[Abstract] In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, a group of very unique painters were active in Yangzhou, the so-called "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou". Jin Nong and Zheng Xie are among them painters with distinctive personalities. This article sorts out the lives and artistic personalities of Jin Nong and Zheng Xie to explore the inheritance of their artistic essence.
[Keywords] Personalized Jinnong Zheng Xie
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, a group of very individual painters were active in Yangzhou. They are the group of painters known as the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" . According to Li Yufen's "Bibliographic Research on Calligraphy and Paintings of Ou Ti Luo Shi" in the late Qing Dynasty, the "Eight Eccentrics" refer to Jin Nong, Huang Shen, Zheng Xie, Li Wei, Li Fangying, Wang Shishen, Gao Xiang and Luo Pin. Later, some people listed Gao Fenghan, Hua Yan?, Chen Zhuan, Min Zhen, Li Mian, Bian Shoumin, etc. as among the "Eight Eccentrics". According to Yangzhou people, "Eight Monsters" means strange and weird, and has little to do with the number "eight". They are all painters active in Yangzhou, or they are called "Yangzhou School of Painting". These painters are all good at flowers, birds, plums and bamboos. They have exerted their unique and original spirit and are famous in the north and south. Each of them has contributed to the history of painting.
Among this group of painters, some are professional painters who have never been in officialdom. Their families are poor and they make a living by selling paintings, such as Huang Shen, Gao Xiang, Wang Shishen, Luo Pin, etc.; some have had the experience of Anbang to govern the country. He had great ambitions and worked as a minor official for several years. He later resigned and sold his paintings in Yangzhou, such as Zheng Xie and Li Fangying. They have similar life experiences and thoughts and feelings. They are resentful of corruption in the officialdom, have a better understanding of the sufferings of the people, and have a deep understanding of the hot and cold world. For this reason, he also formed an arrogant and unruly character, despising the powerful, acting wildly and eccentrically, and often expressed his injustice through paintings. In art, they pay attention to personal expression and Zhang Xian, and do not adhere to ancient methods. Strive for innovation and imbue the images in his paintings with strong personal and subjective emotions. Their works all have profound thoughts, distinctive and unique personalities, intriguing brushwork and fresh and wild artistic styles, forming a powerful painting school in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. The art of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" had a profound influence on later generations and the development of contemporary ink and wash freehand painting. Among this group, two painters, Jin Nong and Zheng Xie, are particularly prominent.
Jin Nong (1687-1764 AD), also known as Shoumen, Mr. Dongxin, etc. A native of Qiantang (Hangzhou), Zhejiang, he has lived in Yangzhou for a long time. Erudite and talented, good at poetry and calligraphy. In the 13th year of Yongzheng's reign (AD 1735), he opened the Bo Xue Hong Ci Department and was recommended by Ai Qiu Si Qin (Lu Qing). He was selected for the post the following year, but was not selected and felt depressed and frustrated. He sighed about this in a painting of a horse: "The horse I am painting today is desolate and desolate, with a look of soreness and self-pity. How sad is the toil of the journey? There is no Bole in the world. When I meet this person, It's too late! I don't want to seek knowledge in the wind and dust." This shows that he has no talent. Jin Nong traveled around, visiting Qi, Lu, Yan, Zhao, Qin, Jin, Chu, and Guangdong. In his later years, he settled in Yangzhou and made a living selling paintings. His personal life experience and personality also established his personalized artistic style.
Jin Nong is good at painting landscapes, flowers and birds, especially plum blossoms. The plum blossoms in his paintings have many branches and flowers and are full of vitality. They are often painted with light ink on the stems and thick ink on the branches, with flowers and stamens circled around them, and black and white are clear. Jin Nong has profound calligraphy skills, and his regular script has the flavor of gold and stone. He calls himself "lacquer calligraphy". In his paintings, he embodies the ancient and clumsy epigraphic brushwork, forming a simple and old style. Just like his "Plum Blossom Album at the Crossing of Ice and Snow" with twisted branches, a blend of dark and light ink colors, flowers circled with simple lines, and stamens dotted with thick ink; the layout is complex and orderly, sparse but not scattered, and the charm is quiet and elegant, giving people a sense of tranquility. Unique personalized pen and ink experience. On the other hand, he is good at inscribing poems in paintings, such as the ink plum blossom he painted in the early spring when he was 72 years old (the 23rd year of Qianlong). The long poem on it says: "Yesterday when the Shu monk came to write, he first asked about the plum blossoms and then the cranes." , Wild plums and thin cranes are all safe, only I have a weak waist and legs and I have to close the door. The closed door is Luofu Village. Painting plum blossoms and cranes beside me on a moonlit night, the dancing of cranes clears the soul, painting plums and begging for rice is a common thing. Gao Liu brought him jade, but I was hungry and short of food, so I carried cranes and hugged plum blossoms to sleep." Both poems and paintings express his thoughts and emotions, and the artistic expression of poetry and painting highlights his uniqueness. His personality is revealed and he has strong artistic appeal.
Jin Nong learned painting late. According to literature, Jin Nong "began to engage in painting" when he was 50 years old. Maybe he started to make a living from selling paintings only after that, not that he never painted before. Although Jin Nong officially started painting very late, he finally became a famous artist due to his profound knowledge, numerous famous places and profound calligraphy skills. Jin Nong's unique painting art had a great influence at that time.
Luo Pin, one of the eight monsters, is his disciple.
