The Paper's reporter Chen Ruoxi
Silk, in ancient times, has been known as "an inch of silk and an inch of gold" and "the saint of weaving". In the previous hit CCTV "National Treasure", the Shanghai Museum's national treasure-level cultural relics Southern Song Dynasty Zhu Ke Rou Silk "Lotus Pond Milk Duck Diagram" was unveiled, allowing people to appreciate its exquisite patterns and complex weaving techniques. This afternoon, the special exhibition "Silk Danqing - Ming and Qing Embroidery Calligraphy and Painting Special Exhibition" with the theme of the above museum collection of Ming and Qing silk calligraphy and painting and embroidery calligraphy and painting was officially opened at the Shanghai Museum.
The exhibition is divided into two parts: "Ming and Qing Silk Calligraphy and Painting" and "Ming and Qing Embroidery Calligraphy and Painting", presenting 27 pieces (sets) of Chinese Ming and Qing embroidery from the Collection of the Shanghai Museum, supplemented by 8 paintings and calligraphy (groups), evoking people's associations between calligraphy and painting and embroidery. The works on display include the silk masterpiece "Qunxian Arch Shou Tu", the first-class collection Han Ximeng Gu embroidery "Flower Bird Worm Fish" book, Shen Shou embroidery "Flower and Bird Diagram", Shen Li embroidery "Crouching Tiger Diagram Between Grass" and so on. The authentic manuscript of the Southern Song Dynasty Silk "Lotus Pond Milk Duck Diagram" could not be seen due to restrictions, but its multimedia display was also arranged in the exhibition hall.
This exhibition is another precious silk embroidery special exhibition held by Shangbo after the 2007 "Sea Splendid Embroidery - Gu Embroidery Treasures Exhibition", except for some gu embroidery collections, all of which are exhibited for the first time.
"Silk Li Danqing - Ming and Qing Embroidery Calligraphy and Painting Special Exhibition" exhibition site
Step into the exhibition hall on the fourth floor of the Shanghai Museum, the exhibition hall is based on a white background, and more than 30 pieces of embroidered calligraphy and painting works are strung together like pearls, and the entire exhibition hall is small but elegant, which complements the fine embroidery in the collection.
The first "work" in the exhibition hall is a high-definition photo of Zhu Kerou silk "Lotus Pond Milk Duck" with nearly twice the high-definition magnification. This national treasure-level cultural relic has become a household name because it once appeared on CCTV's "National Treasure", and due to the need for cultural relics protection, its authenticity is regrettably absent from this exhibition. According to Yu Ying, deputy research librarian of the Technology Research Department of the Shanghai Museum, it was donated to the Shanghai Museum by Ponzi's descendants in the 1950s, and was only briefly exhibited in the old museum of the Shanghai Museum in 1970, and has not been exhibited since. Due to the fragility of the silk fabric artifacts, it requires special display cases to display. However, the large high-definition photo of "Lotus Pond Milk Duck" in the exhibition hall is more like a prelude, leading to the next precious embroidered calligraphy and painting works.
On-site HD magnification of nearly twice the Southern Song Dynasty Zhu Ke rou silk "Lotus Pond Milk Duck Diagram"
The silk masterpiece "Qunxian Arch Shou Tu" was exhibited for the first time
Silk painting is a new art category produced by the combination of silk craftsmanship and calligraphy and painting art. This exhibition is the first systematic display of silk paintings in Shangbo, and this unit will exhibit 11 pieces (sets) of silk paintings in the collection of Shanghai Museum, covering important works from the early Ming Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, and sorting out the historical inheritance of silk paintings and calligraphy. Among them, there is the 118 cm wide and 164 cm long silk masterpiece "Qunxian Arch Shou Tu", the Qingqianlong Silk "Baby Drama Map", the Qing Silk "Yellow Crane Tower Map", and the Silk Painting Fan as a delicate object in hand.
