The big fat man with a smile on his face on the "A Ball of Harmony Map" is composed of three people on the left, center, and right Confucians (left picture), such as the blackened middle can clearly see the left and right two people (top right picture). In the upper part of the vertical axis, there is the seal of the Ming Xian Sect and the calligraphy of the Imperial System and the Qi Tu Zan (lower right).
The so-called harmonious coexistence is not integration into one, but the coexistence of different individuals, the spirit and practice of mutual tolerance.
The Palace Museum in Beijing has a unique "strange painting".
At first glance, the picture is a big fat man smiling and squinting, with a rounded posture, squinting and laughing, like the big fat Maitreya Buddha statue familiar to the people, full of joy and harmony.
The title of the painting is "A Ball of Harmony Map", and the author in the record is the ninth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen (1448-1487), the era name Chenghua, the famous Ming Chenghua Doucai Chicken Bowl Cup, which is its imperial court porcelain.
Painted on a vertical axis, colored on paper, 48x36 cm. In the middle of the upper part of the picture is Ming Xianzong's imperial pen flower seal, and the poetry hall has the calligraphy "Imperial System A Regiment and QiTu Zan", and the painting has the "Qianlong Five Seals" seal, indicating that it is the old collection of the Qing Palace.
The "strangeness" of the strange painting looks like a person on the painting, but if you look closely, you will find that it is three people hugging each other!
In the center is a monk holding a rosary bead, his hands are on the shoulders of the two people on the left and right, on the left is an old man with a Taoist crown, and on the right is a Confucian man wearing a square scarf, each holding one end of the sutra scroll, the knees are connected, the three people hug each other, look at each other and laugh, and the whole picture is full of joy.
Looking more closely, that round face is actually composed of three faces, and the facial features of the three faces borrow from each other and merge into one face!
The conception and shape of the work are amazing. Among all kinds of paintings in Chinese dynasties, they have never been seen before, which can be described as "superb".
This kind of painting method, the so-called "illusion art", cleverly uses the lines of contours to create the illusion of vision, forming a surprising and interesting effect of someone, you have me, and I have you.
The "Tuzan" written by Ming Xianzong himself clearly explains the meaning of this painting.
He first quoted the famous "Three Laughs of Tiger Creek" allusion, telling the story of the Eastern Jin Dynasty monk Hui who lived in Lushan for many years and never sent guests to Huxi. Tao Yuanming, a hermit who sent off the visiting priest and Lu Xiujing, a Taoist priest, the three of them talked and speculated all the way, but they did not feel that they had crossed the Tiger Creek, looked at each other and laughed, which was passed down as a good story. According to this, the Buddha-Tao Confucian in the figure can also be interpreted as the three of them.
Secondly, he used this to express his feelings, so that the three people in the picture could be one, "forget each other's right and wrong, and be kind and harmonious." ...... In this way, colleagues will succeed in everything, and it is necessary to make meritorious contributions in this way", telling the subjects that they should coexist in harmony and hope that the whole country will be stable and stable, which has a distinct political and religious significance.
The Tuzan is written on the first day of June in the first year of Chenghua, that is, in 1465, when he was 19 years old, a year and a half after he ascended the throne as emperor.
At that time, the complex political struggle caused by his father's and uncle's struggle for imperial power had just come to an end, and the young new emperor naturally hoped that the whole country would be harmonious and stable and united.
It can be seen that this painting and Ming Xianzong's autograph "Royal Book" have their own special background of the times.
According to records, Ming Xianzong is good at painting, good at painting figures, flowers, birds, and gods, and there are currently 6 paintings handed down, namely the "A Ball of Harmony Map" and the "Year Dynasty Jiazhao Map" scrolls collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing, the "Tree and Stone Double Birds" in the Jilin Provincial Museum, the "Lantern Joy Map" in the National Museum of China, and the "Dharma Map" and "Winter Solstice One Yang Map" in the Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
Most of these heirloom paintings were painted around the age of 30, showing that his pen and ink have some characteristics of the Southern Song Dynasty courtyard body and the Zhejiang school of the Ming Dynasty, and the line outline is suddenly frustrated and powerful, although the brushwork of this "A Ball of Harmony" is also similar, but the lines are thin and smooth, and the pen strength is slightly inferior.
Comparing his heirloom paintings, most of them have autograph inscriptions and imperial seals, such as "Dharma" and "Winter Solstice Yiyang Tu" are signed with "Chenghua Gengzi Imperial Pen Drama Writing", "Double Happiness Diagram" recognizes "Chenghua Gengzi Royal Pen" and "Great-Grandson of Daming Taizu" seal, and "Year Dynasty Jiazhao Map" has imperial inscription poems and "Chenghua Xin Ugly Wenhua Temple Imperial Pen" and Plutonium "Treasure of Guangyun" Imperial Seal.
There is no imperial pen inscription and imperial seal on the map of "A Ball of Harmony", only its flower seal (which can represent the recognition of appreciation), and the calligraphy of the imperial "Tuzan" mounted on the upper part of the painting, also only writes "The legend is the Three Laughing Pictures, is this not a group of harmony that is evil?" Try to wield a colorful pen, the inscription on it", and "Look at the picture, have a general idea." Talk about the pen to write nostalgia, Shu to the reputation and inspire the world", that is, after viewing the painting, borrow the title to play before writing "Tuzan", completely untitled this painting is his own "royal pen" work.
According to the painting history and its heirloom paintings, in addition, he has never seen such a "highly creative" work and "illusion" painting method, so this painting may not be his creation, or there is no other source.
Although Ming Xianzong interprets the three people in the painting as Hui Yuan, Lu Xiujing and Tao Yuanming, from the confucian, Taoist and Taoist identities of the three people, they are actually huddled together in a special composition, and the original work is more likely to express a special "three religions in one" idea (leaving aside the analysis).
As far as painting is concerned, the composition of this painting is indeed unprecedented, and even the meaning of the composition of the picture is difficult to compare.
In traditional literary and artistic creation, perhaps only the Yuan Dynasty pipe sheng "I have you in the mud, you have me in the mud", the meaning is similar, but it refers to the state of completely combining into one, not distinguishing from each other; and although this painting seems to be one, in fact, it is independent, there is a combination and a division, which is a state of harmonious coexistence.
Heaven and earth and all things have their own nature; mountains and rivers are long, and each has its own charm. The world is wonderful because of its differences, but only by seeking common ground can we coexist peacefully and achieve a state of harmony.
This is the only "strange painting" in the history of Chinese painting, and the deep meaning of the painting may be what Confucius called "gentleman and difference", which is the ideal realm of human society and a visual embodiment of the basic concept of Chinese philosophy.