Chinese Painting
11 min readAncient Chinese Painting
A. Painted pottery
Chinese traditional painting dates back to the Neolithic Age about 6,000 years ago. The excavated colored pottery with painted human faces, fish, animal and plants reflect various aspects of the life of primitive clan communities. The line patterns on unearthed pottery ware resemble ripples, fishing nets, teeth. The animal and human figures, succinct and vivid, are proofs to the innate sensitivity of the ancient artists to the nature.
B. Rock painting
Paintings or engravings found on precipitous cliffs in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhouin Southwest China, Fujian in East China, Mount Yinshan in Inner Mongolia, Heihe in the far north and Altai in China’s extreme west are even more ancient. Strong visual effects characterize the bright red cliff paintings in southern China that depict scenes of sacrificial rites, production activities and daily life. In comparison, hunting, animal grazing, wars and dancing are the main themes of cliff paintings in northern China.
C. Silk painting
Silk painting is the work painted on silk. The painting unearthed in 1949 from a tomb of Chu of the Warring States Period in the southern suburb of Changsha, Hunan Province, was painted on silk with human figures, dragons and phoenixes. It is the earliest work on silk ever discovered in China and measures about 30 centimeters long by 20 centimeters wide. From this and other early paintings on silk showing vigour and elegance, it can be seen that the ancients were already familiar with the art of the writing or painting on silk with brush. Silk painting kept developing before the invention of paper and reached its artistic peak in the Western Han Dynasty.
D. Paper painting
Paintings on paper appeared much later than those on silk for the simple reason that theinvention of silk preceded that of paper by a long historical period. In 1964, when a tomb dating to the Jin Dynasty was excavated at Astana in Turpan, Xingjiang,a coloured painting on paper was discovered. It shows on the upper the sun, the moon and the Big Dipper and at the lower a man with a fan in his hand. The portrayal,106.5 centimeters long and 47 centimeters wide, is the only known painting on paper of such antiquity in China.
Famous Painters of Different Dynasties
A. Painter of Northern and Southern Dynasties
Northern and Southern Dynasties were an important period in the history of painting China plunged into a situation of divided states from the third to the sixth century, where incessant wars and successions of dynasties sharpened the thinking of Chinese artists which, in turn, promoted the development of art. Grotto murals, wall murals in tomb chambers, stone carvings, brick carvings and lacquer paintings flourished in a period deemed very importantto the development of traditional Chinese painting. The scroll paintings of Gu Kaizhi, known as the founder of traditional Chinese painting, represented the painting style of the period.
B. Court Painters of Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty witnessed the prosperity of figure painting, where the most outstanding painters were Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang. Their paintings, depicting the life of noble women and court ladies, exerted an eternal influence on the development of shi nihua(painting of beautiful women), which comprise an important branch of traditional Chinese painting.
C. Four great painters of Yuan Dynasty
During the Yuan Dynasty the “Four Great Painters”-Huang Gongwang, WuZhen, Ni Zan and Wang Meng-represented the highest level of landscape painting. Their works immensely influenced landscape painting of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
D. Wumen Painting School of Ming Dynasty
Suzhou in south China is called”Wumen”in history. Many well-known painters gathered in Suzhou in the Ming Dynasty which saw the rise of the Wumen Painting School. Keen to carry on the traditions of Chinese painting, the four Wumen masters Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Ying and Qiu Ying blazed new trails and developed their own unique styles. The technique and way of expression exerted great influence on later generations.
E. Four Monk Masters of Qing Dynasty
When the Manchus came to power in 1644, the then-best painters showed their resentment to the Qing court in many ways. The “Four Monk Masters”-Zhu Da, Shi Tao, Kun Can and Hong Ren-had their heads shaved to demonstrate their determination not to serve the new dynasty, and they soothed their sadness by painting tranquil nature scenes and traditional art.
F. Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou
The eight painters of Yangzhou were all with strong characters. They refused to follow orthodoxy. They were proud, aloof and unrestrained, hence their name. They used freehand brushwork in their paintings with the main subjects of flowers and birds, bringing a pleasant change in painting style. Although they were not well accepted and even criticized for being heterodox, they broadened the horizon of flower-and-bird painting and expanded the future for flower-bird paintings.
