At the CCTV Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Tiger, the excerpt "Green Only This Green" from the Song Dynasty famous painting "Only This Green" once became a hot topic, and some people called it "a Feast of Chinese Aesthetics", "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" really began to become a hot spot when it was exhibited at the Palace Museum in 2017, and the Spring Festival Gala "Only This Green" program once again pushed "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" into the focus.
The artistic characteristics and artistic value of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" are discussed in great detail by scholars at present, and there are also many words of praise.
However, if you look back at history, in fact, this map has been in a lonely state for a long time in the historical collection system, from the Northern Song Dynasty to the literati appreciation aesthetic system, under the premise of affirming the artistic value of such a green and colorful work as "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", it should also be seen that such works are not the high standards of chinese literati painting aesthetics since the Song Dynasty, and there is still a gap between the aesthetic standards of Song Huizong.
The reason why Chinese painting has gone from coloring to admiring the true color of the lead wash is not accidental, "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" is essentially a product of service for imperial power, and its creation is more of service and instrumentality, and it can even be said that this is the art of "serving things", which is related to the early death of Wang Ximeng.
This article is the author's speech at the Peking University Humanities Forum "Seminar on "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", and a special excerpt from "The Paper, Ancient Art" (www.thepaper.cn) was published.
Northern Song Dynasty Wang Ximeng "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" Partial Collection of the Palace Museum
There were many queues when "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" was exhibited in the Forbidden City in 2017
Wang Ximeng's "Map of a Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" has been directly faced twice: one is the "Forbidden City Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition" (the sixth phase) in 2013, reading paintings in the Wuying Hall of the Forbidden City for a whole day, almost lonely and happy, that time at the same time, Li Bai's calligraphy and Song Huizong's "Snow River Return map" are very interesting to compare; as if in contrast to this Danqing giant system of finely carved and rigorous law in the history of Chinese painting, at the end of the long scroll, the only famous relic of the poetry immortal Li Bai is "Shangtai Post".
Wang Ximeng may be regarded as one of the myths in the history of Chinese art, Hui Zongzheng and three years (1113), only 18 years old Wang Ximeng spent half a year to paint this masterpiece, with great force, and died soon. The masterpiece seems to have been shown only once a year ago, but because it is nearly 12 meters long, it has never been publicly presented in full, and in 2013 it was the first full volume to be exhibited.
At that time, from the beginning to the end back and forth to read the painting carefully, on the yellowing picture scroll, the weather is thousands, the layout of the picture alternately adopts the far-reaching, high and far-reaching, flat and far-reaching methods, it is indeed within reach: thousands of peaks and valleys, stretching endlessly, the rivers are vast, the smoke waves are endless, and there are wild fishing villages, Tingzhu huts, bridge pavilions and boats scattered in between, whether it is ten thousand blue waves, or such as bean figures, all of which are drawn in one stroke.
Taste this painting, or you can understand the original meaning of "Danqing" - and have to sigh the well-preserved painting, stone bluestone green, layer by layer rendering of the mountain, the bottom of the mountain is mostly connected with ochre, green and rich, the dot scene is mostly white powder, pink yellow and other colors, light and heavy, after 900 years, almost as bright as yesterday.
The second time was the 2017 Palace Museum's "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains Exhibition", which only lasted about ten minutes, because the reputation suddenly rang out, and there were too many queues.
"A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" became a hot topic when it was exhibited in 2017, the first time I looked at the work to see intuition, the atmosphere of the structure, the intensity of the color, the presentation of details such as water ripples, impressive; but the second reading, some of the details of the mountain stone, the details of the point scene, such as the part of the mountain body, the wrinkle line is weak, the details of life such as the shallow draft of the load ship and other errors, like a small work is magnified, the problem is more and more.
Of course, if this work is placed in the context of this work, which is only made by an 18-year-old painter, everything is naturally understandable.
In fact, this map has been in a lonely and nameless state for a long time in the historical collection system, from the Chinese calligraphy and painting collection system, from the Northern Song Dynasty to the literati appreciation system, for the "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" such a magnificent work must not be an aesthetic high grid. Compared with the Song Dynasty's appraisal of "noh, noh, noo, no less" in the Song Dynasty, it may be more appropriate to include "noh pin" or at most "mikn".
