Li Kuchan is good at painting flowers, birds and eagles, Qi Baishi is good at painting shrimps, Xu Beihong is good at painting horses, Dai Song is good at painting cows, and Zheng Banqiao is good at painting bamboos.
1. Li Kuchan
Born into poverty, he was influenced by the traditional culture of his hometown since childhood and embarked on an artistic journey. In 1923, he became a disciple of Qi Baishi. He once served as a professor at Hangzhou Art College, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, a director of the Chinese Artists Association, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Chinese Painting Research Institute. He is good at painting flowers, birds and eagles. In his later years, he often made huge paintings.
On January 11, 1899 (November 30th of the Wuxu Year of the Lunar Calendar), he was born in a poor farm family in Liqizhuang, Gaotang County, Shandong Province. He was named Yingjie with the courtesy name Chaosan. In 1916, he entered the No. 2 Middle School of Liaocheng Province in Shandong Province and studied painting from the Chinese painter Sun Zhanqun. He first learned to paint lotus. In the same year, he painted Chinese paintings "Cat", "Chicken" and "Crane".
In 1922, he was admitted to the Western Painting Department of the National Beijing Fine Arts School and made a living by pulling a rickshaw at night. Classmate Lin Yijin saw Li Kuchan's hardship and gave Li Kuchan the word "Kuchan". "Bitterness" is taken from the first word of the Four Truths of Buddhism, and "Zen" is the freehand painting that Li Kuchan is good at. Li Kuchan accepted it happily.
2. Qi Baishi
Qi Baishi worked as a carpenter in his early years, and later made a living by selling paintings. He settled in Beijing after he was fifty-seven years old. He is good at painting flowers and birds, insects and fish, landscapes and figures. His pen and ink are vigorous and moist, the colors are bright and bright, the shapes are concise and vivid, and the artistic conception is honest and simple. The fish, shrimps, insects and crabs created are full of natural interest.
Qi Baishi, a calligrapher and seal engraver, took his method from the Qin and Han dynasty steles and tablets. His running calligraphy has an antique and clumsy style, and he is unique in seal cutting and is good at writing poetry. He once served as honorary professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and chairman of the Chinese Artists Association. His representative works include "The Sound of Frogs Ten Miles Out of a Mountain Spring" and "Ink Shrimp". He is the author of "Baishi Poetry" and "The Narrative of the Old Man Baishi".
3. Xu Beihong
Xu Beihong, Zhang Shuqi and Liu Zigu are known as the "Three Masters of Jinling" in the painting world. The traditional Chinese paintings he painted are rich in color and ink, and are especially famous for his galloping horses. Xu Beihong is revered as the founder of modern Chinese art education. He advocated the development of the improvement of "traditional Chinese painting", based on modern Chinese realism art, and proposed the "On the Reform of Chinese Painting" against the decadent background of modern Chinese painting.
On September 26, 1953, Xu Beihong died of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 58. In accordance with Xu Beihong's last wish, his wife, Ms. Liao Jingwen, collected more than 1,200 of his works, more than 1,200 works of famous calligraphers and painters from the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and modern times, as well as more than 10,000 books, picture albums, inscriptions, etc. pieces, all donated to the country.
4. Dai Song
Dai Song has always been famous for his cow paintings. His paintings of cows are as famous as Han Gan's paintings of horses. Collectively known as "Han Ma Dai Niu". Dai Song's "Bullfighting Picture" was collected by Ma Zhijie, a minister of the Song Dynasty. Ma Zhijie cherished this picture very much. One day, the weather was sunny and dry. Ma Zhijie took out the "Bullfighting Picture" from the bottom of the box and placed it in front of the hall to bask in the sun.
A farmer came to collect rent taxes and saw this picture. He looked at it and couldn't help laughing. Ma Zhijie felt strange and asked the farmer: "Do you know how to draw? What's so funny about this picture?" The farmer replied: "I'm just a farmer and don't know how to draw, but I understand living things very well." Cow.
When a cow fights, its tail must be tightly clamped between its thighs. No matter how strong it is, there is no way to pull it out. But look at this "Bullfighting Picture", two of them. The cows were fighting angrily, but their tails were raised high. This is completely different from the actual situation!" Ma Zhijie was very impressed by the farmer's knowledge.
