A brief introduction to Cao, a painter in Northern Qi Dynasty. What are Cao Zhongda's works?

Cao was a famous minority painter in the Northern Qi Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Originally from the Western Region Cao State (Samarkand area), he was an official diaspora doctor. Famous paintings in past dynasties quoted lawyers from China and North Korea who wrote a painful record of three treasures, saying that "Northern Qi was the most industrious and could paint Brahma". Yan monk's evaluation of Cao Shi in "After Painting Record" is "learning, bamboo trees and mountains, foreign Buddha statues, time is indisputable." Meaning some confusion, so the "Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties" was transcribed as "Cao Shi is in the Yuan Dynasty, and the ice is cold in the water. Foreign Buddha statues died out in time. " This change is more meaningful. The first sentence derived from this

Cao Shi took Qian Ziyuan and his son as teachers. The second sentence used an old idiom, which means that ice is out of water, but it is colder than water, which means that the apprentice learns from the master, but the craft is better than the master. As for painting Tianzhu Buddha, it is his housekeeping skill, and others can't compete with it and surpass him. Cao Shi is good at both Buddhist painting and clay sculpture. He is unique and unique, and his Buddhist paintings have the reputation of "Cao Jiaxiang" in the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, Zhang Sengyou's "Zhang Family Style" was summed up by the Tang people. In addition, there are Wu Daozi's Painting Style of Wu Family and Zhou's Painting Style of Zhou Family, which were all the rage in the Tang Dynasty, and their influences can often be seen in the murals of the Tang Dynasty, from which researchers can explore. Tang people summarized the characteristics of Cao family as "Cao clothes come out of water", from which their image was obtained. If they are compared with the Wu family, their faces are quite clear and easy to understand. From this, it can be understood as "Cao's brushwork is thick and stacked, and his clothes are tight and narrow" and "Wu's brushwork is round and his clothes are floating", which are different in style. These two techniques can be seen in figures, religious paintings and sculptures of past dynasties.

You can take the Cao Ping exam.

Zhong Da was originally from Sogdian, Central Asia, and the two birthplaces of Cao Zhongda recorded in The History of Painting-Zhou Tan Yankai and Yuan Ang Liang were from the Southern Dynasties, so Cao Shi may have been born in Nanliang and later entered the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi Dynasties. He began to serve the imperial court in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, but his painting fame reached its peak in the Northern Qi Dynasty, when he worked as a doctor in the North, and later in the Zhou and Sui Dynasties. The activity area is mainly in Yecheng, and painting is likely to be done in Chang 'an after the Zhou and Sui Dynasties. His painting themes include Buddha statues, portraits, hunting pommel horses and so on. His painting media include scrolls and murals. Cao Shi's works in the Tang Dynasty include seven scrolls and two Buddhist temple murals-two volumes of Wuqi Lin Xuan vs Wuqi, one volume of Murong Shaozong, one volume of hunting in Iraq, one volume of Xieyue, one volume of Lu Sidao and one volume of Famous Horses, among which six volumes are official editions of Sui Dynasty and Chang 'an City. Zhang Yanyuan's "Famous Painting" preserved two records of Cao Shi's wall painting in Chang 'an: "Xingshan Temple … Southwest Pagoda, Cao Hua ……" and "Opening Temple". Pei has works by Cao, Li Ya, Yang Qidan and Zheng Fashi. This shows that Cao Shi painted Buddhist temple murals in Chang 'an, the capital of Zhou and Sui Dynasties, after the demise of the Northern Qi Dynasty. In a word, from October of the first year of Northern Zhou Dynasty to the beginning of Sui Dynasty, Cao painted murals in the temple and Xingshan Temple in Chang 'an, the capital city, which remained in the Tang Dynasty. The other is the record of Zhang Jie's Wen Zhi of Song Shiyi, taking Yu Shaosong's Yi Jie Hua Shu Lu as an example. Cao Shi may have written a book and desk, but it's still awkward. On the issue of Cao's native place, Mr. Shiping Luo thinks that his ancestors were Cao people from Central Asia who lived in southern Japan, while Cao himself was born and raised in the Southern Dynasties and later entered the Northern Qi Dynasty. The author thinks this judgment is worth thinking about, and Cao's two teachers seem to hint at his background in the Southern Dynasties. Of course, further evidence is needed to support when and by what route Cao Shi's family arrived in the Southern Dynasties from Cao Guo in Central Asia. Cao painted Wuqi and Murong Shaozong, but he had seen them face to face. Gao Huan died in the first month of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and Mr. Murong died in August of the following year. The latter played for Er Zhurong in his early years, mainly in the Eastern Wei Dynasty. It can be seen that Cao Zhongda once played for the imperial court in the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Although Cao's legacy is gone, we can still get a glimpse of Cao's artistic achievements influenced by his style through materials and comparison. Document record 1. Tang Yan's Record after Painting: "Cao studied in Yuan Dynasty, and ice is colder than water. Foreign Buddha statues are unparalleled. "

