Paintings of Song Dynasty
China's Song Dynasty lasted for more than 300 years, and its paintings continued to develop on the basis of the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties. Folk painting, court painting, and scholar-official painting formed their own systems, and they influenced, absorbed, and penetrated each other, forming the rich and colorful appearance of Song Dynasty painting.
The prosperity of painting. The unification of the Northern Song Dynasty eliminated the divisions and barriers caused by feudal separatism. For a period of time, the society maintained a relatively stable situation. The commercial handicraft industry developed rapidly. The urban layout broke the strict boundaries of Fang and City, and unprecedented Unprecedented prosperity. Although the Southern Song Dynasty was located in the south of the Yangtze River, because the Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Guangzhou areas with rich products were all within its territory, a large number of northerners and southerners who migrated south worked together to develop the south of the Yangtze River, and the economy and culture continued to develop and surpassed that of the north. Cities such as Bianliang (now Kaifeng City, Henan Province) in the Northern Song Dynasty and Lin'an (now Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province) in the Southern Song Dynasty were prosperous in commerce. In addition to the gathering of nobles, there were also a large number of merchants, craftsmen and citizens living there. Urban cultural life was unprecedentedly active. , the demand for painting has increased significantly, and the service objects of painting have also expanded, providing material conditions and mass foundation for the development and prosperity of painting.
Song Dynasty painting entered the ranks of handicraft industry and commerce, establishing closer ties with more people. A group of skilled professional painters sell their works as commodities on the market. There are paper painting industries in Bianjing and Lin'an. The Daxiangguo Temple in Bianjing holds temple fairs five times a month, and there are a large number of department stores, including stalls selling books and pictures. Lin'an Night Market in the Southern Song Dynasty also sells finely painted fans and plum and bamboo fans; restaurants in Bianjing, Lin'an and other places also sell hanging fans. Calligraphy and painting beautify the store as a means of attracting customers. When citizens have festive banquets, the screens, painting tents, calligraphy and painting displays, etc. needed can be rented. To meet the needs of the new year, seasonal paintings such as Door God and Zhong Kui are also sold at the end of the year, which makes the market very prosperous. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Liu Zongdao, a painter in Bianjing who was good at painting "babies taking care of the basin", would draw hundreds of paintings at a time and sell them in the market to prevent others from copying them; Zhao Loutai, who specialized in painting pavilions and buildings; Du Haier, who painted babies, It also enjoys a high reputation in Bianjing. Yan Wengui, a soldier from Wuxing, often went to the Bianjingzhou Bridge area to sell paintings. Yang Wei from Jiangzhou, Shanxi Province, was good at painting rural music. Whenever a painting dealer from Bianjing bought a painting, he would tell them to sell it in front of the painting academy to get a high price. The social demand for painting and the active creation of folk professional painters were important factors that promoted the development of painting in the Song Dynasty. The development of the handicraft industry in the Song Dynasty promoted the development and popularization of woodblock printing, with the emergence of woodblock printing centers such as Bianjing, Lin'an, Pingyang, Chengdu, and Jianyang. Many books and Buddhist scriptures are accompanied by woodblock illustrations. There are now Maitreya seals carved in Song and Jin Dynasties. Images, Dharani sutras and mantras, "Illustrated Praise for Zen Master Manjusri's Guide to the Buddhist Country", "Zhao Cheng Zang", etc. can be seen from the exquisiteness of his paintings and carvings.
On the basis of the establishment of painting academies in the Southern Tang and Western Shu in the Five Dynasties, the Song Dynasty continued to establish the Hanlin Painting Academy to cultivate painting talents needed by the court. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, painting school was once established. Most emperors of the Song Dynasty, such as Renzong, Shenzong, Huizong, Gaozong, Guangzong, Ningzong, etc., were interested in painting to varying degrees. For the needs of decorating the palace and painting temples, they attached great importance to the construction of painting academies. In particular, Huizong Zhao Ji had a high degree of accomplishment and skill in painting. He paid attention to recruiting painters, expanded and improved the palace painting academy, and constantly searched for famous paintings to enrich the inner palace collection, which led to the prosperity of palace painting. The painters of the Academy maintained a certain connection with society, but were restricted by the emperor. The palace paintings had obvious characteristics of aristocratic art, which were precise and meticulous, but also had a languid and feminine taste in some works. The Academy gathered outstanding painters in the society, reflecting the higher level at that time, and created works such as Guo Xi's "Early Spring Picture" and "Guanshan Spring Snow Picture", Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" and "West Lake Competition Picture", There are a large number of successful works such as Wang Ximeng's "Thousands of Miles of Rivers and Mountains", Li Tang's "Picture of Picking Wei" and "Picture of Pine Winds in Ten Thousand Valleys", Ma Yuan's "Treading Songs" and "Water".