At the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Tiger on CCTV, the dance poetry drama "Only This Green" originated from "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains"
Peking University Humanities Forum "Qianli Jiangshan Map" seminar site, the table is a high imitation of "Qianli Jiangshan Map"
In the 1950s and 1960s, when the predecessors of the calligraphy and painting appraisal identified this work, the short comments were mainly about the affirmation of the exquisite color.
For the "Thousand Li Jiangshan Picture Scroll", from the documentary record, Cai Jing's editor-in-chief and the collection of paintings with more than 6,000 axes is not recorded in the "Xuanhe Pictorial Notation", and even Deng Chun's "Painting Succession" does not see relevant records, from Cai Jing's inscription is only "Shangjiazhi", if you do not consider the authenticity of this work controversy, it may be shown that this painting only partially meets the requirements of Song Huizong for painting, and there is still a big gap from the high standard or the highest standard of Northern Song painting.
Why there is such a gap, this involves not only the topic of Song Huizong's founding of "painting science" and the pursuit of aesthetic standards for painting, but also the establishment of aesthetic character and standards in Northern Song painting, including a background of the rise of Song Dynasty Shifu painting. Or rather, this involves how the highest standards in the history of Chinese painting are established, and what are the core issues of Chinese painting's pursuit? Sorting out these problems, it may not be surprising that the "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" has been lonely and nameless for a long time in history.
A big background of Northern Song Painting is the deep involvement of the literati, whether it is Huizong's founding of "painting science" to pursue the aesthetic intention of "off-painting meaning" with "poetry", or Su Shi's view of "on painting seeking similarity, seeing neighbors with children", the main point is to sublimate painting from the technical level to a kind of wandering god, and the real proposal of "Yige" in the Song Dynasty is also to see that painting can transcend the freedom of the mind beyond skills.
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The artistic characteristics and artistic value of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" are discussed in great detail by scholars at present, and there are many praises, of which there are also quite exaggerated points.
Partial comparison of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains"
The structure of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" has a strong sense of rhythm, and the atmosphere is both majestic and elegant, in addition to the atmosphere of the strong color and structure, I personally feel that the depiction of water waves is particularly delicate and excellent.
This work may also reflect Huizong's emphasis on the revitalization of green landscapes, for Huizong's paintings, undoubtedly the flowers and birds are the most famous, and there are not many landscape paintings, only the ink "Snow River Guizhuo Map" exists, of course, there is also controversy, and as a green landscape "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" as a work under The personal teaching of Huizong, its mother is undoubtedly related to the Tang and Song Dynasty ink or green landscape paintings, in terms of Huizong's works, such as the famous "Snow River Guizhuo Diagram" (ink), as well as Huizong's "Painting Succession" recorded in the "Painting Succession" Qifeng Scattered Qitu", look at the record may be green landscape style, do not know whether there is a relationship with it, "Painting Succession" in this work has "(Huizong) he has also made "Qifeng Scattered Qitu", meaning craftsmanship, craftsmanship, craftsmanship, wonderful fun, thousands of miles away. Its clear mountains are stacked with beauty, then the wind and the jade are also; the MingXia is colorful, then the Heavenly Han Yinhuang is also; the flying view leans on the sky, then the immortals live in the house. As for the auspicious light and ruiqi, floating between the ethereal, so that the viewer wants to cross the sweat, climb the pengying, and flutter ..." These modified sentences are still similar to the "Thousand Mile River and Mountain Map", and I think this picture may be the mother or reference work of the "Thousand Mile River and Mountain Map", and it is more likely to be a work of green landscape and water. Huizong's love for painting style is multifaceted, not only like color photography, but he prefers ink painting, that is, Taoist tranquility and simplicity, "tranquility is supreme, victory is not beautiful", which is related to Taoism, and also has the reason for the aesthetic influence of the Northern Song Dynasty literati.
