"Who negative spin dry hands, when spring stings"
Sting, also known as "enlightenment", is the third of the twenty-four solar terms. Sting is the busy agricultural season of "the Tian family is idle for a few days, and the cultivation starts from here", it is the spring season of "smoke and rain are wet and dry, and the apricot blossoms are frightened and cold", and it is also the festival of spring thunder and grass insects.
In ancient paintings and calligraphy, "grass worms" are a very important subject under the painting of flowers and birds. The depiction of grass worms is currently first seen in Tang Dynasty tomb murals. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, with the maturity of flower and bird painting, many famous artists who were good at painting grass insects appeared, such as Xu Xi's "good flowers and bamboo trees, cicada butterfly grass insects and the like", Xu Chongsi's "good at painting grass insects and time fruits" and so on. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, flower and bird painting showed a variety of faces, and grass and insect painting also evolved with its development, reaching an unprecedented prosperity in number and form. In modern times, there are also people like Qi Baishi who are good at painting grass worms.
The term "grass worm" first appeared in the history of painting in the Northern Song Dynasty Huang Xiufu's "Yizhou Famous Paintings", a record of the late Tang Dynasty painter Teng Changyou, who said that Teng Changyou "painted cicada butterfly grass worms, called dot painting, Cover Tang Dynasty Lu Gao, Liu Bao and the like". Subsequently, in the relevant painting history works of the Song people, "grass worms" appeared many times, such as Liu Daool's "Commentary on Famous Paintings of the Song Dynasty" comments on Xu Xi, Tang Xiya, and Xu Chongsi under the flower bamboo feathers: Xu Xi "good flowers and bamboo trees, cicada butterfly grass worms and the like", Tang Xiya "feather grass worms and the like, more than the fun of the countryside", Xu Chongsi "good at painting grass insects and fruits, flowers and silkworm cocoons".
Collection of Famous Paintings Song Wu Bingjia Grass Worm (Partial) Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
The Xuanhe Pictorial Notation also records many famous works of grass insects collected by Emperor Huizong's ChaoneiFu, such as Gu Yewang's "Grass Worm Figure I", Diao Guangyin's "Chicken Crown Grass Worm Figure I", Huang Xiao's "Sketching Grass Worm Figure I", Xu Xi's "Sketching Grass Worm Figure I", "Eggplant Grass Worm Figure I" and "Grass Worm Figure II", Xu Chongsi's "Medicine Seedling Grass Worm Figure I" and "Eggplant Grass Worm Figure I", Guo Yuanfang's "Grass Worm Figure III", Li Yanzhi's "Sketching Grass Worm Figure 1", monk Junning's "Grass Worm Figure I", a total of 23 pieces, from the names of these works, the grass worm painting at this time, Grass worms "not only contrast with flowers, vegetables and fruits, but also can be made alone.
Interestingly, the "grass worm" in the eyes of the Song people is not the "grass worm" in the eyes of today's people. In the eyes of the Song people, there is a difference between "grass worms" and "bees", "cicadas", "butterflies" and "cockroaches". Today's concept of "grass worms" has undergone earth-shaking changes compared to the Song people, today's "grass worms" means "insects", including a wider range, the Song people's painting history recorded in the "cicada butterfly", "bee butterfly", "cockroach" type of works can be seen as grass worm painting in the eyes of today's people.
Five Generations huang zhen "Sketching Rare Birds" volume Collection of the Palace Museum
For example, in Huang Xiao's "Sketching Rare Birds" volume now in the Palace Museum, the painter depicts many creatures in nature with fine lines and strong colors, and paints a total of 24 insects, birds and finches and turtles on the small silk, all of which are outlined with fine lines and then given color. The insects in the painting are large and small, although the small ones only resemble bean grains, they are very delicately depicted, the whiskers and claws are prominent, and the wings are transparent and vivid, showing the author's skillful modeling ability and exquisite pen and ink skills, which is amazing.
