Yuan Chao's Painting Appreciation

Yongle Palace was originally located in Yongle Town, Yongji County, Shanxi Province. According to legend, it is the former residence of Lv Dongbin, one of the founders of Taoism. In the Tang Dynasty, it was built as Lv Gong Temple, which was changed into a temple by Song and Jin. Yuan Zhongtong was destroyed by fire in two years, and then a new Chunyang Wanshou Palace was built on the original site, commonly known as Wanshou Palace. From 65438 to 0959, due to the construction of Sanmenxia water conservancy project, all buildings and murals were moved to the vicinity of Wuli Temple in Longquan Village, Rui County.

Yongle Palace is one of the three ancestral halls of Quanzhen religion in Yuan Dynasty. Longhu Hall, Sanqing Hall, Chunyang Hall and Chongyang Hall still retain more than 800 square meters of Taoist murals from the Yuan Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, which are magnificent, exquisite and brilliant, and are rare artistic treasures in the world. The religious murals left by Yongle Palace are the most important group of Taoist murals, which reflect the high achievements of mural art in Yuan Dynasty and have a very important position in art history.

Among the main halls of Yongle Palace, the murals of Sanqing Hall and Chunyang Hall are the most wonderful. In the Palace of Chunyang, 52 murals explain the legendary life of Lv Dongbin and also reflect the social life in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The costumes of officials, civilians, farmers and beggars in murals, the utensils and facilities used, the pavilions and pavilions where they live, and the restaurants and teahouses they go in and out have all become extremely precious graphic materials.

Sanqing Hall is the main hall of Yongle Palace, which contains nearly half of Yongle Palace murals, with pictures as the main content. "Yuan Chao" means that the gods worship Yuan Zun, the ancestor of Taoism. There are inscriptions on the murals, such as Taiding Ernian (1325), Henan Ma and Changnan Ma Qi. It can be seen that the author of this picture is a little-known folk painter.

There are about 290 characters on the screen, with eight main characters (South Pole, North Pole, East Pole, Jade Emperor, Gouchen, Mugong, Houtu and Jinniang) as the center, and the rest of the characters are arranged in a symmetrical ritual form, with Qinglong and Baihuxingjun on the south wall as the leading figures, and 28 gods such as Heaven and Earth and Wang Mu are painted respectively. Around the Lord God, 28 nights, 12 Chen Gong and other "heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals" slowly unfolded on the screen. In the painting, the main image is solemn, the group images stand around, the image is full and round, all of them are radiant, and there is no similarity. Some of them talk to each other, some listen, some meditate, some stare, and their expressions and postures echo each other and become an organic whole.

The whole picture, extraordinary momentum, huge scene. However, in this complex scene, the author focuses on the Taoist etiquette of nearly 300 "gods" worshipping Buddha in the early Yuan Dynasty, creating a solemn atmosphere.

The costumes of the characters in the murals are gorgeous, and the lines of the costumes use the lines of Wu Daozi's Water Shepherd's Stripes. The pen is stiff and smooth, subtle and powerful, and the clothes are fluttering, just like a wall, giving full play to the high expressive force of lines. In terms of color, it is full of thick colors, thick and rich, gorgeous and harmonious. Props are used as background decoration, and crowns, skirts, incense burners and other places are gilded and dazzling. Let's take a look at a portrait of a Baoyu woman in the middle and lower floor of the west wall of Sanqing Hall, and experience the beauty of this mural with a pen. Behind Feng Baoyu's daughter is Yuan Jun, the golden mother. The jade girl has a delicate face, tight eyes and is very gentle and refined. She wore a crown, a wide sleeve shirt and a dragon wheel in both hands, which made her look dignified. The lines on the face and clothes are very dense. Khaki dresses, green ribbons, gold-plated hair ornaments and dragon boats give people a noble and rich feeling. In a word, Yuan Chao Tu is a masterpiece of Yongle murals.