Art history is used to dividing China ancient paintings into academy paintings, literati paintings and craftsman paintings. However, if we want to seriously investigate, most of the literati paintings are pseudo-literati paintings, and the essence is "painter's paintings"-the works of professional painters. Pseudo "literati painting" is like bamboo shoots in the mountains, covered with thick artistic cocoons. Peeling off layer by layer, we can see that the beating heart is a market heart and a utilitarian heart.
The real literati painting excludes the market, because it is subject and self, not object and otherness. Literati painting is a kind of "wandering in art" under the dual prosperity of spirit and material, not for survival. Literati painting is a non-utilitarian pastime and game, and painter painting is a profitable labor.
Literati painting is out of reach.
Literati painting is actually literati painting. Su Shi said: "Looking at literati paintings is like reading the horses in the world and taking their feelings. However, if you are a painter, you often only take the hairy whip grass without any handsome hair, and you will be tired after seeing a few feet. Han Jie really painted it. "
Painting is the reflection of people's overall mental outlook on the screen. There is a poetic spirit in his belly, which is not only reflected in his bearing and demeanor, but also in his works and articles. The so-called writing is like a person, and words are like a person, which is also called it.
Literati painting is a stroke by stroke, and it is intelligent, not the ingenuity of "finding chapters and sentences". For example, Huang Tingjian said in the postscript of Su Shi's Cold Food Post: "Trying to restore Dongpo is not necessarily the case." This is the realm of literati painting. Literati painting is skillful, and its highest realm is "playing". Playing is casual and indispensable, as long as you are happy. It is afternoon tea for rich children, not porridge that ordinary people can see.
Judging from the history of China, a real literati painting should include several conditions.
One is birth, whether he is a scholar or not, whether he is a "scholar". He must be a scholar or a Confucian scholar. He should have the Zen taste of the world and the necessary pen and ink skills, not the calligraphy skills. Practice makes perfect, not cleverness and skill. Dong Qichang said: "Charm can't be learned, it's innate knowledge and natural talent. However, there are also places where I can learn. Read thousands of books and take Wan Li Road. I got rid of the dust in my chest and set up camp in the ravine naturally. I set up a pen and wrote casually. They are all vivid scenery. " Contemporary art historians often understand "reading thousands of books" as learning the techniques of predecessors, which is obviously far-fetched. Without understanding thousands of books's efforts, genius mind, experience in understanding life, and wit in words, it is difficult to become a scholar. These elements cannot be imitated by painters who specialize in painting.
The second is experience, whether you have experienced the officialdom or the ruling class and gained spiritual and material freedom from top to bottom. In ancient China, reading was the ultimate shortcut to life, and it also provided a solution to all life problems. The so-called "book has its own Yan Ruyu, the book has its own golden house". Also because of reading, you can achieve the phoenix nirvana of "getting rich in heaven and boarding the dusk of heaven". "Learning to be excellent is to be an official". If you have fame, you will have wealth, and you will be able to command yourself spiritually and enjoy luxury. Only in this way can we have spare money, leisure time to play with pen and ink, and real literati painting.
The third is motivation, whether painting is for recreation or for sale. Real literati paintings and calligraphy rarely flow into the market because of their low output. "Lu Zhi plays Dongpo and says,' In the past, Han Zongru was gluttonous for goose books. Every time I get a post, Lin Yao, the head coach of the temple, promises to change more than ten kilograms of mutton, which can be called a book for changing sheep. Poe smiled. One day, when Gong was in Hanyuan, he wrote a lot of books on sacred restraint. In order to report the books, Zongru wrote several bamboo slips that day, which made people anxious to set up a court to supervise. The crowd laughed and said,' The telegraph officer broke the slaughter today!' "Eating Han Zongru took Su Dongpo's note for mutton. After being known by Su Gong, he deliberately teased him and refused to reply to his boring note, telling him not to kill sheep today! This anecdote of Dongpo actually reflects that the real literati painting and calligraphy is casual and can't be met. Once there is real market demand, it is really useless. After all, these literati are not book assistants or painters.
