In the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Geng listed four Shandong calligraphers and painters in the "National Dynasty Painting Collection", namely Fa Ruozhen, Jiao Bingzhen, Leng Mei and Gao Fenghan, of which Fa Ruozhen was the most profound, but he said in the article "Pen Humble Realm: On Fa Ruozhen Landscape Painting": "Fa Ruozhen was a strange second-rate painter in the seventeenth century. We talk about an artist in this way, as if we were saying that a man was the greatest dwarf of his time. If Fa Ruo is truly a second-rate painter, what makes him so amazing? ”
Gao Juhan positioned Fa Ruozhen as a second-rate painter, which is not very tall, but he also summarized Fa Ruozhen's painting characteristics as "pen clumsiness", which does not seem to be low. Why did Gao Juhan give such a seemingly contradictory conclusion, in which he made this assumption: "We can assume an answer, that is, to think that Farshi, with his limited skill, with his almost hasty habit of repeating the same compositions and improvisations, has put him outside the ranks of first-rate painters." However, the charm of the turbulent picture he exhibited in his best works made him pay attention to the era when the world's most admired landscapes were the most admired. ”
Regarding Fa Ruozhen's view of painting, various documents are rarely recorded, and Gao Juhan started from the article "Painting Theory" written by Fa Ruozhen to make corresponding analysis and elaboration. The article begins with the words: "Or is it the painter who knows: Sir, the best worker in the world?" The painter knows: No, this is not the so-called worker of the world, it will be the most clumsy in the world, and then this is also the case. ”
It can be seen that between the work of painting and the clumsiness, Fa Ruozhen emphasizes the latter, believing that only those who taste clumsy can have characteristics in painting. In response to Fa Ruozhen's sentence, Gao Juhan's interpretation is: "The painter felt that he was useless in this power competition to govern the country, and then turned to classical literature and poetry. Finally found his place in painting. His achievements in painting cannot be compared with his achievements in his career, the former is only the result of the efforts of the "most clumsy man in the world". The painter sighed deeply: 'If the painting does not work, it is also free from the axe, and I can also be old.' ’”
Later, in the Painting Theory, Fa Ruozhen said this to Xing Sheng, the grandson of Xing Dong: "Xing Sheng also thinks of hiding his work in Chang'an, and he will be clumsy in the world, and he will have nothing to use his work." After such exhortation, Fa Ruozhen came to the following conclusion: "Shout, Xing Shengqi do not go to my humble work to change the work of the world." I am born with Xing sheng and his wife. ”
This shows that Fa Ruozhen takes "clumsiness" as his goal of pursuit, and he upholds this concept whether he is a person, a person, a person who does things, or a painter. For this concept, Gao Juhan made the following comparison in the text: "Fa Ruozhen's view of The style of Painting of Pu Ruozhen immediately reminds us of Gu Ningyuan's famous exposition on the superiority of clumsiness over work, and the never-ending emphasis on the fact that Park Humility (Gu calls it 'innocence') to painters. However, positive prejudgment was not widespread in the seventeenth century. On the contrary, other writers have made harsh judgments about the ideal of "clumsiness" pursued by non-professional painters. Undoubtedly, these writers were struck by the rough, calligraphic, and unorganized style of painting that had become increasingly popular among scholars in the late Ming Dynasty, whose administrative positions ensured that their paintings were necessarily appreciated, and some of which were often excessively admired. High-level examples include Ni Yuanlu, Zodiac Zhou, Wang Duo, and Yang Wenxiao, and the list goes on and on. Thankfully, though, not much of their work has survived. ”
Fa Ruozhen's "Reading Map of the Snow Room" is now in the Palace Museum in Shenyang
This passage tells the story of some painters in the late Ming Dynasty who seem to be wild in their creation, but their essence is a kind of rudeness, and Gao Juhan quoted Li Rihua in the section "Bamboo Paintings" in the "Tian Zhi Tang Collection and Calligraphy and Painting Notation":
The ancient books are equally important, in order to save allusions, prepare the Fa precepts, and are not the authors of the waves, so there is the "Jianzhang Thousand Doors and Ten Thousand Households Map", which Jin Zhang Mao first saw. Emperor Hancheng regarded the "Tu Zhi Ji Tu", and Ban Ji said in his advice: There is also a Tu Shu Dao landscape to be dedicated, and the Shuai will be a successful person. Self-care tiger head, Lu Tanwei specialize in portrayal and portraits and then paint things to the extreme. Wang Mojie and Li Yingqiu are all dyed in the position and tried their best to do it, forging months and months, not winning, not lightly writing, not working and not showing people. Five days and one mountain, ten days and one water, all the families are the same, not only the king. Su Yuju and Minang Gong's generation, with their talents squandered and Prepared Hanmo as a play tool, so they talked about it at the side of the wine, and everything was wonderful, but it was also a change of heavenly opportunity, and it was not a painter in the end. For example, the scattered monks are sanctified, and the flesh is drunk, and the vomit is turned into gold. If others do, they will only break the vows of the monks.