Gao Wenjin: "Statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva"
The literati paintings that appeared in the Tang Dynasty formed a huge artistic trend from the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty. At that time, the collection and appreciation of paintings and the creation of paintings by painters had become a common practice among the upper-class literati and officials.
Many literati also personally participated in the practice of painting, using it to express their emotions like poetry. They had their own unique requirements in terms of subject selection, image processing and aesthetic taste. They gradually increased their inscriptions and poems on the paintings, opening up a new world of calligraphy and painting inscriptions, and were able to consciously introduce the expression form of calligraphy art into paintings, which greatly enriched and improved the expression methods of painting art. During the Song Dynasty, among the literati and officials, Zhongren and Yang Wujiu's plum blossoms, Wen Tong's bamboos, Su Shi's ancient trees and strange rocks, Mi Fu and Mi Youren's Yunshan, and Zhao Mengjian's narcissus, etc., became the followers of later generations of literati painters. A model for learning. In addition, the more famous ones include Yan Su, Chao Buzhi, Song Dao, Song Di, Cai Zhao, Zhang Shunmin and others. Literary scholars also made great achievements in the theory of painting. Ouyang Xiu proposed expressing depression and indifferent feelings, Chen Yuyi advocated "the meaning is not seeking similarity in color, the predecessor is Xiangma Jiufang Gao", and Su Shi's "On painting, it is based on shape similarity, seeing children as neighbors" A series of insights are representative. The literati paintings of the Song Dynasty influenced the Liao and Jin areas and became the forerunner of the development of literati paintings of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.
Based on the high prosperity of painting, a large number of theoretical works on painting have also been published. A large number of works on painting history, painting theory, painting appreciation and collection records have been circulated, such as "Picture Experience and Knowledge", "Xuanhe Painting Book", "Painting History", "Linquan Gaozhi", etc., which have become important documentary basis for the study of ancient paintings today. .
The development stages of painting generally have four stages:
① During the more than 100 years of the early Song Dynasty, it generally followed the painting tradition of the Five Dynasties. After the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Bianjing area became the center of painting art. The Palace Painting Academy successively gathered Huang Ju□, Huang Weiliang, Xia Houyan□, Zhao Yuanchang, Gao Wenjin, etc. from Western Shu, Dong Yu, Li Zhaoqing, Cai Run, Xu Chongsi, etc. from the Southern Tang Dynasty. As well as painters such as Wang Ai, Zhao Guangfu and Gao Yi from the Central Plains area. The flower and bird paintings in the courtyard are based on the Fugui style of the Huang family. Among the Taoist and Buddhist paintings, the Wu family style has the greatest influence. In the landscape paintings, the painters outside the academy have the highest achievements. In addition, Li Chengshan painted cold forests and distant mountains, Fan Kuanshan painted lofty mountains, and Xu Daoning painted plain fields, wild waters, and trees. All three of them developed and enriched the northern painting schools of Jing Hao and Guan Tong in different aspects. The Jiangnan School of Painting, represented by Dong Yuan and Ju Ran, had little influence during this period. At that time, those who were famous for their landscape paintings inside and outside the Academy included Yan Wengui, Zhai Yuanshen, Gao Keming, Li Zongcheng, Qu Ding, etc.; those who were good at religious murals included Wang □, Gao Wenjin, Wu Zongyuan, etc.; and those who were good at flower and bird paintings included Zhao Chang, Yi Yuanji, and Wang You. wait. The creative practice of these painters brewed new changes in the style of painting in the Northern Song Dynasty.
