Special topic on the study of the cultural relics of the zodiac dragon
Issue 2, 2024
Dragon travels China, the prehistoric Shang and Zhou chapters of the Jade Dragon New Year
Dragon travels China, the battle of the Jade Dragon New Year
The dragon travels China, the jade dragon celebrates the New Year of the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and the dragon travels the world Tao Chengqi beauty - the artistic image of the dragon in ancient ceramics starts from the "dragon" in the jade unearthed in the cemetery of the Kingdom of Qiu
The evolution of dragon patterns on ancient ceramics
Yuan, Zhang Yucai, Lin Yutu (detail), ink pen on silk, 26.8x271.8 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA, has not many paintings with dragons as the theme or dragons in the paintings. According to incomplete statistics, the main ones seen so far are Zhang Yucai's "Lin Yu Tu" volume (collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York), Yang Yuejian (biography) "Cloud Dragon Map" (collection of Izumiya Hiroko Museum, Japan), Yuan Anonymous's "Nine Songs" volume (collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing) and Zhu Yu's "Water Mansion of the Dragon Palace" (collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing) and so on. Zhang Yucai (a work of Zhang and Cai, the word Guoliang, the name Weishan, alias Guangweizi) is the 38th generation of the Taoist Zhengyi Sect Heavenly Master (reigned in 1295~1316), based in Longhu Mountain, Jiangxi. In Chen Rong's "Nine Dragons" (collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA), there is an inscription by Zhang Yucai's son, Zhang Sicheng (reigned 1317~1344), the thirty-ninth generation of the Heavenly Master, so Zhang's father and son should have seen the volume, so some commentators believe that the volume of "Nine Dragons" is "quite close to the "Linyu Tu" in terms of content and form, and the "Linyu Tu" volume is likely to be influenced by it. From the schematic point of view, the volume of "Linyu Tu" does have a magical similarity with the volume of "Kowloon Tu". In terms of form, both paintings are hand-scrolled. In terms of subject matter, they all depict the dragons in the sea of clouds, flying unrestrained. In terms of technique, the two paintings are very similar in terms of dragon head, dragon body, dragon claws and dragon tail. Of course, the differences between the two paintings are also obvious: the clouds depicted in Zhang Yucai's "Rain Picture" are relatively thick, splashed with thick ink, and the mountains and rocks are rarely seen in the painting; Chen Rong's "Nine Dragons" volume blends shades and shades, and the axe splitting method of mountains and stones is more obvious, which is a painting dragon composition that integrates the landscape of the Southern Song Dynasty courtyard. Zhang Yucai lived in a very close era to Chen Rong, and there were many opportunities to see Chen Rong's painting dragons, so it is reasonable for his paintings to consciously or unconsciously show the same artistic origin. However, his paintings are not a transfer and imitation of Chen Rong's paintings, but on the basis of inheriting his methods, he integrates his own ideas to form a painting style that is different from Chen Rong's similarities and similarities. The poet Qian Weishan (?~1379) of the Yuan Dynasty wrote the poem "The Title of Guangwei Tianshi (Shenglong Tu)": "The gas is thin and too clear, and the Moqing spirit is strange and fishy." The waves are glorious and lose their swords, and the wind and rain drive away the six dings. The vermilion fire soared into the sky, and the green scales hung down and the water was tormented. The real person went to the flying immortal, and he had to climb the purple court. This poem vividly depicts the picture and artistic conception of Zhang Yucai's painting of the dragon. Prince Cheng Yongying (1752~1823) copied this poem at the end of the volume of "Lin Yu Tu" in the 21st year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1816), which shows that he agrees with the poet's singing of this painting, and this poem can also be called the best interpretation of this volume.
