Qing Chen Mei Shanshui Pavilion Album (part 2) Collection of the Palace Museum
Chen Ming, a native of Lou County, Songjiang Province (Songjiang, Shanghai), was good at painting landscapes, pavilions, and figures, and in the last years of the Kangxi Dynasty, he accompanied his brother Chen Tong to the North to beijing, and Yongzheng entered the palace in the fourth year, rewarding the title of Wailang, the chief of ceremonies in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and died in the tenth year of Qianlong.
In the impression of ordinary people, the Suzhou area in the Ming and Qing dynasties (the concept of "GreatEr Suzhou" used here, that is, including the area around Suzhou) was the concentration of literati painters, the most famous of which was the "Wumen Four Families" (Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin, and Qiu Ying) of the Ming Dynasty, which is indeed described in the history of art and painting.
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After the popularity of "literati painting", a considerable number of painters who did not have the identity of "literati" also imitated the style and style of literati painting to engage in painting creation, so as to form a relatively self-identifying force. This is due to the popularity of a painting style, which radiates its influence to the surrounding area, making it the mainstream style and style in the region.
Qing Sun Hu Chun She Tu Axis Collection of the Palace Museum
Sun Hu, a native of Jiangsu, entered the royal palace in the middle and late Yongzheng period, was good at painting figures, and his landscape paintings more or less had traces of literati paintings, which were not recorded in the archives after seven years of Qianlong.
However, even in the case of the "Four Houses of Wumen", Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming can be said to be very typical literati painters, but the other two, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, are no longer pure literati painters or are not literati painters at all, such as Qiu Ying is a professional painter who has become famous by the birth of a painter. Of course, in the late Ming Dynasty, the popularity in the Suzhou area (including the surrounding areas of Suzhou) was still mainly the literati painting system of Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming, but the influence of the latter two painters, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, could not be ignored and could not be underestimated. This kind of painting atmosphere and pattern continued until the Qing Dynasty.
Qing Sun Hu Chun SheTu Axis (Partial) Collection of the Palace Museum
Court painter of Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty
However, in the narrative of art history and painting history, the narrator still rarely associates suzhou painters and painting styles with court painting in the Qing Dynasty. The mainstream of the painting circle in Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty is indeed still dominated by literati paintings, and its influence is also the greatest. However, there is also a phenomenon that should be noted, that is, at this time, there were quite a large number of Suzhou painters in the Court of the Qing Dynasty. During the reign of the three emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, the imperial court set up "weaving houses" in Jiangning (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), Suzhou and Hangzhou in the wealthy areas of Jiangnan, taking advantage of the local economic, material, technological, humanistic and artistic advantages to provide the imperial family with various high-end luxury goods and consumer goods.
Qingyu Province Flower Insect Butterfly Chart Axis Collection of the Palace Museum
Yu Province, a native of Yushan (Changshu, Jiangsu), was good at sketching flowers and birds, and painted a family, and together with his younger brother Yu Rui, he was recommended by his master Jiang Tingxi to enter the palace, and Qianlong died in thirty-two years.
A large number of people, an elite gathering
According to the qing dynasty Hu Jing's book "Catalogue of Paintings of the State Dynasty", there are many painters in Suzhou and its surrounding areas (such as Songjiang, Jiading, Lou County, Changshu, etc.).
Such as: Xu Mei, Chen Ming, Cheng Zhidao, Sun Hu, Du Yuanmei, Yu Sheng, Yu Sui, Zhou Kun, Xu Zhang, Yuan Ying, Xu Yang, Li Bingde, Wu Zhang, Wu Tang, Jin Yongxi, Zhang Zongcang, Lu Zhishi, Lu Zunshu, Huang Zeng, Jiang Maode, Lu Can, Shen Yinghui, etc.; also found in other painting histories and local records: Wen Yongfeng, Zhou Dao, Wang Jian, Gu Jianlong, Zou Yuandou, Sun Fu, Sun Weifeng, Xie Songzhou, Wang Jingming, Zhou Anjie, Xue Zhouhan, Bi Dachun, Liu Gongji, Zhang Kai, Wang Jian, Yu Rong, Yao Kuang, Hu Gui, Xu You, Yan Yu, Shen Shixun, Shen Zhenlin, Guan Nianci, etc. In addition, there are a number of Suzhou painters whose names have been left in the archives of the Qing Ministry of Internal Affairs, such as: Wu Weiqian, Xu Danian, Gu Fangle, Gu Heqin, He Wenqi, Zhao Danhong, Chen Zhaolong, Chen Weide, Shen Xincheng, Shen Gengzai, Chen Yunzao, Jiang Yunchang, Zhang Zhongchao, Xu Zhouwang, Ma Lansheng, Yuan Wencai, Li Dongtu, Xu Yingzhou, Fan Zhangsu, Cao Donglai, Hu Dazhen, Dai Shihong, Chen Hepo, Wu Yuxing, Xu Lanpu, Xu Guangyu, Zhu Hewen, and Wang Huanzhang.
Qingyu Province Duanyang Jingjing Axis Collection of the Palace Museum
Almost none of the names of the Suzhou painters, which appear in the qing palace archives, are included in the history of paintings and local chronicles, as well as in the historical records of notes. Some of them were then selected to serve in the court, and some served in the court in the Suzhou Weaving Palace.
