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Regarding the works left by Empress Dowager Cixi, there is a painting "Plum Bamboo in the Snow" on display in Ruibao Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, which was presented to foreign ministers by Empress Dowager Cixi. The image of Mei Zhu inside is exquisite and lovely, and the lines are clearly outlined. You can tell at a glance that it was written by a famous artist. However, in the two works of Cixi in the Palace Museum in Beijing, Paramita Heart Sutra and Mantis Polygonum Flower, what experts see is a beginner's poor brushwork, and his artistic attainments are far less than that of Plum and Bamboo in the Snow.
In fact, these paintings are all original works left by Cixi. As for why there is such a big difference, we have to start with the gunmen raised by Empress Dowager Cixi. Cixi likes painting and writing all her life, but she is not good at learning art, and her works are simply not available. Many ministers also begged Lafayette to mount her paintings on the wall, which made Cixi feel great pressure. If not, ministers will think that Lafayette has no real talent and learning. If so, wouldn't it be even more shameful to draw ugly words? Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi secretly kept a group of gunmen in Ruyi Pavilion to create calligraphy and painting for herself. Among these gunmen, the most striking ones are Miao Suyun, Ruan and Qu.
Miao Suyun, a native of Yunnan, was a female painter in Qing Dynasty. She is good at painting flowers and feathers, and she is the most satisfied writer of Cixi. Cixi called her Mr. Miao and promoted her to a third-class female official, giving her red feathers. The Plum Blossom in the Snow, which Cixi gave to foreign envoys, was written by her. On the seventieth birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi, Miao Suyun also made a paper fan for Cixi. The paper fan bone was carved into Zhuge Liang's "model", and the font was very small, which could only be seen with a magnifying glass, showing his artistic skill.
Ruan, a native of Jiangsu, is good at flowers, birds, fish and insects. He was highly valued by Cixi, so he was named "Yu Fen" and received generous treatment, second only to Miao.
Qu was a male painter in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, who was good at calligraphy and meticulous flower-and-bird painting. He is the last curator of Ruyi Museum. His flowers, landscapes and figures are all-around painters because they are spiritual. Galeries Lafayette likes to let him draw pines, cypresses and cranes for himself and stamp them.
There are many rules for drawing Cixi, not the more exquisite the better. Galeries Lafayette laid down three rules for gunmen, namely "no indulgence", "no willfulness" and "no novelty". In other words, all paintings made for Lafayette must have a certain template. Lafayette will pick out the most satisfactory paintings among the painters and sign his own name, which is equivalent to Cixi's own works. Other painters only need to follow the style of these paintings, but they can't surpass them or do whatever they want. In short, "where ink spills, it's routine." .
Although the imperial court offered high salaries to painters, Lafayette's "three principles" made painters paint mechanically every day, which stifled their pursuit of higher painting skills, so that after the fall of the Qing court, most of these painters made a living by selling calligraphy and painting, and so did Qu. Due to the pressure of life, he had to make a living by painting under the signboard of a court painter after leaving the palace. On the one hand, it is the torture of life, on the other hand, it is the sequela of the "three rules" of the court for many years. Qu's paintings in his later years are very general, with no bright spots.
Compared with Qu, the beauty is different. After years of generous treatment by the court, she saved a lot of living expenses. After leaving the palace, she doesn't have to worry about life. In his later years, Miao Suyun toured the Three Gorges and climbed Mount Tai, and received many young apprentices. She devotes herself to painting and writes with a calm heart every day. Her paintings are naturally "fairy-like" and her artistic attainments are extremely high, far exceeding those painted by the early court for Cixi.
She broke away from worldly troubles and stuck to her own world. Of course, only the hermit Tao Yuanming can reach this level. If this woman is in today's internet age, she will at least become an internet celebrity with millions of fans. In this state of mind, Miao Suyun painted 27 detached works with her own feelings, but she never showed them to others, because she had a "promise" to Cixi in the past, and the paintings of ghost painters could not be sold in the market, so no one has been lucky enough to see the elegance of her paintings so far.
The situation of these two top painters is so different. One of them neglected painting skills for the sake of "high salary", which led him to wander around in his later years and make a living by painting. A person dedicated his best years to Cixi, but don't forget that his active heart keeps his persistence in painting. In the end, she also fulfilled her "commitment" to Cixi with her own actions. Think about it, I really don't know whether it's sadness, regret or sympathy. ...
Wen Xiu, editor-in-chief of Wen Lan Hairun Studio, wrote: Special historical writer: Changshan Zhao Zichong.