Speaking of the culture of the Tang Dynasty, calligraphy and painting are indispensable. Last week, I wrote an article "Books are like People" here, which briefly described the stories of two famous calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan. On the 11th holiday, quietism and my humble pen indulged in painters of the Tang Dynasty-Yan and Wu Daozi-on the Wusha above their heads. Share your study with everyone.
Yan and Wu Daozi were both court painters in the Tang Dynasty. But their painting styles and achievements are different.
Yan was born in 60 1 year and died in 673. He was born in Jingzhao Wannian (now Xi 'an, Shaanxi). Born into a noble family, he worked as a minister of industry (equivalent to a deputy prime minister in charge of industry, information, agriculture, water conservancy, construction and transportation) and later became a prime minister. He himself is a well-read man and is good at handling tasks. He also works in calligraphy and poetry. Because his painting level is extremely high, his other talents are covered by his painting name.
Yan's painting skills came from his family. He and his brother Yan Lide were both stars in the early Tang Dynasty.
Yan attaches great importance to learning from his predecessors and drawing experience and skills from them.
On one occasion, he came to an ancient temple to watch the murals of Zhang Sengyou, a great painter in the Southern Dynasties. He was disappointed after reading it and said to himself, "Alas, it was just an empty name!" " Say that finish and left. But the next day, he came again, for fear that he didn't look carefully yesterday and judged too rashly, so he looked carefully. Gradually, he was attracted and blurted out, "What a generation player!" On this day, he meditated for a long time before leaving reluctantly.
On the third day, he came early again. This time, he brought all the bedding. He lived in the ancient temple for more than 65,438+00 days. He stands under the painting every day to imitate and taste, and often talks to himself. Everyone in the temple thinks this man is so stupid that they are laughing at him secretly, but he is oblivious and dancing selflessly.
Because of Yan's great talent and hard work in painting, his painting skills became higher and higher, and he finally became a master.
Of course, the master also has his own troubles.
On one occasion, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, was boating in Chunyuanchi when suddenly he saw a beautiful waterfowl flying. Emperor Taizong was very happy, so he soon ordered scholars to write poems and paint pictures.
At that time, Yan was already a doctor (equivalent to the director in charge of organization and personnel now) and was in charge of the knight's office in the court. However, the person in charge of the announcement did not call Yan the title, but just recited "painter". Yan saw that her heart was unnatural and she dared not attack. He hurried to the edge of Chunyuan pool to check the waterfowl and fiddle with Dan powder. When he saw his colleagues enjoying themselves boating in the pool, he raised his glass and wrote poems, blushing.
When he got home, he was restless for a long time, so he called his sons to the painting and told them, "I also read poetry books since I was a child, and my knowledge is by no means worse than my colleagues." It is because I am good at drawing that I am humiliated today. Remember, don't draw like me. "
Having said that, Yan's love for painting can't stop there.
Yan was deeply loved and trusted by Tang Taizong and his superb painting skills. However, some people ridiculed him: "It is auxiliary to politics, but it is based on ordinary materials and there is no prime minister. At that time, Jiang Ke smashed the left with military exploits, so people had the ridicule of' Xuanwei Desert Left, Danqing Right'. "
Yan's painting skills brought him artistic fame, but failed to bring word of mouth to his official career. On the contrary, because of his particularity, many colleagues think that he has taken a narrow road to promotion and disdained to get along with him. Think about it carefully, if Yan is a folk painter, he will certainly win more respect and love, but the rules of officialdom bound his hands and feet, but he fell into many embarrassing situations.
Yan left many excellent works in his life. However, the vicissitudes of time have not been passed down to this day. The map of emperors in past dynasties is the most praised of his works handed down from generation to generation. This picture depicts 13 emperors from the Western Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, all of whom are vivid and have distinct personalities. For example, Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of Wei who forced Emperor Xian of Han to meditate, was a condescending and aggressive person. Liu Bei, the king of Shu, who worked hard all his life to restore the system of Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty, was weather-beaten and miserable in appearance.
