Also the real history of the Qing Dynasty

Western painter of the Forbidden City

For the sake of faith, Lang Shining did not hesitate to cross the ocean, and he traveled thousands of miles to China. Although he failed to complete his missionary mission, he used his paintbrush to open up a world in the qing dynasty painting world. This painter from a foreign country witnessed the prosperity of Kangqian in the Qing Dynasty and made a unique contribution to the cultural and artistic exchanges between China and Europe.

Missionaries from foreign countries

Born in Milan, Italy, in 1688, Lang Shining joined the Genoa Jesuits at the age of 19. He has a sincere love for painting, and has painted religious portraits of the Virgin and Christ for some churches.

At the time, the European Catholic Church considered China to be a vast and rich place with a lack of faith. In order to spread the gospel, many missionaries voluntarily fulfilled God's call and traveled to China despite difficulties. Lang Shining is one of them.

On May 4, 1714, at the age of 26, Lang Shining was sent to China, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, bypassing the Cape of Good Hope, crossing the Indian Ocean, and arriving in Macau in July of the fifty-fourth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1715). According to the practice of European missionaries taking Chinese names after coming to China at that time, he also took the Chinese name of Lang Shining.

Macau was the missionary center of the Eastern Catholic Church to enter the Chinese mainland had to pass through Macau, waiting here for approval from the Qing government. After a few months in Macau, Mr. Lang moved to Guangzhou and in November of the same year moved north to Beijing to live in the East Hall of the Catholic Church outside the Forbidden City's Donghua Gate.

The Kangxi Emperor loved science and art. Although he disagreed with the foreign missionaries' missionary work to Chinese, nor with their religion, he still had a good impression of the missionaries. Around him, there were many missionaries, whom the Kangxi Emperor regarded as scientists and artists.

Qing Palace painter

After Lang Shining came to Beijing, in order to get close to the rulers and facilitate his missionary work, he entered the court in the last years of the Kangxi Dynasty and became a court painter. At that time, there was a similar institution in the Qing court, namely the Ruyi Pavilion, which concentrated many painters, sculptors and other artistic craftsmen. Lang Shining works at ruyi pavilion.

He was one of the first Western painters to work in the Qing Palace. From then on, Lang Shining walked into the palace every morning from his apartment near Donghua Gate, reported to the palace guards at seven o'clock, and painted in a studio near the royal garden until he left the palace at five o'clock in the afternoon and returned home. In addition to painting, he also learned Chinese and did his best to integrate into Chinese society. To be in line with the Chinese appreciation of the fun.

Because there are no archival records to check, the specific painting activities of Lang Shining during the Kangxi Period are not yet known. Now we see his works signed with the word chancellor, which was painted in the first year of Yongzheng (1723). From then until the thirty-first year of Qianlong (1766), when he died, there were detailed records of his painting activities almost every year.

Lang Shining's exotic chiaroscuro style surprised the Yongzheng Emperor and praised him. The axis of the JuruiTu, the axis of the Songxian YingzhiTu in the second year of Yongzheng (1724), and the axis of the Baijuntu in the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728).

All were created in the first year of Yongzheng (1723), with a strong and distinct European painting style and mood, and also show his solid foundation of realism. According to the wishes of the Yongzheng Emperor, he also taught European oil painting techniques to Chinese painters Sun Weifeng, Wang Jiao, Ge Liang and Yongtai. For the Qing Dynasty court, many painters through the art of Chinese and Western painting were trained, so that court painting showed the characteristics of combining Chinese and Western.

In the second year of Yongzheng (1724), the Yongzheng Emperor began a large-scale expansion of the Yuanmingyuan. Lang Shining lived in the Yuanmingyuan for a long time and painted many paintings decorating the palace, including European-style oil paintings and flat paintings on the table European focal perspective paintings, with a deep three-dimensional effect. In the palace, Lang Shining created many historical paintings with the theme of major historical events at that time, as well as paintings of figures, portraits, flowers, birds and beasts, which were deeply loved and appreciated by the emperor.