From the perspective of aesthetic pursuit, on the one hand, "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" expresses the pursuit of "the unity of heaven and man", "the induction of heaven and man" and the order of the imperial power of the Song Dynasty, see the neatness and rigor of the discharge body painting, in addition to the majestic mountain, even if the boats and boats in the river, the waves are delicate and dynamic, reflecting the aesthetics of Song Huizong's view of the country and the mountains, with the stretch of rivers and mountains to express the unity of the world and the vastness of the imperial power, to serve the imperial power, so as to cater to the mentality of the royal good and great achievements, so the landscape painting is a rich, bright and rich, elegant and luxurious.
However, as far as the theme of the painting is concerned, there is a hidden feeling that the emperor examines his own country and is influenced by the literati, of course, it can also explain the concept of cultivation and health that is related to Taoist thought, which has been discussed by many scholars.
Huizong, a firm believer in Taoism, has always been superstitious about the induction of heaven and man, and likes to show his paintings of flowers and birds that show the auspicious omens to the courtiers, and his intention to convey the concept of governing the country and deter the courtiers through the paintings is not difficult to understand.
The Southern Song Dynasty Deng Chun recorded such an event in the "Painting Succession". In the fifth year of Zhenghe (1115), Emperor Huizong of Song showed his "Dragon Xiangchi Partridge Map" to the courtiers who attended the banquet, and the courtiers "all stood up and looked around, all looked up to the holy text, saw the Kui painting, and admired the world's supreme god and spirit".
Emperor Huizong of Song
However, Emperor Huizong of Song did not expect that only 17 years after the creation of the "Map of the Return of the Snow River", he himself and half of the Great Song Dynasty would all fall into the hands of the Jin people. It is precisely for this reason that future generations cannot help but sigh when they look at this painting. Wang Shizhen, a leader of the Ming Dynasty literary circles, wrote in the inscription: "And the emperor avoided Di Xing Jiangnan when he was in the snow, although Huang Que Zi Fei Fei was in the Yao Island of Xuanlang, and the white feather danced next to him, and he was even more envious of the fisherman who was cloaked in a cloak, and he could not get it." For another two years and the five countries in the north, the snow did not run, shrunk into the vault, and ate the felt. ”
Since this work was written under the guidance of Hui religion, it must have a huge connection with his aesthetic pursuits, and Huizong, as a literati painter with extremely high attainments in history, also believed in Taoism, and he was influenced by the previous Northern Song Dynasty literati circles on the creation of calligraphy and painting through Wang Yi and others, as well as the aesthetic attitude of "poetry and painting togetherness", "no heart" and the literary and artistic concept of "light and inaction", which were also reflected in his works.
Song Huizong had the habit of painting propositions for candidates who wanted to enter the Hanlin Picture Academy, especially the poetry that loved to test the students' painting intentions, such as "Wild Water No One Crossed" and "Lonely Boats Crossing the Day", which reflected his yearning for the reclusive life of the literati.
Mr. Yu Hui once called "A Thousand Li Jiangshan Map" or depicts the great realm of Lushan Mountain, including the mouth of the Yangtze River and part of Poyang Lake, and the closest to the "Thousand Li Jiangshan Map" volume is the Tang Dynasty Meng Haoran's five-word landscape poem "Pengli Lake In the Middle of Wanglu Mountain", the so-called "see the mountains in the big lake, really become a living painting", and the poem "Long want to pursue Shangzi, the situation is Huaiyuan Gong" is showing a contradiction between seclusion and roaming, "sending words to rock dwellers, Bi Fun should come to the same" said that the ultimate goal of retreat is the ultimate goal.
As an emperor, Emperor Huizong also believed that the ultimate value of art is to promote the Tao and educate people, and he has made many expositions on this, saying: "Although the Tao cannot be passed on, but the Tao is not soundable, it can be obtained without sound, and the saints who have no choice but to speak are inherent in things, and they are not self-evident, and they must seek reason because of words, then they are natural." And an inscription by Cai Jing in "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" also verifies this view.