② During the period of Xining and Yuanfeng, figure paintings of pommel horses represented by Li Gonglin, landscape paintings represented by Guo Xi, and flower-and-bird paintings represented by Cui Bai appeared. They all show a brand-new style in content and art, and all have exquisite skills and profound cultivation. Li Gonglin used simple and simple line drawings to accurately express the characteristics of people from different classes, nationalities, and regions. In particular, he achieved great success in portraying the life images and interests of scholar-bureaucrats. Both Cui Bai and Guo Xi could paint without starting a draft. Cui Bai depicts the moods of birds in seasonal climate changes, and is good at expressing the wilderness and wildness of wild geese. He breaks through the norms of the Huang family system in the painting academy since the early Song Dynasty and achieves more natural and vivid effects. Through the depiction of scenery, seasons and climate, Guo Xi expressed the elegance and beauty of mountains, rivers, forests and springs, pushing the northern landscape painting school since Li Cheng to a higher level. The trend of painting by literati and officials, represented by Su Shi and Wen Tong, also took shape at this time. Prince Consort Wang Shen built a treasure painting hall to collect famous paintings and calligraphy, and gathered poets and painters to write poems and paintings in the west garden of the mansion. The royal family Zhao Lingrang was good at painting beautiful and poetic small landscapes, and Mi Fu had already carried out calligraphy and painting activities during this period. All show the active artistic activities of this class. Guo Ruoxu's "Pictures and Knowledge", Guo Xi and his son's "Linquan Gaozhi" and poems on painting by Su Shi and others show the new achievements of painting theory in this period.
Li Di: "Picture of Returning to the Pasture after Storm"
③ The reigns of Huizong Zhao Ji and Gaozong Zhao Gou were the most prosperous periods for the court painting academy of the Song Dynasty. The painting academy system was quite complete during Huizong's time, and the improvement of the artistic level of folk painters in society brought many outstanding painters to the painting academy.
At this time, there were many masters in the painting academy, including Ma Bi, who was good at painting hundreds of horses and geese, Li Tang, who pioneered a new style of landscape painting in the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhang Zeduan, who was good at painting genre paintings, Wang Ximeng, a talented young landscape painter, and Han Ruozhuo and Meng Ying, who were good at painting flowers and birds. Among them, Xue Zhi, Su Hanchen, who was famous for his paintings of baby peddlers, Liu Yi, Fu Xie and others who wrote for Huizong and provided imperial paintings, are all famous for their exquisite painting skills and extraordinary pen and ink. During Huizong's reign, the imperial palace had a very rich collection of paintings and calligraphy, and there were also many collectors among officials and officials. The "Xuanhe Painting Book" reflects the grandeur of the palace's collections at that time. During the Jingkang Incident, Bianjing was looted by the Jin soldiers, and some painters were taken captive to the north. Many of the palace paintings were scattered in the north, which had a considerable impact on the development of painting in the areas ruled by the Jin Dynasty. In addition, a large number of painters fled to the south of the Yangtze River and became the backbone of Gaozong's Painting Academy in the Southern Song Dynasty, promoting the development of painting in the south of the Yangtze River.
④ In the Southern Song Dynasty after Xiaozong, especially in the Guangzong and Ningzong periods, landscape painting showed obvious changes in style after Li Tang. The representative painters were Liu Songnian, Ma Yuan, Xia Gui and others. They attach great importance to the tailoring of compositions and skillfully use large blank spaces in the picture to highlight distinct images. The effect of the picture is subtle and concise, concise and poetic, with a beautiful artistic conception. The simple and expressive ax chop shows the improvement of pen and ink skills. . Historical story paintings and genre paintings were relatively developed throughout the Southern Song Dynasty. Li Song, who appeared at this time, is a particularly noteworthy painter. He has painted "Thirty-Six Figures in the Songjiang River", "Serving the Fields", "Four Mysteries", "Viewing" "Tide Pictures" and so on, most of the works contain profound meanings. Liang Kai, Mu Xi and Wen Riguan's ink and reduced brush strokes started the style of freehand painting in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.