G. Shanghai Painting School
By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Shanghai, which gave birth to the Shanghai Painting School, had become the most prosperous commercial city and a gathering place for numerous painters. Following the spirit of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, the Shanghai School played a vital role in the transition of Chinese traditional painting from a classical art form to a modern one.
Founders of Chinese Painting
A. Gu Kaizhi-Originator of Painting
Gu Kaizhi,a painter of Eastern Jin Dynasty, was born into an official family in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and served as a government officer at a young age. Having toured many beautiful places, Gu was proficient in writing poetry and essay. Chinese art history abounds in anecdotes about him with the following being one of them.
At 20, he was already a well-known painter, When the construction of Waguan Temple was built on the outskirt of for Jiankang(Nanjing), the monks and abbot could not collect enough money for the decoration. One day,a monk saw Gu Kaizhi and asked him to donate some money for decorating the figure of Buddha. Gu offered to donate a large sum of money. He suggested he would draw a picture of the Buddha on the wall and, in the process, collect donations from curious passersby. For three consecutive days, thousands of people flocked to see the young man at work. By adding the final touches to the picture, the Buddha seemed to come alive, and the viewers cheered and applauded the young man’s artistry. Hence, the money needed for the consummate construction of the temple was obtained.
The young man who paid great attention to the details that revealed the characteristics of his subjects was none other than Gu Kaizhi. He was once asked to paint Pei Kai’s portrait,a man with three, long, fine hairs on his face that had been ignored by other painters. Gulaid great emphasis on the three hairs to depict his unique feature and Pei was very satisfied.
Another time, Gu painted a man named Xie Kun standing in the midst of mountains and rocks. When asked the reason for the setting, Gu explained that Xie loved to travel and see beautiful mountains and rivers. Such stories demonstrate Gu’s skill of creating atmospheres that enhanced the characteristics of his subjects.
The theme of the Luoshen Appraisal Painting was drawn from the article, Luoshen Appraisal(Luoshen Fu), written by Cao Zhi, son of Cao Cao. The painting depicts with wild imagination the meeting between Cao Zhi and the Goddess Luoshen at Luoshui River, vividly capturing the mood of their first meeting and eventual separation. Gu emphasized his subjects’
facial expressions, with the stones, mountains and trees having an ornamental purpose. Gu’s paintings, which greatly influenced later traditional Chinese paintings, are similar in style to the Dunhuang murals.
Gu also made great advances in summarizing painting theories. His theoretical works included Painting Thesis and Notes on Painting Yuntai Mountain. Gu paid considerable attention to the vivid expressions of his subjects to expose their spirit. His Graphic Theory later became a basic theory for traditional Chinese painting. According to historical records, Gu created more than 70 paintings based on historical stories, Buddha, human figures, birds, animals, mountains and rivers. His three existing scroll paintings include the Nii Shi Zhen Painting, Luoshen Appraisal Painting and Lieni Renzhi Painting-the earliest examples of scroll paintings.
B. WuDaozi-Sage in Chinese Painting
In Chinese ancient art history, three people are revered as sages: the calligrapher Wang Xizhi of the Eestern Jin Dynasty, the poet Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty and the painter Wu Daozi, also of the Tang Dynasty.
Wu’s most prolific period was during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras (713-75 5) in the Tang Dynasty. Born in Yangzhai(Yu County in Henan Province now), Wu lost both his parents ata young age and lived a hard life in his early years. He learned how to make a living from folk painters and sculptors. Because his diligence and talent in art, Wu earned himself a good reputation as a painter by the time he was 20 years old. Emperor Xuanzong invited Wu as an imperial painter in the court, naming him Daoxuan. As an imperial painter, Wu only painted at the emperor’s request, which was a big restriction for a civilian painter. On the other hand, the court provided the best living conditions and was an outlet for artistic creativity.
Wu’s character was unrestrained, direct and indifferent to trivial matters, and it is known that he always drank while painting. It is also said that when Wu drew the halo around Buddha’s head in a mural, he used his brushes without drafting the measurements first; when he was painting at Longxing Temple, the temple was always packed with observers. Wu moved his brush quickly, and most of his works were accomplished in a single session. Chang’ an (present day Xi’ an), capital of the Tang Dynasty, was the cultural center of the time wheremany famous men of letters and artists lived. Wu had many opportunities to stay with them, which helped improve his painting skills.
