Guo Xi was a great painter of the Northern Song Dynasty. His achievements and contributions in landscape painting were very outstanding. In terms of his aesthetic realm and artistic ability, he is not inferior to Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, Dong Yuan and Ju Ran from an earlier period. The Southern Song Dynasty masters who followed him, such as Li Tang, Zhao Bosu, Zhao Boju, Ma Yuan and Xia Gui, could only fall behind him. But upon closer inspection, we will find that Guo Xi's artistic status in the history of Chinese painting is very uncertain, even vague. When compiling the history of painting, some scholars believe that Guo Xi does not even have enough status to occupy a chapter. It is only because he wrote the book "Lin Quan Gaozhi" that he enjoys the immortal artistic honor.
The uncertainty, ambiguity and even subversion of Guo Xi’s artistic status were already reflected in his experiences during his lifetime and after his death.
Guo Xi lived and created around the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, especially during the Song Shenzong period (1068-1085), when Guo Xi's painting art reached its peak and was highly respected. According to records, Guo Xi painted many times for the walls of the imperial palace and official residences at that time. Download the volume of "Collection of Song Poems and Talks": "The screen in the present Yutang is the "Spring River Xiaojing" written by Guo Xi. The handwriting of Duo Xi in the official bureau is banned." The second volume of "Shilin Yanyu" says: "The official system is followed by introspection. The walls of all halls are decorated with trees and stones painted by Guo Xi." According to "Hua Ji": "Shen Zong was fond of Xi's paintings, and one hall was devoted to Xi's paintings." These materials fully show that Guo Xi's paintings were unanimously praised by the imperial court at that time. However, after Shenzong passed away and Zhezong ascended the throne, Guo Xi's paintings were suddenly devalued, and even reduced to the status of being wiped out on several cases of silk. The reason was that Guo Xi was involved in the party strife at that time and abandoned Zhe Zong. It should be said that this is a well-known fact in the history of painting. But we see that in the history of Chinese painting, it is extremely rare for a painter's artistic status to experience such a big contrast. In the Southern Dynasties, the value of Gu Kaizhi's paintings was questioned and belittled by Xie He, but was later refuted and criticized by Yao Zui. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the "Zhe School" of the Ming Dynasty enjoyed a high reputation at the beginning. However, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Zhe School painting style and its descendants were criticized by many literati painters. Judging from the rhetoric, He Liangjun seemed to be the most critical. Fierce: "Although these are used for wiping, they are still afraid of humiliating my bed." ① This reprimand is very similar to what Guo Xi experienced. But the above situation only unfolds on the level of aesthetic taste, and is not like the derogation Guo Xi suffered in actual situations due to political reasons. What is particularly noteworthy is that the above-mentioned encounters were experienced by Guo Xi during his lifetime. According to research, after Zhezong ascended the throne (1086), Guo Xi lived for at least more than ten years, and continued to create. It is said that "Guo Xi's eyes are troubled by his old age, so he just looks at the mountains and rivers to pick up ideas." , I can still use my pen to reflect the light from the window."③ These verses illustrate this point from the side. The demotion of Guo Xi's paintings recorded in Deng Chun's "Hua Ji" was witnessed by Deng Chun's grandfather, and "Hua Ji" was written around 1167-1170. According to this calculation, Guo Xi's experience happened in his later years. It happened over ten years. For a painter who has been diligent in painting all his life, is famous and has been favored by God, one can imagine the extent of the blow and the desolate mood. It can be estimated that Guo Xi's unfavorable situation continued at least until the end of the Northern Song Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. This can be seen in the tendencies of Guo Xi's works included in the "Xuanhe Painting Book" compiled at that time. And it is obvious that although the painting book neglected many important works of Guo Xi, because he was so famous and high-level at the time, the painting book still occupied a certain space to praise his painting achievements. However, we believe that this praise is not commensurate with Guo Xi's real contribution. If related to what was mentioned in Deng Chun's "Hua Ji" quoted above, it can be seen that the aftermath of Guo Xi's bad luck may not have ended until the Xiaozong period of the Southern Song Dynasty. What is particularly noteworthy is that in addition to the "Miscellaneous Comments" column, "Hua Ji" describes Guo Xi's painting experiences and painting techniques such as "using pistols to put clay on the wall" and "drying with ink to follow its traces". In many important chapters, such as "Xuan Mian Talents and Talents" and "Landscapes and Forests", there is not a single word recorded. In contrast, many calligraphers and painters of the same period as Guo Xi, such as Su Shi, Mi Fu, Li Gonglin, and Chao Buzhi, are clearly visible and have a larger space to comment on. According to Deng Chun, "Hua Ji" records from the seventh year of Xining of Shenzong (1074) to the third year of Qiandao of Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty (1167). The time span completely covers Guo Xi's entire creative career and half of his life after his death. more than a century. From this point of view, Deng Chun's omission of Guo Xi is very unfair. Among the records of painting history in the Song Dynasty, perhaps only "Pictures and Knowledge" has a more fair and accurate evaluation of Guo Xi. (Later, "Xuanhe Painting Book" commented on Guo Zhiyan, which was generally based on this.) However, because the work was written so close to Guo Xi (about the seventh year of Xining), his artistic achievements may not be fully understood.
