The Palace Museum's special exhibition of figure paintings is holding its fourth installment, "A Thousand Autumn Beauty", which is quite eye-catching because of its theme of women.
Walk to the Wenhua Palace, and the poster in front of the hall selects Wen Zhengming's "Picture of Mrs. Xiang Junxiang" as the theme work. "The curling autumn wind, under the wavy leaves of the Dongting", at this time it is the golden autumn, the falling trees are Xiaoxiao, and the autumn light is harmonious, which makes the best annotation for the exhibition.
Mingwen Zhengming's painting "Picture of Xiangjun Xiang Lady", collected by the Palace Museum
"Xiangjun Xiang Lady Picture" is a rare big figure painting by Wen Zhengming. The painting is based on the two chapters of "Xiang Jun" and "Xiang Lady" in "Chu Ci · Nine Songs". Regarding who Xiang Jun and Mrs. Xiang are, there have been many lawsuits in history. Sima Qian recorded in the "Historical Records" that Qin Shi Huang asked Dr. Xiangjun what god he was, and said: "Wen Zhiyao daughter, Shun wife." That is, it reflects that the people of the Qin Dynasty took Yao's second daughter, Empress E, and Empress Ying as the king of Xiang. Liu Xiang and Zheng Xuan both followed this view. To the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Yi's "Chu Ci Chapters and Sentences" takes the second concubine as Mrs. Xiang and Xiangjun as the god of water, and believes that the two chapters are based on Qu Yuan's narration to describe the second concubine's thoughts about Xiangjun. Guo Pu's note in the Eastern Jin Dynasty "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" also believes that Xiangjun and Mrs. Xiang are two gods, "Jiang Xiang has a wife, and Yuhe Luo has a concubine".
As for Tang Hanyu, his views on Mrs. Xiang Junxiang changed again. "Huangling Temple Tablet" negates the views of Wang Yi and Guo Pu, believing that Emperor E is the eldest daughter of Yao and the wife of Shun, so she is called "Jun", and the second daughter Nuying is a concubine, and she is reduced to "Mrs." And quoted the "Book of Rites" cloud: "Etiquette has a small gentleman, and the gentleman does not know what is right, and he has to be called the king." The ancients regarded the wife of the country as the little gentleman, which is the origin of the word "jun" in Xiangjun. Han Yu started from Taoism, and from the perspective of etiquette, he identified the identity of Mrs. Xiang and the difference between the principal and the secondary.
Han Yu had a great influence in the Northern Song Dynasty, and was deeply respected by Ouyang Xiu and Su Shi, and his doctrine was also adopted by Li Gonglin, a literati painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, as the basis for his paintings. Li Gonglin painted "Nine Songs", which is recorded in "Xuanhe Painting". Although the original painting does not exist, there are several copies copied by Yuan Zhangwu. In each of the handed down books, "Xiang Jun" and "Xiang Lady" are divided into two pictures, and each of the main seats is painted with a fairy. The fairy painted in the chapter "Xiang Jun" wears a crown, with a dignified expression and a positive face and posture, while the fairy in the chapter "Mrs. Xiang" has no crown, combs her hair in the sky, and her face is slightly sideways, looking back and lowering her eyebrows. Judging from the makeup and demeanor of the two fairies, it is obvious that they are one main and one pair, which is consistent with Han Yu's statement that Xiang Jun is the main concubine and Mrs. Xiang is the second concubine. It shows that the source of the painter's painting of these two chapters should be based on the theory of Han.
Yuan Zhangwu's "Nine Songs Picture" "Xiangjun" and "Xiang Lady" part, collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in United States
And Yuanren's paintings of this kind may not all come from Han Yu. Another piece of Yuanren "Nine Songs" on display this time, the "Xiangjun Xiang Lady" part is different. In the painting, the two concubines are depicted standing opposite each other in the forest, both wearing crowns, and there are no maids beside them. The right painting of an immortal holding an oar, the oar has a pattern, it should be from the "Gui Xi Lan Yuan", that is, Xiang Jun, and the second concubine of Lin Xue is Mrs. Xiang. Xiang Jun and Xiang Lady are male fairies and female fairies respectively, which are also seen in the "Nine Songs" of the Tibetan Yuan people of Nanjing University. This picture is obviously contrary to Han's theory, and it seems to be from Wang Yi and Guo Pu's interpretation. It is conceivable that the Yuan people may not all be lucky enough to see the true works of Longmian, and there are different opinions about Xiangjun and Mrs. Xiang, which may affect the painter's understanding of her identity.