Yuan, Yang Yuejian (Biography), Cloud Dragon, ink pen on silk, 145x83 cm, Collection of Izumiya Hiroko, Japan
Yang Yuejian's life deeds are unknown, Xia Wenyan's "Illustrated Treasure Book" called it "painting flowers, birds, dragons and tigers", Bian Yongyu (1645~1712) "Shigutang Calligraphy and Painting Collection" recorded that his dragon painting works include "Cangming Dragon Transformation Map", "Shenlong Leaping Abyss Map" and "Lilong Holding Bead Map" and so on. As far as is known, there is no credible work of Yang Yuejian, and the "Cloud Dragon" is considered to be the closest to his painting style. This picture is similar to Chen Rong's painting of dragon scrolls, with the dragon as the center, and the dragon soaring in the sea of clouds. Painted in ink, the dragon swells between the clouds and the sea, the waves rolling and the clouds smoking. In the mist and looming clouds, it can be seen that the dragon contains immeasurable vigor. The author uses vivid brushstrokes, ink and ink to sway clouds and smoke, and delicately depicts the dragon's back, dragon scales, dragon whiskers and dragon horns. In the freehand and realism, it shows the grand narrative of the flying dragon in the sky and the clouds and rain. It can be seen that this painting should inherit the dragon painting tradition represented by Chen Rong in the Song Dynasty.
Yuan Ren, Nine Songs Scroll (detail), ink pen on paper, 39.5×728.7 cm, Collection of the Palace Museum
The volume of Yuanren's "Nine Songs" (collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing) also appears in many places with the image of a dragon. There are many different versions of the Nine Songs. From the Song people's "Nine Songs" volume (one volume each in the National Museum of China and the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum), Li Gonglin's (biography) "Nine Songs" volume (one volume each in the National Palace Museum in Taipei and one volume in the Liaoning Provincial Museum), Yuan Zhangwu's "Nine Songs" volume (three versions, respectively in the Jilin Provincial Museum, Shanghai Museum and Cleveland Museum in the United States), Zhao Mengfu's "Nine Songs" volume (Taipei National Palace Museum), "Nine Songs" volume (New York Metropolitan Museum of Art), Yuan Ren's "Nine Songs" volume (Beijing Palace Museum, Zhejiang Provincial Museum and Nanjing University each have one volume) to Du Jian's "Nine Songs" volume (collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing), Wu Gui's "Nine Songs and Calligraphy and Painting" volume (collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing), Zhou Xuan's volume of "Nine Songs Picture" in the Qing Dynasty, Peng Rong's "Nine Songs (Thirteen Openings)" volume (Shanghai Museum collection), Rao Jing's "Nine Songs Picture" volume (Tianjin Museum collection), Wang Han's "Nine Songs Picture" volume (Zhejiang Provincial Museum collection), Leng Mei's "Nine Songs (Nine Songs)" volume (Beijing Palace Museum collection), and Yao Wenhan's "Nine Songs Picture" volume(Collection of the National Museum of China), until the 20th century, Xu Beihong's "Nine Songs" album (collection of Xu Beihong Memorial Museum), etc., presents many different paintings with the theme of "Nine Songs". In the paintings on this theme, some of them mainly depict the characters of the Eastern Emperor Taiyi, Da Si Ming, Shao Si Ming, Dong Jun, Yun Zhongjun, Xiang Jun, Xiang Lady, Hebo, Mountain Ghost and other figures, while others are depicting the coexistence of humans (gods) and dragons. In the volume of the Nine Songs of the Yuan people in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing (hereinafter referred to as the "Forbidden City Edition"), you can see the scene of the infestation of the dragon. In this volume, there are three dragons, and one dragon on the right side of the painting is subdued by the Great Priest and snuggles meekly to the side, and the Great Priest seems to be leaning over to soothe the dragon; A dragon in the center is pulling the chariot, Yun Zhongjun sits on the car, surrounded by gods, the dragon opens its teeth and dances its claws, and it is incompatible. On the left, a dragon and a turtle swim tamely in the sea of clouds, and Hebo sits cross-legged on the turtle's back and dragon's body. Whether it is the dragon descending, the chariot power, or the car, the dragon in the painting is under the control of man (god), so the painting is centered on man (god), and the dragon is only a supporting role. The figures, dragons, seawater, clouds and smoke, mountains and rocks in the painting all follow Li Gonglin's white drawing method, and the painting is exquisite and the lines are fine. Especially in the portrayal of dragons, there is no unbridled swagger in Chen Rong's pen, but more from Li Gonglin's realism and precision. Some of the mountains and rocks, ink and bamboo in the painting are mostly freehand ink and wash, which is relatively rough, forming a sharp visual contrast with the delicate painting style. In many later editions or facsimiles of Li Gonglin's works, there is a similar style to this painting, such as Wu Wei's "Washing Soldiers" volume (Guangdong Provincial Museum) in the Ming Dynasty. Of course, in other Yuan people's "Nine Songs", there are also many dragon images, but in terms of the exquisite and meticulous brushstrokes of the dragon in the painting, it is better to use the "Forbidden City Ben". Although Yuanren Zhu Yu's "Dragon Palace Water Mansion Map" does not directly depict dragons, in the painting environment, traces of dragons can be seen.