It should be said that the impact of this encounter on Guo Xi’s artistic status is very obvious. It is conceivable that if a painter was belittled, ignored and shelved due to human factors during his lifetime and for half a century after his death, his status in art history will of course become blurred.
However, the above-mentioned reasons are only superficial reasons. There are actually deeper reasons that cause the uncertainty and ambiguity of Guo Xi’s artistic status.
We have noticed that compared with many landscape painters in the Song Dynasty, Guo Xi not only had few descendants at that time, but also had little influence in later generations.
According to records, when Guo Xi was favored by Shenzong, he was ordered to examine the world's top painters, but later his painting style did not spread far and wide. According to "Hua Ji", Guo Xi's grandson Guo Daoqing is "quite knowledgeable" and can be regarded as his successor. Guo Xi's son Guo Si compiled "Lin Quan Gao Zhi Ji" for his father, which can be regarded as inheriting the family's "painting theory". Judging from his preface, he should also be familiar with painting techniques. According to Tang Gao's "Ancient and Modern Paintings" of the Yuan Dynasty, there are Yang Shixian and Gu Liang who studied Guo Xi. But Tang Gao said that they learned from Guo Xi's "precipitous mountain tops", but they "failed to achieve the goal, and it turned out to be a plaque, with no clouds and a dense forest." Later, Song Lian of the Ming Dynasty also said that Yang Shixian was "similar" to Guo Xi, but "there is almost no mechanism for balancing Qi"④. It can be seen from this that although Yang and Gu studied Guo Xi, their painting style was not high, so they were not qualified to influence future generations as successors. Some editors believe (according to Deng Chun's "Hua Ji") that in the late Northern Song Dynasty, due to the influence of Guo Xi, a Guo Xi landscape painting school had formed, including Guo Daoqing, You Qing, Song Chu, Li Yuan, Zhao Lin, Guo Tiezi, Li Xicheng, Tian He, He Chengzhong, Hao Xiaolong, Zhu Rui. This statement seems to exaggerate Guo Xi's influence. When Deng Chun mentioned these people in the "Landscapes, Forests and Stones" section of "Hua Ji", he pointed out that most of them learned from Li Cheng, but he did not explicitly say that they learned from Guo Xi. Among them is a painting signed by Guo Xi called "Spring Floating Over the River". According to Deng Chun's research, it was copied by Song Dynasty. In fact, this is not conclusive. Other painters, such as Li Yuan, "learned from Yingqiu, the atmosphere is far-reaching", Zhao Lin "stepped to Yingqiu", Li Xicheng "imitated Li Cheng and named it", Tian Heyi "learned from Li Cheng, the meaning is far-reaching", and He Chengzhong " "Learn from Li Cheng, his pen and ink are gentle and gentle", and Guo Tiezi and Hao Xiaolong also "learned from Li Cheng" and "learned from Li Cheng". We know that Guo Xi also learned from Li Cheng, so the landscape paintings of the above-mentioned painters may be similar to Guo Xi's, but they all have Li Cheng as their master, so they can only be regarded as Li Cheng's school of painting, but cannot be attributed to it. Under the name of Guo Xi. It is worth noting that there is an account by Huang Gongwang of the Yuan Dynasty, which shows that Guo Xi's painting method may have inspired him. He wrote in "Landscape Writing": "Climb the tower and look at the vast air, and look at the clouds, which is the top of the mountain. Li Cheng and Guo Xi both used this method. Guo Xi painted rocks like clouds, which is what the ancients used in their paintings of clouds. "However, it seems difficult to see the influence of Guo Xi when looking at Huang Gongwang's landscape paintings today. Shi Tao of the Qing Dynasty even questioned and disparaged this: "People say that Li Cheng, the painter of Guo Heyang, can capture the appearance of clouds and smoke, and the appearance of mountains and mountains." "I have seen more than ten paintings in my life, and many people think well of them. There are only a few painters who were influenced by Guo Xi in the