China's Ancient Theory of Painting
Introduction | Chinese Landscape Painting | Chinese Figure Painting
Chinese Flower and Bird Painting | Great Masters
Painting is the product of perception.When the laws governing such a perceptual expression were not yet available or complete,rational guiding principles appeared first--the maturity of the theory of Chinese painting went ahead of painting practice;it used philosophical thinking to dominate painting,whose function of "conveying the Way or Tao,i.e., philosophical and moral principles,was probably there togethter with its birth.
Gu Kaizhi's idea of "expressing the spirit through form" was a principle unchangeable for all time.And Xie He's "Six Criteria"(liu fa) had been employed all too frequently but remained always fresh.Zong Binge's required attainment of the state of wo you offered a theoretical foreshadowing for the subjective consciousness of suiting disposition and seeking relief and diversion.Zhang Zao's dictum:"Externally,learn from Nature;internally,gain from the source of feeling"was truly a knack to be passed on for the endless benift of the accepter.
True,the theories of Chinese painting are in the state described as "a hundred schools contend",but they stay much the same in spite of changes time and again."Six Classics(Confucian)"do give me explanations' I do mine of "Six Classics",this is rational,and the reasonableness lies in the fact that there are "classics" and there is "I",too.Though classics will not change eternally,there is life under tips of my brushpens anywhere they make touches.Herein lies the way of development of the theories of Chinese culture,and so does that of the development of the theories of Chinese pictorial art.
The Chinese Landscape Painting
Waters,mountains,trees and rocks in pictorial art were intended originally for serving as a foil to the figures.Due to the phenomenal rise of interest,however,in the philosophy and literature related to natural landscape,they in turn aroused the aesthetic charming interest peculiar to the painters."On the Paingting of Landscapes"written by Zong Bing under the Song dynastic rule in the Southern Dynasties period and "On Painting" written by Wang Meng in the slightly later days were undoubtedly equivalent to the declaration of the landscape painting as an independent genre of art.
Among the extant pieces,the earliest landscape works can be found in Zhan Ziqian's "Spring Excursion".Li Sixun and his son Li Zhaodao in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty were the representative artists of maturity.Their early-stage style of landscape paintings was chiefly characterized by the use of blue and green to a new height.Their contemporaries,Wu Daozi and Wang Wei explored the monochrome inkwashes of landscape painting,forming a sort of system which reached its maturity later through the efforts of Jing Hao of the Five Dynasties,whose successors--Li Cheng,Dong Yuan and Fan Kuan--became the sources of various schools by virtue of their different regional styles.
During the two Song dynasties and the Yuan Dynasty,celebrated landscape artists came forth in large numbers and leaped to the position of forming the mainstream of the pictorial art.
The Song dynasties advocated "fa"(norms and laws) while the Yuan Dynasty advocated "yi"(idea and suggestion).Their difference in style and expression in the realm of landscape painting marked the unceasing maturity of this genre of art.The late Yuan Dynasty saw the perfection of the consciousness of self initiation in doing landscape paintings,thus enabling the subjective function as epitomized in the phrases of wo you(literally,"to dream of traveling in bed") and chang shen (literally,"to let the spirit unfold") to be carried forward and developed.The landscape paintings executed during the Ming and the Qing dynasties paled before those of the Song and the Yuan by showing constraint somewhat,but their artists were seeking another kind of charming interest beyond "fa" and "yi"as the objective.Because of this,there were not only the so-called "orthodox school"artisits devoted to self-entertainment and self-perfection within the bounds of the old laws and methods,but also the school of blazing new trails who put individuality above everything else and let pen-and-ink execution submit to feelings.Nevertheless,those works,after all,were incapabe to compare themselves with the accomplishments in the preceding ages as to splendour and magnanimousness and,instead,showed the signs of being of the wane and decline.
The Art of Chinese Figure Painting
Early-stage painting works nearly all took figures as the main theme.In terms of the skills of the artisans of the officialdom and the populace,there was a difference between them,meticulous vs. coarse and refined vs. unruly--the former being accurate in depiction,terse and orderly in lines and exquisite and dedicate in coloration,showing extremely good professional cultivation whereas the latter being bold and untrammelled and tending to be coarse and crude in spite of showing some vivacity in the counternance.And the former was the source head of specialized figure painting whereas the latter had all along retain the simple and plain features prevailing among the people.However,in the course of development,both of them influenced each other.
Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was considered as a mature master artist in pushing up the techniques to the theoretical level in figure painting.In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty the extraordinary creative power of Wu Daozi brought prosperity to this genre of art as never before.The gorgeousness of the late Tang paintings,the exquisiteness of the Five Dynasties paintings,the line drawing method of depicting both spirit and form of Li Gonglin of the Northern Song Dynasty,and the free impressionist reduced strokes of Liang Kai of the Southern Song Dynasty--all these displayed the scene of multifariousness in colour and posture.
The momentum of figure paintings in the Yuan Dynasty was on the wane,but there was no lack of excellent pieces executed by Zhao Mengfu,Ren Renfa and Zhang Wo.The figure paintings of the Ming and the Qing days began to be stamped with the mark of being secular in the favour and full of human interest.And the richness in individual styles and the mellow and seasoned techniques were embodied in the works of such figure-painting artists as Dai Jin,Wu Wei,Tang Yin,Qiu Ying and Chen Hongshou.
The Art of Chinese Flower and Bird Paitings
This genre of art originated from a remote past.The patterns of flowers and birds on the primitive coloured potteries,the like designs on the bronze vessels,the phoenixes in the paintings on silk of the Warring States Period,and the roseflinches in the same ones of the Western Han Dynasty--all these constituted the images of flowers and birds,which were characterized by ancient plainness and simplicity,yet adorned with bright colours.
But this genre of art did not become an entirely separate one on its own merit until the mid- and late- Tang Dynasty.Such artists as Bian Luan,Xue Ji and Diao Guangyin had played a decisive role in contributing to the independence of this genre.
Huang Quan under the Xishu dynastic rule and Xu Xi under the Nantang dynastic rule during the Five Dynasties period both added shine to the flower-and-bird paintings with the styles of their own.The Northern Song Dynasty's artists Zhao Chang and Yi Yuanju instilled vitality into the,and then Cui Bai and Wu Yuanyu endowed the already full-grown and mellow genre of art with still greater charm through their artistic conceptions,which spelled out vivacity,succinctness and profundity.The images they created on white silk could well be mistaken as real flowers and birds.By this time,the techniques of true-to-reality depiction can be said to have reached the peak of perfection.
Then,Zhang Zhong in the Yuan Dynasty put out the pioneering feat of outlining the flowers and dotting the leaves,which was a real eye-opener to people.Thereafter,Xu Wei's ink splashes,Bada Shanren reduced strokes,and the skills of Yun Shouping,Wang Wu,Hua Yan,Li Shan,Ren Yi and Wu Changshuo,each with his own special style,helped shape up the situation of "a hundred flower bloom"that would compose a flourishing scene all along without any sign of fading.
Four Great Masters of the Yuan Dynasty
It referred to Huang Gongwang,Wang Meng,Ni Zan and Wu Zhen in the Yuan Dynasty.
Four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty
It referred to Shen Zhou,Wen Zhengming,Tang Yin and Qiu Ying in the Ming Dynasty.
Four Great Masters of Monk in the Early Qing Dynasty
It referred to four painters in the early Qing Dynasty:Shi Tao,Zhu Da,Kun Can and Hong Ren.They were all monk.
Eight Great Masters in Jinling
In the Qing Dynasty,it gathered a group of painter in Nanjing City.Especially Gong Xian,Fan Qi,Gao Cen,Zou Zhe,Wu Hong,Ye Xin,Hu Zao and Xie SUn were the most famous among them.They were honored as "Eight Great Master in Jinling".It was some difference between their styles,but they appreciated and boasted each other.
Eight Great Masters who have Special Styles in Yangzhou
It referred to the eight famous painters of Yangzhou city in the Qing Dyansty.It included Wang Shishen,Huang Shen,Jin Nong,Gao Xiang,Li Shan,Zheng Xie,Li Fangying,Luo Ping.But with another argument,someone replaced Wang Shishen,Gao Xiang,Li Fangyin with Gao Fenghan,Bian Shoumin,Yang Fa.During that time,there were many painters made a living on selling their style were called by a joint name as "Yangzhou school literati".Following the unrestrained style of the Ming Dyangsty,their style were individualized and bold and their painting usually executed by spalsh-ink.
Four Great Masters who named Wang in the Early Qing Dynasty
It referred to Wang Shimin,Wang Jian,Wang Hui and Wang Yuanqi in the early Qing Dyansty.They advocated that every painter should model after ancient style and synthesize the merit of it,at last he should create his own style.Their style gave considerable influent to later painters.
Six Great Masters of the Qing Dynasty
It referred to Wang Shimin,Wang Jian Wang Hui,Wang Yuanqi,Wu Li and Yun Shouping in the early Qing Dynasty.They were the outstanding representatives of the orthodox school literati during that time.