The fables in ancient Chinese flower and bird painting refers to the allusion and projection of human emotions and character on the objects and images painted, which can be symbols and metaphors, and can also be subtle connections in emotions and thoughts. Compared with Western still life paintings, ancient Chinese flower and wood paintings pay more attention to the connection between them and human emotions, such as Meilan Zhuju, which conveys the gentlemanly style of the literati and gentlemen, and peony and peony, which render the wealth and magnificence of princes and nobles. The entertaining characteristics of flower and wood painting have also formed a unique chinese flower and wood culture, from the "Book of Poetry" and "Chu Ci" to Tang poems and Song Ci, there are a large number of chanting descriptions of flowers and trees.
In the book "Yuxing: The History of Images of Flowers and Trees", Wang Zhongxu, a research librarian of the Calligraphy and Painting Department of the Palace Museum and a doctor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, selected a large number of ancient Chinese flower and wood paintings, in addition to interpreting their picture layout, color setting and brushstrokes from the perspective of painting, and further explored the traces of the objects in the paintings in poetry and song, and the role of them in the culture of flowers and trees.
This article excerpts the section "Flowers and Trees of the Southern Song Dynasty Court".
Yuxing: An Pictorial History of Flowers and Trees, by Wang Zhongxu, Edition: Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing House, January 2021
The original author 丨 Wang Zhongxu
Excerpt from Xiao Shuyan
The Southern Song Dynasty court paintings of flowers and trees flourished, and the number of painters recorded in the literature and the number of existing paintings increased suddenly. Judging from the framed forms of existing paintings, the prosperity of flower and wood paintings in the Southern Song Dynasty court may be related to the popularity of albums, tuan fans and other small piece paintings, which is in line with the aesthetic taste of the Southern Song Court advocating small and exquisite. The style of flower and wood painting in the Southern Song Dynasty court mostly belongs to the Seiko color set all the way, some have simple painter signatures in the corners or hidden places, and the representative painters are Lin Chun, Ma Yuan, Ma Lin, Li Song, Lu Zonggui, Zhu Shaozong and so on.
"Grape Grass Worm Diagram" page, Southern Song Dynasty, Lin Chun, Collection of the Palace Museum.
Lin Chun (date of birth and death unknown) was a scholar of the Chunxi Dynasty, who was taught by Zhao Chang, and the "Painting Succession Supplement" called him "Fu Se Defa", and the "Illustrated Treasure Book" also called him "Fu Color Is Light, Deep in the Wonders of Creation". Lin Chun's "Grape Grass Insect Map" takes the part where the grapes are hanging heavily, the leaves are decaying and there are many holes, and there are four kinds of insects between the branches and vines, dragonflies, praying mantises, grasshoppers and scarab beetles, and the scale is extremely subtle. The lower left of this painting is signed with the "Lin Chun" section, the signature and the outline pen of grapes and insects are relatively slender, the color is light and elegant, the silk bottom line is thicker and the silk color is darker, and the color ink is immersed in the silk, or the early works of Lin Chun.
"Fruit Ripe Bird Diagram" page, Southern Song Dynasty, Lin Chun, The Palace Museum collection.
"Loquat Mountain Bird Picture Page", Southern Song Dynasty, Lin Chun, Collection of the Palace Museum.
Lin Chun also has a Fruit Ripe Bird Diagram page, Loquat Mountain Bird Diagram page respectively painted the fruit has matured Lin Yu (also known as bird, sand fruit), loquat tree one of the branches,, embroidery eyes are perched on the branches, fruit, leaves in a clear and elegant color blending, hidden contour lines, highlighting the leaves of the wormhole decaying traces. Among them, the "Fruit Ripe Bird Diagram" page (hereinafter referred to as the "Forbidden City") is signed with the "Lin Chun" section in the lower left of this page, and the signature and the outline of the Lin Chun tree are both thick and strong with a pen; although the page of "Loquat Mountain Bird Map" has no paragraph, it is similar to the style of the previous picture and is the same set, so the judgment is also Lin Chun pen.
These two figures are accurate in shape, exquisite in penmanship, and elegant in color, and should be the works of Lin Chun's mature period. The National Palace Museum in Taipei also has a tuan fan similar to the composition of "Fruit Ripe Bird Picture" (hereinafter referred to as "Taipei National Palace"), and the inscription on the right of the framer reads: "Huang Zheng's "Ping Po Mountain Bird". Compared with the two figures, it can be found that the bird feathers of the Forbidden City, the shape of the leaves and beetles are more delicate and realistic, the Taipei Forbidden City is relatively rough and loses some details; the branches that stretch out diagonally on the right side of the Forbidden City are slightly folded upwards at the end, the head of the is slightly upward, and the eyes are also looking upwards, showing an upward momentum, so that the picture is full of vitality, the branches that stretch out obliquely on the right side of the Taipei National Palace are folded downwards, and the dynamics of the tit's head are weakened upwards, especially the eyes are circled with ink pens, Therefore, it lost the momentum and vitality in the Forbidden City. It is speculated that the Forbidden City should have been the ancestor of the National Palace in Taipei.
