uncommon. People will naturally treat it as "strange". However, their daily behavior did not go beyond the scope of ethics at that time, nor did they indulge like Jin literati-playing dumb and laughing. They communicate with officials and celebrities, attend poetry receptions and behave like normal people. Therefore, it is unreasonable to assume that they are "weird" from their life behavior. Now we can only study them in their works.
Eight eccentrics don't want to take the road that others have started, but want to find another way. They want to create "articles that show the sky and the ground, words that shock thunderstorms, words that curse ghosts, and paintings that have never existed in the past" to stand on their own feet, that is, to be different from the ancients, not to follow the customs, and to have a unique style. Their works violate people's appreciation habits and make people feel novel, so they feel a little "strange". As Zheng Xie himself said, "Writing is unique, and calligraphy and painting are not appreciated by ordinary people. The Tang Dynasty had its own country, and the people laughed at me as a Banqiao monster. " At that time, people had different opinions on them, and the most important one was that they deviated from the "authentic", which also explained the main reason why they were called "weird". Yangzhou Eight Eccentric Painters broke through the shackles of "authenticity" and, on the basis of inheriting the tradition, concentrated on their own creation and development, trying to create a new painting style with their whole life. Undoubtedly, they have made great contributions to the development of Chinese painting, and their creative ideas and numerous works are valuable legacies for us to learn and inherit.