This scroll shows Yan's superb skills and has become a milestone in China's ancient figure painting.
However, this historic masterpiece was stolen when China had no sovereignty in modern history, and it was first hidden in the Boston Museum.
His Walking Map is a historical picture of the friendly coexistence between Han and Tibetan peoples. It is a picture of Songzan Gambu sending envoys to propose marriage and being received by Emperor Taizong. The whole picture is full of cordial and harmonious atmosphere, and the existing manuscripts of the Song Dynasty have been handed down from generation to generation.
Wu Daozi is another legendary painter after Yan. Known as the "painting sage" by later generations, it is also respected by folk painters as the founder of the mountain.
Wu Daozi, also known as Daoxuan, was born in Tang Gaozong era and was active in Kaiyuan and Tianbao years. It is difficult to determine his date of birth and death.
He is a native of Yangzhai, Henan (Yuxian, Henan), and his childhood was lonely and poor. After all kinds of unfair treatment, I later developed a bohemian character, and good wine made me angry. He started as a painter, became more and more famous, and was finally called into the court to become a royal painter.
During the Tianbao period, Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, wanted to see the beautiful scenery of Jialing River, so he ordered Wu Daozi to sketch in Shu. Wu Daozi returned to Chang 'an empty-handed after enjoying the wonderful mountains and beautiful waters in Shu. Tang Xuanzong asked him for a draft, and he replied, "I only have one draft." So he painted on the wall of Datong Temple and put Jialing landscape painting on the wall in just one day. Tang Xuanzong was very surprised after reading it. Before Wu Daozi, the famous painter Li Sixun also painted a picture of Jialing River in this hall, which took several months. The works completed by Wu Daozi in one day are as vivid as those completed by Li Sixun in several months.
Wu Daozi's landscape paintings are mainly ink and wash, which are sparse and light. This style of landscape painting has gradually formed a genre, which is called "Wuzhuang" landscape painting.
Wu Daozi is particularly good at drawing Buddhist and Taoist figures and creating murals. His paintings are strange, but there is no similarity. His painting skills are extraordinary, both in form and spirit, and his artistic style is elegant, so he deserves to be called a master of art! When he painted the halo on the top of the Buddha statue, he never used a compass to scale it, but he did it with a wave of his hand. Unfortunately, the paintings of such a great painter as Wu Daozi are hard to find today. It is said that the volume is his work now in Japan. At the end of the volume, there is an postscript of the five dynasties Cao, which is called Wu Sheng's work. The existing manuscripts of the Song Dynasty have been handed down from generation to generation.
Wu Daozi used the combination of ink dyeing and traditional ink painting to make his works three-dimensional. The characters in his works are lifelike, and the clothes of the characters are flying high, which is praised by the world as "the wind in the Five Dynasties".
"The Wind in the Five Dynasties" is a hymn praising the greatest characteristics of Wu Daozi's figure murals, and it was taught by China's art history as a classic example of China's ancient painting in universities.
Unfortunately, however, Wu Daozi has a sin that shames future generations.
Just when Wu Daozi dominated the painting world and enjoyed a high reputation, there was a young rookie named Huangfu, whose reputation gradually increased. He often went to various monasteries and made murals with superb skills. Wu Daozi was narrow-minded, fearing that Huangfu would threaten his position in the painting world, so he hired someone to kill Huangfu.
Wu Daozi painted a lot in his life. He painted more than 300 murals in temples in Luoyang and Chang 'an. But times have changed, no one lives.
The Tang Dynasty was a prosperous period of feudal society in China. With the development of social culture in the Tang Dynasty, fine arts painting in the Tang Dynasty, on the basis of inheriting the fine tradition of ancient fine arts painting in China, played a role of connecting the past with the future, and was also the peak of the development of fine arts painting in the world at that time. Yan and Wu Daozi's painting art and stories have influenced generations of literati. The representative works of the two masters and their painting characteristics have also become compulsory courses in cultural examinations of past dynasties.