Cai Jing's inscription reads: "Zhenghe Three-Year Leap Year April 8th Gift." At the age of eighteen, Xi Meng, who used to be a disciple in painting, was summoned to the forbidden "library of documents", and offered a number of paintings, but did not work hard. Knowing that his nature is teachable, he instructed him, and taught him the Dhamma himself, not more than half a year old, but in this way he tried to advance. Shangjiazhi, because he gave the subject Jing, said that the world's corporal was just doing it. From the painting and people, through the success of Wang Ximeng's training, I feel that the people of the world can only do things because of cultivation, and do not involve the evaluation of this painting.
"A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" at the end of the volume Cai Jingbaowen
Although this work conforms to some of Huizong's aesthetic concepts, there are still many gaps in terms of the highest standards of appreciation for Chinese literati paintings since the Song Dynasty. It can be said that there is also a big gap with the aesthetic and artistic standards of Huizong.
As far as the literature is concerned, for the "Thousand Li Jiangshan Picture Scroll", not only is there no record in the "Xuanhe Pictorial Notation" edited by Cai Jing and contains more than 6,000 scrolls of the painting, and even in Deng Chun's "Painting Succession" there is no relevant record, from Cai Jing's "Shangjiazhi", "It is said that the world's corporal is just doing it", Cai Jing himself did not comment on this painting, Song Huizong did not make this work like for the young new painting moon season, "Happy gifts, praise and love", Cai Jing's meaning is very clear, although Huizong "Jiazhi", but did not really pay attention to it, It was neither inscribed, nor named, nor collected in the palace, but the painting was given to his favorite courtiers.
Except for Pu Guang in the Yuan Dynasty, who had praise in the inscription, from the Song to the Qing Dynasty, no one else praised it. If the authenticity of this work is not considered, it may be shown that this painting only partially meets the requirements of Emperor Huizong of song for painting, and there is still a big gap from the high standard or the highest standard of Northern Song painting.
Also a long scroll of paintings, Song Huizong's satisfaction with the "Qingming Upper River Map" created later was obviously overflowing with words, and it was designated as a "divine product", with a thin gold book inscription "Qingming Upper River Map" and a Tibetan seal of "Double Dragon". Compared with the treatment of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", it is only "Jiazhi", which is almost a symbolic encouragement.
The treatment of the two long-scroll paintings of the Song Dynasty, the attitude of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, can be described as a world of difference.
Part of the "Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty"
In the early Qing Dynasty, after Liang Qingbiao entered Tibet, he named the painting "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", and Qianlong later inscribed a poem on the painting, saying that "the rivers and mountains are boundless, and the yuan qi is full of luck with gods" ,—— commenting on this painting with the four words "yuan qi dripping", which is simply nonsense.
In fact, if you look at the technology, of course, this work has a lot of remarkable points, such as the overall structure and level of the landscape, but there are also many problems.
For example, the lines of some mountains are more delicate and weak, and even messy, some houses and mountains are still hard, and the painting methods such as cargo ships can see some common sense problems, some tree lines are also very weak with pens, and some tree shapes if enlarged, not only stiff, but also rough, there are color paving rendering, do not consider the details and reality, there are many problems, but if the context is limited to this is after all the first cry of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old teenager, everything is understandable. In particular, Wang Ximeng's use of color is bold and bold, rich and innovative, and this alone is a well-deserved history of famous paintings.
"A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" tree-shaped part (left) According to the Peking University Forum site map
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Of course, the artistic value of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" is relatively large, especially in the history of green landscape painting. However, from a historical point of view, the excessive or even infinite elevation of the artistic attainment of this painting may not be in line with the original intention of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, nor is it in line with the high quality of chinese painting formed since the Northern Song Dynasty.
It is worth comparing Huizong's only surviving landscape painting "Snow River Guizhuo Map" - although whether this work was painted by Huizong is still controversial, after all, there is a self-titled Zhao Yi's thin golden book: "Snow River Guizhuo Map." Xuanhe Imperial System. And cursive characters bet on "One Man in the World", and Cai Jing's inscription has: "Fuguan Imperial System "Snow River Returns", the water is far from waveless, the sky is long, the mountains are clean, the travelers are depressed, the drums are in the middle of the stream, the sails are in the sky, and the meaning of the snow river is exhausted. It can be said that this work at least reflects Zhao Tuo's ideal and pursuit of Chinese landscape painting.
