Text / Picture Yang Lin
At the beginning of Jiachen's year, I was fortunate to be invited to Anhui Normal University, majoring in art education, to teach landscape painting to students there. This experience once again made me deeply realize that as an educator who has been teaching in colleges and universities for a long time, it is extremely important to impart the essence of knowledge and art to students through professional and systematic teaching.
Landscape painting, as the most important and systematic course in the study of Chinese painting, not only has a long history and far-reaching cultural heritage, but also is a symbol of the Chinese humanistic spirit, unique in the world art forest, deeply loved by the majority of Chinese people.
I have been immersed in Chinese painting for decades, and my research and love for landscape painting have become more and more profound. In this long journey of artistic exploration, "The Mustard Seed Garden" is undoubtedly one of the most important research objects for me. This book has not only given birth to countless famous artists, but also provided valuable guidance and inspiration for many people who pursue the path of art. I have been researching and collecting "The Mustard Seed Garden Pictorial" for a long time, and I have gained a lot of valuable knowledge and experience from it.
(1) Friendship with mustard seed orchards
When the old man Baishi was about 20 years old, at one of his employer's houses, he saw half of the "Mustard Seed Garden Paintings", so that if he got the treasure and couldn't put it down, he borrowed the paintings from the employer's house and repeatedly copied them, he spent half a year to copy all these sketches, because of the conditions at that time, he could only copy them all, and pondered repeatedly, and today we can still see that Qi Baishi copied some of the mustard seed garden sketches.
Since then, the old man Baishi has used some of the patterns in his sketches in his wood carvings, expanding and enriching his carved patterns, and also making his carved works widely popular in the countryside, and more importantly, opening Qi Baishi's wonderful door to explore the creation of Chinese painting, laying an important foundation for Qi Baishi to learn Chinese painting, and expanding his Chinese painting creation from the aesthetic perspective of mustard seed garden painting. Until his later years, he still remembered this incident and regarded "The Mustard Seed Garden Biography" as his enlightenment teacher.
The famous painter Pan Tianshou, when he went to the county seat to study at the age of 14, bought a copy of "The Mustard Seed Garden Biography" in the bookstore. Lu Yanshao, a famous landscape painter, also took the first step in his career as a painter by copying "The Biography of the Mustard Seed Garden", making it a representative figure of modern Chinese landscape painters.
Mr. Lu Yanshao once said that "with a good breath, there is a high style, accompanied by the charm of strong and melting, the charm of the spirit and the harmony of the spirit, the harmonious and noble taste, the real air flow, vivid and lively", there is no doubt that the breath and style of the mustard seed garden painting is high-level, and the enlightenment effect on the creation of Lu Yanshao's landscape painting is huge.
On the road of exploring the study journey of Chinese painting, I have the same thing as the masters of history. My journey began as a teenager and it was an unforgettable memory: in the company of my father, I acquired a valuable copy of the Mustard Seed Garden in a bookstore. The acquisition of this book means a lot to me, not only because it makes me very happy, but also because it has become a treasure in my artistic exploration.
I have copied the works over and over again, and each time it has been like a treasure. The first collection of "Mustard Seed Garden Paintings", which was reprinted by Cao Xun in the early 80s and reprinted by the People's Fine Arts Publishing House, is a treasure on the desk and a good friend for our generation of Chinese painting students. Through it, I not only had a more complete and systematic understanding of Chinese landscape painting, but also opened the door for me to enter the world of Chinese painting and opened my exploration on the road of landscape painting sketching and creation.
In the 18th year of Kangxi, "The Mustard Seed Garden Biography" was finally published under the careful compilation of Li Yu, a Chinese historical and cultural celebrity, and the "Mustard Seed Garden Biography" is an important primer for learning Chinese painting techniques, and it is the most ancient version of the mainland, the largest number of prints, and the most influential painting spectrum, and it is a model of ancient color wood overprinting technology, which can be called the pinnacle of the ancient painting spectrum of the mainland.
Over the past 300 years, "The Mustard Seed Garden" has become an enlightenment book for students to enter the painting world, and "Danqing's family does not put a compilation" is the best illustration, and the "Mustard Seed Garden Painting" has spread overseas in more than 300 years of dissemination, and has also become an important treasure for foreigners to learn Chinese painting.
Deeply understanding and carrying forward the value of "Mustard Seed Garden Painting" still has a very important sense of mission and significance in today's society, how to carry forward its role in the inheritance of painting art, will reflect the benefits of the past and the present, and reproduce the eternal charm of traditional Chinese art.
