Excerpt from the Internet;
"Merchant": The ancients were also crazy about shopping at the end of the year
Biography of Su Hanchen, "Merchant Map", Northern Song Dynasty
Li Song, Merchant (detail), Southern Song Dynasty, collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
At the end of the year, the most important thing is "buy, buy, buy", and the major websites have also opened the "shopping carnival mode", and "buy, buy, buy" is not only the patent of modern people, but also the "shopping cart" of the ancient Chinese is also colorful, and they are also shopping experts. Modern people are obsessed with science and technology 3C supplies, while the ancients are obsessed with exquisite department store utensils. "Merchant Picture" is a popular form of painting in the Song Dynasty that depicts the trading of mobile small commodities at that time - "itinerant small vendors". In the Southern Song Dynasty when the circulation of goods was not developed enough, the merchants walked the streets and alleys, a pair of goods is a small department store, the merchants not only brought the goods needed to the remote villages, but also brought all kinds of novelty to see and hear, the arrival of the merchants was often as lively as a festival, Li Song depicted such a scene in the picture. Today, there are four well-known paintings of Li Song's "Merchant Picture" by Li Song in the Southern Song Dynasty (in the Palace Museum in Beijing, the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the Metropolitan Museum in the United States, and the Cleveland Museum of Art in the United States) and one "Merchant Picture" made by Su Hanchen in the Northern Song Dynasty.
In Li Song's "Merchant Picture" in the Palace Museum in Beijing, there are the author's self-titled words "three hundred pieces" under the left shelf, and the number of "three hundred" should be the exact number of department stores, sundries, and toys painted on the right side, dozens of goods on the merchant, and more than 100 pieces on the left side, and the number of "three hundred" should be the exact reference. Interestingly, according to Professor Wang Lianhai of Tsinghua University, who studies the history of toys, observed Li Song's "Merchant Picture" in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the small commodities sold by the merchant in the picture, in addition to daily groceries and seasonal vegetables, wine and fruits, are most children's toys, "There are the following kinds of recognizable people: birds, bird cages, rattles, small bamboo baskets, sachets, tumbles, clay figures, etc."
The court painter of the Ming Dynasty "Ming Xianzong Lantern Festival Pleasure Map" is a partial merchant
In fact, there are many scholars who believe that 'it is not realistic, but it is based on real information of the times' - in short, it is impossible to pick up so many and so many full goods on your own. Professor Huang Xiaofeng of the Central Academy of Fine Arts proposed that the "merchant" is not a literal trader, but a kind of rap artist, and there is a "merchant tune" in the Yuan miscellaneous drama, because in the Ming Dynasty court painter "Ming Xianzong Lantern Festival Pleasure Picture" (1485, collection of the National Museum of China), four dressed merchants "are shuttling through the palace courtyard under the gaze of the emperor, and the picture is almost the same as the character costume, thus arguing that Li Song's picture of the merchant is a performance of the Lantern Festival, and may also assume the function of dispelling illness and eliminating disasters ( The text is presumed to be a children's doctor).
Mingren autumn scenery merchant picture axis (detail)
New Year's Eve for Literati and Writers
In addition to pasting couplets, window flowers, and firecrackers during the New Year, the ancients would also draw "New Year's Paintings", also known as "Festival Paintings", to welcome the New Year, or other festivals. In ancient times, professional painters would paint paintings of this festival for sale, and literati painters would also paint works on this subject, but they did not use them for sale, but gave gifts to each other, to bosom friends, to friends, to express their expressions and the atmosphere of the festival.
In fact, the original Spring Festival refers to the "beginning of spring" in the 24 solar terms, and the first day of the year set by the Xia, Shang, Zhou and Qin dynasties is also different, mainly because of the change of dynasty, the emperor's ministers want to "correct Shuo, change the color", until the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty only took the first month of the lunar calendar as the first year, and after the Xinhai Revolution, the Gregorian calendar was used to calculate the year, and the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar was called the "Spring Festival". The pictorial elements of the "Sui Dynasty Picture", also known as the "Sui Dynasty Qing Offering Picture", include the characters of gods, mountain delicacies and fruits, scholar's plays, and some other objects suitable for expressing the auspicious meaning of the New Year, and the randomness of the selected plants is suitable for expressing the author's personal mood and expressing his true temperament, which can give a glimpse of the aesthetic taste of the literati doctor.