The fourth is skill, amateur or professional. Qian Xuan and Zhao Mengfu once discussed the issues of "expert painting" and "violent family painting". Zhang Zeng, a Song Dynasty man, once said, "Scholars have nothing to see, and ignorant people have something to do with it. In the past 30 years, the ci department has stopped, and both systems have failed. The Beijing proverb says that' domestic violence' is also true. " Zhan Jingfeng, an Amin, also wrote in the postscript of 1594: "There are two schools of landscape, one is Yi Jia, and the other is a writer, also known as an expert and Lee." According to Qi Gong's research, "Today, those who learn from teachers, engage in specialized occupations and are familiar with their own skills are called' experts' or' experts'. On the contrary, it is called' laity' or' strength school', and in ancient times it was called' home' (or for servants, interests and strength). "
The author of literati painting does not pay attention to famous teachers, but emphasizes that "nature is made by foreign teachers and the heart comes from China." Su Shi said: "The similarity of paintings shows that they are adjacent to children. ..... Poetry and painting are interlinked, striving for perfection, fresh and natural. "He said," Wu Sheng is great, but he is still a painter. What you get from dawdling is like thanking a dragon fan. " Su Shi's point of view is obviously to pay attention to the natural expression of the author's heart, rather than pursuing the shape or even deliberately doing it. This is obviously to distinguish between painter's paintings and literati's paintings. However, when discussing literati painting in later generations, most of them attach importance to its theme and pen and ink, ignoring the significance of self-expression in literati painting. In fact, it is a pragmatic thinking.
The fifth is emotion, whether it is the expression of true feelings or the posturing of new words. Literati painting is what Dong Qichang called "splashing ink at will". Ni Yunlin, the representative figure of literati painting, has a set of painting theories: "Talking about the spirit in the chest is nothing compared with his cunning way, the sparse leaves and the straight branches!" Or smeared for a long time, others regard hemp as reed, and servants can't argue bamboo. No one really looked. "Among them, diffuse is careless, is what I mean. I know you can't read it, but I'm too lazy to tell you! It is far from being understood by painters who want to buy from the market and make a living by selling paintings.
The key to literati painting is fame, not art. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yanyuan criticized people for looking at painting "Zhong Er despises eyes", and people followed suit. In fact, painting is not the end, but the name is the core. A painting, if unknown or anonymous, cannot be sold. As long as they are celebrities, even if they are so-so, there will be market prices. Fame determines the market and skill regulates the price. Only the masterpieces of famous artists can create the peak of price. For many people, what they buy is not a painting, but a name.
Of course, not everyone's graffiti can become a literati painting. The highest realm of literati painting is handy, and the two cannot be neglected. The so-called heart-seeker is also in the source of the heart; Answer your hand and match your skills. Just like the thoughts in the heart, it can't be conveyed in the pen, or it lacks aesthetic feeling, and it is still not a good literati painting. Literati painting is a wonderful combination of China's traditional humanistic spirit and regular artistic accomplishment. It is an artistic style with Confucianism as the body and painting as the purpose. Very few people really reach this level.
Therefore, we realize that there is an inherent contradiction in literati painting. As a scholar-bureaucrat, you can't have too much energy to create paintings, let alone too much time to practice techniques. Dong Qichang once said with some pride: "There are ministers who can draw in picture books. Yan Su in the Song Dynasty and Gao in the Yuan Dynasty were both outstanding figures in this dynasty. If Song Di and Zhao Mengfu, then the Prime Minister has an official. " Therefore, the scholar-officials who can paint stones, Zhao Mengfu and Dong Qichang are really rare. Most of the graffiti works of scholar-officials are difficult to spread because of the lack of necessary techniques. In this way, there is a contradiction between the necessary scholar-bureaucrat status and the artistic attainments of literati painting. This is a genetic defect. Just like the white tiger, the real literati painting is a sudden change of beauty, which can not be met.