2. Tang Yan's Post-painting Record: (Southern Qi) Week. Shaman, the teacher of Saibei Qin, gave it to Cao, less than Cao's, but more than enough. Saibei Qin is unknown. "

3. The History of Zhenguan's Public and Private Paintings consists of two volumes: Qi Wulin's Xuan Riding Wu Tu, Murong Shaozong's Tu, Yi Hunting Tu, Ying Yue Tu, Lu Sidao Tu and Famous Horse Tu. Seven volumes on the right, paintings by Cao, and six volumes are official books of the Sui Dynasty ... "

Famous paintings of past dynasties

4. Cao in Volume 8 of Notes on Famous Paintings in Zhang Tang and Yan Yuan: "Cao, a native of Cao, the most famous worker in the Northern Qi Dynasty, can draw the statue of the Vatican. Officials went to the imperial court to disperse doctors, and Zhou Chao's lawyers announced the "Total Record of Three Treasures Induction", which contained wonderful paintings of Buddhist pictures, which was quite inspiring. Buddhist monk

As the saying goes,' Cao studied under Yuan, and ice is cooler than water'. Foreign Buddha statues have no competitors. Lu Shidao, Hu Lvmingyue, Murong Shaozong, etc. Yi hunting map, Qi Wulin Xuan are all martial arts riding, and famous horses and horses are passed down from generation to generation. 5. Book of Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties, Volume II, Syria teaches the Northern and Southern Dynasties: "Zhou Tan studied under Cao. ..... Cao Zeng studied under Yuan (Ang) ... "6. Records of Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties Volume III" Records of Paintings of Two State Temples Outside Beijing "article:" Xingshan Temple ... in the southwest stupa, Cao painted ... an open temple. Pei has paintings by Cao, Li Ya, Yang Qidan and Zheng Fashi. "

7. "Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties" Volume 5, the names of the paintings in the past dynasties can be described: "Cao Zhongda in the Northern Qi Dynasty ... has always been a home that has been described so far, and it is a model ..."

8. Guo Song's "Figure Knowledge" Volume I "On the brushwork" article: "Cao's pen is thick and stacked, and his clothes are tight and narrow. In ancient times, it was called: ... Cao came out of the water wearing clothes ... Sculptures and statues were also original by Cao Wu. "

9. "Fifty Bodhisattvas of Sui, Stone and Ming Dynasties in China Daoxuan": "Cao, a painter in the Northern Qi Dynasty, is a Cao man, good at painting and calligraphy, good at being a Brahman, spreading Moses and Rui, and pushing for Beijing, so the temple walls are all true."

Cao's artistic style was summarized as "Cao family style" or "a grass and water" by later scholars. The effect of this brushwork may be more intensive in the expression of clothing lines. "Tight clothes" just means that clothes are tight and look like water. Therefore, we can understand the outstanding feature of "Cao Jiafeng" as a tight-fitting jacket with dense lines, that is, three conditions must be met at the same time: 1 Tightness and retraction. Thin clothes can fit your body well. "Tight clothes" with dense lines indicate that the clothes are tight.