Song Zhaochang
Zhu Jianshen of the Ming Dynasty, 1481
The earliest existing works of this kind were seen in the Song court painter Zhao Chang's painting of the "Year of the Dynasty", and the "Year of the Dynasty" such works were rewarded to his subordinates, which was the atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty emperor, such as the Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Jianshen's "Year of the Dynasty Good Omen", the brush and ink are relaxed and natural, and the most important and popular auspicious theme at that time was painted "Zhong Kui Yingfu (bat), exorcism", and also incorporated the theme of "All the Best" - Zhong Kui has a humorous imp next to him, the imp holds high a plate containing cypress branches and persimmons, and the interesting thing is that Zhu Jianshen inscribed the poem in the painting"" Draw a picture of a good omen today, wishful thinking every year", do not rhyme.
Emperor Qianlong
However, Emperor Qianlong was more nervous or cautious, because he liked to prove to everyone that "I am elegant", and every year when he drew a map of the year, he must inscribe poems, and these poems were all called "spring posts" by him. For example, the imperial pen inscription in the picture above in the "Good News of Spring": "Yihai Lichun, imitating Tang Yin's method, in Changchun Bookstore." "In order to be auspicious, I deliberately went to Changchun Book House to paint this painting, and I was so serious......
Qianlong
However, there is one work that is very different from the same wind, and the two poems above talk about current affairs:
The years are reopened, and the stars are pointing again. The end of the world is fighting, singing and dancing in the spring.
Wusun returned to each khan, and Xieji Ming ordered the five senses. In the past, the sea was dewed, and the wind was looking eastward.
The poems are very boring, but the "Qianlong Imperial Poetry Collection" includes these two poems, and explains the sentence "False Correction of the Pearl Dew Sea in the past": "The Mongolian Tuibu family called it 'Pearl Dew Sea', and the old ones of Jungger are hereby returned to my territory, and I ordered He Guozong and others to measure the sundial and note it in the constitution to show the same text." It turns out that this inconspicuous map of the dynasty actually records the immortal feat of quelling the Junggar rebellion and redefining the territory map. Knowing the gist of the poem, and then looking at the flying banners in the painting, it clearly symbolizes the warmth of the east wind and the spring in the world. This kind of poem is determined by Qianlong's status and character, Qianlong once in his later years, told his purpose of poetry: "I have always chanted, not for the words of wind and clouds, and every time the political code is great, there must be a poem to remember...... The history of Duling poetry in Fangzhi is meaningful. ”
Qing Lang Shining, Ding Guanpeng, Shen Yuan, Zhou Kun, etc.
Emperor Qianlong in "Emperor Qianlong's Year of the Dynasty".
Firecrackers in "Emperor Qianlong's Journey to the Dynasty".
The pile of snow lions in "Emperor Qianlong's Journey to the Dynasty".
"Emperor Qianlong's Year of the Dynasty Traveling Pleasure Map" hangs lanterns on the corridor, and spring couplets are posted on the pillars
There was such a custom in the court of the Qing Dynasty, and every important festival was organized in the court to organize painters to create paintings to celebrate. Most of this kind of creation is directly sent by the emperor to pass the decree, order the painters to complete, and then by a special person to take it back to the emperor to read, Lang Shining has also been ordered to create a few, the style of the work is a combination of Chinese and Western, catering to the aesthetic taste of the Qianlong Emperor, such as the above picture "Qianlong Emperor's Journey to the Dynasty", showing the warm atmosphere of the royal dynasty, and at the same time showing the intimate relationship between the emperor and the princes.
It is worth mentioning that the "Picture of the Year of the Dynasty" has long been the subject of the creation of court and folk painters, but in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, it became a popular theme of literati painting in the Jiangnan region, and the painting style can be described as "elegant and vulgar appreciation". "The Year of the Dynasty" is particularly prosperous in the Yangzhou School of Painting and the Shanghai School, many painters have created the "Year of the Dynasty", the more representative ones are Li Eel, Zhao Zhiqian, Ren Bonian, Wu Changshuo and so on. In the Yangzhou School, Li Eel created a number of "Pictures of the Year of the Dynasty", which had a profound influence on the Shanghai School, and the most deeply influenced by it was Zhao Zhiqian, the forerunner of the Shanghai School. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, the largest number of "Sui Dynasty Pictures" should be Wu Changshuo and Ren Bonian in the Shanghai School, and Wu Changshuo's "Sui Dynasty Pictures" can be roughly divided into two categories: one is the works of literati Yaxing and self-entertainment; One is to cater to the market demand with a secular atmosphere.
