Chutuo Mao Gongding full-shaped axis, Guangdong Provincial Zhongshan Library collection. Courtesy of Jin Yiwen
The full-shaped extension, also often referred to as the three-dimensional extension and the utensil extension, refers to the process of transferring the original appearance of the surface of the utensil to the toppa sheet in its entirety by means of ink extension technique.
The famous epigrapher Rong Geng has donated a number of important full-shaped topologies to the Guangdong Provincial Zhongshan Library, including the Chutuo Mao Gongding full-shaped axis, the Zhou Qihou Hou Zhen full-shaped axis, the Ehou Fangding full-shaped axis, and the Chen Zizai full-shaped axis. While donating important bronzes such as Luan Shujian, Xi Bojie, Zhonghui Father's Sword and Yue Wang Sword, Rong Geng also chose to donate the full shape to show the importance of the full shape in the field of gold and stone research.
Compared with the flat extension that is often applied to stone inscriptions, the full-shaped extension is mostly used in bronze, often supplemented by techniques such as line drawing, painting, and paper-cutting. That is to say, the full-shaped extension is not limited by the size of the original bronze artifacts, and the shape and inscription of the bronze itself can be displayed on the toppaper, supplemented by inscriptions, making it a special work of art different from calligraphy and painting.
Therefore, the full-shaped rubbings of antiquities bronzes that have been handed down to this day have appeared in two different types and styles. One is the artwork produced by collectors who focus on gold and stone to "preserve the authenticity of ancient artifacts", and the other is the Bogu Qing offering full-form painting produced by calligraphy and painting artists.
At present, it is generally believed that the full form of the expansion flourished during the Light Years of Jiaqing Dao in the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty monk Shi Dashou and the collector Chen Jieqi were two important figures who promoted the development of the all-shaped tuo technique.
The earliest extant full-shaped rubbings are collected in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, which is a full-shaped rubbing of the Western Han Dynasty Ding Tao Ding Hand Scroll by Shi Da, who was hand-expanded by Qing Daoguang in the nineteenth year. The shape of the extension of this volume is complete, and the front and back sides of the whole ding are two instruments and two expansions, and where there are turns or adjacent places, there is a contrast between the intensity and lightness of the use of ink colors. Chen Jieqi has a wide range of collections, involving bells, seals, carriages and horses, weapons, ancient bricks, tiles and many other categories, and even including the famous bronze heavy weapon Mao Gongding, in the production and exploration of the whole shape, he pays more attention to the "golden stone fun" of ancient artifacts, especially emphasizing "preserving the ancient and leaving the truth".
Compared with the white drawing, the full-shaped extension is directly obtained from the surface of the bronze original ware, and the ink color change of the rubbing is more intuitive and real, so it has become an important way for gold and stone collectors to study, preserve, appreciate and display ancient artifacts.
At the same time, the characteristics of clear ornamentation, realistic texture, and regular inscriptions have also gradually been accepted by calligraphy and painting artists. They performed painting techniques on the works of The Full Form, accompanied by flower patterns, so that the Full Shape Tuo and Bogu paintings were combined to become a special form of expression, that is, the "Bogu Qing Flower Diagram".
Qing painting originated in the Song and Yuan dynasties. In the New Year's Festival, the literati advocated the beauty of simplicity, often offering pine, bamboo, plum, etc. in several cases, accompanied by coarse tea and light rice, sake and small dishes, called "the year of the Dynasty Qing offering". In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was widely loved by the world, and the creation tended to be prosperous, further integrated with the Prayer Blessing Chart, Bogu Tu, etc., the main picture is Bogu artifacts, supplemented by seasonal flowers such as daffodils and plum blossoms, with auspicious melons and fruits such as persimmons, dates, and chestnuts. In the modern period, a new mode of creation of collectors, painters and topographers was even formed. In Wu Changshuo's "Dingsheng Tu" collected by the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, the full-form extension is relatively rough, but it pays attention to the performance of antiquities and the harmony of the overall picture. It can be seen from this that in the process of integrating the full-form expansion into the Qing supply map, the main focus of the creator is still the auspicious meaning given by the painting itself, and the requirements for the quality of the full-form expansion are relatively tolerant.
Due to the introduction of reproduction techniques such as Western lithography and Chroma plates and the popularity of photography, the practical function of the full-shaped extension has gradually weakened. Coupled with the high requirements for the level of skill, with the passage of time, the scope of application of the full-shaped extension continues to shrink, and the inheritors are also decreasing. However, cultural and museum units such as the Palace Museum and the Anyang Workstation of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have always had professional technicians responsible for the inheritance of the technology of transmission. The Capital Museum and xuzhou museum have also launched the Jinshi Chuantuo Art Exhibition.
It is an important carrier for presenting the ornamentation, writing and historical traces of ancient artifacts, and has an irreplaceable role in reproducing the beauty of bronze cultural relics. Today, together with other gemstone transmission techniques, it has become an intangible cultural heritage that inherits culture and records history, and is gradually recognized by the world and carried forward.
Author: Jin Yiwen
Source: People's Daily