Ma Yuan's "Statue of Kong Qiu", now in the Palace Museum in Beijing, is a representative work of the Southern Song Dynasty painter Ma Yuan and the portrait of Confucius in the Song Dynasty, which is "universally recognized" by art historians. However, there are various evidences that this painting is not Ma Yuan's original work, and the figure in the picture is not Confucius, but Zhuangzi. Li Liechu believes that this painting is a model of Ma Yuan's "Zhuangzi Statue" in Yu Shaosong's collection, but according to the author's investigation, the facsimile of this painting comes from a "Statue of Confucius" titled Ma Yuan published in the "Times Picture Weekly" in 1920, both of which are the old collections of the Republic of China collector Di Pingzi. The "Statue of Confucius" in the "Times Picture Weekly" is copied from the "Statue of Zhuangzi" collected by Yu Shaosong. Therefore, the extant Ma Yuan "Statue of Kong Qiu" should be a model of Ma Yuan's "Statue of Zhuangzi", and its production time should be after 1920.
Ma Yuan's "Statue of Kong Qiu" book color on silk
27.7cm×23.1cm, Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing
First, the relationship between Ma Yuan's "Statue of Zhuangzi" and Ma Yuan's "Statue of Kong Qiu"
In the book "The Canon of Paintings of Past Dynasties" edited by Zhou Jiyin, there is a brief introduction to Ma Yuan's "Zhuangzi Portrait" (without pictures): "Zhuangzi statue, axis. Collection: The original Dragon Tour Yu Clan Han Ke Tang. Photocopy: Jinshi Calligraphy and Painting, No. 28. According to the language: The non-Zhuangzi statue is the pro version of the page of Ma Yuan's "Statue of Confucius" (i.e., "Statue of Kong Qiu"). ”
That is to say, Zhou Jiyin believes that the "Zhuangzi Statue" published in the "Golden Stone Calligraphy and Painting" is a forgery, which is a copy of Ma Yuan's "Statue of Kong Qiu". Scholar Li Liechu believes that Ma Yuan's "Statue of Kong Qiu" should be a model of Ma Yuan's "Statue of Zhuangzi".
Ma Yuan's "Portrait of Zhuangzi", mentioned by Zhou Jiyin and Li Liechu, was actually originally published in the "Golden Stone Calligraphy and Painting" in the 6th issue of 1934.
Song Ma Qin's "Portrait of Zhuangzi" was photocopied in the "Jinshi Calligraphy and Painting" newspaper
3rd edition, November 5, 1934 (first photocopy)
"Jinshi Calligraphy and Painting" is a special supplement of "Southeast Daily", founded on September 15, 1934, "every five published, three issues at the beginning of the month", the founder is Yu Shaosong himself. He was not only a famous newspaper publisher at that time, but also a famous collector, and his books and jinshi calligraphy and paintings were mostly fine. It is not difficult to see the richness of its collection through the catalogue of the first to twenty-fifth issues of Jinshi Calligraphy and Painting. Because the photocopy ratio of Ma Yuan's "Portrait of Zhuangzi" in the sixth issue of "Golden Stone Calligraphy and Painting" in Yu's collection was very small, some details could not be distinguished, so the "Golden Stone Calligraphy and Painting" later enlarged and reprinted Ma Yuan's "Zhuangzi Portrait". From the second enlargement of the photocopied picture, we can see that the title of this painting is "Song Ma Yao Father Painting Zhuangzi Portrait", and the title on the right side of the picture is: "Northern Song Dynasty Ma Yao Father Painted Zhuangzi Portrait, Ming Xiangzi Jingshu Small Portrait". It can be seen that the Sixth Periodical did mislead Ma Yuan's name when printing this painting, and the editor corrected this mistake when reprinting it for the second time, and wrote its title more specifically and rigorously. However, this time a new mistake was made, and the date of Ma Yuan's activity was wrongly written. Because Ma Yuan was a painter of the Southern Song Dynasty, the title was "Northern Song Dynasty Ma Yao Father".
Song Ma's father painted "Zhuangzi Portrait" and photocopied it in the "Jinshi Calligraphy and Painting" newspaper
2nd edition, June 25, 1935 (second photocopy)
According to the number in the figure, the screen seal is identified as follows:
1. Shenpin; 2. Zijing; 3. Merlin Secret Play; 4. Xiangyuan Bianyin; 5. Merlin Hall; 6. Xiang Molin Appreciation Seal; 7. Shenpin Shang; 8. Descendants Yongbao; 9. Zijing Father Seal; 10. Xiang Molin ConnoisseurShip; 11-18. Vague and unrecognizable.