Wu Changshuo, "Courtesy of the Qing Dynasty", ink and color on paper, 152x80.5cm, Xiling auction, 1918, 2013 autumn auction, sold price: 16.1 million yuan
This huge "Sui Dynasty Qing Offering Picture" was made by Wu Changshuo at the age of 76, not only is its size rare in the same kind of theme, but also the painting method of flowers and fruits of the Qing Dynasty is integrated into the calligraphy Wu Changshuo's gold and stone brushwork. There are also as many as seven kinds of flowers and fruits, all of which are seasonal flowers and fruits that bloom in the new year, including narcissus, bamboo, peony, bergamot, calamus, lychee and citron. Wu Changshuo's "Qing Offering Picture" rarely uses peonies in paintings, believing that "to the poor living on the sea, an official is like lice, and the rich flowers must not be commensurate, so the plum is written to have a birth posture, and the chrysanthemum is written to have proud frost bones", which shows his elegant personality and paintings that are rich and unswerving. Wu Changshuo also said in "Plum Blossom Stone House": "The plum blossom stone house sits and talks about poetry, and you can get it in your dreams." In this way, Wuyuan can't be returned, and the cold is still lovesick. Many of his pictorial poems reflect his positive attitude towards living in poverty.
In the lower left corner of the picture, there is a small collection seal "Wu Bicheng" (Zhu), which shows that this work was originally the old collection of Wu Bicheng, a famous collector in Shanghai during the Republic of China. Wubi City Room Name to Su Lou and Wu Hufan have a deep friendship, and the collection is extremely rich. He used to run an antique store, and in the thirties, he and his brother Wu Binchen frequently went to Wu Hufan's "Meijing Book House", and Wu Hufan's name is often seen in his records. In 1928, this work was included in the "Collection of Mr. Wu Changshuo's Posthumous Works" published by Shanghai Dadong Book Company, and in 1994, it was recorded in the "Annals of Wu Changshuo" by Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House.
Sorry, this is not the traditional "Chinese style"
Qi Baishi, "The Year of the Dynasty", 1945, 110×54.5cm, Beijing Kuangshi, 2011 autumn auction, sold for 13.44 million yuan
Qi Baishi, The Year of the Dynasty, 136×34cm, Kuang Shi Hong Kong 2016 Autumn Auction, realised: HK$11.8 million
The big red lantern hangs high
Hishiki Round Lantern
Compared with Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi's picture of the New Year is closer to the folk customs of the time and more common, and firecrackers, teapots, and red lanterns are often included in the painting, all of which mean the arrival of the New Year. Seeing the red lanterns hanging high in every household, Dong Qing and Zhu Jun's "Happy New Year!" seemed to sound in my ears? Sorry, this is really not the traditional "Chinese style". This red lantern, which appeared on the tower of Tiananmen Square and was photographed with Chairman Mao, was designed by Japanese Wataru Onozawa and Shigeru Mori. Onozawa was in charge of the stage art of "The White-Haired Girl", and after receiving the design task, he took the shape of the Japanese-style maru lantern, the color of the festival, and the vertical bone structure of the Chinese lantern to make eight red lanterns.
The palace lantern in the Ming Dynasty's "Xianzong Lantern Festival Xingle Map".
Some examples in the picture
Chinese traditional lanterns, go to see the Ming Dynasty "Xianzong Lantern Festival Pleasure Map", the style is very rich.
Traditional Chinese lanterns, except for palace lanterns made of metal or cloisonné enamel
Qing Qianlong Rosewood Spit Water Goldfish Palace Lamp Pairs Transaction Price: 6.9 million yuan China Guardian 2017 Spring Auction
Qing Qianlong Imperial Bronze Gilt Chisel Flower Bafang Palace Lamp (Pair) Transaction Price: 3.45 million yuan China Trade Shengjia 2011 Autumn Auction
Qing Qianlong cloisonné enamel inlaid with white jade imperial inscription poem palace lamp transaction price: 3.92 million yuan China Trade Shengjia 2008 spring auction
Original title: Look at how the ancients celebrated the New Year elegantly