He also had to abide by the painting system of the Qing Palace, which remained accurate after the emperor's approval. In addition to painting in the imperial palace, Lang Shining also had more exchanges with the Manchu nobles in Beijing at that time.

He had close relations with Yunxiang the Prince of Yi, Yunli the Prince of Guo, and Yunxi the Prince of Shen. He often painted for them, and many of his works have survived to this day. In addition, Lang Shining also had close ties with the prince Hong Li at that time. He also discussed the Western method of focal perspective painting with Nian Xiyao (Nian Gengyao's brother), who was the right hand man of the Ministry of Industry and wrote the book "Vision Studies" by Nian Xiyao, the first work in China to introduce the European focal perspective painting method.

Career as a court painter

One day, when Lang Shining met the Qianlong Emperor, his concubines were walking around, and he felt quite embarrassed. The Qianlong Emperor joked and asked him: Which of them do you think is the most beautiful? Lang Shining replied: The emperor's concubines Everyone is very beautiful. The Qianlong Emperor asked again: Which of those concubines do you think is the most beautiful yesterday?

The minister did not look at them, he was counting the tiles in the palace. Lang Shining replied. The Qianlong Emperor deliberately asked: How many tiles are there? Lang Shining replied: 30 pieces. The Qianlong Emperor ordered people to count. It's really good. The Emperor laughed and never made such a joke again.

Lang Shining's painting skills are superb. He blended Chinese and Western techniques to form a delicate and realistic, poetic and fresh painting style. His paintings also have a wide range of subjects, including people, portraits, animals, flowers and birds, landscapes, and mastery. In particular, he is famous for painting horses in the painting circles of the Qing Dynasty.

He uses light and shade to express the horse's sense of volume and fur texture. This horse is lifelike and has a strong sense of three-dimensionality. It was painted in the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728 Baijun Tu scroll is his representative work of painting horses.

At the beginning of Qianlong in 1736, Lang Shining and others successively painted portraits of the Qianlong Emperor and his empresses and concubines, that is, the scrolls of the Qianlong Emperor and his concubines. Among them, the emperor, empress, and concubine were painted by Lang Shining, the remaining seven were painted by Lang Shining's disciples, and the last three were court painters.

This photograph was specially designed for the Qianlong Emperor's personal reward. It is not public. It is usually sealed in a box. No one is allowed to steal the painting. Violators will be put to death.

Lang Shining was also involved in the creation of huge historical paintings. The equestrian map of the Mongolian Durbert Department attached by the Qianlong Emperor of the Chengde Mountain Resort, as well as the banquet map of the Ten Thousand Trees Garden of the Ten Thousand Trees Garden held in the Wanshu Garden of the Summer Resort to receive the Duerbert Department, the scene is spectacular, there are many characters, leaving valuable literature and reference materials for posterity.

In addition, Together with foreign painters such as Wang Zhicheng, Ai Qimeng and An Deyi, Lang Shining also drew a draft of the copperplate engraving of "The Return of the Qianlong Pingding Department to the War". He was not only responsible for painting, but also wrote specific explanations in Latin and French.

He is one of the main leaders. The set of 16 paintings was later shipped to Paris, France, where they were engraved in copperplate and printed. Unfortunately, when the group of copperplate engravings was shipped back to China from France, Lang Shining died of illness and did not see the masterpiece with his own eyes.

Lang Shining not only has a special talent in painting, but also has a unique concept in architecture. Around the twelfth year of Qianlong (1747), he and other foreign missionaries participated in the design of the European-style building (commonly known as the West Building) in changchun garden in the Summer Palace.

In the twenty-second year of Qianlong (1757), Lang Shining was 69 years old. According to China's custom of calculating age by imaginary age, it happens to be the 70th birthday. The Qianlong Emperor specially held a solemn birthday celebration ceremony for him, gave him a generous reward, and personally wrote down greetings.

Lang Shining came to China with missionary purposes, but he was a court painter all his life. On June 10, 1766 (July 16, 1766), Lang Died in Beijing at the age of 78.