Among the painters of previous generations, there are many famous artists who are good at painting tigers, such as Wu Daozi, the great painter of the Tang Dynasty, Shi Ke of the Fifth Dynasty, Bao Ding father and son of the Song Dynasty, Shang Xi of the Ming Dynasty, and Hua Yao of the Qing Dynasty. Among the many collections of the Forbidden City, there are some famous paintings with "tiger" elements, and the identity of the painter himself or some content in the paintings can be said to be "different".
A famous painter in the Kinshiki Guard
In the movie "Embroidered Spring Knife 2", there is a key character named Hokusai, who is beautiful as a flower and a danqing master, but also plays a key role in the game of power in which Nishiki is involved. Is the identity of Hokusai's "painter" a fiction? Not necessarily. Because in the Ming Dynasty Jinyi Wei, there were indeed many officials with outstanding painting skills, and left famous works.
There are really many famous painters in Jinyiwei, and their artistic accomplishment is worthy of recognition. For example, Jinyi Weidu commanded Liu Jun's "Snow Night Visit to Putu", Jinyi Wei commanded Shang Xi's "Guan Yu Capture General Map", Jinyi Wei Qianhu Wang Chen's "Distant View of Jiangge", Jinyi Wei commanded Zhu Duan's "Yanjiang Distant Overlook" and "Hongnong Duhu Map", etc., all of which are collected in the Palace Museum.
"Hongnong Duhu Tu" Axis Ming Zhu Duan painting The Palace Museum collection
Zhu Duan's "Hongnong Crossing the Tiger" depicts the story of Liu Kunren of the Eastern Han Dynasty who was too punctual in Hongnong (in present-day Henan), and because of his political achievements, he was deeply loved by the people, so that even the fierce tiger could not bear to do evil in this place, so he rode the young tiger across the river. Nie Hui, a member of the Forbidden City Research Library, commented on the painting that the painter used the ink freehand method to outline the contours of the mountain stone with a lateral horizontal pen and a rough line, and used dripping ink and unrestrained pen to dye the texture of the mountain stone at once. The leaves are dyed with a tangled thick dot of ink, and the gestures are free and dynamic. The lines of the characters' clothing are strong and rough, and they are complicated and simple, accurately expressing the physical characteristics of different characters.
According to the "Zhapu Bizhi", Zhu Duan was very poor when he was young, and he made a living by fishing and chopping firewood. But he was very fond of painting, and because he could not afford to buy brushes and paper, he often practiced painting on the beach or on stones. In the fourteenth year of Koji (1501), he was conscripted into the palace, and later entered the Renzhi Hall as a painter and was given the command of the Kinshi guard.
Renzhi Hall, commonly known as the White Tiger Hall, is located north of the Wuying Hall of the Palace Museum and west of the right wing gate, and is the place where ming court painters painted. Most of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty loved painting, so they followed the precedent of Emperor Huizong of Song to set up a calligraphy and painting academy, and waited for the edict in the Wuying Hall to include Dan Qing's hand; after being hired, he painted in the Renzhi Hall. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty had the highest achievements in the paintings of Zhu Zhanji, the Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, and he often went to the Renzhi Hall to comment on the works of painters.
Zhu Duan's painting skills are comprehensive, in addition to being good at landscape figure painting, he also works with bamboo, stone, flowers and birds, and is also good at calligraphy. Unfortunately, his "Solo Fishing Map of the Han River" was lost overseas and is now in the Tokyo National Museum in Japan.
The reason why there were so many painters in the Ming Dynasty Was because there was no special institution such as the Calligraphy and Painting Institute at that time, so the emperor granted the official position of Jinyiwei to some painters, only the rank and the Qilu, and there was no real position. Of course, the participation of painters is indeed needed in the handling of the case by Jinyiwei, but it is difficult to say that any painter has substantively participated in the work of Jinyiwei. The "History of Ming" records that Ming Taizu tested the chancellor Song Lian. Song Lian feasted at home, and Jin Yiwei clearly painted the appearance, seating, and dishes of the guests. Then Zhu Yuanzhang asked Song Lian who had invited him, and Song Lian replied correctly, even if he did not deceive the emperor.
Yongzheng wore a "dress" to stab the tiger
In the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty", The fourth son of Kangxi, Yin Chan, was a resourceful and steady person, that is, after becoming emperor, he was also diligent in political affairs and good at governing the country. Among the collections of the Forbidden City, there are two paintings depicting the Qing Emperor or Emperor hunting tigers, one of which is called "Yin Chan Xingle Atlas of Thorny Tigers". This image depicts Yin Chan (Prince Yong) holding a forked thorn tiger next to a cliff cave. Hunting is the usual entertainment and practice of archery in the royal family, and the Shanglin Garden built by Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty covers an area of more than 300 square kilometers, and he not only hunts in the Shanglin Garden, but also trains the Guards Yulin Army. The Manchu Qing royal family, which was born from the nomadic people in the north, was no exception, and hunting was a common practice of the royal family in the early Qing Dynasty, and it is understandable that a picture of a hunting thorn tiger has survived in the world. However, what is surprising is that in "Yin Chan Xingle Album • Thorny Tiger", Yin Chan is actually dressed in a European outfit, wearing a Western wig, a Western suit, holding a steel fork, and stabbing at a tiger lying on the ground.