(1) From the cultural exploration of the rare book of the mustard seed garden to the rediscovery of value
Mustard Seed Garden, this ancient name, not only carries a profound cultural heritage, but also is a bright pearl in the history of Chinese painting. In the course of my in-depth research on mustard seed orchards, I had the privilege of visiting the mustard seed orchards in Nanjing, the mustard seed orchards in Lanxi, and Li Yu's hometown.
Through visiting the many exhibitions related to the Mustard Seed Garden, I deeply felt the deep nostalgia of Nanjing people for Li Yu and the Mustard Seed Garden, as well as the Mustard Seed Garden Rare Book Exhibition held by Lanxi, Zhejiang Province to commemorate Li Yu. These rare and precious historical materials not only made me marvel at the cultural value of the mustard seed garden, but also deepened my confidence in its in-depth research.
After years of hard work and collection, I have collected many precious mustard seed garden rare books. These rare books are not only important materials for my research on mustard seed gardens, but also important exhibits for my future exhibitions.
One of the most precious is that I received dozens of original drawings of Kangxi's 18-year-old painting of the mustard seed garden. Although these drawings are incomplete, they are of great value and significance, demonstrating the virtuosity of the time's chromatography on wood, which is even more precious than today's photocopying technology.
However, the biggest flaw of the mustard seed garden is that it is difficult to reflect the ink charm and the spirit of the original work. There is no variation in the shade of ink, which greatly limits the artistic value of the mustard seed garden. This also made me deeply realize that it was not easy for the ancients to learn Chinese painting well, and it was difficult to learn without good family conditions and appropriate learning methods. Still, this does not obscure the value of the mustard seed orchard. Therefore, it is particularly important to adopt the right learning methods and the guidance of a good teacher.
In the course of teaching for many years, I have witnessed many friends who have studied the Mustard Seed Garden Painting Biography to learn the "Mustard Seed Garden Painting Biography" tirelessly, but many times the learning results are not satisfactory. The main reason is that the Mustard Seed Garden Painting Biography is limited by the times and cannot completely, accurately and comprehensively reflect the spiritual outlook of the original Chinese painting.
It's a pity to have a pen but no ink. Many beginners, without a good foundation in Chinese painting and under the guidance of famous teachers, copy the mustard seed garden works, lack ink color changes and dry and wet shades, often appear stiff and rigid, which not only makes beginners misunderstand the essence of landscape painting, but also wastes a lot of valuable learning time.
All this gave me the idea of restoring the original face of the mustard seed orchard, and all the previous efforts were to pave the way and prepare for the realization of this idea. The Mustard Seed Garden is not only an important document for learning Chinese painting, but also a bridge connecting the past and the present, and connecting tradition and modernity. Through the in-depth study and display of the rare books of the Mustard Seed Garden, we can not only better understand the cultural value of the Mustard Seed Garden, but also contribute to the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese painting art.
(3) Return the original face of the "mustard seed garden".
Restricted by conditions, the ancients in the Qing Dynasty learned painting by looking at real paintings, and through the way of masters and apprentices, at most, the teacher drew some sketches and handed them to the students for their own study.
Nowadays, in my study, there are dozens of "Mustard Seed Garden Biography" and related books published by various dynasties, in the process of figuring out and studying these books, my ideas are constantly enriched, and with my decades of in-depth study of Chinese painting, there is still a kind of "Mustard Seed Garden" original face complex that lingers in my mind for a long time, in order to have such a complex, I have been working hard for this.
Although over the years, I have seen a lot of art workers, who have done a lot of research on the literature of "The Mustard Seed Garden", and there are also many related books that have been published, which have greatly enriched the cultural connotation of "The Mustard Seed Garden".
But I always feel that there are still some imperfections, and there is also some work worth doing on my own, which is to redraw a complete copy of the "Mustard Seed Garden Biography", which I think will be a very meaningful thing.
Only by tracing back to the source can we have a more realistic understanding of the historical background and cultural origin of the "Mustard Seed Garden Biography". Li Yu, the editor and publisher of "The Mustard Seed Garden", loved landscape painting all his life, was born in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. His talent is high, and he regrets that he is not good at painting.
It is said that "I love landscapes for the rest of my life, but I can watch people paint but can't paint myself" and it is a pity. However, as a literati and publisher, he naturally had many friends in the field of painting and calligraphy, and knew many painters that the way of painting could only be understood and difficult to convey, which triggered Li Yu's own idea of compiling a book of paintings, and he hoped that this book could help more beginners to learn the techniques of Chinese painting by themselves, so that more people could understand the joy of painting landscape paintings.