The above is Li Rihua's view of the Tang and Song painters, and then he mentioned the painting characteristics of some famous painters in the Yuanming:
Yuan Wei Zhao Wuxing father and son still abide by the law of the ancients and do not get rid of wealth and nobility, Wang Shuming, Huang Zijiu, the people of the mountains and forests, the painting method is about the predecessor and self-discipline. When its lush and distant, it is not a treasure, and the law of years of luck is secretly powerful. Ni Fan Manshi, unintentional clumsiness, Pi Yun: "Write yourself in the chest of the escape." "There is no escape and it hits its traces, and it eventually becomes a kind of dog's ear." In this dynasty, Wei Wen Heng Shan Wanrun, Shen Shitian Cang, is more than a moment, it is difficult to compare with the ancients. Qiu Ying has power, but there is no old bone. And the ancients are simple and more prepared, light and thicker, Ying can be complex can not be simplified, can be thick can not be light, non-high quality also.
Fa Ruozhen "Spring Gita of Keiyama" (Japanese) Hashimoto Sueyoshizo
In response to Li Rihua's views, Gao Juhan made the following interpretation: "For Li Rihua's time, the meaning of all this is obvious. The diligent and rigorous painting style of the previous masters has lost its original style due to the lack of creative inheritance of the later generations. Those who tried to imitate the improvisational works of the literati painters of the previous generation were also in a bad situation, naturally, the effect caused by these whimsical interests could not be imitated, and the enviable casualness and profligacy in the works were easy to fall into the mire of simplification, in fact, Li Rihua had already gained insight into the crisis faced by the painting world at that time in his exposition. Needless to say, this crisis in turn acted only on the works of individualist and other painters of the mid-to-late seventeenth century, and produced simple and novel solutions to problems, which were very practical for the artists and critics of the time. ”
How to look at the contradiction between work and clumsiness, Gao Juhan quoted Gong Xian's concept: "He believes that the works of writers, that is, professional painters, are 'stable but not strange', and the works of literati painters are 'strange and unstable'. Gao Juhan then talked about an inscription in the landscape atlas made by Fa Ruozhen in 1682 in the Kurokokawa Academy of Fine Arts, in which Fa quoted Su Dongpo's concept: "Su Zizhan is said to have no painting talent but has a pictorial meaning, servant old man!" It is known that the so-called painting is also secondary to the main meaning, such as the gift of white clouds to the ear. ”
How to understand this passage, Gao Juhan interpreted: "The meaning of the last sentence is somewhat obscure, and the following is my understanding of its meaning." Admitting that you are 'uncollected' can certainly be considered a superficial self-denial that people are accustomed to, but a practice of self-humility. It also leaves those who want to critically point this out of the way, a ploy that Chinese artists like to use. But in a later inscription, Farojin repeats the same statement, which seems to reflect his limited true understanding of himself as an artist. So, what does his 'painting' refer to? Do they include only a novel form of painting and a peculiar depiction of the world? Of course, Farozhen's view contains these two meanings, but I believe that in his view, the meaning of 'painting' is much more than that, and he wants to explore the meaning of a certain 'painting' or 'theme' that embarrassed him in his later years, in order to provide clues to understand many (if most) of his symbolic landscape paintings. ”
It was these Fa Ruo's true self-teachings, and the clumsiness of his painting style, that aroused Gao Juhan's interest in in-depth research, and then he came to the above conclusions. However, for the achievements of Fa Ruozhen's painting and the formation of his style, his hometown sage Jiang Qiming saw it higher and more thoroughly, and Jiang Qiming's comment was: "Good landscape, at the beginning of the Song Dynasty Guo Heyang and the Yuan Dynasty Wang Huanghe were particularly deeply powerful, after middle age eunuchs traveled to Jiangnan, they saw the true face of Huangshan, and got to know Cheng Zhengyi, Mei Qing, Dai Benxiao, Gong Xian and other famous artists, the style of painting changed greatly, with cirrus clouds to participate in Mijia calligraphy, and gradually formed their own face of floating pen and ink and meteorological weather. The work is elegant and vulgar, not stained with dust and haze, and has a unique style. In his later years, his pen and ink became more refined, and he gradually refined the realm, the mountains and rivers and hills were all intentional, and the clouds and smoke were full of paper, and he could not swim in bed. ”