Meishixi Jietu page, Southern Song Dynasty, Ma Yuan, Palace Museum collection.
Ma Yuan (date of birth and death unknown) was a painter of the Guangzong and Ningzong dynasties, famous for painting landscapes and landscapes, and was also good at flowers and birds. His page "Plum Rock Creek" depicts the scene of plum branches hanging upside down on the edge of the water cliff and the duck swimming by, which is in line with the poetry of Su Shi's "Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet". The thin trunk in the picture is outlined with a side pen double hook, and the inside is dyed with ink, and the plum blossoms have pink and white colors, which is in line with the characteristics of Jiangmei (also known as right-horned plum and wild plum) opened in "the desolate and cold place of the mountain waterfront" and "the flowers are slightly smaller, and the thinness has rhyme" as fan Chengda's "Plum Spectrum". There is a "Ma Yuan" signature between the rocks in the lower left of this painting.
White Rose Diagram page, Southern Song Dynasty, Ma Yuan, Palace Museum collection.
Ma Yuan's "White Rose Diagram" page takes one of the branches of the rose flower, the rose flower is depicted from a variety of perspectives such as pitching, leaning, and sideways, the petals are painted with a fine brush and light ink, and then dyed with white powder, vine yellow and white powder, and careful inspection can be seen that the outline of the leaf is made of trivial fine pens, in order to highlight the characteristics of jagged teeth, reflecting the vitality of natural creation in the subtle brushwork. At the bottom right of this page, there is a "Ma Yuan" signature. This figure uses a thin pen, which is not similar to the Mayuan landscape and the figure brush method, Xu Bangda said that "the appearance of Zhiyuan has a variety of styles".
Evian Xianxing Map page, Southern Song Dynasty, Ma Yuan, National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Ma Yuan's "Evian Xian Apricot Map" page depicts an apricot blossom protruding obliquely from the lower left, the apricot branch is double hooked with a fine ink pen, and the inside is dyed with ink and light brown, highlighting the sense of luster; the apricot blossoms are unopened, wanting to open, half open, fully open and other forms, full of variation. In the lower left of this painting, there is a signature of "Chenma Yuanhua", and the handwriting is thinner, similar to the signature of "White Rose Figure". On the right side of this page there is an inscription poem by Empress Yang of Song Ningzong: "The wind is delicate and charming, and the dew is red." "The lower plutonium kun seal and the "Yang surname Hanmo" seal, the left side of this frame has the "Jiaocui Xuan" seal.
"Cascading Ice Silk Map" axis, Southern Song Dynasty, Ma Lin, Palace Museum collection.
Ma Yuan's son Ma Lin (born and died unknown) served in the Southern Song Dynasty Lizong Dynasty Painting Academy, and his "Cascading Ice Silk Diagram" axis painted three plum branches from the right oblique, the composition was simple and elegant, the plum branches were thin and strong, the branches were plum blossoms or buds or blooming, and the open petals were stacked. On the left side of this picture, there is the inscription of Empress Yang of Song Ningzong "Cascading Ice Silk", which is a silk as thin as ice and as white as snow, describing the exquisite and luxurious plum blossoms, as if it were cut out of thin and white silk. There is also a Yang inscription poem on this page: "Muddy like a cold butterfly flower room, embracing the sandalwood heart to remember the old incense." It is especially cute to open to the cold, which must be Han Palace makeup. Give the king a lift. The handwriting is similar to the inscription poem of Empress Yang on Ma Yuan's "White Rose Diagram", and the seal of "Chengzi Kunning Hanmo" and "Chapter of Yang Surname" is printed. "Han Palace Makeup" borrows the allusion of the plum blossom makeup of the Southern Dynasty Song Shouyang Princess: The Daughter of the Southern Dynasty Song Wu Emperor Shouyang Princess lies under the eaves of the Zhang Hall, there are plum blossoms falling on the forehead, into five flowers, whisked away, washed away in three days, the palace women compete to imitate, this makeup is plum blossom makeup. According to Xiang Dingxuan's "Hu Huan Diary", he once saw Ma Yuan's painting of four screen plum blossoms, namely white jade butterfly plum, snow red plum, smoke lock red plum and green calyx jade butterfly, each of which has Yang's inscription poem, of which not only the Yang inscription poem in the "Green Calyx Jade Butterfly Diagram" is the same as Ma Lin's "Cascading Ice Silk Diagram", but also the picture also has the four characters of "Cascading Ice Silk" and the seal of "Chapter of Yang Surname" in the plutonium. The author of Ma Yuansimei Tuping is missing, or the posterity is forged according to Ma Linsi Meitu Screen, according to which it can be seen that Ma Lin's "Cascading Ice Silk Diagram" should be a green calyx plum. Green calyx plum is a famous species of plum blossoms, named after the green calyx, Fan Chengda's "Plum Spectrum" recorded: "Green calyx plum, all plum blossoms are purple, but this pure green, the branches are also green, especially for the high, good deeds than the nine doubtful immortal calyx green." "The calyx in this figure is pale blue, which should be caused by the shedding of green pigment.