The silk reeling technique originated from the Western silk technique. Most of the silk fabrics of the Tang Dynasty were practical items such as ribbons. During the Northern Song Dynasty, silk fabrics were mainly used for mounting and making the covers of the heads of calligraphy and paintings or the covers of warp scrolls. "During the Southern Song Dynasty, due to the emperor's love, silk fabrics gradually shifted from practical and decorative fields to appreciative works of art, and a number of 'silk paintings' were created, with extremely high artistic achievements, forming an insurmountable peak in the history of silk art." Yu Ying, deputy research librarian of the Shanghai Museum's Craft Research Department, said.
After absorbing the artistic expression techniques and viewing methods of painting in the Song Dynasty, the silk silk presented a new style, and the techniques of painting and painting complemented each other and complemented each other.
The Ming and Qing dynasties inherit the charm of Song and Yuan silk paintings, and the themes are characters, landscapes, flowers and birds. A rather distinctive category of magnificent paintings, mostly based on landscapes, pavilions and characters, such as xianfan stories or landscape scenic spots. The dragon boat race of Qingxuan Silk Stone Lake and the "Yellow Crane Tower" of Qingxuan Silk are exhibited this time.
One of the flower albums of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties
The other type is ingenious, using elegant small paintings, albums or fans as the style, and strives to make every place meticulously crafted, and the bamboo stones, flowers and cordyceps seen between the square feet are as true as the paintings, and the paintings are difficult to distinguish. Such as the Ming Silk "Flower and Bird Diagram", the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty Silk Flower Album (six open).
Ming Silk Qunxian Arch Shou Tu Length 164.5 cm Width 118.6 cm
The silk masterpiece "Qunxian Arch Shou Tu" exhibited this time is a representative work of the Ming Dynasty's wide-scale silk. According to Yu Ying, this is a Ming Dynasty silk work woven from the Song Dynasty rare book as a powder, with a wide and rare scale and magnificent momentum. Due to the wide and continuous size, it takes two meters of special loom weaving, technique, color matching, and frequent changes in the weaving process, so the speed of weaving is also very slow.
The picture of "Qunxian Arch Shoutu" is based on the legendary Queen Mother of the West on the day of her birthday, opening a peach festival in Yaochi, and all the gods and immortals have gone to wish for her birthday as the theme. Located in the center is a first-birthday star old man sitting upright, with his back to the green mountains, looking back sideways, as if leading the way to invite the immortals to celebrate the birthday. There are not only eight immortals around him, but also barefoot immortals, Magu, plum blossom immortals, Hehe Er immortals and Dongfang Shuo, a total of 15 immortals who imply the meaning of longevity, accompanied by the West Queen Mother who came from the Royal Luan Phoenix at the top left of the picture.
Dong Qichang once embroidered the inscription of "Flowers, Birds, Insects and Fishes" for Han Ximeng Gu
The second part of the exhibition exhibits for the first time 16 pieces (sets) from the collection of the Shanghai Museum, with a total of 28 pieces of embroidered calligraphy and painting. Among them, there are not only typical representative works in the development process of Gu Embroidery, such as the first-class Han Ximeng Gu embroidery "Flowers, Birds, Insects and Fish" album; there is also a precious Ming Dynasty court embroidery Buddha figure, which was used by Anxi Palace to pray for the twenty-fifth birthday of Emperor MingXianzong, which is a rare palace painting embroidery with a clear date and purpose. In addition, the early works of the famous Shen sisters in the late Qing Dynasty have never been exhibited, such as Shen Shou's embroidery "Flower and Bird Diagram" set of four paintings and a pair of "Seven Words and Poems of the Book of Letters", and the rare Shen Li embroidery "Crouching Tiger Diagram in the Grass".
Gu embroidery, born in Shanghai Luxiang Garden in the late Ming Dynasty, is famous for its embroidery, and the embroiderers are familiar with painting, and the embroidered subjects include figures, landscapes, flowers and birds, etc., which are all-encompassing, and are called "Luxiangyuan embroidery". Embroidery silk to take fine velvet, hand holding milli needles, chest paintings, falling needles to see silk, silk to apply color, needles like pens, people look like calligraphy and painting, close inspection is known as female red. At that time, later generations, the reputation was outstanding, and the anecdotes competed for imitation embroidery, which has lasted for more than 400 years, and Jiangnan painting and embroidery are all compared with Gu embroidery.
