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The Song Dynasty is known as a pinnacle of traditional Chinese aesthetics. Mr. Chen Yinke once said: Chinese culture is "created in the world of Zhao and Song Dynasties". This "Zhao" refers to Zhao Yao, emperor of the Song Dynasty.
The emperor, who was the most beautiful emperor for five thousand years, vigorously developed art during his reign for decades, pushing the aesthetic level of the entire dynasty to more than one notch. He set up a special court painting academy, selected and trained various young court painters, and Wang Ximeng, who painted "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", was personally taught by him.
Wang Ximeng's "Map of a Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" Partial
He also directly selected painting talents from all over the world and formed a team of more than 50 top court painters. These painters from all over the country have their own specialties, from flowers, birds, insects, fish, birds and animals, to pavilions, to mountains, rivers and seas, in the form of Chinese paintings to comprehensively record all aspects of this cultural prosperity.
Before this group of people, there was a person who was called "the most important painter of the dynasty" by Emperor Huizong of Song, and was also praised by later generations as the leader of "Song painting first". He painted horses, surpassing his predecessor Han Gan; painted people, directly chasing Wu Daozi of the Tang Dynasty. His most famous "Five Horse Diagrams" was written for him by the great calligrapher Huang Tingjian of the same era after he finished painting.
His name was Li Gonglin, and he was one of the most powerful painters of the Song Dynasty, where the talents gathered.
Li Gonglin is a dragon sleeper
In 1049, Li Gonglin was born in Tongshu Prefecture, Anhui. His family is a large family in Tongshu Prefecture, and his father Li Xuyi is a well-known collector of calligraphy and paintings. Therefore, Li Gonglin has shown great interest and excellent talent in art since he was a child.
In 1070, the 21-year-old Li Gonglin was admitted to the Jinshi. In the Song Dynasty, which emphasized literature and light martial arts, Li Gonglin's career was not proud, but it was also flat. From joining the army, he was able to delete the official of the Zhongshu Menxia Province, as well as the Imperial History Inspection Law and the Chao Fenglang. Until 1100 AD, he was dismissed due to illness and died in his hometown of Longmian Mountain.
Li Gonglin 'Wei Mo Ren Jiao Tu' Right Half
The emperor Song Huizong, who attaches the greatest importance to literati and art in history, took the throne in 1100 AD, and between retreat and advancement, this "Song painting first" and the literati emperor rubbed shoulders, which cannot but be said to be a huge regret in the history of art.
When Emperor Huizong of Song first ascended the throne, he lamented the "customary" construction of the palace of his predecessors, and was also disappointed by the level of the painters in the palace. If Li Gonglin had been there, presumably in art, Huizong would not have been so lonely. And the exchange between the two of them does not know what kind of artistic spark will collide, it is really fascinating times and people.
Song Huizong Zhao Yao calligraphy painting
Li Gonglin was diligent throughout his life and painted a lot. This is also the reason why many of his paintings can still be preserved despite their age and countless upheavals. He painted figures, Buddha statues, kurama horses, landscapes, flowers and birds, all of which were practiced by the most outstanding paintings of his predecessors before, and then created his own artistic style.
Therefore, later generations evaluate his paintings, his characters are deeply impressed by Wu Daozi's legacy, his kurama surpasses his predecessor Han Gan, his ink landscape is like Wang Weizhen's biography, and his colored landscape has Li Sixun's charm. The strength of the hundred families eventually became the first painter of the Northern Song Dynasty, Li Gonglin.
Li Gonglin ,Wei Mo Ren Jiao Tu (Vima Yan Jiao Tu) In the left half
His most famous Painting of the Buddha, "Wei Mo Yan Jiao Tu", is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing. On the two-meter-long scroll, a teaching scene of 21 gods and a divine beast facing each other is constructed. Its character modeling is accurate and vivid, the pen is flowing, and a careful look at a variety of intricate and exquisite details is extremely accurate. Undoubtedly the highest achievement of early Chinese white figure painting.
The Forbidden City also contains another of his paintings: "Linwei Yan Pastoral Map". This is a painting he copied from the Tang Dynasty painter Wei Yan, more than four meters long silk, loosely painted more than 140 people and more than 1,200 horses, such a huge painting requires energy, patience and perseverance, this spirit, until the later generations only need three strokes and two paintings of "literati painting" prevailed, it will no longer be found.
Li Gonglin "Linwei Yan Pastoral Map" Partial
Li Gonglin takes painting horses as a must, of course, not only by copying. One of his most famous and legendary works is called The Five Horse Figures. The Five Horse Diagram depicts five horses that were paid tribute to the Northern Song Court in the Western Regions at that time and the five Xi officials who led them, using the white painting technique that he was best at.