"Yin Chan Xingle Album • Thorn Tiger" page Qing Palace Museum collection
If you know the provenance of this picture, you may understand why Yin Chan wears a Western suit. This picture is a page in a set of thirteen volumes of the "Yin Chan Xingle Atlas", and the Yin Chan in the "Yin Chan Xingle Atlas" dressed as a scribe who writes poems with a pen, a fisherman who rests on the shore, a monk in robes, a Westerner who stabs a tiger, and a Westerner who teases monkeys with peaches, etc., has a rich variety of costumes, which can be said to be unique in ancient China. According to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", the Yongzheng Emperor also liked to make various clothes for his dogs, such as qilin clothes, pig skin clothes, tiger clothes, etc. It can be seen that the Yongzheng Emperor, who has a stable personality in people's impression, also has a funny side in his heart.
Compared with the "Yin Chan Xingle Album • Thorny Tiger", the Qianlong Emperor in the "Qianlong Emperor Thorny Tiger Diagram" is decent. Although Qianlong went down to Jiangnan six times in his life and liked to run around, he did not dare to let go of himself like his father in the painting. "The Picture of the Thorny Tiger of the Qianlong Emperor" is painted by Lang Shining and others, in which the 30-year-old Qianlong Emperor and a bodyguard hold a long halberd in their hands and stride forward to stab the tiger. In order to flatter the height of the Qianlong Emperor, the author painted the fierce tiger, which was originally the king of the beasts, as small and weak. In order to reflect his bravery, Qianlong ordered court painters to create a large number of works showing his moments of hunting, in addition to tigers, there were other birds and beasts.
"Only draw the tiger's back" and "The Tiger of the Bow"
Qi Baishi rarely paints tigers, his paintings are mostly fruits and vegetables, flowers, figures, fish, shrimp and crabs, and he is mostly known, his works on tigers are extremely rare, and the only tiger figure is also known for its tiger back. In 1957, the Palace Museum collected a painting by Qi Baishi, which broke with the traditional painting method of facing the audience with the positive image of the tiger, but left the tiger's back to the audience. Looking closely at the "Tiger Map", you can see that the tiger's back is twisting, its body is strong and strong, and its tail is naturally bent on the side. The autumn grass on both sides swayed with the wind, but this tiger was not moved by the surrounding environment, showing the style of a solipsistic king.
"Tiger Map" Axis Modern Qi Baishi Painting Collection of the Palace Museum
However, in the Year of the Tiger in 2010, Sotheby's Spring Auction in Hong Kong sold a picture of Qi Baishi's "Tiger" for a high price of 32 million yuan, causing an uproar. The painting has a similarity with the "Tiger Figure" collected by the Palace Museum, which only paints the back of the tiger, and does not see the face of the tiger. According to the content of the inscription, it can be known that this was given to his friend "General Xiaotian" by Qi Baishi. However, this auctioned "Tiger" picture was considered by many experts to be a copy, not Qi Baishi's work, and the Fine Arts Newspaper also issued an article questioning it.
To say who is the most ingenious in painting a tiger, Qi Baishi, who only paints the back of a tiger, is probably not as good as the strange old man Hua Yao of the Qing Dynasty. In his old age, Hua Yao referred to himself as a "floating canopy", painting figures, landscapes, flowers, birds, grass worms, and animals. He was good at writing and able to write poetry, and was sometimes called "the three absolutes of poetry, books and paintings", and was one of the representative figures of the Yangzhou School of Painting. The Palace Museum has collected many paintings by Hua Yao, such as "Autumn Tree Myna Diagram", "Autumn Tree Fighting Bird Diagram", "Cold Camel Residual Snow Map", "Qingxia Flying Bird Diagram" and so on. However, Hua Zhao has a "Bee Tiger Map", which was brought to Taipei with some precious Treasures of the National Palace when the Kuomintang defeated Taiwan, and is currently in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
"Bee Tiger Diagram" Qing Hua Yao Painting Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
Tigers give the public the impression of being majestic, but "Bee Tiger Diagram" draws a "tiger with a frightened bow". I saw a tiger in the painting, skinny and bony, as if frightened by extreme horror, arching its body, a tiger claw raised, and two eyes looking pitifully ahead. Why is this tiger so bad? Mystery is in the upper right corner of the painting. There was an inconspicuous wild bee in the upper right corner, and it turned out that the mighty mountain king was attacked by wild bees, and he had no skill but nowhere to lower his claws, and he was stung without any strength.
Hua Zhao is good at capturing the natural interest in natural creatures and people's real and delicate experience, and integrates the moving posture of flowers and birds with the rich and healthy interests in the feelings to create a vivid and colorful image. His "Bee Tiger Diagram" fully reflects his focus on the fun side of nature.