In animal painting, the painting technique of the cow is quite mature, and the painter's analysis of the physiological state of the cow body and the ability to use the line structure to depict the body are enough to impress. In the early Tang Dynasty, animal painting themes and techniques were promoted and improved, and the history of painting recorded Fan Changshou, who was good at painting customs and tianjia scenery, and "painted cattle, horses and livestock, bent far and near, grazing idle wilderness, all of which were wonderful, each of them was as small as possible", which proved that it had achieved considerable results.
However, this subject was able to flourish and bloom, as in the case of painting horses, and it was not until the middle of the Tang Dynasty that it was determined to stand firm. The painters who have made this achievement are Han Di and Dai Song in the later period.
Han Di
Han Di (Han Di), whose events are briefly found in the Book of Tang, The Chronicle of Famous Paintings of past Dynasties, the Catalogue of Famous Paintings of the Tang Dynasty, the Chronicle of Pictorial Insights, the Notation of Xuanhe Paintings, the Collection of Weinan, the History of Paintings, and the Xuanlan of Dongtu. Comprehensive account: He was born in the eleventh year of Emperor Xuanzong's kaiyuan (723 AD) and died in the third year of Emperor Dezong's reign (787 AD). He was a veteran of the Jin Zi Guanglu Dynasty, an envoy of the Two Provinces of Zhejiang and the East, and a left servant who participated in the suppression of the rebellion in the town of Ding, and was awarded the title of Duke of Jin, and his descendants were called "Duke of Han and Jin" without a name. He was intelligent, versatile, literary, good at playing the piano, and working on calligraphy and painting. Bookworker seal, grass, get Zhang Xu penmanship. He is good at painting cows and sheep. In the "Catalogue of Famous Paintings of the Tang Dynasty", he was commented that he was "the magic of the six laws, the fineness of the pen, the customs, characters, and buffalo of the Tian family, and the magic of the song"; it is also said that "although the donkey and the cow are currently livestock, the shape is the most difficult to figure, but the Jin Gong can be absolutely wonderful in these two".
Han Di's works have been handed down, and the "Xuanhe Painting Spectrum" records that the Northern Song Dynasty Huizong Neifu collected his paintings, as many as thirty-six pieces, mostly character paintings, including "Li Deyu Seeing Guest Map", "Caizi Map", "Gao Shi Tu", "Tianjia Customs Map", "Village Society Drunken Scattering Map", "Yaomin Peril Map", "Village Boy Play Ant Map", "Snow Hunting Map", etc., and the cattle painting works include two "Jishe Bullfighting Diagram", "GuiMu Tu", "Ancient Shore Singing Cow Map", and "Cow Map", which can be seen that the theme is mainly cattle and characters. None of the above works have been seen and circulated today. What we see in the world today are the Wenyuan Tu volume, the Five Bulls Chart volume, the Fengnei Tu volume (all in the Palace Museum), the Five Bulls Tu volume (in the collection of the Ohara Museum of Art, Japan), the Wenyuan Tu volume, the Tian Jia Le Tu volume, the "Snow Seeking Plum Map" axis, the "Riding Bull Diagram" fan (all in the Frier Art Museum in Washington, D.C.), the "Double Bull Diagram" volume (in the collection of the British Museum in London, England), the "Baby Drama Map" axis (in the collection of the St. Louis City Art Museum in the United States), the "Cattle Drawing" album page (Yale University Art Museum collection), the Sheep Diagram Album (Collection of East Asian Art, Berlin, Germany), etc. Among them, the best and most well-known is the "Five Bull Diagram" volume now in the Palace Museum.
Tang Dynasty Han Di's "Five Bulls" color 20.8×139 .8cm Collection of the Palace Museum
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This volume of "Five Bull Drawings", painted as a hand scroll, is 20.8 cm high and 139.8 cm long, on paper, color painting method. In the picture, the painting of the yellow bull is five heads, not as a background, the coat color pattern of the cow is different, the posture shape is different, the brush and ink are thick, the style is simple, the shape is accurate, the form is vivid, and it can properly show the texture of the bones and fur, obviously showing the characteristics of Tang painting, plus the coarse white linen paper, showing that it should be Tang painting without a doubt. This painting was once collected by Zhao Meng in the Yuan Dynasty.
The first cow in the Forbidden City (left, on paper, partial)
The first cow in the Ohara Collection of Japan 'Five Bulls' Map (right, silk, partial)
The fourth cow in the Forbidden City collection of "Five Bulls" (left, on paper, partial)
The fourth cow of the Ohara Collection of Japan's "Five Bulls" (right, silk, partial)
Collection of the Ohara Museum of Art, Japan
The same volume in the collection of the Ohara Museum of Art in Japan is a silk copy, which is obviously a facsimile of posterity.
Tang Dynasty Han Di's "Wenyuan Tu" (partial) set color in the collection of the Palace Museum
Tang Dynasty Han Di's "Wenyuan Tu" part
In addition, the "Wenyuan Tu" is also a well-known piece of the painting, the painting is beautiful, because the painting has the Northern Song Dynasty Huizong Thin Gold Book inscription "Han Di Wenyuan Tu", in the past, collectors and connoisseurs have always regarded it as Han Di's work. After careful study, recent scholars believe that it should be the work of the Five Dynasties of southern Tang Zhou Wenjue from the battle brushwork of painting clothes. As for the other paintings, they are either in the style of the painting era, or the quality is not good, I am afraid that the name of the forgery.