Under such circumstances, literati painting is almost a false proposition. Like a utopian lantern, it hangs high above the history of China's art, which makes people thirst. It is not so much a painting as a banner of artistic thoughts after the Song Dynasty, and it is also a description of the best painting by theorists. With the reform of the education system, the real literati painting has disappeared on the horizon of the East, leaving only a wandering figure.
The painter's paintings are actually "expert paintings"
Dong Qichang once made a clear distinction between literati painting and painter painting from the perspective of calligraphy painting. "Literati painting should be based on the method of cursive script: trees are like bending iron, mountains are like painting sand, which is the way to sweeten the customs for morale. No, even if it is admitted, it has already fallen into the painter's underworld and is hopeless. " Literati are ashamed to be painters, such as Yan. According to "The Biography of the Old Tang Dynasty", "Emperor Taizong tried to go boating in the Spring Garden with his courtiers and bachelors, and there were strange birds in the pool, so he went with the waves. Emperor Taizong gave a reward, and the number of people who wrote to the seat was chanting, calling on this order to be written down. A cloud outside the pavilion was called' painter Yan'. At that time, he was already a doctor, sweating profusely, crawling by the pool, waving Dan powder in his hand and looking at the guests. Retreat his son and say,' I seldom study hard, but I am free from facing the wall. I like my friends very much. It's a great shame to know each other only by Dan Qing and obey the same servant! You should be careful not to learn this last trick. ""I am good at painting, but I am ashamed of painting. The entanglement of Yan actually reflects China's contempt for skills in ancient times. Scholar-officials can write poems, but they regard painting by Dan Qing as a craftsman's profession.
By the same token, later painters, although selling paintings for a living, were willing to package themselves as literati. They just don't need to read too many books. Because of their interest or livelihood, they study painting seriously, in order to paint for themselves better, attract attention because of painting, and even become the darling of the market. In their eyes, painting is a means, not graffiti. At the same time, consumers buy paintings for two purposes, one is to create an auspicious and festive home, and the other is to be arty and create a cultural atmosphere. The former, such as the "Village Dengaku" in the Song Dynasty and the watermark New Year pictures in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, often correspond to the spiritual needs of the lower classes. With low income and little education, they can only spend a little money to buy some printed materials to welcome the New Year and pray for blessings. The latter corresponds to the middle class or wealthy families. People think that "there is no calligraphy and painting in front of the hall, which is not the old home." Since they are literati, their cultural needs are relatively elegant, and they are more inclined to the literati class in taste. They despise the vulgar commodity of New Year pictures. What they need is literati paintings that convey the humanistic spirit of literati. The real scholar-officials don't take painting as their profession, so it is difficult for ordinary people to get it, so they can only settle for the second best and get the works of painters who are interested in literati painting. This demand is precisely the fundamental driving force of the painter's works as literati paintings.
Wenming Zhiming Huxi Caotang Atlas
Compared with literati painting, painter painting has some characteristics:
1. Poor knowledge of poetry and prose. Professional painters' poetic quality is often inferior to that of scholar-officials, but they take the classical poems casually written by scholars as an example. Most of their poems are limerick, and few are excellent. According to Marx's political economy theory, commodity producers realize their value by transferring their use value. Anyway, it is used to exchange money. As long as it does not affect the transaction and reputation, there is no need to pay attention to it. Later painters' poems on paintings, like some courtesy of prostitutes to their clients, are a kind of dedication or a coupon. If you really want to find some true temperament from it, it's like finding fish from a tree. Therefore, from the metrical point of view, most of the poems on paintings in past dynasties are chicken ribs. It is because we are close to the market and the painter's mood, and occasionally there will be some spontaneous vernacular. At this point, it is still interesting.