The painting was taken out of the Forbidden City by Puyi during the turmoil in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty, and was later given as a gift to a Japanese merchant who bought a famous painting from him. After World War II, the legend was destroyed by the war, and the whereabouts of the original work are unknown. What is shocking is that at the exhibition of the Tokyo National Museum in Japan at the beginning of this year, it actually reappeared!
The exhibition site of the "Five Horse Diagrams" of the Tokyo National Museum
So, what is so good about this "Five Horse Diagram" that makes countless people flock to Tokyo just to see it?
First of all, it is a white painting. Using difficult Chinese pen and ink and using line drawing techniques to express close-up realistic characters and animals is an extremely difficult thing to do well. The last person to do this thing perfectly was Wu Daozi of the Tang Dynasty, known as "Wu Belt Dangfeng", which means that the costumes of his characters are smart and flowing, as if they are blown by the wind.
The Golden Arm of the Five Horse Figures
And li Gonglin's several Xi officials leading horses in this painting also showed no disappointment at all. The second is his unique skill: the super control of the horse shape. Line drawing is a painting that goes down in one stroke, right is right, wrong is ruined. It is necessary to have a deep understanding of the object of the painting, and to paint with confidence, it is possible to paint every stroke accurately.
The precision and perfection of the shape of these horses depicted by Li Gonglin is close to that of another master of horse painting who has undergone complete Western painting training after a thousand years - Xu Beihong. According to reports, When Li Gonglin was painting horses, he ran to the Song Dynasty court royal horse court "Qi Ji Yuan" all day long, repeatedly observed and studied those imperial horses, and also painted directly at them on the spot.
The illumination of the "Five Horse Figures" is white at night
Isn't this the "realism" jointly advocated by many artists who returned from overseas before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China? At that time, Xu Beihong, Liu Haisu, Lin Fengmian and other masters brought back various anatomical drawings and plaster statues from abroad, urging domestic artists to get out of the Ming and Qing dynasties that only "felt" in the study and went out to observe the realistic painting of nature.
As everyone knows, thousands of years ago, our ancients of the Tang and Song Dynasties, such as Li Gonglin, did this. Unfortunately, after the rise of literati painting, landscape painting freehand painting became the mainstream, and these subjects that required high realistic skills were gradually abandoned. Interested parties may find that many landscape paintings of the Ming and Qing dynasties have profound artistic conceptions, but if there are occasionally one or two figures hidden in them, they are often simple.
Ming Dong Qichang landscape painting
The precious significance of "Five Horse Diagrams" is precisely to show us that in the era before the prevalence of literati painting, there were a number of painters like Li Gonglin. They were both literati with poetry books and exquisite craftsmen. Once upon a time, our ancestors perfectly combined solid painting art with the interest of literati to create such amazing works.
Later, the literati relegated the realism to "vulgar craftsmanship", and Chinese painting became a cripple who walked only on one leg. Fortunately, in modern times, countless people of insight have introduced Western painting concepts, combined with Western painting techniques, and dug deep into the excellent paintings of China's predecessors, gradually making everyone realize the problem of blindly pursuing "artistic conception", and Chinese painting has once again gained a new life.
Xu Beihong, "Double Horse Diagram"
In the 20 years after Li Gonglin's death in 1106, the painting, architecture and other arts of the Northern Song Dynasty developed rapidly under the leadership of Emperor Huizong of Song. However, the Northern Song Dynasty, which was too heavy on literature and light weapons, eventually collapsed under the iron hooves of the Jin soldiers. However, the calligraphy and paintings of Li Gonglin, Huang Tingjian, Zhao Tuo and others have been passed down to this day, allowing us to see the aesthetic peak that our nation once reached a thousand years ago.
Since then, we have experienced many times the reconstruction of civilization after being invaded and destroyed, and the rebirth after the culture has been overthrown and torn apart. Countless external and internal factors have influenced the development of our culture and art, and to this day, this unremitting force called "art" is scarred and shines infinitely brightly from it.
Not only waiting for us descendants to discover, inherit, and carry forward, but also urgently waiting for us to add new strength to it and create a brighter future for it.
Source:
Northern Song Dynasty painter Li Gonglin
Li Gonglin's painting killer: white painting
Aesthetics of the Song Dynasty: The landscape in the heart is more important than power
Tokyo Painting Record - the story of Li Gonglin's "Five Horse Diagrams"
What is good about the "Five Horse Diagrams" that have disappeared for more than half a century