In 1949, a tomb robber dug up a terrible painting in a Chu tomb in chenjia dashan in Changsha, Hunan Province, which later fell to a famous antique dealer
Cai Jixiang
in the hands.
Speaking of Cai Jixiang, it is also very interesting, he is a well-known hobby in Changsha for collecting cultural relics, and his knowledge in this area is very rich, and he will also restore cultural relics. The famous Four Sheep FangZun can be found and repaired, mainly thanks to Cai Jixiang's personal management.
In 1950, Cai Jixiang planned to go to Shanghai to sell a batch of cultural relics, but he was arrested and seized. Unexpectedly, he was originally arrested for selling cultural relics, and he was actually absorbed into the work of the Hunan Provincial Cultural Relics Management Committee because of his talent in this area, which is also a strange thing.
After entering the work of the Cultural Management Committee, Cai Jixiang donated the cultural relics of his family to the state, including many precious cultural relics, including the painting mentioned above, which was also donated by him. This painting is very important, it is the oldest surviving painting in China, the "Figure Dragon and Phoenix Painting".
The Figure Dragon and Phoenix Painting is a light color painting on silk in the Warring States period, 31 cm long and 22.5 cm wide. The so-called painting refers to the drawings painted on the silk fabric, before the invention and use of paper, people will record the painting on various materials, such as bamboo, wooden boards, silk fabrics and so on.
This painting, which is known as the earliest surviving painting in China, is a fine cultural relic of great research value, and plays an important role in the study of the ancient funerary system and the customs of the Chu people.
When we look at this painting now, we can clearly see the pattern on it. A woman in a long skirt and a high bun clasped her hands together, and on her upper left was a phoenix with a high neck and a high head, leaping upwards.
again
There is also a yellow dragon on the left side that rises and rises.
Whether it is the woman's character image, clothing, or the depiction of the dragon and phoenix, the pen is very smooth, rich in rhythmic ups and downs, and the whole picture is exquisitely composed and vivid.
Nowadays, the interpretation of this painting is unanimously believed that this woman is the owner of the tomb, and it shows the scene of the dragon and phoenix guiding the soul of the tomb owner to ascend to heaven.
However, in the beginning, there were some misunderstandings and ambiguities in the painting.
Because when I first received this painting, there were still stains on it that had not been cleaned, resulting in blurred lines in some of the pictures, such as the dragon could only see one foot.
In the 1950s, Guo Moruo became very interested after seeing "Character Dragon and Phoenix Painting", and specially wrote an evaluation, saying: "Changsha Xi paints pictures, Lingfeng fights evil slaves, and the good man He Jiaojian is still not alone." ”
Because the picture is not clear, the dragon can only see one foot, and Guo Moruo believes that this animal is a hammer in ancient mythology. The Classic of Mountains and Seas records: "There is a liubo mountain in the East China Sea, which flows seven thousand miles into the sea. There are beasts on it, shaped like an ox, with a body and no horns, one foot, and when entering and leaving the water, it will be windy and rainy, its light is like the sun and the moon, its sound is like thunder, and its name is called The Hammer. He had only one foot, roared like thunder, and was later skinned by the Yellow Emperor to make a drum.
Guo Moruo believes that the hammer is the representative of evil, symbolizing death, while the phoenix represents good, symbolizing life and peace. The two of them are "spirit phoenix fighting evil slaves", so Guo Moruo interprets this painting as a woman praying for the victory of the good spirit, peace and freedom. Therefore, the work was also named "Figure of the Phoenix".
Before the painting was cleansed, although there were many interpretations of whether it was a blessing or a curse, the animal was basically tacitly believed to be a one-footed hammer.
At the end of the 1970s, "Portrait of Dragons and Phoenixes" was sent to the Palace Museum for experts to clean and restore. As a result, after washing and shipping back, everyone was stunned, did this painting look like this?
After the scientific treatment of the painting, there are some new picture contents, and the people at the Hunan Provincial Museum once thought that it would not be a mistake. To this end, they also specially asked experts to identify, and finally found that it was correct, this is their own treasure.
After the lines and patterns were clearly visible, the "hammer" also revealed its other foot, and after re-study, everyone thought that it was not a hammer, but a dragon.
New research suggests that this picture actually depicts the divine dragon and phoenix guiding the soul of the tomb owner to ascend to heaven. At that time, because Guo Moruo's statement was too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, some people put forward a rebuttal, even if it was a dragon, it was a dragon that was defeated by feng, believing that it was "phoenix and dragon fighting", reflecting the spirit of the Chu people's victory over Baiyue.
The phoenix and dragon fight, or the dragon and phoenix cooperate, and the current view basically recognizes the latter.
The funeral system of the Chu people is different from that of the Central Plains, the Chu people "respect the ghosts and worship well", they believe that after death, the "soul" can ascend to the kingdom of heaven, and the "Lu" can enter the earth for safety, so at that time, the Chu people were popular to summon the souls of the dead. They would use the soul flag to summon the soul, that is, a flag propped up with a bamboo pole, and usually walk at the front of the line when they came out of the funeral.
A T-shaped painting excavated from the Mawangdui No. 1 Han Tomb
The image of the owner of the tomb will be painted on this soul flag, and then the phoenix, dragon and other sacred objects will be painted, representing its soul ascending to heaven under the guidance of the sacred object.
Another interesting point is that the contrast between the size of the dragon and the phoenix in this painting is obvious, the phoenix occupies a large area, and the momentum is completely higher than that of the dragon, which is a proper C position.
In Chu culture, the phoenix is their totem, the god who communes with their supreme god, the Eastern Emperor Taiyi, a unique divine bird, which best represents the vigorous and brilliant Chu style.
In this way, this Chu ren painting of more than 2,000 years ago, with a flexible phoenix dragon and tall and handsome figures, constitutes a very romantic visual symbol, full of the magnificent imagination of the Chu people, and perfectly presented in front of the world.