I have read a note by Wu Changshuo, in which dozens of poems with pictures were copied. There is an inscription on the back: "Tuomo Genghua". For Wu Changshuo, please ask Ni Tian to write an inscribed poem. Ni Tian, a native of Yangzhou, was one of the 60 famous artists in modern times, with beautiful figures and beautiful women. This little note provided us with evidence that Wu Changshuo had someone write it for him. Because there is no trace of alteration on the whole paper, it is not a manuscript, but a copy. As for this poem, the author suspects that it was also drafted by others. Just like the pre-cut ginger onion in the kitchen, when cooking, just grab a handful and throw it in. Wu Changshuo, who has succeeded, is too busy rewarding and punishing to improvise poetry. If he even asks someone to paint himself, it is even less likely that he will bother to write his own poems.
2. Calligraphy lacks the soul of books. Because calligraphy and painting are of the same origin, literati paintings advocate calligraphy, and later painters often make great efforts in calligraphy. When we practice calligraphy, we often pay attention to form and despise content, which is tantamount to buying gifts and returning pearls. The calligraphy of professional painters and calligraphers is often practiced for the sake of practice, few people read and write, and there is no gap in the scholar-bureaucrat's chest, so it is often reflected as a gesture. When we watch the ink of famous ministers and writers of past dynasties, we seldom see them show off their skills. Its aesthetic quality is subordinate to the content, simple and simple, and there is absolutely no superfluous fancy. Their calligraphy is the externalization of their personality spirit, full and calm, full of what Mencius called "noble spirit." This kind of breath is extremely rare in professional calligraphers or painters.
3. Self-replication of pictures. Because professional painters sell paintings as their profession, the market demand is enthusiastic, and it is impossible to innovate everything. In fact, when the painter faces mountains and rivers every day, he doesn't have much joy in his heart. He is more worried because of endless debts and has no mind to conceive. In order to solve this problem, they had to mass-produce and even ask someone to write it for them. Today, when we watch the works of Dong Qichang, Zheng Banqiao, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi and other great painters with great market influence, we always feel deja vu. In addition to their remarkable personal style, their self-replication is also an important reason. The author once saw a set of Zhao Twelve Leaves Fruit and Vegetable Atlas collected by Xianyun, but later found another set in Guangdong Provincial Museum, and even published a calendar. Shanghai Museum also has a set, which is exhibited all the year round. Later, it was discovered that Tianjin Museum and Palace Museum each had one set, and both had published picture books. These specious multiple births are not fakes, but the result of Zhao's mass production-I can't use the word "creation" anymore.
As for asking someone to write a ghost, that is the unspoken rule of the industry. Although Dong Qichang himself has made great contributions to the theory of literati painting, he is also exploring the laws of literati painting. However, he himself is deeply involved in the market. Many painting friends of Songjiang School have written ghost letters for him. These activities are not only inconsistent with literati painting, but also detrimental to private morality in terms of general creative rules.
4. The theme is kitsch and the fireworks are heavy. According to the market demand, most of the subjects of professional painters are closely related to citizens' lives. No matter Yangzhou painting school or marine painting school, they all prefer flower-and-bird painting, followed by figures and landscapes. The reason is that flower-and-bird paintings can win the public's love, including rose, magnolia, peony, begonia, chrysanthemum, canna and other flowers, as well as Chinese cabbage, radish, pumpkin, garlic, persimmon, flat peach, loquat and other varieties with auspicious colors and strong flavor of life, which have entrusted people with their good wishes of pursuing peace, wealth and auspiciousness. This situation seems to have started from the Song Dynasty. Due to the rise of civil society, people no longer pursue the wild interests of nymphs, let alone the seclusion and seclusion ideals expressed by landscape paintings. They yearn for the improvement and satisfaction of real life, and hope that the paintings hanging at home can express the meaning of auspiciousness and celebration. This concept even influenced the early Feng Shui. It is believed that hanging paintings with different themes at home can adjust the yin and yang and fortune at home. Although these paintings also pay attention to pen and ink, poetry and calligraphy are printed, but the soul is far from literati paintings. In Song Dynasty, Li Tang made a living by selling paintings, that is, he was a painter. Later, because of his skillful techniques, he was recruited by Xuanhe Painting Academy, which also advocated techniques. His works are full of mountains and rivers, but they are not popular in the market after Du Nan. So he once said in a poem: "In a smoky village, it is easier to see in the rain than to do. If you don't know, buy more rouge and paint peonies. "
5. The technique is too skillful and lacks interest. Professional painters are well-trained, tired and pay more. Therefore, in a large number of paintings, there are few fine works. Sometimes I am addicted to pen and ink, but they are all to reduce the trouble of painting, which is different from literati painting. At the same time, because I have mastered too many composition and pen and ink techniques, I can easily do it because I am too familiar with it. Everything starts with a pen, not a heart. Therefore, the breath is frivolous and impetuous, and it has lost its due spiritual connotation.