Hui Lan Tu page, Southern Song Dynasty, Ma Lin, Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.
Ma Lin's "Hui Lan Tu" page (formerly known as "Lan Tu") depicts a plant of Hui Lan, a dry five flowers, a simple composition, exquisite shape, with a strong pen, flowers and leaves color a light and elegant, beautiful contrast. This painting is signed with "Ma Lin" section, and the handwriting is similar to the "Cascading Ice Silk Map". Huang Tingjian said: "To the one who has one dry flower and more than one flower, Lan Ye; one dried to five or seven flowers and insufficient incense, Hui Ye." The fine leaves are orchids, and the broad leaves are called hui. "It can be seen that the picture should be drawn as Hui.
"Orange and Green Map" page, Southern Song Dynasty, Ma Lin, Collection of the Palace Museum.
Ma Lin's "Orange Green Map" page depicts the process of citrus turning from green to yellow on the branches, yellow orange peel is based on white powder and then apply light yellow, and now the yellow pigment has fallen off, this painting is signed "Ma Lin" model. After the autumn frost, citrus turns from green to yellow, and has always been the object of poet chanting, such as Qu Yuan's "green and yellow mixture, rotten articles", Li Deyu's "Huashi turns yellow, the autumn color of moving rivers and pools", etc., it can be seen that this picture not only shows the principle of natural creation, but also communicates with poetry.
Summer Flower Basket Diagram page, Southern Song Dynasty, Li Song, Palace Museum collection.
Li Song (1166-1243) served in the three dynasties of Guangzong, Ningzong and Lizong, and his "Four Seasons Flower Basket Diagram" page (four paintings) respectively painted the spring, summer, autumn and winter flowers and trees inserted in the bamboo basket, with rich levels of flowers and trees, unique ingenuity, exquisite and realistic painting method, and brilliant and elegant colors. In the Song Dynasty, most of the flower sellers used flower baskets to celebrate, such as the "Mengliang Record" recorded that in the late spring season, "the flower sellers were flourished with horse-headed bamboo blue, the songs were called in the market, and the buyers were scattered", Li Song's paintings were obviously not flower baskets sold at random in the street market, but carefully modified flower arrangement art, which was consistent with his identity as a court painter. Among them, the "Summer Flower Basket Diagram" (common name "Flower Basket Diagram") depicts hollyhock flowers, gardenias, pomegranates, grasses (golden and red flowers), and nocturnal flowers. The calyx of the flower petals, the opening and closing pitching, the texture of the veins of the leaves, and the flexion and extension of the dorsal flexion are all delicately and vividly depicted, among which the pomegranate leaves and okra leaves have decay and beetle hole marks, and there is a "Li Song painting" signature in the lower left of this painting. "Winter Flower Basket Diagram" (common name "Flower Basket Diagram") shows camellias, green calyx plums, plums, daffodils, and Ruixiang, and there is a "Li Song Painting" signature at the bottom left of this painting. There is also a "Spring Flower Basket Diagram" (common name "Flower Basket Diagram") painted with peach, rose, weeping begonia, forsythia and lin dan flowers, and there is a "Li Song Painting" signature in the lower right of this painting.
"Auspicious Multi-Son Diagram" page, Southern Song Dynasty, Lu Zonggui, Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA.
Lu Zonggui (date of birth and death unknown) was a painter of the Imperial Household during the reign of Emperor Shaoding of Lizong, and his pages of the Auspicious Multi-Son Diagram depict pomegranates, grapes, and citrus. The pomegranate peel is scarred, part of the peel is broken, revealing the tender berries, the purple-brown color used to depict the grapes is now a little dark, the citrus peel is green and yellow, and the yellow pigment has fallen off. Pomegranates and grapes all have the meaning of having multiple seeds, and the circle of citrus symbolizes reunion, and the color is yellow like gold, which means auspiciousness. On the left green leaf of this painting there is the signature of "Lu Zonggui".
"Chrysanthemum Flying Butterfly Diagram" page, Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Shaozong, Palace Museum collection.
