Characteristics of Ancient Literati Paintings in China

Southern school, also known as "literati painting". A Chinese painting. Generally refers to the paintings made by literati in China feudal society. Different from the paintings of folk painters and professional painters in the Palace Painting Academy, Su Shi put forward "literati painting" in the Northern Song Dynasty, and Dong Qichang advocated "literati painting" in the Ming Dynasty, with Wang Wei as the founder and the ancestor of Nanzong (see Nanbeizong). But in the old days, it was often used to raise the painting art of the literati class and despise folk painters and institutional painters. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yanyuan once said in Notes on Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties: "Those who have been good at painting since ancient times are better than others without elegant clothes." This sentence has far-reaching influence. Modern Chen Hengke believes that "literati painting has four elements: personality, knowledge, talent and thought, and with these four elements, it can be perfected." Usually, "literati painting" takes landscape, flowers and birds, plum blossoms, bamboo, chrysanthemum, wood and stone as the theme. To express "spiritual spirit" or personal ambition, sometimes it also contains feelings of oppression to the nation or resentment against decadent politics. They admire "morale" and "one product", advocate algae interest, stress pen and ink interest, get rid of similarities, emphasize verve, and attach great importance to the cultivation of literature and calligraphy and the creation of artistic conception of painting. Mang Fu Yao's Preface to Scholars' Painting in China once had a high evaluation: "King Youcheng of the Tang Dynasty (Wei) helped poems to enter the painting, and then the pen became interesting, and the method changed at will. Needless to say, the palace merchants, the mountains and mountains are all rhyme, and the righteousness does not have to be more prosperous. " Literati paintings in past dynasties have a great influence on the aesthetic thought of Chinese painting and the development of ink painting, freehand brushwork and other techniques.

Literati painting is a painting with literati interest and thoughts. It is not juxtaposed with the landscape, flowers and birds and figures in Chinese painting, and it is no different from painting and writing in terms of techniques. He is the intersection of landscapes, flowers and birds and figures in China's paintings. Chen Hengke said when explaining literati painting, "Don't pay attention to art in painting, but see the feelings of many literati outside painting". This, the so-called literati painting or literati painting, "knows that painting is a thing." He is also a spiritual person, thinker, activist, non-tool person and non-pure person. "That literati painting is literary, philosophical and lyrical. In traditional painting, its unique "elegance" is unique, which is different from craftsman painting and courtyard painting.

Artistic feature

The themes of literati paintings are mostly plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, mountains and fishing, and literati express their feelings by describing the natural scenery they can see. In their eyes, plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, mountain and fishing live in seclusion, which is no longer pure natural scenery, but the embodiment of a gentleman. Mei, cold and snow-resistant, jade bone ice muscle, narcissistic; Orchids, elegant and fragrant, self-pity, lead a totally clean life; Bamboo, modest and vigorous, straight rod lingyun, high wind and bright festival; Chrysanthemum Ao Shuang, proud; Landscape fishing and hunting seclusion, indifferent to the world, indifferent to fame and fortune. Literati express their inner heroism or anguish in this way. Express your lofty and elegant, because of public and private, because of the country and because of home. There is Tao Qian's "picking chrysanthemums under the east fence, leisurely between the south mountains"; Su Shi wrote the cloud "Straight Bamboo", "When bamboo is born, one plant is born"; There is Zhenwu, the Taoist priest called Meihua, saying that Mei's wife and crane died; And Zheng Sixiao, who lost his land because of national subjugation ... Although both of them are edified by Confucianism and comforted by Taoism and Buddhism, they are also gentle and romantic.