Of course, we separate the painter's paintings from the literati's paintings, not to belittle the painter's painting achievements, but to list them separately, which is also conducive to the history of China's past dynasties and forms a complete and unified narrative logic.
Triple situation from literati painting to painter painting
Zhang Yanyuan once said in the Tang Dynasty: "Those who are good at painting since ancient times must never make up for themselves, and those who are humble can't do it." This statement reflects the author's personal likes and dislikes, which is neither objective nor in line with history, and it is not the reason why literati painting must be higher than other paintings. However, it makes us realize the great influence of literati identity on painting character.
Because the society advocates literati and literati painting, literati painting is the main commodity type in the market. Real literati paintings are in short supply, so there are various commodities such as literati paintings, and their authors are professional painters. Both Qian Xuan and Zhao Mengfu clearly believe that the essence of literati painting is the painting of hooligans, that is, the layman's painting. According to Cao Zhao's On Gegu: "Zhao Ziang asked Qian Shunju:' What about literati painting?' Shunju replied:' It's also a family painting. Zi Ang said,' Of course. Wang Wei, Tang, Li Cheng, Guo and Li in the Song Dynasty were all painted by Master Gao Shang, vividly and perfectly. It is very wrong to paint as a scholar-bureaucrat in modern times. "
In the final analysis, the difference between literati painting and painter painting lies in whether they are real literati. From Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics, Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi, no literati paintings can be drawn. , as well as artists trained in today's art colleges. Not to mention the dispute between Chinese and western painting, even students majoring in Chinese painting don't read, or even read very little. Calligraphy is practicing calligraphy, not writing many articles. Practice makes perfect. This pure skill is far from the core of culture.
If "literati painting" to "painter painting" is regarded as a gradual change, it can be roughly divided into three situations.
The first situation: "If you compare this picture with the price, what is the return for Qian Qian?" Wu Cheng's poem "On Mi Youren Landscape Painting" in Yuan Dynasty vividly illustrates the situation of real literati painters. Mi Youren is a famous artist, deeply appreciated by Song Gaozong, who appraised his paintings and calligraphy. He lived comfortably and had a lofty position, and he had the Wei and Jin demeanor of Wang Xie's son. After he became an official, he was very secretive, and his paintings were not offered to relatives and friends. Gong sneered: "If you are a rootless tree, you can trace back to the clouds; Today, I am a royal, not with idle people. " Because of this, his paintings have become typical literati paintings recognized by Dong Qichang. This heavy situation can be said that I don't sell paintings and the market is sought after.