The development of various painting subjects. The painting subjects in the Song Dynasty were more detailed and specialized. The painting school was established during the Huizong period of the Song Dynasty, which was divided into six categories: Buddhism and Taoism, figures, landscapes, birds and animals, flowers and bamboos, and house wood. "Xuanhe Painting Book" records the collection of paintings, which are divided into 10 categories: Taoism, figures, palaces, tribes, dragons and fish, landscapes, animals, flowers and birds, ink bamboo, and fruits and vegetables. When the "Hua Ji" compiled in the third year of Emperor Xiaozong's reign (1167) cataloged the painters, it was divided into immortals, Buddhas and ghosts, biographies of people, landscapes, forests and stones, flowers, bamboos and feathers, animals, insects and fish, houses, wood, boats and carts, vegetables, fruits and herbs, small 8 categories including landscape paintings and miscellaneous paintings. These phenomena reflect the expansion of the scope of painting expression and the detailed and in-depth division of subject matter.
Figure painting has made great progress in reflecting real life. From the Tang Dynasty, it mainly painted major historical events and aristocratic life, and expanded to depict all aspects of civilian life in urban and rural areas: such as Wei Xian's (biography) "Turn the Wheel at the Gate", Wang Juzheng's "Spinning Wheel", Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" , Su Hanchen's "Baby Playing in the Autumn Courtyard", Li Song's "Seller's Picture", Zhu Rui's "Carriage Turning Picture", Yan Ciping's "Herding Cows" and Anonymous's "Farming and Weaving Picture", "Farming and Harvest Picture", "Willow Shade and Clouds Picture", " "Jiang Tian Pavilion Picture" and Gao Yuanheng's "Arriving at the Theater from the Corner of Two Armies" and Yan Wengui's "Qixi Night Market Picture" found in records all show the expansion of the painter's vision and his interest and enthusiasm for real life. Seasonal paintings depicting folk themes such as "Sui Dynasty Picture", "Five Auspicious Pictures", "Da Nuo Picture" and "Guan Deng Picture" also appeared in the cities of the Song Dynasty. Paintings depicting the lives of aristocratic literati are still popular, and portrait paintings with plots, such as Li Gonglin's "Gathering in the West Garden" and Zhao Ji's (Biography) "Listening to the Qin", also have high artistic achievements. Historical story paintings often incorporate folk legends to express the political attitude of the time in a tortuous way. For example, the "Picture of Picking Wei" depicting characters with integrity and unyielding integrity, the "Picture of Zhu Yun folding the sill", "Picture of Yuan An sitting on the sill", "Picture of Chen Yuanda locking admonishment", which depicts outright admonition and struggle against power, which reflect the correctness of the situation. The "Picture of Freeing the Crown", "Picture of the Bridge Alliance", etc. are strategic solutions to ethnic issues. It is particularly noteworthy that paintings depicting unfortunate and sad experiences caused by wars and complicated ethnic relations are very popular, such as "The Return of Wen Ji to the Han Dynasty" and "The Picture of the Concubine Ming's Departure from the Fortress". Like the folk history telling at that time, they showed the Distinctive feelings of patriotism and sense of urgency. The rulers of the Song Dynasty promoted Taoism and built temples and temples. Although the Taoist murals lacked the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty, they still maintained a considerable scale. For example, the murals at Daxiangguo Temple in Tokyo, Yuqing Zhaoying Palace, Jingling Palace, Wuyue Temple, Bao□ Palace, and Xianying Temple, West Taiyi Palace, and Wusheng Temple in Lin'an during the Southern Song Dynasty were mostly painted by famous artists from the Academy of Painting.
During the reign of Zhenzong, he built the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace and recruited painters from all over the world. More than 3,000 people took the exam. During the reign of Emperor Huizong, he built the Five Sacred Mountains Temple and gathered famous painters from all over the world. Hundreds of people responded to the imperial edict, which shows that he has many talents. A more distinct secular trend appeared in the religious paintings of the Song Dynasty. To attract audiences with lively scenes and interesting plots, a large number of images of gods were created in Taoist paintings, many of which were based on real-life characters. In the early Song Dynasty, Wu Daozi's painting school occupied an absolute position in murals. Its artistic style can be seen from the existing pink version of the mural "Chaoyuan Immortal Battle Picture". The quantity and quality of the tomb murals of the Song Dynasty can no longer be compared with those of the Han and Tang Dynasties. The murals at Kaihua Temple in Gaoping, Shanxi, the murals at the base of Jingzhi Temple Tower and Jingzhongyuan Tower in Zhengding, the Song Dynasty murals at Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, and the Song tomb murals discovered in Henan and other areas are all important remains for the investigation of Song Dynasty murals.