It can be seen from the inscription that all the seals in the numbers 1 to 10 are sealed by Xiang Yuanbian, indicating that this "Zhuangzi Statue" existed at least in the Ming Dynasty (of course, the possibility of forgery is not ruled out). If you compare this painting with the Forbidden City's "Statue of Kong Qiu" in The Forbidden City, you will find that the two have a very high degree of similarity.
So, is the extant "Statue of Kong Qiu" really a model of Ma Yuan's "Statue of Zhuangzi", as Li Liechu said? If so, why don't counterfeiters imitate the mold together with the seal, and will it be that as Li Liechu speculated, "the counterfeiter is troublesome, so he stamps a few fake seals at hand"? We don't have to rush to conclusions, and then examine a "Statue of Confucius" of Ma Yuan that was published in the Times Picture Weekly during the Republic of China.
II. The Statue of Confucius in the Times Picture Weekly
As mentioned above, Ma Yuan's "Portrait of Zhuangzi" was twice published in the 1934 and 1935 "Jinshi Calligraphy and Painting" newspaper, but as early as 1920, the Times Picture Weekly published a "Confucius Statue" with the same title of Ma Yuan in the 19th issue (hereinafter referred to as the "Confucius Statue of the Times").
Ma Yuan's painting "Portrait of Confucius" photocopied in the "Times Picture Weekly"
October 8, 1920 4th Edition
Judging from the photocopied materials, this "Statue of Confucius" of Ma Yuan is a portrait on paper, and there is no inscription, stamp, inscription and other information on the screen. The size of the frame is relatively compact, and it is not known whether the editor cropped it to this way for the sake of layout adjustment, or whether the frame was originally like this, which is still impossible to verify. If you compare the Times "Statue of Confucius" with the extant "Statue of Kong Qiu", it is found that the similarity between the two is much higher than that of Ma Yuan's "Statue of Zhuangzi". As shown in the figure below, the outline of the head of the character in the existing "Statue of Kong Qiu" and the "Confucius Statue" of the Times, the height of the hairline, and the expression of staring forward are very similar, and even the subtle twists at the edge line of the eyebrow arch are also similar.
Head comparison chart Is from left to right
Forbidden City Hides Ma Yuan "Statue of Kong Qiu" Times "Statue of Confucius" Ma Yuan "Statue of Zhuangzi"
As shown in the following figure, there is a certain gap between the two lines in the right arm and chest of the existing "Statue of Kong Qiu" and the "Statue of Confucius" of the Times, but these two lines are intersected in Ma Yuan's "Portrait of Zhuangzi". From the lines at the elbow turn, it can be seen that the three lines in the first two paintings, although close together, do not intersect, while the three lines in the "Portrait of Zhuangzi" intersect.
Contrast chart of clothing patterns from left to right
As shown in the following figure, the more complex the structure and dense lines, the more it can show the similarity of the Times "Confucius Statue" and Ma Yuan's "Kong Qiu Statue", the structural outline of the characters in the two paintings is compared according to the author's "superposition" in the drawing software, and it is found that the contour lines of the two figures can almost reach the degree of coincidence, but the brushwork, thickness, strength and other aspects of the lines are slightly different. But although they are relatively similar in appearance and contour to Ma Yuan's "Zhuangzi Portrait", they are still far from overlapping.
Based on this, the author believes that there is a relationship between the existing "Statue of Confucius" and the "Statue of Confucius" of the Times. So, who is the mother of the two and who is the facsimile? Judging from the quality of the lines of the two paintings, the line pen in the Times "Confucius Portrait" is vigorous and powerful, the line starts and ends clearly, decisively and smoothly, while the line of Ma Yuan's "Kong Qiu Portrait" is slow and hesitant, not coherent enough, there is a sense of step and trend, the line start and stop is unclear, the traces of the tracing are very obvious, although the pen has a "vibrating pen", but there is no "golden wrong knife" Pen force, it appears weak and weak, although the line has the form of "house leak marks", but there is no "house leak marks" pen meaning.
Based on the above reasons, the author believes that the existing "Statue of Confucius" should be copied from the "Statue of Confucius" of the Times. Therefore, Li Liechu's thesis that Ma Yuan's "Statue of Kong Qiu" may be a copy of Yu Shao's Song Zang Ma Yuan's "Statue of Zhuangzi" in the early days of the founding of New China may not be very accurate. However, although Yu Shaosong's MaYuan "Zhuangzi Statue" has certain differences from the above two "Confucius Statues" in terms of appearance and some details, the overall contour of the character image, the degree of density of the lines, as well as the style of clothing, facial expression, body dynamics and other characteristics are still very similar, and should be closely related to the "Statue of Kong Qiu" and "Confucius Statue". Since the three paintings are so closely related and similar, why are two paintings considered to be the image of Confucius and the other is considered to be the image of Zhuangzi?