One of the late Ming Dynasty Han Ximeng Gu embroidered flower worm fish albums
The first-class collection of Han Ximeng Gu embroidery "Flowers, Birds, Insects and Fish" exhibited in this exhibition can be regarded as the peak of Gu embroidery art.
Han Ximeng, the wife of Gu Shouqian, is the granddaughter-in-law of Gu Mingshi, a famous artist of Gu embroidery, whose works are known as "Han Yuan embroidery". Ayadi color embroidery "Flower Fish Worm" album, four open, respectively, "Lake Stone Flower Butterfly", "Luowei Mingqiu", "Swimming Fish" and "Algae Shrimp", the embroidery is a small autumn scenery by the pool. Flower insects, fish and shrimp are aquatic wild growth, she sees elegance in the ordinary, the humble grass and flowers, insects, fish and shrimp at first glance, joy and fighting moments vividly embroidered, especially innocent.
The beginning of the book is signed with the inscription "Imitation of the Song and Yuan Dynasty Famous Pen Embroidery Album", the "Treasure of the Gu Family Collection" Zhu Wenfang Seal, and the end of the book has one inscription of Dong Qichang in the Ninth Year of Chongzhen (1636) and Chen Zilong in the Twelfth Year of Chongzhen (1639), and an inscription on Tan Guancheng of the Republic of China, which was written in the "Autumn Day of Pengzi (1948)". Dong Qichang inscribed: "Han Yuan's coupling is a travel immortal, and a talented person is also." Landscape masters, and characters and flowers are especially good at cold reputation. The embroidery (picking) is gorgeous, and the fine dyeing is fine, so that the peers cannot see the color. I know that Guo Jingchun is three feet of brocade, not only the river floods the dream to cut all the cuts, but also for the girls to receive it, its spirit and beauty, believe not only in men. Looking at this book, there are too many sketches of Huang Wei (Tsuen) father and son, looking at it like a calligraphy and painting, when the connoisseur is forced to examine it, it is known to be a female red. People are very clever, heavenly work is wrong, strange, strange! The first spring of the C, Dong Qichang. ”
Bao Mingxin, a professor at Donghua University, told the surging news reporter that there are two major peaks in ancient Chinese embroidery, one peak period is Gu embroidery, which was born in Shanghai Luxiang Garden in the late Ming Dynasty; the other is the "imitation embroidery" created by the Shen sisters in Jiangsu in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty on the basis of traditional calligraphy and painting embroidery, absorbing Western painting and photography art. There are many people in the Luxiangyuan Gu family who can embroider, but Han Ximeng is the most artistic achievement among them. Embroidery as a arts and crafts, to be comparable to the achievements of calligraphy and painting, it requires the creator to have a high degree of poetry, calligraphy and painting. Han Ximeng's husband is a student of Dong Qichang, and Dong Qichang is also very concerned about Han Ximeng's art, and has written many inscriptions for her embroidery, which is highly praised.
The album of "Flower Worm Fish" embroidered by Han XimengGu in the late Ming Dynasty was exhibited at the scene
According to Yu Ying, Gu Xiu's "Flowers, Birds, Insects and Fish" album is Han Ximeng's work around 40 years old, and it is also the peak of her artistic achievements. During this period, Han Ximeng did not care about the reputation of the outside world, and only insisted on his own artistic pursuits, so the stitching atmosphere was very stable and changeable. Moreover, the selected manuscripts are all created by herself, depicting a small scene of the courtyard, bringing a worm and a bird, a surprise and a sense of surprise vividly presented. The surviving volume of Han Ximeng's works is very rare, in addition to the Shanghai Museum, the Palace Museum and the Liaoning Museum have her Gu embroidery works.
