Author: Fan Yiwen
In the popular costume drama "Dream Hualu" not long ago, "Night Banquet Picture" became the clue throughout the whole play and the focus of competition between multiple forces. This picture in the play is fictional, but a similar painting " Han Xizai Night Banquet Picture " has existed and is still circulated today. Why does a painting have such great magic? What kind of painting can record the past as evidence? This type of work is the "narrative painting" focused on this issue of "art".
In the era without cameras and videos, paintings once played an important role in recording the present, so there is a saying that "using pictures to prove history" and "improving pictures to prove history". In fact, the role of "narrative painting" is far more than this.
5th generation Gu Hongzhong's "Han Xizai Night Banquet Picture" partial
Traditional Chinese painting is usually divided into three categories: characters, landscapes, and flowers and birds. In figure painting, there is a type of depicting certain stories or series of events, which are usually called "narrative paintings", because most of them are characters or historical events, and they are also called "character story paintings" or "historical story paintings". This type of painting reflects the effect of "education and helping human ethics". According to different picture contents, its painting functions can also be divided into five categories: moral and ethical education, religious spirit transmission, political meaning interpretation, personal aspirations clear and recorded real situations.
Narrative painting is a special existence in the history of traditional Chinese painting. Unlike landscapes, flower and bird paintings that emphasize personal style and express their inner temperament, these paintings are not centered on the painter, but on the content of the work. Some paintings do not even leave the author's name; compared with portraits of figures that focus on both form and spirit, the characters of this type of painting are usually slightly smaller, and the conception of the paintings pays more attention to serving the content of the work.
sorted out narrative paintings, breaking the mainstream Chinese painting history writing method with painters, school of painting, literati painting , etc., and writing painting history with historic works as the main body, thus connecting some neglected works and forming new research clues and systems.
Narrative painting of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties: Inherited education, helping human ethics
The narrative tradition of Chinese painting has a long history. It can be traced back to its roots at the latest to T-shaped silk painting unearthed from the Han Dynasty in the Han Dynasty, Mawangdui Han Tomb. The inscription itself has ribbons hanging at both ends, which has the function of summoning the soul. The painting is divided into three parts: Heaven, Earth, and Netherworld, which depicts the soul of the tomb owner ascends to heaven. In addition, the existing Han Dynasty portrait stone portrait bricks have the theme of "Jing Ke assassination of the King of Qin", and this type of painting also has clear narrative intentions. Early narrative paintings were a single picture that narrates a story and a single plot, that is, the artist selected the most dramatic and climax scene in the story to express it. For example, the stone of the portrait of "Jing Ke assassination of Qin King" depicts Jing Ke's "the picture is exhausted and the dagger appears", cutting off the sleeves of the King of Qin , and the dagger flew to the pillar, and the King of Qin fled.
The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were the formation stage of the development of narrative painting. The visual model gradually changed from "single plot narrative" to multiple scenes or plots to express the occurrence and development of a story, presenting the plot in a more detailed manner. During this period, figure painting matured before landscape painting and flower and bird painting, which was related to the function of painting in this period "that is the picture that knows and learns from the precepts". It was an important feature of painting in the Wei and Jin Dynasties for the politics and religion at that time. The history of painting records Cao Zhongda, Tian Sengliang, , , Dai Fei, Yang Zihua and others, among which Gu Kaizhi, Lu Tanwei, and Zhang Sengyou achieved the highest achievements. There were fewer works in this period, and some were copied by later generations. For example, Yang Zihua's " Northern Qi proofreading pictures " was a copy of the Song Dynasty. For example, there are three types of " Luo God Fu Picture " painted by Gu Aizhi, which are divided into Liaoning Provincial Museum , Palace Museum, and Freer Art Museum in the United States. Despite this, the narrative style of this period can still be seen from these paintings, among which the most representative one is the "Advisor of the Female Historian" collected by the British Museum.