Wen Zhengming depicts two fairies in this picture, thinking that Mrs. Xiang Jun Xiang reflects the inheritance of the views of the Qin and Han dynasties to Han Yu. Regarding the origin of this picture, Wen Zhengming said in his own title:
When Yu was young, he read the Xiangjun Xiang lady painted by Zhao Weigong, and the ink and color were extremely ancient. Ishida first came to the rest of his life, and Yu Xie didn't dare. It's been 20 years. Occasionally, I saw the painting of Empress E's heroine, Gu made Tang makeup, although it was extremely fine, but the meaning was slightly exhausted, because it seemed that Zhao Gong was for this, and the color was set by Qian Shunju. It is a pity that the stone does not exist, and there is no way to ask for benefits.
According to what he said, he was dissatisfied with the works of the world, so he imitated Zhao Mengfu's works and imitated his ancient meaning. Judging from the picture, the paintings of "Lady Xiang Junxiang" are different from those of Zhang Wu. One of the concubines combed the fairy bun, held the fan and looked back, with an elegant face, and the first concubine combed the snail bun, standing opposite to each other. The two concubines are not crowned, they are all wearing red clothes, wearing wide sleeves and collars, taking the French and Han systems, with long robes dragging the ground, fairy robes fluttering, and there is a state of step and void. The color is elegant and graceful, and the lines are simple and ancient. From the point of view of the characters, it is quite similar to the part of "the two concubines of Nanxiang" in the Song Dynasty copy of the Song Dynasty (Volume 1) in the Forbidden City. Zhao Mengfu advocated retro, there are many ancient paintings, and his creation of "Xiangjun Xiang Lady Picture" is likely to draw on the Jin people's paintings, and this ancient style of painting is transmitted to Wen Zhengming.
In Zhao Mengfu's era, Li Gonglin's "Nine Songs" was circulating in the world. Zhao Mengfu's paintings trace back to the Jin and Tang dynasties, and his figure paintings such as "Arhat in Red" are said to be seen in the Tang Dynasty Lu Lengjia paintings, inspired by it, and self-professed with "ancient meaning". For painting horses, he is more complacent, and "Man Riding Picture" self-titled cloud painting horses "obtained from the sky", and calls himself "worthy of the Tang people". Later, it was said that he could see Han Gan's true works, and he got his intentions. Before Zhao Mengfu, Li Gonglin was a giant in the Northern Song Dynasty painting circle known for his figures and pommel horse paintings, and his works were not a few people who passed on to the Yuan Dynasty. In the face of the achievements of the former sages, Zhao Mengfu was naturally not willing to follow, but found another way to explore the way to break through.
The creation of "Xiangjun Xiang Lady Picture" should be a counterwork to "Nine Songs". The method of taking the Jin people in the painting makes the image of the second concubine more ancient, which is in contrast to Li Gonglin's "Nine Songs". Especially in the expression of painting, Zhao Mengfu abandoned the edifying posture of "Nine Songs" and gave the image of the second concubine a more literary expression. It can be seen from Wen Zhengming's copy that the annotation of Taoism has been removed from the picture, and the dignified image of the main concubine and the difference between her status and the second concubine have been diluted, aiming to restore the original meaning of the "Nine Songs" and depict the second concubine as a legendary female deity. The two concubines in the picture, compared to Xu Bu, look at it calmly, not like a wife and concubine but more like a sister, showing the beauty of the gods who are not bound by Taoism. In such a picture, Zhao Mengfu completed a transcendence from the image of Taoism to the image of literature.
Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (biography) "Female History Zhentu" volume Song facsimile part
An important type of female figure in early painting history existed in political and religious paintings, which were used for the needs of religious and exhortation. The so-called "edification and helping others", from the "Female Benevolence and Wisdom Map" to the "Female History Atlas" and "Female Filial Piety Scripture Diagram", etc., all reflect this functionality. During the Tang Dynasty, there was no shortage of works with the theme of aristocratic women's lives, such as the "Hairpin Lady" in the Liao Bo Collection and the "Lady Waving a Fan" in this exhibition, etc., which were often used in interior screens and other decorations as the need for entertainment. Unlike professional painters, the scholar paintings of the Song and Yuan dynasties generally rejected the secular and entertaining, and paid more attention to the expression of orthodox themes and ideas. Represented by Li Gonglin, his works related to women are all about Fengjiao and history, including Cai Yan's return to the Han Dynasty, brocade palindromes, and female filial piety. Even for the works of other painters, they must add connotations that conform to Confucian style. Zhou Lang's "Du Qiu Tu" was sent to Kang Li, and Du Qiuniang's face was painted in the painting, and her demeanor was soft, which was originally a work of pleasure, but Kang Li, who was a Confucian, generously wrote Du Mu's hundreds of words long poem after the painting. Although Du Muyuan's poem is titled Du Qiuniang, the intention is "consistent since ancient times, and changes can be pushed", expressing his feelings about the overturning of the world. Kang Li often used calligraphy and painting to persuade Emperor Yuan Shun, and emphasized the political function of painting. The contrast between the literati doctors' works on women and love is endless, and the seriousness of their paintings. Driven by this concept, relying on famous poems to express the beauty of women's sexual spirituality has become a way for literati to create and accept paintings with female themes outside of Taoism. As a result, "Luo Shen Fu" has become a classic in the history of painting as a masterpiece in the history of literature.
