The emergence of calligraphy and painting schools in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
The Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1840) before the Opium War was the later period of my country’s feudal society. Although the culture tended to be conservative, However, in the field of calligraphy and painting, there have been many distinctive schools and painters with strong personalities, each leading the way and shaping the painting world. In the early Ming Dynasty, painters advocating the Song Dynasty painting style were everywhere in the court and among the people. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, literati painting was revived in Suzhou. In the later period, the literati painting of scholar-bureaucrats developed towards independent expression of their souls, taking painting as a pleasure and as a source of inspiration. The changes in the Ming and Qing Dynasties did not separate the tradition of painting. There were still many painting schools in the Qing Dynasty, each with its own style of imitation and innovation. Literati paintings and Western paintings also had an impact on court painting. With the development of the commodity economy, literati responded with paintings. He makes a living and vents his anger through painting, and the vigorous style of epigraphy and calligraphy is also integrated into painting. Folk painting has become more secular and commercialized; as the last glory of ancient Chinese painting, Qing Dynasty painting has shown a tendency to undergo strange changes, preparing for the reform of modern Chinese painting.
[Ming] Chen Hongshou's "Lotus and Mandarin Ducks"
[Ming] Dong Qichang, one of the "Eight Scenes of Autumn"
[Ming] Chen Hongshou's "Tea Tasting" 》
"Huashan School" and Ming Painting Academy Painting
Dai Jin, the founder of the "Zhejiang School"
The extremely bookish "Wumen School"< /p>
Chen Chun and Xu Wei’s freehand flowers and birds
Dong Qichang’s painting style
Chen Hongshou, a figure painter with a strong personality
Cynical Ming Dynasty painting school< /p>
The painting style of the "Four Kings" of the Qing Dynasty
The influence of "Western painting" on the courtyard painting
The "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" who express their hearts directly
< p>Diversified folk custom paintings"Tangka" paintings with national characteristics
"Huashan School" and Ming Painting Academy paintings
Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was good at martial arts , was clumsy in literary governance. During his reign, he implemented cultural despotism, destroyed art and literature, and the painting world was in a state of depression. However, Wang Lu (1332-?), a doctor and amateur painter who collected medicinal herbs from the north, survived. When he works on landscapes, he does not adhere to the methods established by his predecessors. He advocates going deep into nature, learning from nature, and absorbing creative materials from real landscapes.
There is a "Huashan Mountain Album" in existence, which depicts 40 small scenes of Huashan Mountain in Shaanxi Province, with poems and essays to express the feelings of appreciating the natural scenery. The mountain is cleaved with a small axe, and it is steep and majestic, with mixed trees and clouds and smoke; the pen and ink are vigorous, flexible, and vivid. Later generations called his painting style based on natural landscapes the "Huashan School".
[Ming Dynasty] One of Wang Lu's "Huashan Atlas"
Although Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, also implemented cultural autocracy, his method was different from that of his father. Take him into the palace and serve him. Wang Fu, Xie Jin and others were the recommended painters. During the reigns of Emperors Hongxi, Xuande and even Chenghua and Hongzhi, court painters also flourished for a time, such as Bian Jingzhao, Lin Liang, Lu Ji and others, who were relatively famous. Their works are known for their part-time writing, with rich colors and auspicious themes, such as pine and crane symbolizing longevity, orchid and bamboo symbolizing prosperity, golden pheasant symbolizing wealth, and magpie symbolizing happiness, etc., giving them a peaceful atmosphere. Lu Ji's flower-and-bird paintings also contain the meaning of advising the emperor to implement good governance, such as "Three Thoughts Picture", which depicts three lovesick birds to express thinking twice before doing anything;
[Ming Dynasty] Lu Ji's "Three Thoughts Picture"< /p>
"The Picture of Eagle and Heron in the Broken Lotus" depicts an eagle turning around and swooping down. The egrets and birds in the lotus pond are running away in panic and are at a loss. This is a warning to the emperor not to abuse martial arts. Painting has obviously developed further in the enlightened political climate.
[Ming Dynasty] Lu Ji's "Illustration of Eagles and Herons with Broken Lotuses"
Dai Jin, the founder of the "Zhejiang School"
Dai Jin, a native of Qiantang (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang) Jin (1377-1462) was a great and accomplished painter in the early Ming Dynasty. He was recommended to the palace during the Xuande period, but was banned and returned to his hometown to make a living selling paintings. After his death, he was buried by the Hongchun Bridge near West Lake.
[Ming Dynasty] Dai Jin's "Guanshan Travel Pictures"
Dai Jin's skills are comprehensive, he is good at figures, landscapes, and flowers, and his appearance also has many changes. It is also integrated with the tradition of Yuan people's ink painting method. The mountains and rocks are cleaved with a big axe, and the ink is dripping. It is bold and strong, and the strokes are heavier, rough and powerful, and full of momentum. The characters are combined with craftsmanship, the facial description is thin, the expression is vivid, the lines of the clothes are rough and frustrated, vigorous and free, and the style is unique. The flowers and birds can be painted with both meticulous brushwork and freehand ink.
[Ming Dynasty] Dai Jin's "Poetry of Xitang"
Dai Jin's direct successors include his son Dai Quan, son-in-law Wang Shixiang, disciples Fang Yue, Xia Zhi, etc. He is from Zhejiang, so his sect is known as "Zhejiang sect". Influenced by Dai Jin, Wu Wei from Jiangxia became more indulgent in his writing and was called the "Jiangxia School". Under the influence of the "Zhe School", the painting style inside and outside the court during the Chenghua and Hongzhi periods tended to be thick-brushed and ink-wash, with a bold and bold style. It was popular for more than a hundred years until the rise of the "Wumen Painting School" headed by Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming. And come to decline.
[Ming Dynasty] Wu Wei's "Baqiao Wind and Snow Picture"
The extremely bookish "Wumen School of Painting"
With the development of economic life in the mid-Ming Dynasty, With prosperity, Suzhou (commonly known as Wumen), known as the "Land of Fish and Rice and the Silk Road", has emerged with a group of accomplished painters. Among them, Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying are the most famous, known as the "Wumen School of Painting". Most of their works express the elegant and leisurely life taste of Jiangnan literati.
[Ming] Wen Zhengming's "Zhen Shang Zhai Picture" (detail)
The four masters of the "Wumen School of Painting" each have their own merits. Its founder, Shen Zhou, has profound skills and does not admire fame. , the most literati temperament, he has many cultural accomplishments, his calligraphy is strong and simple, and he also paints landscapes, flowers and birds, and figures. In his middle age, his painting methods are rigorous and delicate, his brushwork is calm and vigorous, and his strength wins; in his later years, his pen and ink are simple and bold, The momentum is strong. The works are free and unrestrained and contain a sense of wildness, making him a pioneer in the revival of literati painting in the Ming Dynasty.
[Ming Dynasty] Shen Zhou's "Highest Map of Mount Lu"
Wen Zhengming, a disciple of Shen Zhou, was once driven by wealth and wealth, and recommended him to Beijing to serve as a member of the Hanlin Academy to await imperial edicts. Later, he was dissatisfied and resigned from his post. Here, painting and calligraphy will last forever. His calligraphy and painting skills are also very comprehensive, his writing is elegant, his brushwork is implicit, and his style is elegant. Wen Zhengming lived a long life and was diligent, with many works handed down from generation to generation, and his influence among his nephews and disciples continued until the early Qing Dynasty. Therefore, he became the most influential figure in the "Wu School".