The Southern Song Dynasty silk masterpiece "Lotus Pond Milk Duck Diagram" was unveiled in the form of high-definition pictures
As a masterpiece in the Southern Song Dynasty Zhu Ke's soft silk paintings, "Lotus Pond Milk Duck Drawing" has a huge canvas, rich colors, fine and suitable silk wisps, and clear layers. Collected by Pang Yuanji, the marks of "Wuxing Pang's Treasures", "Secret Play of False Zhai" and "Laichen Trial of Authentic Works" were written. Pang Yuanji's "Catalogue of Famous Paintings of Xuanzhai" and Zhu Qizhao's "Notes on Silk Embroidery".
Southern Song Dynasty Zhu Ke Rou Silk "Lotus Pond Milk Duck Diagram"
The whole width of "Lotus Pond Milk Duck Diagram" is woven with colored silk threads. In the picture, two ducks float among the grass, accompanied by milk ducks, egrets on the side, kingfishers and red dragonflies dotted among them. Slope shore bluestone, the texture is solemn, surrounded by white lotus, mushroom, lotus, grass and other flowers and plants, the color is elegant, the lines are exquisite, and the life is full of fun. All the flowers, insects and birds in the work are extremely realistic, and should be sketched in real scenes, and the painting style is influenced by the courtyard painting school. The size and body proportions of various animals and plants in the picture are realistic, and the scene time of the lotus pond can also be inferred from the size of the milk duck and the flowering period of the flowers around the lotus pond to the scene from the end of June to the beginning of July in late spring and early summer.
Due to the restrictions of the conditions, the original work of this exhibition cannot appear in the exhibition hall, but the Curatorial Team of Shangbo placed a high-definition photo magnified nearly twice as much in the exhibition hall, and the audience can clearly see the unique style of this work. In addition, the audience can also scan the code to get the guide instructions and 3D video of the "Zhu Xuan Fa" to get a glimpse of its divine silk reeling skills.
The depth of the display cabinet is shortened, and the audience can see the cultural relics up close
The Shanghai Museum has also made some innovations in the exhibition.
The opening scene of the exhibition Yang Zhigang, director of the Shanghai Museum, gave a speech
Due to the extreme fragility of embroidered calligraphy and painting cultural relics and the high requirements for cultural relics protection, after the comprehensive exhibition display and cultural relics storage needs, the Shanghai Museum has specially designed and produced cultural relics safety frames for the framed embroidery paintings. Among them, the production of a giant cultural relics safety frame for a work of more than three square meters and a large scale such as the Ming Dynasty Silk Silk "Qunxian Arch Shou Tu" is the first time in China.
"Silk Li Danqing - Ming and Qing Embroidery Calligraphy and Painting Special Exhibition" exhibits
In the past, it was difficult for the audience to see many wonderful details on the silk woven cultural relics, but this special exhibition allowed the audience to have a new experience in the exhibition, and the curatorial team did a good job in the protection of cultural relics at the same time, under the multi-party debugging of lighting control, hanging exhibition, temperature and humidity, etc., realized the shortening of the depth of the display cabinet by nearly half, basically keeping the picture 30 cm away from the audience, and the audience can see the cultural relics at close range like the cultural experts.
A traditional silk loom on display
There is also a traditional silk loom in the exhibition hall, so that the audience can more intuitively understand the structure and working principle of the silk reeling machine. The 3D video of the reeling loom specially made by the researchers of Shangbo for the exhibition clearly presents the special process details of "through the warp and weft" in weaving for the first time, and exclusively dynamically presents 10 main reeling techniques, showing the preciousness and uniqueness of the reeling process.
Traditional silk weaving machine on display (partial)
Considering the fragility of the embroidered cultural relics, the exhibition time is only two months, and some precious cultural relics will be rotated on May 31 and June 28.
It is reported that the exhibition will be open to the public free of charge on May 21 and will last until July 18, 2021.
Editor-in-Charge: Li Mei
Proofreader: Yan Zhang