"The Proverbs of the Female Historian" is an image created by Gu Kaizhi based on the full text of Zhang Hua (232-300) "The Proverbs of the Female Historian ".The painting uses the virtues of virtuous concubines of all dynasties to persuade and advise Western Jin Empress Hui Jia Nanfeng to abide by the morality of women. "Female Historian" was the nickname of female officials in the Qin and Han dynasties, "Praise", which means to persuade and admonish. This article was widely circulated at that time and was called "the bitter and verbal Chen Zhen, and the Zhuang's words warn the world."
The British Museum collection is the earliest existing narrative painting on silk. There are twelve paragraphs in the original text, and the painting has nine existing paragraphs, which can also be called nine stories, namely: Feng Yuan Dangxiong, Ji Class Ji 5 Words, the rise and fall of the world, the conscience of the same bed, the doubts of the same bed, the slightest words of honor and disgrace, the special favor and slander, the self-thinking of the female Shishi Sizhen. The first three paragraphs were lost, namely: Kaizong Mingyi, Fan Jiganzhuang, and Wei Nu Wangyin.
scroll is spread from right to left with a horizontal scroll structure, separated by inscriptions. Each paragraph is relatively independent, as inscription in Section 4, as in the title of "People know how to cultivate their appearance, but no one knows to decorate their nature. If they don't decorate their nature, they may be correct. If they are axe, they will be considered as a saint." The picture depicts two ladies sitting on the ground and dressing up in front of the mirror. There is a mat under the woman on the left, and a dressing box and mirror beside her. There is a maid behind her to comb her long hair. This paragraph shows that "everyone knows how to cultivate his appearance" does not reflect "decoration of his nature". Using irony to persuade women is more important than "decoration of his appearance".
In addition, murals from Dunhuang and Wei and Jin Dynasties are representative of early narrative paintings of religious content. Such religious stories should have been passed down by word of mouth in the early days, and later used as visual communication materials for Buddhist stories. Some of these narrative paintings depict the experience of Sakyamuni in , which can be called "Buddha Story", such as the murals of Cave 290 in Northern Zhou Dynasty; some are natal stories, such as the "Deer King's Birth Life Picture" in Cave 257 in Mogao Grottoes; and there are also "cause and condition stories" of Buddha saving sentient beings, such as the " Five Hundred Robbers Becoming Buddhas in Cave 5285 in Western Wei Dynasty, which is an example of this. The "Picture of the Deer King's Life" painted by the Northern Wei Dynasty, which is the so-called "Nine-Colored Deer" story among the people, is one of the most complete and perfect comic strips and representative murals in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. It depicts the story of Sakyamuni's previous life - the Nine-Colored Deer King, who saved a man who was about to drown after he was betrayed by him.
Narrative paintings in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties have begun to take shape. Whether it is a single or comic strip-style narrative method, the character painting method has gradually matured, and it has begun to focus on both form and spirit. However, the painting method of mountains, rivers, trees and stones is relatively simple and naive, that is, "people are bigger than mountains, but the water cannot be spread."
Narrative painting during the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties: political implications
Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties were the mature period of the development of narrative painting. politics, economy and culture in the Tang Dynasty were unprecedentedly prosperous. During this period, the figure paintings focused on realistic nature on the basis of writing spirit with form, and narrative paintings also matured. Representative works of important figure painters such as Yan Liben "The Map of the Geely", Zhang Xuan "The Map of the Lady of Guo's Spring Outing" and "The Map of the Practice". The disputes between the Five Dynasties did not stop the development of art. Zhou Wenju, , Gu Hongzhong, Wang Qihan and others painted exemplary narrative paintings.
"The Map of the Sage" was written by Yan Liben, an outstanding figure painter in the early Tang Dynasty. This work reflects important historical events in the early Tang Dynasty. It depicts the situation of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty Li Shimin sitting on the chariot to meet with the envoy Lu Dongzan of Tubo, surrounded by ceremonial officials, translators and palace maids. Later, Princess Wencheng went to Tibet to marry and marry the Tubo king Songtsen Gampo. The painting was a work that praised the friendly exchanges between ancient Han and Tibetan nations.