Ming Dynasty. It is reported that Ma Shi and Li Zaishi in the "Zhejiang School" have some connections with Guo Xi. "Ming Painting Records" says that Ma Shi "painted Guo Xi, who had ancient methods." At that time, he was known as "the landscape is exquisite" and "as important as Dai Jin in the capital". But in fact he is only a second-rate painter. "Zhonglu Paintings" says that "Li Zaiqi originated from Guo Xi". "History of Silent Poetry" said that he "exquisitely crafted landscapes and refined and moisturized Zong Guoxi", and so on. Judging from the status and level of these two people alone, it can be seen that Guo Xi's painting style was not popular in the Ming Dynasty painting circles. Then we saw that in their writings, the "Four Kings" of the Qing Dynasty, who were famous for imitating the past, included Wang Wei in the Tang Dynasty, Jing Hao, Guan Tong, Dong Yuan, Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, Huichong, and Xu Daoning in the Five Dynasties and Two Song Dynasties. , Zhao Danian, Ermi, Jiang Shen, all the way to Zhao Ziang, Huang Gongwang, Ni Yunlin, Wang Meng, Wuzhen, Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin, Dong Qichang in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, almost endless articles have been covered one by one, but it is difficult to see Lin imitation. There is no trace of Guo Xi. Forgive me for my limited knowledge, but I looked through many collections of paintings by the "Four Kings" and it seems that only Wang Cui's "Snow Qing Transporting Grain" has an inscription imitating "Guo Heyang". It can be said that we are separated from each other and feel lonely. Moreover, in many of the works of the "Four Kings" that imitate Li Cheng (Guo Xi's master), the words "Li Guo" are never seen in their inscriptions and postscripts. Only Wang Shimin mentions "Li Guo" in his "Xilu Painting Postscript". When discussing the origins of the school, he mentioned that "Li and Guo of the Song Dynasty were all based in Jingguan". However, in a large number of their imitated works, only Jing, Guan and Li can be seen, but Guo Xirong is rarely seen. From this point of view, it is no exaggeration to say that looking at the entire painting process from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties since the Northern Song Dynasty, Guo Xi seems to have been unable to escape the fate of being ignored.
We might as well go back and see that many landscape painters before and after Guo Xi were not only famous and well-established at the time, but also established their own schools with a lasting legacy. Not to mention Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, Dong Yuan, and Ju Ran before Guo Xi, and even Li Tang, Ma Yuan, and Xia Gui of the Southern Song Dynasty after Guo Xi were resurrected in the "Zhejiang School" of the Ming Dynasty through the Yuan Dynasty, thus continuing their fire. Continuously, there will be successors. Shao Songnian said that Dai Jin, the founder of the "Zhejiang School", "originated his painting techniques from Ma Xia and became popular with his uncles Jiang Sansong and Lan Tian"⑥. Zhan Jingfeng said: "In the Southern Song Dynasty, there were Ma Yuan, Xia Gui, Liu Songnian, and Li Tang, who were also his direct descendants. In our dynasty, Dai Jin and Zhou Chen were their descendants." ⑦ Zheng Chang also included many landscape painters in the early Ming Dynasty such as Li Zai , Zhou Wenjing, Ni Duan, Wang Lu, Zhang Guan, Zhang Hui, Shen Yu, Zhang Jin, Su Zhizhong, Fan Li, Wang Gong, Shen Guan, Zhou Ding, Du Guang, Ding Yuchuan, Shen Xiyuan, Lei Jimin, Shao Nan , Zhu Duan, Shen Zhao, Pan Feng, etc. are all regarded as "explanations" of "Ma Xia's legacy"⑧. All this shows how powerful the painting styles of Chu Ma and Xia (including Li Tang) were! In contrast, Guo Xi's influence flickers like a firefly, flickering on and off, making it difficult to compete with him.
If you mention Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, Dong Yuan and Ju Ran, Guo Xi's influence pales in comparison. Regardless of Fan Kuan, Guo Xi studied under Li Cheng, so of course he would be overshadowed by Li Cheng's reputation.