5. Zheng Banqiao
Zheng Banqiao (1693-1765), formerly known as Zheng Xie, also named Kerou, Haoli'an, also known as Banqiao, known as Mr. Banqiao, was born in Xinghua, Jiangsu , native of Suzhou. He was a scholar of Kangxi, a scholar in the tenth year of Yongzheng, and a Jinshi in the first year of Qianlong (1736). He was the magistrate of Fan County and Weixian County in Shandong Province. He had outstanding political achievements. He later lived in Yangzhou and made a living by selling paintings. He was an important representative of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou".
Zheng Banqiao only painted orchids, bamboos and stones throughout his life. He called himself "the orchid that never fades in all seasons, the evergreen bamboo with a hundred knots, the unbeatable stone through the ages, and the unchanging person through the ages."
His poetry, calligraphy and painting are known as the "Three Wonders" in the world. He is a relatively representative literati painter in the Qing Dynasty. ?Extended information
Zheng Banqiao's calligraphy art
Zheng Banqiao's calligraphy uses official script mixed with regular regular script. He calls himself "Six and a Half Calligraphy" and is known as "Banqiao Style". Most of his paintings are based on orchids, grass, bamboo and stones. Orchid and bamboo are almost part of his soul. Zheng Banqiao's calligraphy art is unique in the history of Chinese calligraphy.
It can be inferred from "Ouyang Xiu's Ode to Qiu Sheng in Xiaokai" written when he was 23 years old and "Zhi Shi in Xiaokai Fan" written when he was 30 that Banqiao learned calligraphy from Ouyang Xun in his early years. The font is neat and elegant, but a little restrained: this is related to the neat and elegant Guange style that was prevalent in the calligraphy world at that time, and it was used as the standard font for imperial examinations.
In this regard, Zheng Banqiao once said: "If your regular script is too uniform, it will damage your soul if you work hard for a long time." After he became a Jinshi at the age of 40, he rarely wrote anymore. Zheng Banqiao's calligraphy is most praised for his "six-and-a-half-point script", which is a unique "Banqiao style" that uses "Han Bafen" (a type of official script) mixed with regular script, running script and cursive script.
"Six and a half" calligraphy is Zheng Banqiao's joking name for his original calligraphy. In the official script, there is a kind of "eight-point script" with many strokes. The so-called "six-and-a-half-point script" is roughly the official script, but mixed with other calligraphy styles such as regular script, running script, seal script, and cursive script. The scroll of "Poems of Cao Cao in Running Script" (as in the collection of Yangzhou Museum) can be regarded as a representative work of the "six and a half" style.
This piece is written about Cao Cao's poem "Viewing the Sea". The format is very large, with an average of more than 10 square centimeters per room. The font has a strong official style, with both seal and regular script; the shape is flat and long, and the posture is strong. Founder is the main one and slightly disturbed.
The simplicity and expansion are similar to the majestic and grand style of Cao's poems. Zheng Banqiao once praised his calligraphy in the poem "Gift to Pan Tonggang": "My brush strokes are soaring in the clouds and smoke, sweeping away the clouds and covering the blue sky. I write numbers in one line and two lines, and the stars are arranged in the south and the north."
Zheng Banqiao The composition of calligraphy works is also very unique. He can intersperse the size, length, square and circle, fatness and thinness, and density, like "a street paved with random stones", with rules contained in the indulgence. It seems to be a casual stroke, but when viewed as a whole, it produces a jumping and lively rhythm. For example, the banner of "On Running Script" was painted in the 27th year of Qianlong's reign. He was already seventy years old and is a masterpiece in his later years.
The general idea is that Su Dongpo liked to use Xuancheng Zhuge's Qifeng pen, and he wrote very well. Later, when he used other pens, his palms did not respond. Banqiao himself likes to use Taizhou Deng's sheep's hair brush, which makes his writing smooth and flying, which is always satisfactory. So he compared Taizhou Deng's Yanghao to Xuancheng Zhuge Qifeng, and finally said: "How dare I imitate Dongpo?
But when writing with a pen, people like fat rather than thin, which also means "po". "The whole work has large and small characters, thick and thin strokes, and slanted postures. The stipples, strokes, and movements are like music to the ears, birds flying in the air, fish swimming in the water, in a state of emotion. The arbitrary rhythm reveals the strength and spirit: He Shaoji, a native of the Qing Dynasty, said that his characters are "particularly interesting with orchids and bamboos in between".
Baidu Encyclopedia—Li Kuchan
Baidu Encyclopedia—Qi Baishi (modern Chinese painting master)
Baidu Encyclopedia—Xu Beihong (modern painter)
Baidu Encyclopedia—Dai Song (painter of the Tang Dynasty)
Baidu Encyclopedia—Zheng Banqiao