The second situation: "Write a picture of a castle peak, sell it when you are idle, and don't let the world make money." Tang Yin described his life as a professional painter in his poems on paintings. Tang Yin is obviously a scholar, and he knows a lot about it. However, his fate was bad, and he became a professional painter, selling paintings for a living. On the nature of learning, Tang Yin is obviously higher than the average painter, at least his poems are much higher than others. He is not short of criticism and insight into the secular world. What he lacks is social status and economic security, so he has to sell paintings to support himself. Most of his works are market-oriented. Therefore, when Dong Qichang mentioned the literati painters in Ming Dynasty, he simply separated Wen and Shen from Tang and Qiu in the "Four Schools of Wumen" and thought that the former was literati painting. Not surprisingly, Chou Ying is a painter who is good at painting. He once enjoyed the places of interest in Xiang's home and was not included in the literati painting. But Tang Yin was also excluded, obviously because Tang Yin could not extricate himself from the market. This heavy situation can be said that when money is scarce, you can exchange pens for small money.
The third situation: "draw more bamboo, buy more bamboo, the paper is six feet high and costs three thousand." 1759, Zheng Banqiao published the pen list, which is the standard of calligraphy and painting. Carved on a stone tablet, standing in front of Yangzhou Xici, things have changed for a time. However, Zheng Banqiao went his own way. "No matter what the wind", he was comfortable in the art market. Similar to him is Wang Mian. "Short coat to welcome guests, too lazy to comb my hair. They only charge high prices for plum blossoms. " At the end of Yuan Dynasty, Zen Master Pu 'an described Wang Mian as he knew it. Wang Mian was obsessed with painting plum blossoms all his life. Because of his fame, there are too many people to paint, and Wang Mian is simply too busy. In the Ming Dynasty, Xu Wei was a die-hard fan of Wang Mian. He studied with him and painted plums for cooking. When visiting Wang Mian's tomb, Xu Wei once said with great emotion, "You painted plum blossoms for rice, and now you can exchange rice for plum blossoms. An Neng awakens Wang Jushi and smiles at Hua Jia and Mi Jia. " Xu Wei also sympathizes with Wang Mian's hard life and wants to know how many barrels of rice a plum blossom can get: "I want to see Bird and worry about rice, but I don't know how many barrels of ice sticks I want to get." This heavy situation can be described as selling paintings and being familiar with business.
In a society dominated by Confucianism, the values of being a gentleman and benefiting others are deeply rooted in people's hearts. Even professional painters who sell paintings for a living are unwilling to take the responsibility of sweeping the floor politely. They are used to dressing themselves up as pure girls and want to refuse and welcome them back. Only Zheng Banqiao and Qi Baishi, who are arrogant and seniority-oriented, dare to tear off all masks and disguises and face people's surprised eyes. However, in their eyes, others are not important, let alone others' eyes?
These famous painters, who are highly sought after by the market, are relatively rich in economy, and some have read some books, so there are also some literati paintings. Zheng Banqiao, for example, was a scholar, an official and a typical scholar-bureaucrat. Although his works have the habits of painters, they still have the flavor of literati painting.
conclusion
In a word, literati painting, like ancient yu fu, is just a ritual vessel and a noble symbol. Because of the disparity between literati temperament and painting skills, it is even difficult for us to find enough samples to study the characteristics of literati painting more deeply.
Literati painting and painter painting are inseparable in form and spirit, and should not be confused. Defining literati painting and painter painting can better restore the original appearance of literati painting and avoid self-contradiction caused by unclear extension. Secondly, it helps to clarify the origin of China's art history. Dong Qichang said in "Painting Zen Room Essays and Painting Sources": "Literati painting began in Wang Youcheng ... My courtship and Shen took over from afar." As a painter of the same dynasty, Dong Qichang thought that Shen Zhou and He could be regarded as literati paintings in terms of knowledge and painting style, while Tang Yin and He, who made a living by selling paintings, were excluded, although they belonged to the four schools of Wumen. This decomposition obviously makes sense. Thirdly, it can be clear that painter's painting is an important direction of art education, emphasizing sketch, technique and inheritance. In today's society, artists are an admirable profession, and painters have lofty social and economic status, so there is absolutely no need to commit themselves to the name of literati. Let literati painting return to the ancients and take its own path, which is the self-confidence and orientation that today's painters should have.