Dong Yuan and Ju Ran formed their own system, and their influence on later generations was still greater than that of Li Cheng, far beyond what Guo Xi could match. However, it needs to be emphasized that the comparison here mainly focuses on the influence on later generations, rather than commenting on their art. High or low. As we said at the beginning, in terms of aesthetic realm and artistic skill, Guo Xi is not inferior to Li, Fan, Dong, and Ju, let alone later Li Tang, Ma Yuan, and Xia Gui. Later, some critics and painters saw this. For example, Tang Dai in the Qing Dynasty compared Guo Xi with Jing Hao, Guan Tong, Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, and Ju Ran in "The Development of Painting", "all of whom are called sages in painting." "Holy", this is precisely based on the aesthetic realm and artistic skills. After all, people cannot ignore Guo Xi's superb painting skills. After all, they should be given a fair evaluation. However, we see that Guo Xi's painting achievements are obviously asymmetrical compared with his actual influence on later generations. Compared with the Jing, Guan, Li, Fan and Ju mentioned above, Guo Xi obviously failed to truly enjoy Deserving of the status of a "virtuous sage", many paintings history writings since the Song Dynasty seemed to have prophetic hints about this from the beginning. For example, Jiang Shaoyu of the Northern Song Dynasty said that Li Cheng was "unprecedented" in "Facts of the Imperial (Song) Dynasty" and "a real painter who has been taught for centuries". Tang Gao of the Yuan Dynasty said that Fan Kuan "shines through the ages". Guo Ruoxu went on to say that Guan Tong, Li Cheng, and Fan Kuan were "the three schools of thought that set the course for generations." Tang Jie also called Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, and Dong Yuan "the three masters who illuminate the past and present and serve as teachers for hundreds of generations." It should be said that these comments are by no means exaggerated. Judging from the actual development history of painting since the Song Dynasty, the influence of these painters on later generations can indeed be called "illuminating the ages", "setting the course for hundreds of generations" and "learning from others for hundreds of generations". And when we look at Guo Ruoxu's often quoted comment on Guo Xi's paintings, we will feel that it seems to have some prophetic meaning: "Gong paints landscapes", "Shi uses skillful vision", " If you can free your mind, you will be able to overcome huge obstacles and high walls. The more you have, the stronger you will be. In this world, you are unique.”⑨ The word "unique" is not only an evaluation of Guo Xi's painting style, but it can also be extended to a portrayal of his little influence on later generations.
In short, in terms of his influence, Guo Xi is not as good as Li, Fan, Dong, and Ju, and not as good as Li Tang, Ma Yuan, and Xia Gui. If his experience during the Zhezong period of Song Dynasty is only It can contain its influence within one stage, but it does not explain the neglect and neglect that lasted for several dynasties (Yuan, Ming and Qing). And we can see that even before and after Guo Xi was criticized by Zhezong, his painting art still won praises from many literati, such as Su Shi, Su Che, Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, Chao Buzhi, etc., all of whom had outstanding poems. The exquisiteness and sublimeness of his paintings. However, these poems and essays were not able to change the historical situation in which Guo Xi had little influence on later generations. From this point of view, the reasons are even more worthy of our further study.
This needs to be analyzed from the aesthetic context of the development of landscape painting in the Song Dynasty. In my opinion, the development of Chinese landscape painting in the Song Dynasty not only reached a highly mature level, but also saw the emergence of important aesthetic divisions. This is the northern landscape represented by Jing Hao, Guan Tong, Li Cheng, and Fan Kuan, and the northern landscape represented by Dong Yuan and Ju Ran. Represented by the southern landscape. In terms of aesthetic realm and atmosphere (or taste), the northern landscape is obviously more masculine in beauty (magnificent), while the southern landscape is more feminine in beauty (beautiful). These two forms of beauty are indeed related to the regional environment at the beginning, or in other words , the specific landform, climate and related human temperament play an important catalytic role in shaping these two beautiful forms. In this regard, Shen Zongqian of the Qing Dynasty once made a good discussion: "The qi of heaven and earth each has its own specificity, and people are also affected by it. The mountains and rivers in the south are lingering and lingering. During life, those who have the right qi will be gentle and elegant"; " The mountains and rivers in the north are wonderful and rich. During life, those who have a healthy Qi will be strong and straightforward."⑩ Later Pan Tianshou, Fu Baoshi and Japanese scholar Masaru Aoki also expressed similar views. However, we see that these two forms of beauty are gradually transformed and upgraded from geographical (regional) categories to aesthetic categories - one is the beauty of complex sculptures, and the other is the plain beauty of nature. According to esthetician Zong Baihua, this represents the two kinds of beauty and ideals of beauty of the Chinese people. The so-called "innocent and innocent", "plain and colorful", "empty and scattered", the so-called "quiet and steep character", "golden and green", "exquisitely carved" and other expressions are exactly the connotations of these two kinds of beauty. Deep description. It should be said that in the landscape painting circles of the Northern Song Dynasty, this aesthetic distinction was just beginning to take shape. By the time of Li Tang, Ma Yuan and Xia Gui in the Southern Song Dynasty, this distinction became very clear, especially when the two basic "languages" of landscape painting After the paradigm - hemp chapping and axe-cleaving (Dong and Ju's hemp chamfering, Li Tang, Ma Yuan and Xia Gui's axe-cleaving) were established, this aesthetic distinction and these two forms of beauty became increasingly prominent in landscape paintings. , and finally consolidated. Later, Dong Qichang's "Northern and Southern Sects" theory was just a systematic aesthetic elucidation of this division by using the theoretical form of Zen Buddhism to trace its origins. Guo Xi's landscape paintings are in a historical transitional period when this aesthetic distinction begins to take shape.