Touch the historical moments in "Xi'an Incident"

Original title: Touch (Introduction)

Historical Moments in the Xi'an Incident (Theme)

Shaanxi Daily reporter Bai Hua

On December 12, 1936, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng launched a military campaign in Xi'an to force Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan, and the Xi'an Incident, which shocked China and foreign countries, and its peaceful settlement became the pivot of the change of the situation and played an important role in promoting the establishment of an anti-Japanese national united front based on the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

On the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the Xi'an Incident, several channels and online platforms of the Central Radio and Television Corporation reported on the Chinese painting "Xi'an Incident" by Shaanxi character painter Wang Xijing, and made in-depth interpretations of the historical impact and practical significance of the Xi'an Incident, the creative conception, artistic charm and the story behind it, so that people can read the history of the Party from the classics of art and draw wisdom and strength from the glorious course of the CPC in the past century. Today, let us walk into history together and approach the "Xi'an Incident".

A major event that changed the course of China's history

In the early morning of December 12, 1936, the entire ancient city of Xi'an had fallen asleep. However, the key places where senior Kuomintang officials discussed important military and political affairs in Xi'an were brightly lit. Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng decided to launch military advice in Xi'an and Lintong to detain Chiang Kai-shek.

Why did the two generals launch such an operation?

In 1931, the Japanese invaders launched the September 18 Incident. Just a few months later, the three northeastern provinces fell. On August 1, 1935, the Chinese Communist Delegation to the Comintern drafted the "Letter to All Compatriots of the Chinese Soviet Government and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Resisting Japan and Saving the Country" (August 1st Declaration), advocating the cessation of the civil war and the organization of the national defense government and the anti-Japanese coalition army to fight against Japan. In December of the same year, the Politburo of the CENTRAL Committee held an enlarged meeting at Wayao Fort in northern Shaanxi province, proposing that the party's basic tactical task was to establish a broad anti-Japanese national united front.

Inspired by the policy of the anti-Japanese national united front, the Northeast Army headed by Zhang Xueliang and the Seventeenth Route Army headed by Yang Hucheng, stationed in the northwest region, have stopped "suppressing the Communists." However, Chiang Kai-shek still adhered to the principle that "if you want to take the outside world, you must first settle inside." In December 1936, Chiang Kai-shek personally went to Xi'an and forced Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng to lead their troops to "suppress the Communists.". In the early morning of December 12, the Xi'an Incident broke out and caused an uproar at home and abroad. After that, after negotiations, various proposals for stopping the civil war and unanimously resisting Japan were reached, and the Xi'an Incident was resolved peacefully, becoming the pivot for changing the situation.

A classic work that embodies the spirit of realism

In 2009, a Chinese painting "Xi'an Incident", which was frozen in the early morning of December 12, 1936, when Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng announced the holding of the historical moment of military advice, came out, and the depth of thought, the artistic innovation displayed in the work, and the spiritual power transmitted in the work won unanimous praise from all walks of life.

"The Xi'an Incident is a major historical event in China's modern history, a turning point in the transition from a civil war to a national anti-Japanese war, and as a painter in Xi'an, I have the responsibility and mission." At the beginning of the creation of "Xi'an Incident", Wang Xijing made many considerations: "The Xi'an Incident is a major event composed of many events. I originally wanted to put all the characters involved in one picture, but in historical facts, there is no such scene. Therefore, I decided to focus on the military advice, with Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng as the core characters of the picture, to present the historical moment of launching the military advice. ”

In the picture of "Xi'an Incident", Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng gazed firmly and heroically and fearlessly at their right front, which not only vividly showed the severity of their military advice, but also showed their common goal of forcing Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan. Behind them, an aide-de-camp watch and the time marked on the grandfather clock reveal the timing of the military operation. At the far right of the picture, a map of Huaqingchi in the hands of two staff officers points out the location of the military operation. At the left end of the picture, soldiers of the Northeast and Northwest Armies who received military orders have begun to rush to their destinations. The bright lights and dim night above render the tense atmosphere in a strong chiaroscuro contrast. The portrait of Sun Yat-sen in the background of the picture is given a profound symbolic meaning, indicating that this military advice is a continuation of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary legacy of "uniting with Russia, uniting with the Communist Party, and supporting peasants and workers".