Third, whether it is Zhuangzi or Confucius
In order to know whether the figures in the above three paintings are Confucius or Zhuangzi, we must first comb through the existing earlier zhuangzi or Confucius statues, examine the similar characteristics between them, and then make a more reasonable judgment. The National Palace Museum in Taipei has a set of albums entitled "Full Body Portraits of Saints and Sages", which originally belonged to the collection of the Southern Kaoru Hall of the Qing Palace, and art historians generally believe that it was composed by a famous ming dynasty court professional painter. The album has 46 pages depicting 46 sages and sages throughout the ages, two of which are portraits of Confucius and Zhuangzi.
The "Statue of Confucius" of the anon. "Full Body Portrait of the Sages and Sages" is ink on silk
28.6cm×21.8cm Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei
The "Portrait of Zhuangzi" of the anon. "Full Body Portrait of the Sages and Sages" is ink on silk
The confucius and Zhuangzi in these two albums seem to be somewhat similar, but there are also obvious differences between the two, the most important of which lies in the decorative patterns on the edges of the figures' costumes.
Li Liechu's cue is perhaps the most convincing, arguing that the painter's depiction of leopard prints on the edges of Zhuangzi's robe was intended to convey the idea of "leopard concealment." Later generations often used "leopard hermit" as a metaphor for those hermits who lived in seclusion and were clean and self-sufficient, in order to distinguish between officials who "did not choose food to fatten their bodies". The meaning of the extension also refers to the meaning of some people in the wild who are secretly cultivating themselves, waiting for opportunities to move, and making a comeback. Zhuangzi lived a life of leisure and happiness, although he did the "Mengxian Lacquer Circle History", but the history books and biographies all agree that he was "lifelong", belonging to the real sense of "leopard cain", rather than the extended sense of "leopard hiding", "leopard change" and so on. Therefore, the painter uses the costume decorated with leopard print to express the life characteristics of Zhuangzi's "leopard cain", which is very appropriate.
In the TV series "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an", the Taoist Li Bi, the Daojun Emperor Song Huizong, the meridian crown in the "Laojun Change TenTh Figure" and the Dai Fa in Ma Yuan's "Statue of Kong Qiu" are consistent
By examining the common features of the existing Images of Zhuangzi in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it is found that in addition to the similar feature of "leopard print", there is also a common point, that is, Zhuangzi's forehead is not exaggerated and protruding like the extant Ma Yuan", "Kong Qiu Statue" and "Confucius Statue" of the Times.
In addition, the academic community for the past Confucius statue research results are also relatively rich, Luo Chenglie and Kong Xiangmin two scholars have been at home and abroad Confucius statues have been a more comprehensive combing and collection, in the "Portrait of Confucius in the Portrait" a total of 150 confucius statues of the past. Although these Confucius statues have different appearances, they cannot find a statue of Confucius with a bulging forehead, and the two authors have not included Ma Yuan's "Statue of Kong Qiu", which shows that they are also skeptical about this portrait. Therefore, the extant Mayuan "Statue of Confucius" and the "Statue of Confucius" of the Times do not have the universal characteristics of the confucius statue tradition of previous dynasties.
The statue of Zhuangzi in the Yuan Dynasty painter Hua Zuli's "Ten Sons of Xuanmen Picture Scroll" is copied from the stone and woodcuts of Zhao Mengfu's "Ten Sons"
brief summary
Based on the above analysis, the author believes that the "Statue of Kong Qiu" of Ma Yuan in the Palace Museum in Beijing is not the real work of Ma Yuan, and the character image in the picture is not Confucius, but should be Zhuangzi, whose model was published in the "Times Picture Weekly" in 1920, both of which are actually the old collections of Di Pingzi. However, when the Statue of Confucius was printed in the Times Picture Weekly, it seems that the existing Mayuan "Statue of Kong Qiu" has not yet been "copied", so its production time should be after 1920. The "Confucius Statue" photocopied in the "Times Picture Weekly" is likely to be "facing" the "Zhuangzi Statue" of Ma Yuan, which Yu Shaosong once collected, but the copyer deliberately protruded the forehead part of Zhuangzi due to the influence of the ming and qing "Shouxing Statue" modeling characteristics, so that the character image showed a certain "divine" appearance.
Although they have equally important historical value, this cannot be the reason why Ma Yuan's "Statue of Kong Qiu" can continue to be called Ma Yuan's original work, at least we should call it "(G) Ma Yuan's "Zhuangzi Statue" or "(biography) Ma Yuan's "Zhuangzi Statue"" (Excerpt)
Source: Fine Arts Magazine