Appreciation of Peony Paintings in Fan Paintings in Song Dynasty

Flowers are the most common theme in flower-and-bird paintings in Song Dynasty. Peony is graceful and elegant, using the expression method of unlined scenery, and the painting method is rich and diverse. In composition, the form of "folding branches and flowers" is adopted, that is, the most distinctive part of natural flowers is taken into the painting, which is more delicate and moving than the overall description. Wu Rong, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, praised the cloud in the poem "Folding Branches": "It's not that there has never been a root, and the painter teaches folding by taking advantage of the situation."

China's flower-and-bird painting reached its maturity and peak in the Song Dynasty, and it was perfect in terms of pictographs, artistic conception, pen and ink skills and so on. Flower-and-bird paintings in the early Northern Song Dynasty mainly inherited the traditions of the Five Dynasties, and most of them were painted by Xu Xi and Huang Quan, and the rich luteal "hook color" style was even more popular all over the world. In the late Northern Song Dynasty, due to Song Huizong and Evonne's special interest in painting, under his vigorous advocacy, flower-and-bird painting further developed into meticulous realism with the courtyard as the mainstream, and the brushwork was neat and delicate, which made meticulous flower-and-bird painting reach its peak. This trend extended to the court of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the creation of flower-and-bird paintings lasted for a long time, showing a diversified situation of combining work with writing, ink with color, flowers and birds with trees and stones. , forming a novel and colorful face, not only a small picture album, but also a long masterpiece. From Huizong in the Northern Song Dynasty to Ningzong and Li Zong in the Southern Song Dynasty, the works are the most, and their styles are mostly rigorous, exquisite and meticulous. The picture is full of interest, which is a very distinctive part of flower-and-bird painting in the Song Dynasty, especially in the Southern Song Dynasty, and reflects the new development of courtyard painting in the Southern Song Dynasty.