Therefore, when he saw his son-in-law Shen Xinyou, the collection of Ming Dynasty painter Li Liufang's apprentice manuscripts, 43 albums of landscape paintings, he came up with the idea of publishing paintings, Shen Xinyou is also a cultural person, at that time was running the Mustard Seed Garden Nephew Museum, publishing books, he invited the painter Wang Yi, Wang Zhen, Wang Yarrow brothers, on this basis, sorted out and added 90 pieces, and at the same time attached to copy the ancient mountains and rocks 40 pieces, thus constituting a complete landscape painting technique system, this is the first collection of "Mustard Seed Garden Biography".
The original intention of Li Yu's plan to publish "The Mustard Seed Garden Biography" was "to go to the poor in the past dynasties, to compile celebrities in recent times, to gather the strengths of all families, and to get a full picture of 40 pages, which is a beginner's sect." "However, due to the limitations of the times, if today's photocopying technology were used to publish this series of books, it would definitely not be like this, and I think it can be a more complete and accurate interpretation of the spiritual outlook of Chinese painting.
Because the engraving is after all the engraved book, even the best lithograph is difficult to get its true meaning, especially Chinese painting, this kind of art with the interest of pen and ink, and the original Wang Yi brothers, when they drew the artwork of the painting, must be the spirit of pen and ink, color charm and expression of the boutique, today's advanced photocopying is even more authentic, this can not but be said to be a pity. For this reason, we should understand that the famous artists and masterpieces related to the creation of this set of books can be closer to the true face of the mustard seed garden.
Li Liufang, the word is long, and the word Maozai, the number is Tanyuan, Xianghai, Guhuaitang, Cangan, alias Shenyu Jushi, Liufu Daoren. He is a native of She County, Huizhou, Nanzhili, and lives in Jiading for some reason. He was an outstanding poet, calligrapher and painter of the Ming Dynasty, and was known as one of the "Four Gentlemen of Jiading" and "Nine Friends in Painting".
In terms of calligraphy and painting, Li Liufang is an outstanding artist. He is good at landscape painting, learning from famous artists such as Wu Zhen and Huang Gongwang, and his works are smooth and full of vitality. His paintings are highly praised by people, at the same time, he also works in calligraphy, and his calligraphy works are also highly respected, Li Liufang's paintings have been circulated more, and they have great reference value in the practice of painting in the mustard seed garden.
Wang Xuan, also known as beggar, the word Dongguo, the word Anjie, is a native of Jiaxing, Zhejiang, and lives in Nanjing. A famous painter in the early Qing Dynasty, he was good at painting landscapes, studied under Gong Xian, and his brushwork was strong. Also good characters, flowers and birds, the characters made, the pen and ink are exquisite, and there is a "mustard seed garden painting" handed down.
His brother Wang Yarrow, the first name corpse, the word Mi Cao. Famous for flowers and birds, good at poetry and writing, and sealing. His younger brother Wang Zhen, the first name, the word is straight, good at poetry and painting. Wang Yi brothers left some paintings of the original, but the works are not big, we can today through his paintings of the original, a glimpse of his painting style and artistic origin, although they circulated not many paintings, but their teacher Gong Xian, as the head of the eight families of Jinling, but there are many ink in the world.
Gong Xian also has a class sketch handed down, as an authentic work, is a very important auxiliary textbook for learning "Mustard Seed Garden Biography", when the Wang Yi brothers were compiling and painting "Mustard Seed Garden Pictorial", they were also inspired and influenced by Gong Xian's class sketches.
Chao Xun, (1852-1917), Ziyu, Songdao people, also known as Songhua Pavilion Master, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, Shanghai Painting School. Painting Zhang Xiong, Gongshan Shui, and can write flowers and birds, its forest Yuanxiu, ancient wood jackdaw, Ni Zhan's will, the imitation of the Ming and Qing Dynasty albums, all can get its like, Xiong praised.
Chao Xun has a "Dongtian Yipin Tu" (55X36.5cm), which is painted on the "Liuji Xuan" net cotton Xuan refined in Shanghai Yiyantang, Chao Xun's Chinese painting is fine, and the writing stone can especially show the character of the stone, "Mustard Seed Garden Painting Biography - Expanding the Famous Painter's Pedigree" has a frame written with the stone inscription: "The clouds are full of empty halls, a rugged wat is long, and the brother will bow down, and he has let Mi Xiangyang." ”
Chao Xun wrote the stone in this frame, an excellent expression of the character of Taihu stone, and is depicted on raw rice paper, the freshness of ink and wash can also allow us to see the gap between the engraving and the authentic handwriting, compared with the lithographic plate of the painting, the outline of the real work is slightly weaker, and the rendering is also obviously affected by the light and dark shadows of Western paintings, which can only be felt in the authentic handwriting.
