During the Qing Dynasty, the national strength was relatively strong, the economy also developed relatively fast, and the cultural development of the Qing Dynasty was very rapid, especially in painting. In the early Qing Dynasty, the painting style continued the style of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, mostly based on the culture of painters, and with the development of society and the continuous improvement of cultural level, the literati and scholars innovated and developed on the basis of the original painting, and formed different schools in painting style and content. During the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, court portraits were developed, and the most outstanding court painting was Yu Zhiding.
Yu Zhiding
Early life
Yu Zhiding, a Chinese painter of the Qing Dynasty and a native of Jiangdu, Jiangsu (present-day Yangzhou), excelled at painting birds and landscapes, of which portraits were the best. In the "Xinghua County Chronicle of Yu Zhiding", it is recorded: "Young and lowly, luotuo is not even." "Yu Zhiding grew up in a poor family, in order to earn a living as a child servant in the Li family, this Li family is the late Ming Dynasty official Shangshu Li Chunfang's descendants, they are very good at painting. Yu Zhiding's encounter with Li is equivalent to meeting a nobleman, the owner of the Li family saw Yu Zhiding's wisdom and cleverness, so he accepted him as a book boy to teach him to paint, and then the great painter Lan Ying of the Ming Dynasty went to the Li family as a guest, it is said that he taught Yu Zhiding to paint, and the history of painting records that he was "the young master Lan Ying", but this statement cannot be verified. Yu Zhiding himself is very diligent, and often practices painting, coupled with the legend of Lan Ying, a great painter from the Ming Dynasty, the young Yu Zhiding is already quite famous in painting.
Yu Zhiding's figure paintings
Meet celebrity painters
Yu Zhiding was already famous in his twenties, and his portrait painting was very good, so he also made friends with many celebrity painters. Wu Weiye was a famous poet and painter of the Ming and Qing dynasties, one of the nine friends in the painting, and he was also the object of Yu Zhiding's worship. At that time, Yu Zhiding admired Wu Weiye very much, and Wu Weiye was also famous for this descendant for a long time, and then in order to meet this descendant, he also asked him to paint a portrait of himself, and the two had a good conversation after meeting. Yu Zhiding also participated in a gathering in the literary circle after that, in this gathering, he became acquainted with Xu Qianxue, the calligrapher Jiang Chenying, the poet Wang Maolin and others, and at that time he was also called to paint a painting for the three people, and the painting was called "Three Sons Lian sentence map" The young and less famous Yu Zhiding could paint the famous literati, which showed that Yu Zhiding's talent at that time was appreciated by everyone, and it can also be seen that the literati valued him.
Wu Weiye
Become a court painter
In the twelfth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, due to Yu Zhiding's fame, the Kangxi Emperor admired him very much after hearing about him, so he sent him to hongxu temple to serve as a prefect. Hongxu Temple is a place to manage etiquette, but also responsible for the reception of foreigners to the capital, the prelude class is responsible for the attendant class, Qi ban, correction and praise and other ceremonies, and the work of Yu Zhiding's prelude class is mainly to paint portraits for officials seen on the pilgrimage, Yu Zhiding has since become a court painter.
The Kangxi Emperor
Wu Xuan's "Xi Zhai Collection" records: "Kangxi Bingyin, Ding Jiaojian, Joseon, Annam, Ryukyu, Helan, Xiyang, Turfan, Siam, Lama, Aros, Kharkefan Ten Kingdoms, its king Li Chun and other envoys sent envoys to pay tribute, the story of Dahongqi led the envoys to see Chaobi, gave the banquet ceremony department, then the East Sea official ceremonial department waiter." The guest of the public Guangling Yusheng is a good person. On the day of the public accompaniment banquet, the life of the sac pen to follow, the birth from the side of the view, fold small square paper, rough writing, retreat to the silk of the picture. All of them are clothed with swords and shoes, and the genus of hair and bones, all of them are Bi xiao, Tu Cheng, gong take the righteousness of the King of the Zhou Shu Wang Hui, and the fate is called "Wang Hui Tu". ”
Yu Zhiding was deeply appreciated by Kangxi for his portraits, and in kangxi's twenty-first year, he was sent to Ryukyu, which was arguably the most glorious moment of his life. In ancient times, envoys were all tasks assigned by the emperor, but Yu Zhiding was sent as an envoy by painting, which shows how much the Kangxi Emperor attached importance to Yu Zhiding. In the twenty-sixth year of Kangxi, the Kangxi Emperor held a banquet, there were many foreign visitors, as many as ten countries, above the banquet, the Kangxi Emperor ordered Yu Zhiding to paint for them, Yu Zhiding dipped in ink and painted paper, and in an instant their portraits came out, and very realistic, but the only portrait, Yu Zhiding also became famous, and the "Chronicle of Jiangdu County" also recorded him: "Celebrity statues have more than their hands."
Landscape paintings by Yu Zhiding
Resigned and left the palace
Yu Zhiding was in the palace, with rich treatment and an enviable reputation, but Yu Zhiding was not very happy. Painting in the court, you have to obey the emperor's orders, you can't do whatever you want, your painting skills can't be improved, and with the fame of your own portrait painting, many princes, nobles, and officials and giants have asked him to paint, Yu Zhiding gradually tired, and then Yu Zhiding resigned. After Yu Zhiding resigned as an official, he traveled with mingshi painters, inscribed poems and painted, and also painted landscapes, birds and flowers, etc., and in his later years, he also copied the famous paintings of his predecessors and constantly created new painting styles.
《Wang Yuan Qi Yi JuTu》
In the history of painting, Yu Zhiding is evaluated as "good at craftsmanship, and praised for a while", although Yu Zhiding's portrait paintings have not developed into a faction, but from this evaluation, we can see the strength of his portrait painting technology. In Yu Zhiding's lifetime, there are paintings such as "Riding the Bull to the South", "Letting Go of the Bird", "Wang Yuan Qi Yiju Tu" and other paintings, and his painting technique can be said to have reached the point of pure fire.