What are five cows?

With the development of painting in the Tang Dynasty, the classification of painting themes has become increasingly obvious. Most painters have their own strengths, such as Yan's historical paintings, Wu Daozi's religious paintings and Zhang Xuanhe's ladies' paintings. During this period, there were also people who painted cows, horses, livestock and beasts. Han Gan is a master at drawing horses. He is good at drawing figures, ghosts and gods, especially horses, and his masterpiece is Ma Tu.

Han Gan, a native of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, worked in a pub as a teenager. Wang Wei and Wang Jin often go to pubs for drinks, and Han Gan often goes to Wang Wei for drinks, so they are very familiar with Wang Wei. Once, he went to Wang Wei's house to collect money. Wang Wei is just not at home. Han Gan was bored, so he picked up a stone and drew figures and horses on the ground. It happened that Wang Wei came back and saw the paintings on the ground. He thinks that Han Gan is very talented in painting, so he subsidizes him to learn painting every year. Han Gan studied with Cao Ba, a famous painter at that time. 10 years later, he really became famous.

All the founding emperors of the Tang Dynasty could fight. After Kaiyuan, the world was stable and peaceful, and martial arts among nobles flourished. Polo and other sports are also very popular in the court. Therefore, they attached great importance to pommel horse, and Tang Xuanzong was more keen on it. There are a large number of famous horses in his royal stable, and he is especially fond of horses from the Western Regions, because these horses are strong in bones and muscles, with peculiar coat color, special appearance and thick hoof nails. Riding them is as smooth and rhythmic as riding a chariot, such as BMW such as "Jade Flower" and "White Night". Therefore, being friends with horses and vividly depicting them have become a fashion in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

During Tianbao reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, Han Gan was called into the palace because he was good at painting. After staying in the palace for about four or five years, the achievements of painting horses surpassed those of their predecessors and were pushed to be unique by people at that time. At that time, the famous painter Yan had many excellent horse paintings. The horse's muscles and bones he painted are lifelike and famous for a while, but they are not masterpieces. The masterpiece of horse painting left over from ancient times is the eight horses handed down by Jin people, also called eight horses. It describes the story of Zhou Muwang riding eight fine horses to Yaochi for the banquet of the Queen Mother of the West. These eight horses are all painted strangely. They have a dragon's back and an elephant's neck. Their bones are very strange. It is said that they can travel to Wan Li every day. Some people even describe them as having wings. They are more like dragons than horses. From the morphological point of view, before Han Gan, the painted horses were mostly bony and full of energy. From the look and action, they were mostly restless, eager to catch up and run, and there were few leisurely horses. Han Gan's pommel horse painting completely got rid of the image of dragon, which is a portrait of horse in reality; The horse base painted by Han Gan is a fat and vigorous image of a horse from the western regions, which is related to the fact that most of the royal horses raised by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty came from the western regions. The horse's manner is no longer restless, but presents a serene and leisurely manner. It is said that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty saw that the horse he painted was not like the style of another of his teachers, Chen Hong, and asked him why. Han Gan replied, "I have my own teacher who draws horses. The royal horses in the horse pen in the palace are all my teachers. " Xuanzong was surprised, but he was surprised to see that Han Gan painted all the royal horses in his stable, and vividly painted the beautiful form of the "flying dragon" sword and the strange charm of the "jade spraying" horse. It is said that Han Gan is good at xiangma, and his ability to recognize and appreciate horses has reached the level of xiangma experts, such as Jiugaofang and Bole. Han Gan's paintings of horses are all over the world, including Painting Horses, Looking at the White Night, Showing Horses and Painting Gods. Among them, the painting "Horse Wrapped" is recognized as an authentic Korean painting, and it is also the most influential and well-known.

"Wrapping Horses" was originally a frame in "Famous Paintings and Treasures", with the inscription "Han Gan's Original Works, Ding Hai's Imperial Pen" written by Song Huizong and Evonne on the left. In the picture, the herder rides a white horse, leads a dark horse, ties a towel into a bun, and walks slowly with a bridle in his hand. The herdsmen's cheeks are covered with beards and tall, which is obviously the appearance of conference semifinals. Two horses, black and white, rode side by side. From the modeling point of view, the two horses are plump and belong to the western domain name horse. Black horse with vermilion saddle, white horse with white space, only crossing the line does not fade. In the painting, the shepherd is in high spirits, the two horses are vigorous and carefree, the clothing lines are dense, the picture is concise, the structure is rigorous, the pen is calm and the lines are neat. The uniqueness of Han Gan's horse painting lies in his realistic way. He learned from the horses in the royal stables and tried to figure it out every day before he got this peerless masterpiece. Song Dongce's Postscript of Guang Chuan Hua said: "Han Gan has been handed down from generation to generation as a horse, so it is necessary to test the orientation of the time and face, and then determine the bone color." It is because of his careful observation that his horse is lifelike. At this point, there is still a case-solving in history. Du Fu doesn't like Han Gan's paintings. The poem "A Gift from Dan Qing to General Cao Ba" says: "Your follower, Han Gan, also skillfully showed various postures of horses, drawing only meat but not bones, so that the best horses lost their spirits." He thinks that Han Gan's horse "painted meat but not bones", which made the air of horses wither. Zhang Yanyuan, a painting theorist at that time, criticized Du Fu for not knowing painting. In the Song Dynasty, Su Shi even pointed to Du Fu's words and said in "The History of Han Mu Ma Tu": "The author of every paper, sir, is a disciple of Cao Ba. The stable is full of meat, but the bones in the meat are particularly difficult to pull out. Jinle embroidered Luo saddle, and the whip vertebra was engraved and branded. Not so close to nature ... ",which said that" thorn in the flesh is particularly difficult to draw ",clearly pointed out that Han Gan's horses are vivid and vivid.