Wu mainly created religious murals and his abundant works had a wide range of subjects. According to records, Wu painted over 300 murals and more than 100 scrolls. While many ofthem involved Buddhism and Taoism, Wu also drew pictures of mountains, rivers, flowers andbirds and animals. The Presentation of Buddha is his most representative work. Unlike his predecessor Gu Kaizhi, whose line strokes were slender and forceful but lacked variety, Wu’ sstrokes were full of change and vigor, expressing the internal world of his subjects. Wu wasalways in great ferment when he was painting, and his works exhibit an expressionist style.
C. Zhang Yanyuan-Art Historian
Zhang Yanyuan, styling himself Aibin, was the art historian of the Tang Dynasty. Born into a chancellor family in Yishi of Puzhou(present Linyi County of Shanxi Province), Zhang once took office. He was a learned scholar and excellent painter and calligrapher.
Zhang’s works include Fashu Yaolu, Collection of Poems on Color Paper and the first general history of art-Records of Historical Famous Paintings which gave a summation of achievements in ancient painting history. Following the tradition of combining historical facts and painting critics, Zhang initiated the style of general art history. By using abundant materials, Zhang’s research focused on the development and internal relations of art history, using systematic historical painting materials to support his theories. The book extensively covered the development and significant theories of Chinese painting history. The biography
section consisted of comprehensive records of painters’ lives, thoughts and works. Zhang passed equitable judgments on painters by quoting predecessors, yet still developed his own ideas. From the point of view of the whole process of art creation and appreciation, Zhang brought recording, appraising, collecting, circulating and even mounting to the list of indispensable components, which gave rise to the integral research system of Chinese painting history. For a long time, the book was regarded as China’s first publication on the general painting history and an encyclopedia of painting of the period. It had a unique position in the development of Chinese painting as a link between the past and the future.
In general, there are several features to Zhang’s artistic theory. Apart from confirming XieHe’s theory that painting had moral and political functions, Zhang put more emphasis on the meaning of painting itself. Opposing dull and stereotyped painting styles, Zhang stressed thatpainting needs ingenious creation and that the basic skill of painting lay in conception and stroke. He also emphasized that a painter’s cultural taste and personality were also very important to painting. Zhang was the first to forward the theory that painting was a career of moral scholars who had knowledge and unique personalities. As one of the earliest art theorists and critics, Zhang contributed many achievements to the theory of ancient painting history.
Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Share the Same Origin since similar tools and lines were used for the earliest painting and writing, paintingis said to have the same origin as calligraphy. Chinese paintings usually integrated poetry and calligraphy with themes that include figures, landscapes, flowers, birds and other animals, offering more profound aesthetic connotations. Many Chinese painters are poets and calligraphers at the same time.A painter often adds a poem to the painting, which invariably carries an impression of his or her seal. The resulting piece of work is usually an integrated whole of four branches of Chinese art-poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal-carving.
Like Chinese writing brushes, Chinese paintbrushes are mainly made of animal hairs glued into a bamboo handle. New brushes are stiffened with glue, which must be soaked before their first use to remove the glue. Once they are soaked, the brushes swell. Most brushes have loops at the end of the handle, which can be used to hang the brushes with their bristles downwards. To hang the brushes like this allows them to dry without letting the water from the bristles affect the brush handles.
There are two main types of brushes: hard brushes made from brown wolf hairs and soft brushes made from white goat hairs. Chinese brushes tend to be larger than typical European watercolour brushes. One reason for this is that the brushes can be loaded with several colours at the same time(usually with darker colours towards the tip of the brush), so that leaves or petals may be painted in a single stoke with a blend of colours by using the side of the brush instead of just the tip.
Different from western painting, traditional Chinese painting has its unique way of expression. As an important part of Chinese cultural heritage, traditional Chinese painting is distinguished from Western paintings in that it is executed on xuan paper or silk with the Chinese brush, Chinese ink and mineral and vegetable pigments. Xuan paper is the most suitable for Chinese painting. It is of the right texture to allow the writing brush wet with Chinese ink and held in a trained hand, to move freely on it, making stokes varying from dark to light, from solid to hollow. These soon turn out to be vivid human figures, plants and flowers,birds，fish and insects.