Zhu Shaozong (date of birth and death unknown) also worked for the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy, and his "Chrysanthemum Flying Butterfly Diagram" page depicts chrysanthemums of yellow, white, red and purple in the scale, with a rich variety of chrysanthemums, brilliant like brocade, butterflies and bees flying between the flowers, showing the brightness and fragrance of autumn colors. At the bottom left of this painting, there is a signature of "Zhu □□", the last two words of silk are peeled off, and on the right side of the framer there is the inscription of the Qing Palace "Zhu Shaozong's "Chrysanthemum Flying Butterfly".
In addition to the painter's office, there are also some anonymous and beautiful Southern Song Dynasty flowers and trees that have been preserved. According to the theme, one is the traditional themes that have appeared in the Tang Dynasty in the fifth dynasty, such as peonies, begonias, and lotuses; the other is orchids, daffodils, vase flowers and other newly emerged themes in the Song Dynasty.
Peony Chart page, Southern Song Dynasty, Anon.
The page of "Peony Diagram" is painted with purple-red peonies, one stem and three flowers, which means auspicious, and is suspected to be the famous peony Wei Zi. The Northern Song Dynasty Ouyang Xiu's "Luoyang Peony Record" records that there are peonies in the courtyard of Wei Renpu, the chancellor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, as "Thousand Leaf Flesh Red Flowers", called Wei Hua, and the Northern Song Dynasty Qian Wei said: "People call the Peony Flower King, and now Yao Huang zhi can be the king, and Wei Hua is the queen." Ouyang Xiu and other Song people also repeatedly mentionEd Wei Zi in their poems, along with Yao Huang. Qing Yu Pengnian's "Peony Spectrum of Caozhou" records: "Wei Zi, purple fetus, fat stem, dark green and large leaves on the branches, purple flowers." He also said that the Dusheng recorded by Zhou Shihou in the Northern Song Dynasty was Wei Zi. The color of the peony flowers in this figure is purple-red, the stem is fat, and the leaves are dark green, which is consistent with the characteristics of Wei Zi.
Begonia Butterfly Diagram page, Southern Song Dynasty, Anon. Collection, Palace Museum.
The page of "Begonia Butterfly Diagram" shows the situation of blowing one branch of the begonia in the wind, the begonia leaves and flowers sway to the side under the blowing of the wind, and the butterflies seem to be frightened and flying in the wind, and the picture has a strong sense of dynamics and uniqueness.
"Izumi Furong Map" page, Southern Song Dynasty, Anon.
The page of "Izumi Hibiscus" expresses the mood of the lotus flower "out of the mud without staining" with fine lines and beautiful colors, and the huge lotus flower almost occupies the entire picture of the tuan fan, and the lotus canopy, flower buds, pollen, petals, lotus leaves, and stems are all delicately presented. The Northern Song Dynasty Zhou Dunyi's "Love Lotus Sayings" said that "to give the only love lotus out of the mud without staining, Mao Qing lian without demon, straight in the middle, not vine without branches, fragrant far and clear, pavilion pure plant, can be viewed from a distance and can not be blasphemed", the form, color, fragrance of the lotus flower and the character of the gentleman. This figure also highlights its elegant and noble qualities through the delicate depiction of the shape and color of the lotus flower.
Qiulan Blooming Chart page, Southern Song Dynasty, Anon.
The Chu state Qu Yuan and the Western Han Dynasty Sima Xiang both referred to Zelan in the words, and the Song people had a clear distinction between Orchid and Zelan, Lan and Hui. The Lando mentioned in the Song and later refers to orchid grass, also known as Youlan. In addition, orchids are divided into spring orchids and autumn orchids because of the different flower opening seasons, such as the Southern Song Dynasty Luo Wish to say that "Jiangnan orchids only spring fangs, Jingchu and Fujian zhongqiu revival, so there are spring orchids, autumn orchids". The entry of orchids into pictures is closely related to the aesthetic interest of the literati, and Molan is the subject matter that the literati painters of the Song Dynasty liked to express, and also influenced the creation of court painters. The page of "Autumn Orchid BloomIng Map" uses ink pen to outline the outline of orchid grass, and then fill it with light colors, especially highlighting the insect erosion and lack of insects and beetles in the outline of orchid leaves, which is not only quite vivid in shape, but also points out the autumn season. There is no author's print on this canvas, but there is a "Jiaocui Xuan Seal" in the middle and upper plutonium, which is also found in Ma Yuan's "Evian XianXing Map". On the opposite page there is a Qianlong Imperial Pen inscription poem: "Writing Lan Anti's "Chu Ci" is also enough to end the ancient world." The bottom recognizes that it is autumn, and the leaves are thinned to protect the cold buds. Meaning ordinary people, or distant generations of their sons. It is mentioned that the painting should have such a background as "Ma Lin's "Qiulan Blooming Rui", and believes that the painting may have been made by Ma Yuan, the father of Ma Lin.
Editor 丨 Zhang Jin
Introduction part of the proofreading 丨 Chen Diyan