Zhao Ji: "Listening to the Qin"
Landscape, flower and bird paintings made rapid progress in the Song Dynasty. In terms of art, it greatly surpassed the Tang Dynasty. The flower-and-bird painters of the Song Dynasty paid great attention to the observation and study of the images and situations of animals and plants, and raised flowers and birds for this purpose. Zhao Chang played around the fence in the early morning and painted flowers with colors; Yi Yuanji went deep into the mountains of Jinghu Lake to observe the wild conditions of apes; Han Ruochu painted feathers, and every bird he made was famous from beak to tail and feet, and he was familiar with the anatomical structure. The flower-and-bird painters of the Song Dynasty painted flowers, fruits, and vegetation with four seasons, yin and yang facing away, bamboo shoots old and young, and the coxacalyx first, in order to be vivid and lifelike. Therefore, critics regarded the cat's pupils in the painting as vertical lines and pointed out that "Peony and Civet Cat" was a painting at noon. Farmers pointed out the mistake in the famous painting "Bullfighting" that the ox's tail should be hanging down instead of being raised up, and Zhao Ji's depiction of the peacock The discussion that the left foot must be raised first to ascend the pier requires that the image be true and reasonable. The flower-and-bird paintings of the Song Dynasty include Huang's style, which depicts rare birds and trees in the palace, with exquisite workmanship; and Cui Bai's and Wu Yuanyu's style, which depict lotuses and wild geese with simple pen and ink and light colors, and are full of Jianghu interest; there are also styles that directly express the sentiments of scholar-bureaucrats. A literati ink opera style that specializes in writing about ink bamboo, ink plum, etc.
“The most wonderful words in painting are landscapes.” Due to the attention of society, landscape painting has gradually become the main position of painting. Many landscape painters go deep into the natural mountains and rivers, observe and experience them repeatedly day and night, thus accurately painting the characteristics of different regions, seasons, and climates, and pursuing beautiful and moving artistic conceptions. From the panoramic views of mountains, rivers and turquoise to the corner scenes with concise brushwork and highly tailored compositions, they show the outstanding creations of different periods. The landscape scenery is not only the scenery of fairy mountains and pavilions, the aristocratic gardens and the secluded mansions of scholar-bureaucrats, but also the natural scenery of the mountains and countryside in the north and south, interspersed with turning wheels, water mills, ferries, shipping, fishing, woodcutting, mule harvesting, etc. The ordinary life scenes such as traveling, temples and temples, markets and wine shops have a strong flavor of life. Through the description of real scenery, it embodies beautiful imagination and creates a poetic artistic conception.
Achievements in Painting Song Dynasty painting was the peak of the development of Chinese painting art. The wide range of real life content it reflects is extremely prominent in the history of ancient painting. Using diverse and beautiful art forms, he created many artistic expression techniques, which are closely related to society. Most of the styles and theories in the paintings of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties can be found in the paintings of the Song Dynasty, which shows the maturity and maturity of Chinese painting. Highly prosperous.
The painting art of the Song Dynasty had many important creations in technique. Focus on exploring the mental state of the characters and touching plots, and focus on creating artistic images with distinctive personalities. Flower-and-bird paintings and landscape paintings pursue beautiful and moving artistic conceptions, pay attention to true and ingenious artistic expressions, and strive to refine images, with a high degree of realism. The paintings of literati and officials also promoted the prosperity and improvement of the art of painting. They made special contributions to the exploration of subjective expression and the effect of pen and ink. Court painting has been highly developed based on the prosperity of painting in the entire society, and its artistic achievements cannot be ignored.
(Bo Songnian)
"Encyclopedia of China"
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