Five Generations Huang Xiao "Sketching Rare Birds" Volume (Partial) Collection of the Palace Museum
In addition, the Palace Museum's collections of "Qingchun Butterfly Drama Picture Page", "Begonia Butterfly Picture Page", "Qingfeng Giant Butterfly Picture Page", "Sketch grass insect picture page" and "Jiahe grass worm" and "Wild Vegetable Grass Worm" collected by the National Palace Museum in Taipei all show the meticulous observation and profound realistic skills of the Song Dynasty painters. For example, "Sunny Spring Butterfly Drama Picture Page" depicts 15 butterflies and 1 wasp such as graceful phoenix butterflies and petite and pure pink butterflies, or flattened wings, or fluttering wings, like beautiful flower clusters blooming in the bright spring light, vividly reflecting the creative theme of "butterfly play". In the shaping of bees and butterflies, the outline and rendering are integrated, first with a very thin and light line outline, and then "color with the class", or with pink, white, earth yellow multi-layer color, or in the ink line to fill in the color, blending fine and rich color, showing the brilliant beauty of the butterfly wings.
Song "Qingchun Butterfly Drama" page Collection of the Palace Museum
"Green Maple Giant Butterfly Picture Page" in the lower left of a tender green maple tree, the branches and leaves are fragile. A giant ochre yellow butterfly flew from the upper right side of the sky, forming a balanced diagonal relationship with the maple leaves. There are also bright red ladybirds lying on the maple leaves, which is very playful. The painting style is highly realistic and meticulous. The characteristics of the painting method are first, the thin line is outlined, the pen is like a gossamer, so that the forms of butterflies and branches and leaves are extremely light and delicate; the second is that the color is light and bright, and the red, green and yellow contrast is clear, giving people a sense of fresh dust and not falling into a thick and vulgar set.
Song "Qingfeng Giant Butterfly" page Collection of the Palace Museum
Song Sketching Grass Insect Diagram Page Collection of the Palace Museum
The right side of the picture of "Sketching Grass Worms" is painted with wild flowers and grasses, interspersed with dog tails and aster leaves. Butterflies fall on the flowers to absorb nectar, dragonflies fly slowly, grasshoppers leap and jump, and the whole picture is full of movement. The equilateral triangle composition of the three insects on the screen balances the center of gravity bias caused by the overgrown weeds, making the structure of the picture stable. Wild grasses and flowers and leaves are filled with flower green and juice green, flowers are made out of the boneless method, and insects are written with a part-time work belt, and the form is realistic.
Famous Painting Collection Album Song Wu Bingjia Grass Worm Collection Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
The Southern Song Dynasty painter Wu Bing's painting "Jiahe Grass Worm" shows two rice plants growing back and forth, the rice leaves stretch out like orchid leaves, hanging down green rice ears, and butterflies, flowerflies and dragonflies flying around. Both the leaves and the ears of rice are partially beyond the boundaries of the canvas, originally hand-rolled, and later framed into albums due to damage. The surface where the rice is located is actually a watery sea, in addition to the layers of water streaks, there are also faint algae under the surface of the water.
Song YuanJi Illustrated Album Song Xudi Wild Vegetables and Grass Insects Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
The Composition of the Southern Song Dynasty painter Xu Di's "Wild Vegetables and Grass Worms" is very simple, only one cabbage plant is painted on the ground, and one locust, plus pink butterflies and dragonflies flying low in the sky, and the four themes occupy the four corners of the canvas. This kind of chapter is originally extremely rigid, but everything is painted very eloquently. Compared with the famous Qing Dynasty jade carving "Jade Cabbage" collected by the National Palace Museum in Taipei, this cabbage painted by the Southern Song Dynasty painter is not inferior at all!
After five generations of development and the development of the Song and Yuan dynasties, flower and bird painting has been perfected in terms of painting methods and painting theory. The delicate flower and bird paintings of the five generations of Huang Xiao, Xu Xi's ink flowers and birds, the boneless flowers and birds paintings of Xu Chongsi in the Northern Song Dynasty, the wild and simple ink flower and bird paintings of the Southern Song Dynasty Liang Kai, Fa Chang, and Wen Riguan, as well as the yuan dynasty Xiao Shan's light and relaxed, book-based paintings, gentle and elegant ink flower and bird paintings, all play an important role in the development of Ming and Qing dynasty flower and bird paintings, Ming and Qing dynasty flower and bird paintings also seek innovation and change in this system, showing a variety of appearances, and then creating the peak of large-scale freehand flower and bird painting, grass worm painting also evolved with its development, in terms of quantity, Morphologically, it has reached an unprecedented prosperity.