In addition, Ma Xiao, a painter from the same period as Cao Xun, also has "Ma Xiao Painting Treasure", which is second only to "Mustard Seed Garden Painting Biography", and is an introductory book for many painting lovers. It has also had a great impact on the development of Chinese landscape painting, and Ma Xiao's hand-me-down works are numerous, which can be used as a reference for great significance.
(4) How to learn the painting of the mustard seed garden?
1. A holistic study of the Mustard Seed Garden
It is necessary to study the biography of the mustard seed garden. The study of the "Mustard Seed Garden" can make us have a more overall and comprehensive understanding, the traditional Chinese landscape painting, the biography is not only detailed illustrated, but also detailed illustrations, paraphrased text as an illustration of the analysis, if you can study more deeply, this can better help yourself, understand the connotation of Chinese painting, and help you improve the level of Chinese painting skills.
Nowadays, many people only pay attention to the illustrations in the study of the pictorial biography in the study of the mustard seed garden, and rarely pay attention to the illustrations on the side of the picture, which should arouse our attention, because only after studying the text of these illustrations, you can more truly understand, demonstrate the meaning and theory of the picture, and help to improve your pen and ink skills.
The demonstration paintings and texts of "Mustard Seed Garden Biography" are interrelated and inseparable as a whole, and the copywriting is from some famous painting theories of the past dynasties, such as Zhang Yanyuan's "Records of Famous Paintings of the Past Dynasties", Guo Xi's "The Elegance of Forest Springs", Huang Gongwang's "Writing Landscape Tips", Dong Qichang's "Essays on Painting Zen Room", etc., are all famous painting theories of the past dynasties, which are very worthy of study.
2. Carry out the study of painting and the original works of famous artists at the same time
At the same time as studying the Mustard Seed Garden Paintings, I went to copy some modern printed, better Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty classics, such as the Yuan Four Families, the Ming Four Families, the Qing Four Kings, the Four Monks, etc., as well as the orderly inheritance of the famous apprentice sketches, such as Ni Yuanlin's apprentice sketches, Gong Xian's apprentice sketches, Huang Qiuyuan's apprentice sketches, etc., as the study of the "Mustard Seed Garden Paintings" It is very necessary to better understand and understand the true meaning of Chinese brush and ink, and at the same time to go to the museum to see some good masterpieces, it is very important to see the authentic works, no matter how good
The printed matter is also under the authentic handiwork, in front of the real handwriting, in order to truly experience the charm of the pen and ink of the master, improve their level of understanding, distinguish between the good and bad works, find their own shortcomings, only to maintain a clear and clear understanding, the artistic level can continue to improve, at the same time, the practice of Chinese calligraphy, is also indispensable, calligraphy should insist on daily practice, without good calligraphy support, it is difficult to draw Chinese painting.
3. Guidance from famous teachers, purposeful practice
Under the guidance of a good famous teacher, learning "The Mustard Seed Garden Biography" can play a role in getting twice the result with half the effort, because with the teacher's guidance and demonstration, we can better understand that the ink color changes that are not available in the engraved book can also be flexibly mastered and processed, and the ink color changes that are missing in the engraved book can be explained by the teacher. Demonstration, to solve more conveniently, than their own study and understanding is much faster, because after the stereotyped print, the stroke order of the work is not easy to judge, the sense of the pen is also difficult to observe, and the rhythm of the pen is also difficult to reflect in the score, which will cause obstacles for beginners.
With the guidance of the teacher, before copying, to analyze the ins and outs of the pen, light and severe, to experience the writing of traditional Chinese painting, it is very necessary, to avoid tracing according to the same, in order to make the painting not rigid, so that the learning becomes flexible and active, but also under the guidance of the teacher to combine creation, will play a very good role in guiding the creation of the back.
4. Step by step, from shallow to deep
The systematic arrangement of Chinese painting in the Mustard Seed Garden makes us see the general rules of Chinese painting learning more clearly, and its basic teaching methods such as classification demonstration, decomposition exercises, and composition programs are still of exemplary significance, and the painting transmission system is from shallow to deep, and the learning methods of Chinese painting are shown to us by illustrations, which are practical and very effective.