Add up the number of several sources, and the number of Suzhou court painters has reached more than seventy people, which is not a small number. Moreover, there may still be no person in the historical data who indicates the place of origin of the painter and has been omitted. In addition, the painter Shen Qin, who is recorded in the history of painting, "is good at painting landscapes, flowers and birds, and can also be a figure, Qianlong's first tour of the south, once dedicated paintings." After more than twenty years in the Clothing Department, he was especially able to paint until seventy years." Painters like Shen Qin, after entering the court, served in the "Shangyi Bureau" and took on the work of "painters", and if the number of craftsmen of such a status recruited from the Suzhou area was counted, the number would increase a lot.
Qing Zhou Kun Landscape Album (one of them) Collection of the Palace Museum
Zhou Kun, a native of Yushan (Changshu, Jiangsu), was good at landscape sketching, and entered the palace with the Yu brothers Yu Sheng and Yu Yao, serving in the Xian'an Palace, and later serving in the Ruyi Pavilion.
Such a long list of painters began in the Kangxi Dynasty in the early Qing Dynasty and continued to the Guangxu Dynasty at the end of the Qing Dynasty at the latest, almost running through the entire Qing Dynasty for three hundred years.
About half of the painters mentioned above have left their works, and Hu Jing's book "Picture Catalogue of the National Dynasty" records more detailed written information. In addition, the collections of the Palace Museum in Beijing and the National Palace Museum in Taipei also include many works painted by these Suzhou painters in the Qing Palace. Of course, there are also quite a few painters whose works have disappeared.
Qing Lu Zunshu Songxi Book House Scroll Collection of the Palace Museum
Lu Zunshu, a native of Jiading, was good at landscapes, plum bamboo, and pine stones, and was a painter of the "Four Kings", and was a scholar of Qianlong Pengzi (Qianlong Thirty-three Years, 1768).
Each has its own strengths and differences
The painters who served in the court of the Qing Dynasty can also be divided into two parts: one part belongs to those whose painting skills are more realistic, and the other part belongs to those whose painting methods are more freehand. This is exactly in line with the actual situation of painters in Suzhou, and different paintings are good at and painted in styles, adapting to and meeting the different needs of the court. The former part of the painters mainly participated in the painting of documentary paintings in the palace, and this type of painting was the characteristic of the subject matter of Qing court painting and the most important part of court painting; the latter part of the painters were mostly engaged in the painting of decorative paintings in the court. According to their respective advantages, the painters have their own division of labor and emphasis, so the diversity of the painting circle in Suzhou and the variety of styles of works just meet the different needs of the court.
Qing Lu Zunshu Songxi Book House Scroll (Partial) Collection of the Palace Museum
The painters Xu Mei, Chen Mei, etc., are quite good at figure painting, and at the same time good at "photography", so the "imperial appearance" of the Kangxi and Yongzheng periods in the court may have come from their hands (because the painters on the portraits of the empress do not sign the name, so it is impossible to identify the author), which should be passed down as the legacy of the "Bochen School" (Zeng Whale).
Qing Zhang Zongcang Hongli Miscellaneous Poetry Intention Album (one of them) Collection of the Palace Museum
Another example is that painters such as Yu Sheng, Yu Xiao Brothers and Zhou Kun are good at painting flowers and birds with greater care, and often paint works on such subjects independently or in combination with other painters. The painter Xu Yang's painting style and painting methods are diverse, and he can write part-time, not only can paint large-scale documentary paintings such as the volume of "Qianlong Southern Tour Map", but also paint many landscape painting sketches with great meaning. When there was a shortage of "portrait" masters in the palace in the late Qianlong period (most of the European painters who served in the court had died at this time), the emperor specially recruited the painter Lu Can from Suzhou to go north to paint a portrait of Qianlong in his old age.
Qing Xu Yang Mountain Villa Qing Dialect Chart Axis Collection of the Palace Museum
Xu Yang, a native of Suzhou, is good at painting people, boundary paintings (referring to the use of boundary pens, painting methods that support line drawing, suitable for painting architecture), flowers, birds, fish and insects.
In the Qing Dynasty Palace, there is a type of painting called "Pasting", which is required to decorate the rooms in the palace, mostly landscape paintings and flower paintings, and the painters engaged in the production of such paintings are not very well-known, and many painters from Suzhou are involved. Landscape paintings all pass on the style of the "Four Kings" (Wang Shimin, Wang Jian, Wang Yi, Wang Yuanqi), and floral paintings are mainly in the style of Yun Nantian (Yun Shouping).
Qing Xu Yang Mountain Villa Qing dialect map axis (partial) Palace Museum collection
Judging from the situation of the painters listed above, it is basically possible to reverse the traditional saying that only the "Four Kings" style landscape painting or the Yun Shouping style flower painting is only popular in Suzhou, and only "literati painting" dominates the world. At that time, the painting circle in Suzhou was a place where various painting styles coexisted and a variety of painting titles competed for brilliance. Therefore, in the Suzhou area of the Qing Dynasty, a large number of artistic talents were provided for the court, which formed a local painting juxtaposed with European painting.
Original author: Nie Chongzheng (Research Librarian, Research Office, Palace Museum) Original source: "The Forbidden City" August 2016 issue "Suzhou Painters in the Qing Dynasty Court" (Due to space limitations, the original text has been deleted)
Can you think of it? The "heavenly deer" that was worshipped by the Ming people as a unicorn turned out to be a giraffe?!
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