(Zhao Mengfu's "Eight Horses" The pictures in this article are all from network resources)
The theme of Eight Horses is taken from the legend of Zhou Muwang. According to legend, these eight horses were transformed from the essence of the stars in the sky, and were picked up by a man named Zao Fu in the area of Shantaolinsai, Kuafu, and presented to Zhou Muwang. Zhou Muwang thought it was eight horses driving. Eight horses tirelessly went to Wan Li for a three-day tour, took Zhou Muwang to Yaochi to see the Queen Mother of the West, and then ran away and forgot to come back. The names of these eight horses are named after their fur colors, namely, Red Horse, Thief Li, Bai Yi, Fanlun, Hua Xiang and Green Ear. Some are amazing, turning feathers, flying into the sky, passing shadows, being too bright, being too bright, fogging and holding wings.
Shi Daoshuo of the Western Jin Dynasty first created the Eight Horses Map. According to the Book of Pictures, Sima Yan, the emperor of the Jin Dynasty, got the ancient version of the Eight Horses Map. The yellow silk on it was a canvas, but it had rotted, so he ordered Shi Daoshuo to write with a model. In other words, Shi Daoshuo's Eight Horses Map inherited the style of predecessors. In addition, there are Han Gan in the Tang Dynasty, Chen Juzhong in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu in the Jin Dynasty, in the Yuan Dynasty, Harmony in the Ming Dynasty, Gao, Yao, Jin Tingbiao in the Qing Dynasty, and western painters ignatius Szicher Bart and Lanzining in the Qing Dynasty. The modern painter Xu Beihong's Eight Horses is also a masterpiece in painting.
Shi Daoshuo's Eight Horses is a favorite collection of royal families in past dynasties. It was only in the Tang Dynasty that imitations appeared and were seen by the world. According to the pictures, Shi Daoshuo's Eight Horses Map was regarded as a national treasure in the Southern Song Dynasty, Qi Dynasty, Liang Dynasty and Chen Dynasty. After the destruction of Chen in the Sui Dynasty, why did this picture ever come true? He Ruobi was a famous soldier in Sui Dynasty. He led Sui Jun into the Forbidden City and made great contributions to the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC). This painting was obtained when he broke the city of Taitai, and was later known by Yang Chang, the king of Qi. It was exchanged for 40 horses' hooves and 50 brocade, and was dedicated to Emperor Yang Guang of Sui Dynasty. After the regime change in Sui and Tang Dynasties, Eight Horses remained in the palace. During the reign of Emperor Taizong Zhenguan, Li Shimin lent this painting to Wang Wei of Lee Tae. Roughly during this period, the eight horses were copied and spread. In the Song Dynasty, Shi Daoshuo's eight horses were still in the hands of the royal family. Wang Shizhen's Four Drafts of Yizhou in the Ming Dynasty said: "Zhenguan's history of public and private painting means that there are eight horses in history, which are official books of the Sui Dynasty, so Song Xuanhe and Emperor entered the painting spectrum. Although the frontispiece is broken, there is still the seal of the secret hall, that is, Zhao Wuxing and Bai Qiantang are also designated as history books, which is beyond doubt. " There is no official record of Shi Daoshuo's eight horses in the official history of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
There are more than ten poems about Eight Horses, mostly written by poets in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Legends related to Zhou Muwang are often quoted in related poems, such as "Mu Man and eight horses flying in the air, ... Yaochi went to the banquet of the Queen Mother of the West"; "Mu Manzhi is broad-minded ... and he talks at the end of Fusang and stays in Kunlun at dusk" (Yuan Zhen); "Muman's life is beyond his power" (Luo Yin); "Yesterday, Zhou Muwang traveled everywhere, and ... was promoted to Nie Yaochi, Kunlun." (Fan Jun) "Muman took the most detached ride ... only to the Queen Mother's Room of Yaochi. (Wu Cheng) "Wait. According to legend, the origin of Mu Wang's eight horses is attributed to the house stars in the sky. For example, "So far, this thing has been called a treasure by the world, but I don't know if it is strange under the nature of Fangxing." (Bai Juyi); "There are nine planets in the sky and dragons in the western regions" (Fan Wei); "The starlight in the room shines on the Ronghe River and turns it into a magical pony" (Wang Sui).
? In addition, the poem "Eight Horses" mainly praises the eight horses in the painting. One is to express admiration for the galloping speed and fatigue of the eight horses, which are mostly described by the author according to legends or aesthetic imagination, such as How Light the Wind and Feet are (Luoyin); "Wan Li flies like a fly on a day trip" (Bai Juyi) "Wang Bajun walks without rest" (Liu Cha) "He flies like a horse and walks without rest in Wan Li." (Fan Jun) Zhoujiaba Ma Rufei Electricity (Zeng Bai). Secondly, pay attention to the appearance and dynamics of the eight horses in the painting, such as "the back is like a dragon, the neck is like an elephant, the bones and muscles are high in fat, and the meat is strong and strong" (Bai Juyi), which is similar to Liu Zongyuan's description in "Eight Horses": "The appearance is strange and salty, the dragon and phoenix are unicorn and mantis", which is consistent with Shi Daoshuo's painting. In this way, the horse shape in the eight-horse map seen by the Tang Dynasty is not completely realistic. In the Ming Dynasty, Zeng Bai said in his Yao Ji Eight Horses that the posture of the eight horses was strange: "The sharp ears are divided into autumn bamboo batches, and the fists are full of peach blossoms. The meat is stacked and shrugged, and Cui Wei and Quan Qi are so good at dragon media. Frosthoof tried to break the ice, and Wei Jun wanted to retreat. " In his poem "Eight Horses", Fan Jun specifically described the posture of the horse in the picture he saw: "The hair is wrapped around the head, and the twelve hooves are the same, and the posture is soft and pleasant. Five horses are free, or they are still neighing. A herdsman leads a herdsman, and the system is a scarf. " In the Ming Dynasty, Wang Ze also wrote the posture of Zhao Mengfu's war horse in Zhao Eight Horses: "The situation is as angry as a magpie. It seems that I am suspected of taking a bath in the Weihe River, and I am covered with dragon flowers. " Emperor Qianlong also described the posture of these eight horses in "Drawing Eight Horses with Fingers High": "Two ponies gallop together, and one horse is idle and happy. There are two people lying, and the old horse itches like a dragon. As for the clock, he called himself a god, and smoke rose from the ground. I hope that there is nothing to do, and the two are close to each other. " The pictures seen by the Eight Horses in Ming and Qing Dynasties are quite different from those seen by the Tang Dynasty, which reflects that the creation of the Eight Horses has undergone an evolutionary process, from the original freehand brushwork like a horse to the realistic development.