Yuan Zhu Yu Longgong Water House Ink and color on silk 45.6x43.3 cm Zhu Yu in the collection of the Palace Museum, the word Junbi, a native of Kunshan, Jiangsu, is a disciple of the painter Wang Zhenpeng, good at painting figures, commentators say that the Buddha statue he painted is "square is not full of moments, curved extremely shaped, and the meaning is horizontal, not bound to the rope and ink", in addition to this painting, there is also a volume of "Revealing the Bowl" (Zhejiang Provincial Museum). "Dragon Palace Water Mansion Map" is said to be based on the story of the Tang Dynasty novel "The Biography of Liu Yi". Liu Yi came to the Dragon Palace, dismounted to meet him, and the Dragon King and his entourage came out of the Dragon Palace and took the letter sent by Liu Yi with both hands. Around Ryugu, there are churning waves. On the lower left side of the painting, that is, at the entrance of the Dragon Palace, the little dragon guarding the palace gate used his mana to hold up the sea water from the dragon king and Liu Yi, leaving a waterless space for him to meet. In the painting, the dragon king and his attendants all appear in human bodies, and only the doorman appears in the form of a dragon, but only the dragon head and dragon claws can be seen, but not his body. Although this painting is different from other dragon paintings of the time, the dragon elements can be seen in both the situation rendered in the painting and the picture itself, which may be regarded as an alternative composition of dragon painting.
Yuan dragon and phoenix pattern porcelain jar 31.5 high, diameter 18.3, foot diameter 12 cm Collection of the National Museum of China
Interestingly, in addition to the scroll paintings on paper and silk, the image of a painted dragon can also be seen in other cultural relics of the Yuan Dynasty that have been handed down. The most typical of this carrier is ceramic. In 1994, in the salvage of shipwrecks in the sea area of Suizhong County, Liaoning Province, a porcelain jar with dragon and phoenix pattern in the Yuan Dynasty was released from the water (collected by the National Museum of China). On the side of the can, you can see a dragon painting. In the painting, the dragon is circling and curling in the waves. Because of the limitations of the porcelain jar itself, the artist skillfully curled up the dragon's body so that the whole picture of the dragon can be presented in a small space, which is different from the chic pen on the paper silk. The author tries to present the majestic state of the dragon rolling in the waves in front of the viewer with clear brushstrokes. The other side of the porcelain jar is a phoenix pattern, which complements the dragon pattern and is a decorative pattern with auspicious meaning. The porcelain jar is considered to be "in the typical Cizhou kiln style". In addition to the porcelain jars of the Cizhou kiln, many dragon patterns can also be seen in the Yuan blue and white porcelain, such as the Yuan blue and white seawater dragon pattern eight-sided plum vase (Hebei Museum) and the Yuan blue and white cloud dragon pattern jar (National Museum of China). The whole body pattern of the dragon appears on both pieces of Yuan blue and white. The former depicts a dragon crisscrossing the waves, a vertical portrait of the dragon swimming in the unfathomable depths of the sea. The tumbling waves and currents surrounding the dragon depict the normal state of dragons in the world where the sea is the dragon. The composition of the picture is dense, and the dragon body, dragon claws, dragon head and dragon horns are all expressed in white space. The dragon in the painting has four claws. The latter depicts the dragon soaring in the air, showing the dragon's whimsical state in the form of a banner. The composition of the picture is concise, except for the dragon itself, there is almost no backdrop. The dragon body, dragon scales, dragon claws, dragon head, dragon whiskers and dragon horns, etc., are all realistic and meticulous with the brush. The dragon in the painting has three claws. Others, such as the Yuan blue and white dragon pattern with a seat plum vase, the Yuan Longquan kiln appliqué dragon pattern plate (all in the Jiangxi Provincial Museum) and the Yuan Longquan kiln blue glaze applique dragon pattern folding plate (Gao'an City Museum collection) and so on, are mostly so.
