Money that does not include poetry, does not record the year and month, is signed with a single name, font size, or only bears a seal, is called a poor money. Among the inscriptions and postscripts of Chinese paintings, those with many inscriptions are called "long titles", those with only names like Fan Kuan are called "poor titles", and those with hidden inscriptions are called "hidden titles". In the paintings of the Song Dynasty, not only poor titles and hidden titles are compared Common, and they basically don’t have the habit of stamping.
Some people have conducted research and said that they don’t write in obvious places because the words... don’t look good! If the painting itself is pleasing to the eye, it can easily destroy the beauty if it is paired with unsightly words. The person who said this was the painter Shen Hao (hào) in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
"Before the Yuan Dynasty, inscriptions were mostly not used, and the inscriptions were hidden in the gaps between the stones, fearing that the calligraphy would not be accurate and the painting would be damaged. Later, the calligraphy and painting were combined, and the beauty was attached."
—— Shen Hao's "Painting·Inscription"
But when he said this, he completely ignored another group of people. The paintings of the great calligraphers Su Shi, Mi Fu and others did not have large-scale inscriptions or poems on the paintings. spread throughout the world.
Therefore, the idea that painters in the Song Dynasty were not good at calligraphy is not valid. Cuihua read a lot of historical documents and paintings and summarized three main reasons for everyone.
Friends who have studied history may have the impression that the most important theory for governing the country in the Song Dynasty was "Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism" (Li is the fundamental law of nature and human society). Although the original intention of establishing the theory was not to serve For painting, but don’t forget that in the Song Dynasty, there was an art academy led by the central government. This social system directly affected the academy painters’ ability to accurately and realistically express the “principles” of everything in the world when depicting, such as the introduction of Cuihua This "Double Happiness Picture".
The infinite admiration for "reason" led to the peak of realism in Chinese painting during the Song Dynasty. In addition to pursuing extremely realistic effects, painters also show awe, meditation and understanding of nature. The most direct manifestation of reverence for nature is that it will not destroy or destroy the true state of the paintings where you can look at them, play with them, and walk among them.