Northern Song Dynasty Song Huizong 《Snow River Guizhuo Map》 Collection of the Palace Museum
Northern Song Dynasty Song Huizong "Snow River Return Map" Partial Collection of the Palace Museum
The lone fisherman in the center of the whole volume of "Snow River Return Map"
The meaning of "returning to the throne" depicted at the end of the volume of the "Map of the Return of the Snow River"
Judging from the shape of the "Snow River Return map", the green is just hidden, and the rendering of prominent ink is obviously influenced by some of Wang Wei's influence, which is also the Wang Wei style he admires. Therefore, the later Dong Qichang believed that this painting was originally made by Wang Wei.
Perhaps it can be said that the humanistic reclusive feelings of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" are only superficial, and the painting itself has not really been hidden, because the core of the reclusiveness is the true freedom of the spirit, the magnificent picture of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" and the golden splendor convey more of the sense of imperial power and the order of heaven and man, while the "Snow River Return Map" creates more of the artist's depressed and indifferent emotions, perhaps it can be said, and to the "Snow River Return Map", from the spiritual core of the painting text and the work are classified into the hidden vein - This is actually a simple and distant vein of Emperor Huizong's Nianzi, not just rich and noble, which is also very much related to the influence of Taoism.
The reason for the birth of such a style can not be ignored is the great influence of the aesthetic pursuit of the Northern Song Dynasty literati circle on Huizong, such as Wang Yi and his circle of friends.
The Xuanhe Pictorial Notation of Wang Xueji has: "Since the reputation of the long and the growing number of people, the tourists who follow are all teachers of the time. "Wang Xue's circle of friends in the Northern Song Dynasty was the first-class literati at that time, including Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, Su Rui, Wen Tong, Qin Guan, Li Gonglin, etc., especially with Su Shi, who had a lot of contacts, even Gui was a donkey horse, and was also implicated in Su Shi's Wutai poetry case and was demoted, Su Shi's Shifu painting theory and the practice of writing and painting and calligraphy and painting also had a great influence on Wang Yi's creation.
Su Shi has the saying that "poetry cannot be exhausted, overflowing into books, and changing into paintings", and his view of literati painting is based on his understanding of poetry and the transparency of Confucianism, such as not staying in things, transcendence, poetry and painting are the same body, allegorical to things, and re-rhyme and freehand. The poetry and painting proposed by Su Shi are in the same body, which is clearly put forward in the "Book Ma Jie Lantian Smoke and Rain Map", "The poetry of the taste of The Ma Jie, there are paintings in the poem." Observe the paintings of Jie, and there are poems in the paintings. The poem says: 'Blue Creek white stone out, Tamagawa red leaves are thin. There is no rain on the mountain road, and the empty green is wet. 'This Mahabharata poem, or non-dharma. The good deeds make up for the relics of Mahabharata.". In the "Records of paintings of the Jingyin Courtyard", he wrote that "Yu Tasted painting, thinking that people and birds, palaces, and utensils all have permanent shapes, and as for the mountain stone bamboo trees and water waves and smoke clouds, although they are impermanent, they have common sense." The loss of the constant form is well known to everyone; the impropriety of common sense, although the painter knows it... There will be those who are clear and deeply observed, and then they will know that what they say is not vain. ”
In the "Folded Branches Painted in the Master Book of the King of Yanling", he said: "On the painting as a shape, see the neighbor with the child. The poem must be this poem, and it must not be a poet who knows. Poetry and painting books are all the same, natural work and freshness. Bian Luan Finch sketched, Zhao Changhua conveyed the gods. What are the two paintings, who say a little red, unscreen boundless spring. ”
Through a series of expositions, Su Shi put forward the theory of "emphasizing the mind and writing freehand", and advocated that the painting should not only be "similar", but should pay more attention to "god-like", pay attention to the spirit and charm of freedom, and pursue artistic conception and tranquility. Later, Chao Yidao also wrote a poem: "Paint the shape of the writing, do not change the shape of the object, the poetry conveys the external meaning of the painting, and you have a medium-sized state in the painting." ”
The so-called god-likeness, that is, closer to one's own heart, not to be enslaved by external objects, more emphasis on their own subjective feelings with a clear state, expressing inner emotions, and not damaging the inner heart and experience because of external similarities.