Therefore, in the process of learning, we should be gradual and solid progress, and can not seek more general, for some basic diagrams, the back of the back, the memory of the memory, such as the basic stone and tree method and composition, etc., sometimes should be repeated practice, long-term practice by heart, from rote memorization, into natural movements, from simple objects, to complex objects and images gradually transition, from shallow to deep, and finally be able to be more solid, master some basic techniques of Chinese painting, for the subsequent study and creation of Chinese painting to lay a solid foundation, the practice of brush and ink, this process is long-term, should continue throughout life。
5. My concept of study and the concept of reduction
In order to better restore the original appearance of the mustard seed garden, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of the original works of the painters of that era, as well as to do a comparative study of the original works of the painters of the same era and the same region.
The works of these painters can be used as the object of study to carry out study, the works of the painters of the Jinling School of painting, there is a long-term exhibition in the Nanjing Museum, and there are also better photocopied materials for reference, the works of Xiao Yuncong of the Gushu School of Painting are also worth studying, because there are pictorial works taken from Xiao Yuncong's "Taiping Landscape Poems and Paintings" in the mustard seed garden.
At the same time, we also have to study the paper materials they use, because different paper materials will have a great impact on the final effect of the paintings, so in this process, I tried to use different papers to copy the "Mustard Seed Garden Biography", most of which are relatively old papers, beginners do not have a more intuitive feeling for these, and we need to do it with continuous attempts and the accumulation of experience.
On the basis of comparative research on the different prints of various periods, and comparing the authentic works of famous artists in the same period, I have a more intuitive feeling of the works in the mustard seed garden, over the years, I have been trying to copy, like the real mustard seed garden, it seems to be presented in front of my eyes, and then try to copy again, so continue to deepen, with the improvement of skills, I think there will be a better harvest, and further into the original face of the mustard seed garden, as long as it is always on the road of hard work, it is a happy thing.
The development of painting art is inseparable from the development of the economy, in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, with the rise of the Shanghai painting school, the center of Chinese painting art in Shanghai has been greatly carried forward, and has produced a lot of influence on later generations, such as Ren Bonian, Wu Changshuo, Zhao Zhiqian, etc., Cao Xun and Ma Xiao are outstanding representatives of the maritime painting world, and also led the development of Chinese painting art in an era.
In the "Mustard Seed Garden Biography" compiled by Chao Xun to expand the painting spectrum of famous artists, there is a special volume of "Paintings of Famous Masters on the Sea", which selects the paintings of many famous artists at sea, adds them to the painting spectrum, and finds the artistic style of these painters, which will be of great help to us to study the painting style of "Mustard Seed Garden Painting Biography".
The creation of Chinese painting is inseparable from the study and study of tradition, the excellent Chinese painting tradition accumulated by our predecessors is the ladder for us to move forward, standing on such a ladder, it will undoubtedly help us move forward, and get closer to the artistic goal we are pursuing.
Full of respect for the sages of his predecessors, Li Yu wrote in the preface to the original edition of "The Mustard Seed Garden" more than 300 years ago, "There is an indelible strange book, and it is not a great regret between heaven and earth", Li Yu said that the defect may not be that the techniques of landscape painting have not been taught, but that the essence of Chinese culture has not been widely disseminated. Behind the 300-year-old mustard seed orchard, there is an endless oriental beauty, and this oriental beauty will become more and more brilliant with the flow of time.
Spring 2024 in Wuhu Yanglin
Yang Lin's other works to appreciate:
Selected student works:
Yang Lin Profile:
Yang Lin, a member of the Chinese Artists Association, an associate professor of Anhui Polytechnic University, the president of Anhui Huangyue Painting Institute, the director of Huizhou Beilin Art Museum, and the vice president of Zhu Ling Landscape Painting Research Association. He has won the first prize of the first Yangzhou Eight Monsters Cup Calligraphy and Painting Grand Prix, the highest award of Shangyi 2017 National Art Exhibition (China Artists Association), the highest award of the 2018 China Fuzhou Maritime Silk Road Chinese Painting Exhibition (China Artists Association), and was selected for the 2017 Jingshang Danqing National Art Exhibition (China Artists Association).
Selected for the 2018 Landscape Yandu Colorful Zhaoqing National Art Exhibition (China Artists Association), the 2019 Tide Cup National Chinese Painting Competition Excellence Award (sponsored by the Xilang Printing Society), the second prize of the 2019 First Wu Changshuo International Art Grand Prix (sponsored by the Xilang Printing Society), the highest award of the 2020 "Chinese Art World Tour" Achievement Report Exhibition (China Artists Association), the Excellence Award of the Anhui Provincial Art Competition for the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China (sponsored by the Anhui Provincial Artists Association), and the 4th "Tide Cup", the highest award of the 2017 Anhui Provincial Art Competition The second prize of Qiantang River Golden Stone, Bamboo and Wood Rubbing Exhibition (Xileng Printing Society), etc.