Fa Ruozhen's "Yuyu Sending Love Map" is selected from the "Collection of Three Masters of Painting and Calligraphy in the Qing Dynasty Painting Circle of Guzhou"
To be able to give such a high comment, Jiang Qiming is evidenced by The Scroll of Xishan Clouds and Mist painted by Yifa Ruozhen, who summarized the painting style and painting techniques shown in the picture as follows: "The picture adopts the composition of Pingyuan and Gaoyuan, showing the undulating scenery and smoke clouds after the summer and autumn mountain rains. The mountains and forests are silent, and there are no fireworks in the world. In the distant mountains, a mountain spring gushes down, rushing and venting, as if to break the quiet and silent atmosphere between the deep mountains and old forests, so that people can smell their voices and want to drink their sweets. The author reversed the past normalcy of complicated pen and ink, more dyeing and less dyeing, and used the pen of indulgence to come out at will, slightly rubbing and supplemented by light ink baking dyeing and water method, which was wonderful in ethereal simplicity. Its tree method is in the light and thick pen, the layers are clear, and the swaying is particularly amazing. There is no soldier in the picture, not embellished with a word, the cold and empty of the mountain forest spring is fully expressed, which is quite the Tang Dynasty's 'empty mountain after the new rain, the weather is late and autumn', which can be called an elegant product. ”
There are three sayings in the "Xishan Yunxiao Picture Scroll", the first of which is: "Mr. Fa Huangshan is intelligent and intelligent, and Bo Jiqun books." At the beginning of the country, the Five Classics were specially recommended as the History of the Xing Dynasty, and the calligraphy and painting were the best for a while, and the glue people got their pieces of paper, and the treasure was arched. The first good deeds are often indistinguishable, taking fakes as true, and sighing. But the Heavenly Zen Master is obsessed with Han Mo, and the title is A and B, and he is not happy. This volume of pen and ink is longitudinal, cloud and mist smoke horizontal, really mi Xiangyang a vein, the god product also. His descendant Sun Bensi studied the Xuanzong Sect, left the interpretation texts, and made forgetting the form with the Heavenly Master, holding it as a gift, hiding it, and not lightly showing it to others. In the early spring of Qianlong Dingyou, the master has returned to the Pure Land, the disciple Sun Guanghe works in the book, and his rare calligraphy and paintings are also with the master, etc., one day sleeve this volume is inscribed in Yu, Yu Gu and Xi Yue: Every time I see the family giants in the hands of the ancestors, they can't keep it, and the monks protect the teacher's inheritance, the rope is not replaced, and its Zhixun can be Jiayefu! Qianlong Ding You April Retrospective Day Aisilion Wenwei inscription in the Zhi Room. ”
Leng Wenwei is a native of Jiaozhou, Shandong, with a book title, proficient in collecting calligraphy and painting tablets, and is known as the "Five Fengs of Jiaodong" along with Fa Ruozhen, Gao Fenghan, Ke Shaochen and Lin Fengzhen. Leng Wenwei said in this trek that the people of Jiaozhou regard Fa Ruozhen as a piece of paper, which shows that the locals love this sage very much. The second verse of the scroll was written by Jiang Shiru: "Mr. Fa Huangshan's painting had a duplicate name at the beginning of the country. This volume is now in the same year as Wu Ziming of Zangbao Mountain, fortunately, if there is a cloud on the paper, I would like to write a number of words to be blessed. Guangxu twenty years Canglong in the noon liangyue, Shangyuan Jiang Shiru. ”
Although Jiang Shiru was a native of Nanjing, he also had a relationship with Shandong, because he had participated in the compilation of the "Shandong Tongzhi" and knew the humanities of Shandong very well, so of course he knew the importance of Fa Ruozhen's paintings. Jiang Qiming's article also mentioned that in later works, including the Qianlong Emperor also loved Fa Ruozhen's paintings: "As a generation of calligraphy and painting giants, Fa Ruozhen's works have always been cherished by posterity, and his paintings and calligraphy are scattered in the hands of major museums and private collectors in China, and there are as many as 32 pieces of the "Catalogue of Ancient Chinese Calligraphy and Paintings" alone, of which the Palace Museum's collection of "Yan Gai Zhang Tu Axis" is also recorded by the "Shiqu Baodi" and favored by the Qianlong Emperor. ”