The reason why Chinese painting has gone from coloring to simplicity is not accidental, the key point is whether it can express personal freedom while paying attention to "conveying god with things", Lao Tzu's "simplicity and the world can not compete with the beauty", Confucius said "painting after the fact", the true color and plain light, can also be said to be the six dynasties and later Chinese hidden chinese people's hearts and life keywords, whether it is the Six Dynasties, Wang Weishi, Song and Yuan simple landscapes, no other, Ni Yunlin "chat about writing in the chest" The theory pushes this attitude and literati painting to the extreme.
Part of Wang Xue's "Small Snow Map of a Fishing Village"
Northern Song Dynasty Wang Jie "Fishing Village Snow Map" Part of the Palace Museum collection
As a friend of Su Shi, Wang Yi often gathered with him to taste tea to make poetry and paintings, smelled the same, and heard and heard, Su Shi's series of theories had a greater impact on him, and also indirectly and more or less influenced the subsequent Song Huizong, Song Huizong's use of hidden verses as an examination topic for painting may be directly or indirectly influenced by Su Shi's "poetry and painting homogeneity" theory. The poetry and painting homology theory emphasizes the discovery and expression of painting on the cultivation of literati, thus changing the intuition of painting into poetic inner feet, changing the courtyard body, and the shape into freehand and humanistic rhyme. Wang Yi's "Yanjiang Stacked Mountains" and "Fishing Village Xiaoxue Map" were both made after he was degraded, on the one hand, his paintings are different from the landscape paintings with strict layout and balanced structure, breaking the balance, the style order of classical landscape painting is broken, and it is more adapted to the presentation of the painter's inner emotions, so as to better and more directly reflect the literati ideal pursued by Wang Yi and the faint sorrow, melancholy and frustration and real reclusive feelings he experienced. Therefore, his pen and ink will inevitably become a simple and simple but smokey and misty ink and ink staining work.
Through the comparison of the works, it can be clearly seen that the "Yanjiang Stacked Mountains Map" and "Fishing Village Small Snow Map" have a clear influence on Zhao Tuo's "Snow River Return Map", which is completely different from the golden splendor of "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", and it can also be said that the latter's painting style is at most only the intermediate stage of painting, if it corresponds to "Noh Pin", "Wonderful Pin", "Divine Product", "Yi Pin", "Qianli Jiangshan Map" can be included in the Noh Or The Wonderful Pin.
It can be said that "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" is still a product of the service of the imperial power, although there is a Taoist hidden content, but this is still more superficial, the painting is still in the expression of an order, and its expression is more of a craftsmanship, although it wants to accept the spirit of humanity, such as Yu Hui believes that the painting may come from Meng Haoran's poems, but in terms of its essence, there is still a big gap. In other words, it is still a painting of service and instrumentality, an art of service for things, not a painting of one's own mind, in which the inner emotions and states of the painter himself are rarely seen.
This work is obviously different from Wang Yi's "Yanjiang Stacked Mountains", "Fishing Village Snow Map" and Zhao Tuo's "Snow River Return map" Ink Xiao Shan, Lao Tzu said: "Tranquility is supreme, victory is not beautiful." It can be said that after the promotion of the northern Song Dynasty literati, the artistic conception of Chinese art has changed to not seeking the gorgeous form but paying attention to light and tasteless, the meaning is timeless, and the spirit is scattered.
Zhao Tuo himself has always been deeply immersed in his artistic creation. In terms of flower and bird paintings, in addition to the gorgeous and rich courtyard works, his greatest influence is his ink rendering technique, not paying much attention to color, advocating light pen and ink interest. Such as "Willow Duck Reed Goose Diagram", "Parrot Diagram", etc., are.
