Zhang Sengyao, pinyin zhāng sēng yóu
Zhang Sengyao (yóu), whose name is unknown, was born in Wuzhong, Wu County (now Suzhou, Jiangsu Province). Minister of the Liang Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties and a famous painter.
In Liang Tianjian, he was the minister of Wuling Kingdom, knew painting affairs in Zhimi Pavilion, and served as a general of the right army and the prefect of Wuxing. He studied hard and became talented. He was good at portraiture, and was good at painting Buddha statues, dragons and eagles. He also made many scroll paintings and murals.
The story of the idiom "putting the finishing touch" comes from the legend about him. It is recorded that he used the "reduction halo method" that emphasizes light and shade and contrast to paint "convex and concave flowers" at Yicheng Temple in Jinling, which has a three-dimensional effect. He has accepted foreign painting techniques, which are very similar to today's sketches and are called "sparse style". Today, the "Five Stars and Twenty-Eight Constellations True Shape Picture" copied by Liang Lingzhan of the Tang Dynasty has been handed down to the world, and has now been exported to Japan. However, the brushwork and records of this painting are different. He is also good at sculpture, and is known as the "Zhang Family Model".
Zhang Sengyao's painting art had a great influence on later generations. Together with Gu Kaizhi, Lu Tanwei and Wu Daozi, he is known as the four ancestors of painters. The Tang Dynasty painters Yan Liben and Wu Daozi both learned from him.
Extended information
Zhang Sengyao quoted calligraphy brush methods such as "dot, drag, chop, and brush" into paintings, which greatly enriched the techniques of Chinese painting and also enriched the painting. brought new forms. In order to distinguish it from Gu and Lu's dense and dense one-stroke paintings, Zhang Sengyao's painting method is called "sparse style". From then on, a new two-way painting theory was established, which enriched and expanded the previous painting principles.
Another major contribution of Zhang Sengyao to painting is the absorption of the "concave-convex flower" technique from Buddhist paintings in India (now India). The so-called concave and convex painting method is what is now known as the light and shade method and perspective method. This method is not found in local Chinese paintings. This method is of great help in shaping the space of the body, making the picture have a three-dimensional sense and a realistic effect. Effect.
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Zhang Sengyao