Detail of Yuan Zhoulang's "Du Qiu Tu", collected by the Palace Museum
Zhang Yanyuan's "Records of Famous Paintings of the Past Dynasties" said: "The biography is so described, not the face; There is a chant to sing its beauty, but it cannot be prepared; The system of pictures, so both. "I think there are places in pictures that words can't reach. The relationship between poetry and painting is sometimes the opposite: under the illumination of the extreme rhetorical beauty of literary works, how to fully express these classic images through painting puts forward higher requirements for painters. In fact, the pictorial expression of "Luo Shen Fu" faces this problem. The drawings of "Luo Shen Fu" have appeared as early as the Jin Dynasty, and Emperor Ming of the Jin Dynasty and Lu Tanwei of the Southern Dynasty have works with this theme, which can be seen in the "History of Zhenguan Public and Private Paintings" and "Famous Paintings of the Tang Dynasty". The Palace Museum has a collection of "Luo Shen Futu", which was once the old collection of the Qing Palace, and the Qianlong Imperial title is called "the first volume", which is a copy of the Song people. From the tree and stone painting method and the characteristics of the picture "people are larger than the mountains, and the water is not allowed to be widespread", it can be seen that the base should be from the Six Dynasties, and we can imagine the original painting Fengshen. The volume is bright and bright, in the form of frames of pictures, vividly reproduces the peerless appearance of Luoshen, and outlines the dreamlike world of immortals. In the picture scroll, Luo Shenxian is gorgeous, his clothes are fluttering, and there is a state of flowing wind and snow. "Looking at it from afar, it is as bright as the sun rising in the morning glow; Forced to observe it, the scorching waves appeared. In the painting, the red sun and hibiscus are specially painted as a backdrop for the complexion of Roselle. In particular, the scene of "Riding the Six Dragons" is magnificent and strange, vividly showing the wonders of the fairy world and the majesty of the goddess, becoming the most wonderful picture in the whole volume, and the expression and imagination of the painting have thus achieved a fit with the work.
The Song people's "Luo Shen Tu" in this exhibition was rarely exhibited before. The painting is a section of "Seeing a Beauty, on the Side of the Rock". The style of painting is similar to that of Li Tang, but the painting is longer and has a large blank space, which is different from the compact system of the ancient "Luo Shen Tu", and the composition is slightly similar to that of "Haoliang Autumn Water", which shows the popularity of this form at that time. Judging from the structure and size of the picture, if it is taken from a long scroll, the original scroll is probably a huge volume two or three times longer than the ancient facsimile, which seems to be unusual. Therefore, it is very likely that the painting is a separate work.
Anonymous Southern Song Dynasty "Luo Shen Fu Tu" part, the Palace Museum collection
When the painter chooses to intercept a fragment to express a famous piece, it must contain his interpretation of this fragment, which means that from a literary perspective, he pays more attention to the composition and the expression of the human image. The painting abandons the mist-shrouded fairyland atmosphere of the ancient facsimile, and shows Roselle, dressed in a vein, standing on the opposite bank, and in the picture it is positioned close to the top of the scroll. The lofty posture shows the separation from the man and god of the King of Wei. And this picture is diverse in the performance of "Luo Shen Fu", which can not only interpret the scene of King Wei's first encounter with Luo Shen, but also the meeting of the two: "Luo Shen Yan, migrating and wandering", "Zhu light body to stand with a crane, if he will fly but not fly", it can also be the end of Fu: "Catch the bridle to resist, and be afraid of the coil and can't go". A simple picture runs through the meaning of "Luo Shen Fu" "The Way of Man and God".
The Forbidden City has a Yuan Dynasty Wei Jiuding "Luo Shen Tu", in the form of a straight frame, with a white painting technique to paint Luo Shen holding a fan, stepping on the clouds and floating on the green waves, the demeanor is graceful, and the hair buns and folds of the characters are quite ancient. The top of the painting is painted with a distant mountain, and the picture is simple and elegant, reflecting the literati painting style under the influence of Zhao Mengfu, which pursued ancient simplicity. This picture of King Wei's car is no longer in the picture, and the whole work is centered on Luoshen, ignoring the storyline, and presenting the goddess's demeanor independently, which probably has the same meaning as "Xiangjun Xiang Lady Picture". From the Nine Songs to the Roselle, the painting originated from literature and eventually approached the expression of literature, and later generations can also follow in his footsteps and observe the freedom and self-satisfaction of the goddess in the painting from a distance.
Source丨Wenhui Literature and Art Review
Text丨Duan Ying (Research Librarian, Palace Museum)
Editor丨Wu Zebin