In terms of painting techniques, the author combines traditional ink freehand and sketch modeling, and the character shaping is more solid and sculptural. At the same time, it changes the traditional way of ink history painting with character shaping as the main area of white space, forms a deep sense of perspective through light and shadow, highlights the main image of the two main characters, uses the virtual reality of ink color and creates a solemn historical atmosphere, strengthens the performance of this major historical theme, and makes the whole work full of shocking artistic appeal.

"Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng's righteous deeds are sacrificing their lives for righteousness at a time of national crisis, and they are themselves representatives of the great national righteousness. Without them, there would be no second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the fate of the country and the nation might have been rewritten. The national spirit they represent is very important at the moment of reshaping the spirit of the Chinese nation in modern times. "For Wang Xijing, there is passion for the Xi'an incident, but also pressure and responsibility. It is also this kind of pressure and responsibility that allows him to have innovations and breakthroughs in artistic expression in the creation of "Xi'an Incident", and also has a deeper thinking on the ideological connotation of the work.

An artistic exploration from traditional culture to the aesthetics of the times

Born in Xi'an in 1946, Wang Xijing is currently the vice chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the honorary chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Artists Association, and is the leading figure of the Chang'an School of Painting today, and a famous painter at home and abroad. Over the years, he has inherited and carried forward the Creative Concept and Fine Tradition of the Chang'an School of Painting that "one hand reaches out to tradition and the other hand reaches to life", and has set an example of "Chinese contemporary Xijing-like" in the field of Chinese painting creation, especially in the field of figure painting creation.

In his art world, the only and persistent pursuit is the soul of Chinese national culture.

"The Xi'an Incident was a moment that changed the fate of China's history. I have always wanted to leave this historical moment to future generations and become a permanent cultural memory. Wang Xijing spent decades understanding this tragic history, and tried to use his weak mental strength to make a commentary on that history that could make future generations see clearly. Since 1980, when he created the painting "Heroes of the Ages" with the theme of the Xi'an Incident, he has been accumulating materials and emotions for the creation of the Xi'an Incident.

In order to ensure the rigor of this historical painting, Wang Xijing collected a large number of historical materials and went to the Xi'an Incident Memorial Hall many times to learn the historical details of the time. In order to better complete this work, he put himself in the trend of national cultural development, while absorbing the characteristics of Western painting technology, he explored along the main line of integrating into the spirit of Chinese pen and ink to achieve breakthroughs at the technical level. In the end, with his sober and in-depth understanding of Chinese cultural history and innovations and breakthroughs in artistic expression, he left a strong cultural memory for the history of the nation and for future generations.

Where the meaning depends, the affection is the soul of his artistic life. Whether it is his early portrait paintings or thematic creations, whether it is "The History of Entrepreneurship", "Distant Footsteps", "The People's Heavy Trust" or "Spring Tide", "Li Dazhao" and other representative works, the characters he writes are historical figures who have influenced the process of Chinese national civilization, and his works have also put realist creative ideas into practice and development on realistic themes and historical themes. Appreciating Wang Xijing's works, especially the creation of theme figure paintings, gives people the deepest feeling, that is, to synchronize with the times.

The times are developing, people's aesthetic tastes are changing, the artist's creation must adapt to the needs of the times and the public, and the artist must build a bridge between the traditional and modern aesthetic consciousness. In the exploration of the integration of Western elements in Chinese painting, in the process of artistic development in the new era, Wang Xijing's Chinese paintings show the profound cultural accumulation, firm cultural self-confidence and deep spiritual pursuit of the Chinese nation in a new language.