Another masterpiece by Han Gan, White Picture at Night, depicts a famous horse that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty liked best. In the picture, the white horse tied to the horse post at night looks up and screams, eager to run and full of vitality. The horse is fat and full of Tang rhyme. According to experts' research, the horse's head, neck and predecessor are authentic, and the latter part is the supplement of later generations, but the ponytail has disappeared. After the picture, there are the words "Han Gan shines white at night" written by Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the words "Yanyuan" written by Zhang Yanyuan in the Tang Dynasty.

Today, Han Gan's paintings are indeed the pinnacle of pommel horse painting in the Tang Dynasty. He inherited Cao Ba and other senior painters, but his originality directly influenced the painting style of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. Therefore, it can be called a master of art connecting the preceding with the following.

Wu Niu Tu by Han Ming is also a representative work of animal painting in Tang Dynasty. Han Wei (723-787), a politician and painter in the middle Tang Dynasty, experienced four generations from Xuanzong to Dezong, and was a politician who supported unity and opposed separatism. He once held important positions in the imperial court, such as our envoy, and was later named Jin Gong. Although Gaul was an official, life in Han Yun was very simple, and it was said that clothes and bedding were changed only once every 10. His cultural accomplishment is profound, he is good at drumming, painting and calligraphy, and he pays attention to official script. The cursive script has Zhang Xu's brushwork. Good at farmhouse genre painting. Animals and animal pictures with the theme of cattle and sheep are his strengths. At that time, he was famous for painting horses, while Han was famous for painting cows. Later people called it "two Han cattle and horses." Lu You in the Southern Song Dynasty once praised Han Yun's paintings as having an immersive feeling: "Every time I see the village children herding cattle in the LAM Raymond Tobacco Room, I feel that I am in the painting and hope to resign and return to my hometown."

Han Han's masterpiece "Five Cattle Map" is said to be that he went to the suburbs and saw cows grazing and shepherds playing happily. In the distance, one cow is running eagerly, and other cows are chirping with their toes, some are licking their tongues, and some are looking for grass. Han Han couldn't help being fascinated. A month later, five cows of different shapes jumped on their paper.

Wu Niu Tu, painted on white linen paper, is the earliest paper painting that can be seen at present. Draw five cows, each with its own posture and direction, some scratching with its head tilted, some stretching its neck, some licking its tongue and looking around, some walking slowly, and some staring at the front. Among them, four heads face the side and one head faces the middle. Every cow is different in fat and thin, and its bones and muscles are clearly depicted. Although they are all yellow cattle, their hues are different, and the texture of fur is very rich, which shows that the painter's modeling ability is very strong. From a technical point of view, the painter uses a close-up composition, and the cow in the middle is facing the viewer. Because the painter's perspective processing is in place, it looks realistic and natural. If you look closely, the expression of each cow is very simple and lovely. The one in the middle looks quiet and filial, the one licking its tongue and looking back is lively and a little naughty, the one tickling is safe and comfortable, and the one moving slowly is more serious. Wu Niu Tu fully shows the painter's meticulous observation ability. The whole picture is rough and dignified, showing the simple and fresh style of the countryside.

After the publication of Han Kun's "Five Cattle Map", people were amazed at the five cows he painted. They were not only similar in shape, but also different in shape. Each has its own characteristics, fat and thin, different cattle colors, exquisite and simple brushwork, smooth and beautiful lines, both form and spirit, and beautiful music, showing superb pen and ink skills, which is a rare masterpiece in Tang paintings. Although this painting is in the form of a long scroll, the cows are all independent, and there is no scenery except a pile of thorns. Its color is also very distinctive, realistic ox. Although there are many varieties, the hue changes little. The three yellow heads and two dark brown heads in the picture are basically the most typical coat colors. Although only two colors are used in the whole painting, it gives people a colorful feeling. Most descendants think that these five cows are personified. The first four cows are very leisurely, and the last one is wearing a wrapped hood, which is obviously unpredictable compared with the first four cows. The researchers think that these five cows are metaphors of the five brothers Han Yun, and they express their inner feelings as the king of a country with the character of a cautious cow, which is a typical work of expressing feelings with things. Some people think that painting is to show a deep and steady character, hardworking, honest and stubborn, simple and diligent.

China's ancient landscape paintings, flower-and-bird paintings and figure paintings have been handed down from generation to generation, but the only one that is so vivid is Wu Niu Tu, which Zhao Mengfu, a great painter in Yuan Dynasty, called "a magnificent and rare masterpiece". It can be seen that the value of this painting lies not only in the exquisite painting art, but also in the uniqueness and rarity of its subject matter. This rare and famous painting has been treasured by the court since the Song Dynasty. This painting was collected by Zhao Mengfu after the war. When Eight-Nation Alliance ransacked the Forbidden City, "Five Cattle Map" was robbed abroad, and there was no news from then on. In 1950s, after learning that this painting was hidden in Hong Kong, Premier Zhou Enlai personally gave instructions and bought it back from Hong Kong at a large price. Then, it took the Palace Museum several years to completely restore it. A classic painting can return to its native land.