Yuan blue and white cloud dragon pattern jar 27.9 high, diameter 20.9, bottom diameter 19.8 cm Collection of the National Museum of China
Most of the drawings seen in porcelain are made by craftsmen or professional painters, which is different from the identity of painters commonly found in the history of painting. However, from these porcelain paintings, it can be seen that the painting dragon at this time is not only limited to professional painters, but also in folk crafts, its good skills can be seen. Archaeologist Sun Ji (1929~2023) said when talking about this kind of dragon painting works: "In the treatment of the image, the dragon, and the dragon are all free at this time. Taking the blue and white flat vase as an example, because most of it only paints a strip of sea water on the bottom edge, and there are only small clouds in the sky, it cannot be indulged in blending like splashing ink, so the outline of the dragon body is clear, and it cannot achieve the effect of yin and bright changes and dense concealment of paper paintings, so there can be no slack brushwork. It can be said that the dragon pattern on the blue and white flowers of the Yuan Dynasty not only accepted the achievements of the Song Dynasty in painting dragons, but also made progress." Indeed, in many porcelains, including Yuan blue and white, this characteristic dragon painting can be seen, which is a lineage of dragon painting since Chen Rong of the Southern Song Dynasty, and is also an example of the influence of scroll painting on folk crafts. Another example can be seen on the fragment of an embroidered dragon pattern unearthed from Cao's tomb in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in 1964 (in the collection of the National Museum of China), which is similar to the blue and white motif.
Yuan Sanqing Hall caisson closed dragon Shanxi Province Yongle Palace Mural Art Museum collection
It should be mentioned that in some sculptures of the Yuan Dynasty, many dragon images can also be seen, such as the hanging sculpture of the dragon and the dragon (descending dragon and ascending dragon) in the murals of Yongle Palace in Shanxi Province (collection of Yongle Palace Mural Art Museum in Shanxi Province) is a typical example. Both dragons are three-clawed dragons, and both place the dragon in the flowers and leaves, one rising and one falling, showing the state of the dragon freely shuttling through the clouds. The Sanqing Hall in the murals of Yongle Palace (collected by the Yongle Palace Mural Art Museum in Shanxi Province) is also similar in its artistic modeling. In a bronze mirror with a double dragon pattern (in the collection of the National Museum of China) in the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty, there is also a dragon pattern. The dragon is a four-clawed dragon, two dragons swim in the sea of clouds, flowers and leaves, the dragon body is hovering and undulating, the dragon scales are prominent, and the dragon's mouth is wide open. The double dragon in the bronze mirror is the same as the double dragon in the sculpture, both of which are three-dimensional in the form of a dragon. Although these dragons are located in different spatial locations, which are very different from the dragons on scroll paintings and porcelain, and their functions are also very different, most of them are architectural components or decorations of bronze mirrors, which have auspicious meanings, but the shape of the dragon, including the dragon body, dragon claws, dragon scales and dragon head, can find similarities with flat paintings.
Yuan to Yuan four years double dragon pattern bronze mirror diameter 25, side height 0.6 cm The National Museum of China is in the collection of the above dragon theme cultural relics, it can be roughly seen that the dragons of the Yuan Dynasty are mostly three-clawed and four-clawed dragons, and there are very few five-clawed dragons. During the same period, similar dragon shapes can be found in traditional paintings, ceramics, embroidery, sculptures, bronze mirrors, etc. This is historical evidence that the theme of "dragon" tends to be popularized. As scholar Li Ling said, "The dragon is a beast that has been a political-cultural symbol of China for thousands of years." As the only fictional animal in the Chinese zodiac, the imagination and meaning of the dragon not only meet the political needs of the superstructure, but also conform to the worship of gods and authority by ordinary people, so it has attracted more widespread attention and is a true reflection of politics and culture in traditional Chinese culture. The author has written many articles about dragons in paintings, but the dragon paintings and related dragon cultural relics of the Yuan Dynasty are rarely involved.
(References are omitted, please log in to CNKI homepage - Publication Search - Cultural Relics World to download the full text)
Author and affiliation: Zhu Wanzhang, National Museum of China
This article was published in Heritage World, Issue 2, 2024
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