Northern Song Dynasty Song Huizong "Willow Duck Reed Goose Diagram" Shanghai Museum Collection
Northern Song Dynasty Song Huizong "Willow Duck Reed Goose Diagram" Part of the Shanghai Museum Collection
A detail that needs to be added is that the development of Chinese painting to the literati's freehand painting is also due to the yearning for spiritual freedom, and the removal of "serving for things", the way of calligraphy and painting, when writing his heart, if he is served by things, the impact on the creators is also huge, such as Wang Ximeng, who died early shortly after painting "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", which may not be unrelated to the fact that he created this work "served by things" too tired.
Interestingly, it can be taken as another example, in 2017, when the Forbidden City viewed the "Thousand Li Jiangshan Map", it was only learned that Wang Bing, a court painter of the Qianlong Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, had copied this work, and it was strange that he also passed away after copying the "Thousand Li Jiangshan Map" - although this can be attributed to coincidence, it is undeniable that such a huge work of work in the service of imperial power can be imagined to make the painter lose his life, which is as Dong Qichang said: "The portrayal is meticulous, for the creator, it is possible to lose life." This also shows why Chinese literati painting finally pursues freedom and adaptability? That is to say, it is not bound by things, and the painting is done in the end in pursuit of self-adaptation.
Qing Dynasty court painter Wang Bing copied parts of the "Picture Scroll of a Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains"
The Forbidden City's 2017 exhibition gave an account of Wang Bing's death shortly after his death in the Qing Dynasty's copy of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains"
Realistically speaking, the beauty of 18-year-old Wang Ximeng's paintings is not much inferior to any painting in the West, and from another point of view, the development of green landscapes in China is actually worth exploring in depth. Mr. Zong Baihua once mentioned in "Aesthetic Walk": "However, Chinese painting tends to be abstract pen and ink, light smoke and light colors, illusory like a dream, washed away lead, beyond the hue of Xuan Li Yao, 'music of color' in Chinese painting has long declined." (See tang dynasty-style murals up close, with rich colors and strong lines, reminiscent of the oil paintings of the early Renaissance painter Botticelli.) Fortunately, the painters of the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty always did not forget to take 'nature' as a teacher, and sought the true basis of pen and ink in the atmosphere of creation and transformation. Modern painters such as Shi Tao have also traveled all over the wonderland of mountains and rivers, transporting strange brush and ink, writing about the wonderful scenes that the gods will witness, the true qi is far out, and the magic is natural... Art should advance with cultural life; the road after Chinese painting must not only restore the beauty of the traditional pen and line patterns on the mainland and its great expressiveness, but also pay close attention to the real scene of color and rhyme, and create a rich and fresh hue world. ”
However, this sentence may only be the wishful thinking of Mr. Zong Baihua, and most of the works of green landscapes and paintings at present are vulgar, and the reasons for this may be thought-provoking.
After the Northern Song Dynasty, it is no accident that Chinese painting has gradually moved from a strong color to a simple road, and Chinese painting has stepped from heavy brushwork to advocating ink and freehand.
This is also of great reflective significance compared to some painters running for power or capital at present.
Pu Guang of the Yuan Dynasty has its qualifier for the "One-Step and Thousand Years" praised by the "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" - "In the Small Scene of Ancient and Modern Danqing", but if it is placed in a purely personal aesthetic point of view, to say his true feelings in his heart, in addition to admiration, he still has to say "This work is famous, long is long, bright is beautiful, but it is not a work that you really like".
Self-questioning, I am afraid that because of this lack of a kind of leisure, the lack of a kind of free and lively mind between pen and ink, and the more delicate and magnificent the carving, the inevitable there will always be ingenuity and deliberate attitude - of course, for an 18-year-old painting school student, such a requirement seems to be too harsh, if Wang Ximeng lived for a few more decades, and integrated into the Northern Song literati circle, accepting the aesthetic high quality of the real Northern Song literati, what would be the result of his landscape painting?
Part of The Song Dynasty Mi Youren's "Xiaoxiang Wonders"
(The original title of this article was "The Similarities and Differences between the Thousand Mile River and the Aesthetic Pursuit of the Northern Song Dynasty Literati.") ）