Jiang Lian was born in the 60th year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1796) at the age of about 40. The characters Junxian, Junguang, Xianghu, don't sign Qianhu Resident. A native of Xiangshan (present-day Zhongshan), Guangdong.
It is said that he admired the painter Chen Laolian in his life, so he was named Lotus. Good at painting people, landscapes, flowers, grass worms. His works include "Sword Light Lou Poetry Notes", "Lezhitang Anthology", "Chang Yi Zhai Calligraphy and Painting Inscription", "Lezhitang Poetry Collection" and so on.
During the Daoguang years, he set up a small restaurant in Guangzhou to practice art. The figure painting learned Tang Yin (Bo Hu) and Qiu Ying's painting method, and in the early years, he pursued his hand and imitated it, striving to be similar to God, moving steadily and flexibly, and the proportion perspective was practical and accurate, and later reached the realm of divination.
He painted for the painter Xiong Jingxing (1791-1856) nine figures of the traveling tool Kasa, The Ass, the Scoop, the Staff, the Gourd, the Whisker, the Fan, the Brick, and the Sword Blade. Jing Xing also has a poem, and Xu Rong (1792-1855) also has a poem titled he, which is a rhyme for a while.
The famous painter Xie Lansheng (1759-1831) in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, painted the "Tang Palace Complaint Poems": "Qianhu residents first wrote characters, and then they were unaccustomed, rich and sensitive, so as to track down Tang and Qiu, and spare their strength." That is, this palace complains, the state of sorrow and autumn is passed on to A block, and the clothes are smoked one by one; the old man of my generation, when he should retreat with his hands, how can the writers of the flow of life be caught? In particular, it is commented that even Xie Himself and his contemporaries have "retreated" and "did not dare" to paint when they saw his paintings, that is, they have reached an artistic realm that is not reached by their generations, and their evaluation is very high. It seems that this is also the reason why it attaches great importance to sketching, teaching nature, and "learning from the ancient and not muddying the ancient". His paintings of "Hu Shangjie Tu" and "G Li Xi Gu Ce Wei Tu" were also well received.
Jiang Lian's strength chases the ancients, and her pen strength is steady. His paintings of ladies are delicate, the shape is accurate and vivid, the characters are brilliant, and the pen is beautiful and delicate and powerful, the color is light and natural, and the dynamics and looks of the characters are vivid. And his "Dharma Diagram" (published in the "Guangdong Famous Painters Anthology") is based on the axe splitting method of wood and stone, the arrogance and indulgence of pen and ink, and the dripping, setting off the quiet sitting of the characters, and the bright red robe and ink and light wood and stone are also sharp and strong contrasts, which is a very successful figure painting masterpiece. In addition to the characters, Jiang Lian can also paint landscapes, and it is very interesting.
He is not only good at painting figures such as immortals, gaoshi, and ladies, but also legend has it that he is also good at painting "spring paintings". Legend has it that because he was suffering from an eye disease due to his many spring paintings, and was nearly blind, he went to the Guanyin Temple to make a wish: if he could cure the eye disease, he would personally paint a hundred Statues of Guanyin to make a wish. Soon, the eye disease was cured, and he also fulfilled his wish. It seems that he was also a Buddhist, at least during this period. It sounds like a joke now, but it grew up in feudal society, and it is understandable to have such ideas and behaviors.
Legend has it that his artistic achievements in gongbi painting are recognized, at least in the Qing Dynasty Daoguang and Xianfeng years of the country favored, but also occupied a place in the history of Chinese art.