Ming Sun Long, Flowers, Birds, Grasses and Insects, Shanghai Museum Collection
Emperor Mingxuan's "History of Imperial Painting" Sun Long was known for his good at painting grass worms, and his paintings of flowers and birds were a family of their own, known as "boneless figures". The "Ming Painting Record" records that it "painted the feathered grass worms, all rendered in color, xu Chongsi and Zhao Chang boneless diagram method, which is interesting", it can be seen that Sun Long's boneless method was taken from Xu Chongsi. Its existing "Atlas of Flowers, Birds, Grasses and Insects" is colored on silk, with a total of twelve figures, depicting lotus pond owl, indigo mantis, algae cicada and other contents. The author skillfully uses the boneless technique, and the flowers, birds, grasses and insects are directly dyed with colored essays, and the pen is concise and the shape is good. Sun Long developed Xu Chongsi's boneless method into thick brush dot dyeing, and his grass worm paintings were also appreciated by the Ming Xuan Emperor Zhu Zhanji for his boneless method of "dot dyeing".
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Wumen school of painting rose, they chased after the Yuanren painting style, the poetry and calligraphy into the literati freehand flower and bird painting, this school also has a number of famous artists who are good at painting grass worms, such as Shen Zhou, Du Dacheng, Du Yan, Zhou Zhimian, Wang Qiao, etc., and there are many grass worm works preserved. The painters of the Wumen School of painting re-painted the way of life, the painting is careful to be suitable, and the grass worms made are light ink and elegant, such as Shen Zhou's "Lying Tour Atlas", the pen and ink are true, and should belong to the works of Yi Laixing.
Shen Zhou's "Sleeping Tour Atlas" Collection of the Palace Museum
In addition to the grass worms in the freehand form, the grass worms in the form of the Ming Dynasty Gong pen are also excellent. Chen Hongshou's Spring Wind Butterfly Picture Scroll depicts, bamboo branches, begonias, daffodils, butterflies, strange stones, and pear blossoms, which are beautiful in color and rich in decorative meaning.
Ming Chen Hongshou Spring Wind Butterfly Picture Scroll Shanghai Museum Collection
Ming Chen Hongshou Spring Wind Butterfly Picture Scroll (Partial) Shanghai Museum Collection
The grass worm painting of the Qing Dynasty inherits the tradition of the Ming Dynasty, and there are many famous artists who are good at painting grass worms, and the form is also richer. Among them, the grass worms in the form of a pen are the most important in Zhu Rulin's "Grass Worm Roll", and the long volume of more than 4 meters depicts 70 grass worms of all sizes, each of which is vivid, and the pen strength is thin and healthy, the color is elegant, and it is indeed a rare sketching masterpiece. At the end of the volume, the artist's own inscription says that it was when he was gathering with his literary friends that he was in a sudden mood and spent a month to complete the painting, hoping to exchange it for the works of poets. From this point of view, the painter is also a gentleman!
Qing Zhu Rulin painted grass worms, scrolls, collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei
Qi Baishi Grass Worm Collection of Beijing Painting Academy
The modern master Qi Baishi is a landmark figure in the development of grass worm painting, and he has opened up another peak of grass worm painting since the Ming and Qing dynasties. Qi Baishi's painting of grass worms, more abundant than before, whether it is work, writing, or work and writing combination, he pays great attention to the shape and structure of grass worms, he paints the "essence" of grass worms, in addition to his extremely meticulous observation and strong painting skills, it is also derived from his deep understanding of objects, those colorful, full of vitality of grass worms, in fact, infiltrated by his strong subjective aesthetic refinement, which is also his superiority.
(This article is compiled from the relevant materials of the National Palace Museum, the National Palace Museum in Taipei, and the article "Grass Worms in Chinese Paintings".) ）