Zheng Xie (1693-1765 AD) occupies a prominent position in the Yangzhou School of Painting and is the most praised painter among the Eight Eccentrics. His courtesy name is Kerou, his nickname is Banqiao, and he is a native of Xinghua, Jiangsu. His family was poor when he was young, his mother died when he was young, and he experienced starvation for a while. He became a Jinshi in the first year of Qianlong's reign and was appointed magistrate of Fan County and Weixian County in Shandong Province for more than 10 years. Historical records record his various virtues when he was an official, which was quite popular, and he was called "Xunli" (meaning a good official, an upright official). His boss, Governor Bao, asked him for a painting. He painted a picture of bamboo and gave it to the governor. He inscribed a famous poem on the painting: "I am lying in the Yazhai listening to the bamboos rustling, which is suspected to be the sound of suffering among the people; these little officials of Caozhou County" "Every branch and leaf is always about love." This poem is sincere and moving. It not only means to persuade officials, but also encourages him to behave in life. His official luck was not good. When he was an official, there was a famine. He opened a warehouse to provide disaster relief. He was falsely accused of greed and was dismissed from office. It is said that when he left office, he only had three donkeys, one he rode, one carrying his books and ruanqin, and one his servant rode. It can be said that he had a breath of fresh air on both sleeves. Therefore, there is a saying that "three unique poems, calligraphy and painting, one official returns" "come" reputation. Later, he made a living selling paintings in Yangzhou.
Zheng Banqiao is said to have the "Three Wonders" - poetry, calligraphy and painting. His poems sympathize with the sufferings of the people, hate feudal officials, and have democratic ideological tendencies. Such as "Fleeing from Famine", "Returning to Home", "Hard Officials", "Lynching Evil" and other poems. The Taoist sentiments he wrote are also popular masterpieces. These poems established his position in the literary history of the Qing Dynasty. His calligraphy achievements are also very high. He combined Han Li and regular script, and used Han Li as the main original script. It is beautiful, elegant, strong and powerful, and is known as Banqiao style. He called it "six and a half calligraphy".
The most outstanding of Zheng Banqiao's "Three Wonders" is painting. He specializes in painting orchids, bamboos, stones, thorns and other flowers and plants. He may not have painted figures or landscapes. His paintings of ink bamboo are particularly wonderful. The bamboos in his paintings often match the poems and express his thoughts and emotions. His poems on paintings are as frank as his character, revealing the obstacles in his heart and never complaining about illness, just like his poem on bamboo paintings: "The autumn wind passed through Xiaoxiang last night, and the bamboos went crazy when they touched the rocks; only the bamboo branches were not afraid, and stood upright. A thousand fights." The author borrowed objects to convey emotions and used bamboo to express his character traits of being "unafraid" and "resilient" to the harsh environment. The bamboo in the painting is in a strong wind, and the bamboo branches and leaves have a sense of swaying, but it still retains its inherent strong character. The poem accompanying this painting reflects Zheng Banqiao's stubborn temperament. He has gained fame and served as an official, but he is dissatisfied with the social reality. His thoughts and emotions are often vented in his artistic works. He said that he "didn't write for three days, and wanted to use a piece of paper to relieve his boredom." He also has another type of "painting bamboo" that expresses another kind of artistic beauty, which is to reveal an indifferent and relaxed mood. , even showing a negative tendency to retreat from the world. When he was dismissed from office in Weixian County and returned to his hometown, he painted a painting of ink bamboo. The title of the poem reflects this state of mind: "Throw away the black gauze and not become an official, the bag is rusty and the sleeves are cold; write a thin bamboo, the autumn wind is on the river To make a fishing rod." The orchids in his paintings are not just natural beauty. For example, the orchid in the empty valley is a metaphor for its quiet and elegant character that is far away from the world, and is intended to express his feelings. This is his unique personality.
Zheng Banqiao studied the painting techniques of Xu Wei, Shi Tao and Bada, and inherited the traditional advocate of "learning from seven to three" and "learning from the meaning of the signs". He "painted bamboo as the theme" and vividly summarized the artistic creation process into three stages: "bamboo in the eyes", "bamboo in the heart" and "bamboo in the hands". Zheng Banqiao has been with bamboos all year round, and the tender green new bamboos The swaying bamboo shadows and the various forms of bamboo in nature arouse his reverie. Decades of social life experience have enriched his aesthetic understanding of bamboo. His "bamboo in the eyes" is the objective and external biological form perceived by the painter's visual organs. Bamboo. The "bamboo in the chest" is the biological form reflected in the artist's mind through the eyes, integrating the artist's aesthetic analysis and judgment on it, forming an artistic image that combines subjective and objective aspects, and becomes a subjective and objective artistic image through the artist's pen and ink expression and creation. The visible artistic image of the painting is the result of the materialization of the "bamboo in the heart". Zheng Banqiao particularly emphasizes the expression of "true temperament" and "true spirit" in his paintings. The bamboo is often strong and straight, with a kind of arrogance, uprightness and "stubborn and unruly spirit". The ink is dry and light, the brushwork is thin and straight, and the layout is dense and dense, with less defeating more, and it has "clear and thin". "Ya Tuo" interest. His works further developed the characteristics of literati paintings, which not only have profound ideological nature, but also produce intriguing artistic taste.
The artistic achievements of Jin Nong and Zheng Xie are great, and they are shining pearls in the history of Chinese art. Their unique and individual artistic styles have been favored by future generations, and their individual personalities are more evident. It has given today's artists unlimited development inspiration. Editor in charge: Liu Xiaohong