Literati painting pays attention to it. Du Fu's saying that "you concentrate all your life on one silk" is ingenious and unforgettable. Ni Zan said, "The painter just has no intention, does not seek form, talks to amuse himself, and writes it in his heart." Literati painting emphasizes simplicity, and everything can be simplified, even as simple as "zero", which is both white and empty. "White is black", and emptiness and white are for "more" and "enough". In order to satisfy, blank can give people endless and profound feelings, just like "silence is better than sound" Literati painting pays more attention to books. Zhang Yanyuan said in Records of Famous Paintings in Past Dynasties that "a person's backbone appears according to his intention and his pen, so anyone who can write can draw". Zhao Mengfu's poem \ \ \ "Stone white is like a fly, wood white is like a pen, and eight bamboo techniques are written. If anyone can understand this, you should know that calligraphy and painting are the same. " Ke's view on bamboo painting is that "bamboo stems write seal script, branches write cursive script, leaves write eight points or strokes, and wood and stone write broken strands, leaving leakage marks". Literati painting emphasizes the interest of pen and ink, uses the subtle changes of pen and ink, which are dry, wet, dark and moist, and summarizes the splendor of nature with simple ink color.

The unique and strong subjective consciousness shown in these paintings is the essence of literati painting.

Ethnicity

The origin of literati painting can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. Both Zhang Heng and Cai Yong have painting names. Although the painting has not been handed down from generation to generation, it is recorded in ancient books. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Yao Zui's "don't learn to be a man, entertain yourself" became the central argument of literati painting. Scholars of all ages respected it as a painting purpose. Zong Bing's ambition is to "have a clear mind and view the Tao, and lie down and swim". It fully embodies the mentality of the literati to entertain themselves. Poetry prevailed in the Tang Dynasty, and the great poet Wang Wei painted with poetry. Make later generations regard him as the originator of literati painting. His paintings became a model for later literati painters. There are pictures in poems, and there are poems in paintings. It has become a practice and passed down from generation to generation.

During the Song Dynasty, many great literati appeared, such as Su Shi, Huang Tingjian and Mi Fei. On the basis of Wang Wei's literati painting school, they painted with calligraphy and practiced and developed their own ink painting skills. Deng Chun's theory of "painter, the extreme of literature" closely combines "literature" with "painting", which is a systematic theory of literati painting and has a far-reaching impact on the future development of literati painting. At this time, the concept of "literati painting" put forward by Su Shi brought literati painting closer to maturity.

In the Yuan Dynasty, literati painting entered a prosperous period. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty paid more attention to martial arts than literature, which led to more literati engaging in painting. The most famous literati painters are Huang, Wang Meng, Ni Zan and Zhenwu. That is, what later generations called "Yuan Sijia". Their paintings are mostly represented by "seclusion", "high seclusion", "small seclusion" and "fishing seclusion", and express the aloof and ethereal feelings of the literati class with the attitude of "being born into a fairy". In art, it advocates elegance, simplicity and innocence. Theoretically, it advocates "avoiding pen", "not seeking similarity" and "avoiding chest". During this period, the printing of poems and letters gradually entered the picture. Not only become an integral part of the layout. But also expresses the author's heart more directly. Poetry, calligraphy and painting are integrated, poetry and painting are connected, poetry is invisible painting, painting is tangible poetry, and poetry focuses on painting meaning, which also marks the perfection of this form of literati painting.

In the early Ming Dynasty, literati painting was in the period of inheritance and development, and "Wu Pai" and "Zhejiang School" appeared. Shen Zhou, Wen Zhiming and Dai Jin are important representatives of this period. It was not until the middle and late Ming Dynasty that Dong Qichang, a theorist and painter, further put forward the theory that painting was divided into north and south and literati painting according to Su Shi's theory of "literati painting", and the name of literati painting was formally put forward and used. At the same time, it established the status of literati painting as the Southern Sect, and even became the highest understanding of China's painting concept.

In the heyday of literati painting in the Qing Dynasty, many top literati painters emerged, among which the most prominent were the "four monks", among which Badashanren and Shi Tao were the most prominent. As adherents of the late Ming Dynasty, they expressed the pain of the country's destruction and death in their paintings and calligraphy. Eight strokes are unrestrained, indulgent, concise, exaggerated in shape and cold in artistic conception. Shi Tao tried hard to observe nature, despised the painter Chen Xiangyin who followed him, and advocated "pen and ink should keep pace with the times", "law should be self-reliant" and "seeking the best peaks and writing" all his life. His thoughts had a far-reaching influence on later generations "Yangzhou School of Painting", "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", Xugu, Zhao, Ren Bonian and Wu Changshuo.