Body to body, like water. What about the real thing? Can you find archaeological excavations or handed down works that meet the above three conditions? The lack of material objects often makes scholars have no choice but to cook without rice. A large number of Buddha statues unearthed in Qingzhou in the 1990s are really exciting. Scholars associate the statues of the Northern Qi Dynasty with Cao Zhongda or "Ka Hsiang Tsao", which, as Rong Xinjiang said, is a "beneficial exploration". Although "Cao family style" was put forward as a painting style, "the sculpture of Buddha is also a home", which is a model so far, so it is also the basis of sculpture style. In the absence of painting objects, if the above three conditions are established, it is feasible for scholars to take sculpture as the object of discussion. Some statues in mathura meet the latter two conditions, but obviously do not meet the first condition, that is, the clothes are not tight and the statues in Qingzhou in Northern Qi Dynasty. Satisfied the first two, but did not have the third condition, that is, clothing patterns are not dense. Therefore, from the literature alone, it is difficult for us to compare the two as the "Cao Shi family" or its source. In addition, the founder of "Cao Jiafeng" Cao is a Sogdian who inherited from the Southern Dynasties. He lives in Yedu, Northern Qi Dynasty, and the popular area of his style should be centered on Yecheng. This is different from the Northern Qi Buddha statue in Qingzhou, which shows that "Cao Jiafeng" is not a direct copy of the Northern Qi Buddha statue in Qingzhou, and the difference between the latter and the former lies in the regional characteristics of the latter. The latter can be called "Qingzhou style", which has obvious characteristics of central and eastern India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and the late Southern Dynasties, as well as Central Asia and the Western Regions. When discussing Zoroastrianism, Rong Xinjiang emphasized the relationship between Cao's non-Buddhist paintings and Sogdian Zoroastrianism, and only by comparing the existing Buddhist art remains from the perspective of Buddhist art can we get the answer. Saranat Buddha statue

Before Cao Zhongda entered the Northern Qi Dynasty, Sogdian was under the control of Shu Da, and there was no large-scale Buddhist belief. Today, there are not many Buddhist art remains. Therefore, researchers have to look beyond time and space to the whole South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Central China before the middle of this century, in order to find the source of Buddha statues in Nanliang and Northern Zhou Dynasties. This paper investigates the three conditions of "Cao Jiafeng" clothing performance and explores its origin. It is close to the inside and thin and close to the body, which is obviously different from the popular Buddha statues in China formed in the early Southern Dynasties and the late Northern Wei Dynasty. As mentioned earlier, slimming originated from the ghost-cool tradition in mathura and other places in the first century. Later, mathura and Saranat inherited this traditional tight adduction for more than a century, which is clearly visible in the Buddha statues of Amar Lawati and his successor Naer Junakunda in South India. On the basis of local traditions, it is the result of absorbing the quiet and introspective temperament of mathura and Rome, and has influenced Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia eastward. In other words, it is striking that the Buddha statues in South India and Southeast Asia are densely dressed, but at least smaller than the Chinese-style "Kuiyibo" system in South India, Southeast Asia, the late Southern Dynasty and the Northern Wei Dynasty. Without specific descriptions and physical remains, it is difficult to confirm which one they belong to. Because "Cao Jiafeng" is highly consistent with the Buddha statues in South India and Southeast Asia. If it is confirmed that the two are completely consistent, it is a mistake in method, because the three characteristics listed by Guo cannot sum up the whole picture of the "Cao Shi family", and there are still many unknown factors. However, we can't deny that the Buddha statues in the transitional period from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty-the Southern Dynasties in the first half of this century and the Northern Dynasties after the middle of this century-are indeed closely related to South India and Southeast Asia, and at least two of the three distinctive features of "Cao Jiaxiang" can be identified as India and Southeast Asia. Therefore, the author tends to think that besides the Central Asian factors, the relationship between "Cao Jiaxiang" and the Buddha statues in South India and Southeast Asia can not be ignored.

Guishuang statue

Furthermore, from the physical point of view, the style changes in the early and late Northern and Southern Dynasties are also reflected in the characteristics of early sculptures: Han costumes-wide and wide, coats fluttering in the wind, clothes pleated, and almost no body can be seen under the wide robe sleeves. The focus of the viewer's vision is only this kind of "belt". The later sculpture is characterized by the change of clothing, which becomes a thin and fit coat. The physical characteristics are clear at a glance, and the visual focus shifts from the coat to the body, which is also a feature of Zhang and Cao's style. Among them, the foreign characteristics of Cao family are more distinct. A document in "Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties" can be used as circumstantial evidence. The painter in the Tang Dynasty "was the ancestor, and this harp turned into summer, which originated from Si people ..." So in the view of Yan Brown, a person in the early Tang Dynasty, the problem of "turning into summer" was not solved when Cao arrived, and this task was completed by the painter in the early Tang Dynasty. In other words, the feature of "Yi" in Cao's paintings is quite prominent. At this point, there is another problem, that is, how Cao absorbed these foreign characteristics, how the "Cao family style" was formed, which characteristics were created by Cao Shi and which were inherited by predecessors, which involves the inheritance of Cao Shi's painters.