Some of Yan Liben's "Steping in the Celestial Arts" in the Tang Dynasty
Yan Liben's paintings mostly record important historical events, while Zhang Xuan's paintings mostly depict the life scenes and details of aristocratic women. For example, "Lady Guo's Spring Outing" records the eleventh year of Tianbao (752) Tang Xuanzong 's favorite concubine Yang Yuhuan sisters Guo's Lady Guo and her family traveled in full dress. "The Practice Picture" shows the work scenes of women pounding and sewing clothes, and the scenes such as pounding, threading, ironing, and sewing are elegantly presented in a volume.
"Han Xizai Night Banquet" by Gu Hongzhong of the Five Dynasties reproduces the scene of the guests at the Southern Tang Dynasty ministers night banquet. The whole volume is divided into five scenes, namely pipa playing, drum dance, painting the screen for a nap, blowing the jade man, and having fun at night. Each section is divided into scenes with a screen.
The above paintings are presented in the form of fine brush heavy color , and they are all artistic reproductions of real scenes. Of course, there are also artistic processing elements. For example, "The Map of the Sword and Fairy" adopts exaggerating the main characters to highlight the theme, that is, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang is taller than the envoy and ministers, and the main and secondary characters are clear at a glance; "The Map of Lady of Guo's Spring Outing" and "The Map of the Daughter and the Daughter" depict the characters vividly and the combination is rhythmic, and the painting atmosphere is set off and rendered through clothing patterns and environment, creating a more exemplary Tang Dynasty ladies' style.
"Han Xizai Night Banquet Picture" focuses more on the character's expressions based on the predecessors, presenting Han Xizai's transcendence, unrestrainedness, monk's embarrassment avoidance, and different characters' hearts. There are many characters but orderly organization, and cleverly use furniture as division. This way of organizing the picture is more clever and effective.
In addition, Dunhuang's Buddhist historical paintings, such as "Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions" and "Zhang Yichao's trip" have also begun to focus on depicting stories about Buddhist historical figures, historical events, Buddhist holy places and spiritual responses, and some stories can even be proved by deeds and documents.
The narrative painting techniques of the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties are more mature, and the characters are portrayed more realistically and have diverse poses than those of the previous dynasties. The characters' identity and status are reflected through clothing, movements, expressions, environments, etc., and the events and situations to be described are more effectively expressed. The way of organizing the pictures is also more clever and effective, and the function of drawing narratives is further strengthened.
narrative painting in the Song and Yuan dynasties: the peak of colorful
During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the team of painters expanded and the painting techniques were diverse. In addition to fine brushwork and heavy colors, there were also white drawings and strokes, etc. Narrative painting no longer focused on expressing a single or a few characters, but began to use many characters to set off the scene. Narrative painting was not only limited to the subject matter of the character, but its development entered its peak period.
"Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is an altarpiece of the Northern Song Dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan , and is also one of the most famous customary paintings. It reproduces the scenery of the Bian River and the two sides of the Qingming Festival in the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (now Kaifeng, Henan). It adopts a bird's eye view angle and scattered composition, and organizes more than 800 characters in the suburbs of the city, near Hongqiao and the prosperous city. It is sparse and dense, has clear rhythm and rigorous structure. Although the single character is small, it has vivid clothes, expressions and postures. The painting method is delicate and flexible, and it truly presents the prosperous appearance of the city in the Song Dynasty and the living conditions of all social classes. It can be regarded as a representative work of narrative painting when it reaches its peak. This painting is also regarded as a classic image and has been copied throughout the ages. The most classic ones are the paintings of Qiu Ying's version of the Ming Dynasty and the court painters Chen Mei, Sun Hu, Jin Kun, Dai Hong and Cheng Zhidao during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.
The Southern Song Dynasty inherited the remnants of the previous dynasty. Because it was in a corner, civil officials had developed politics, and the style of bold and unrestrained words was prevalent. The focus on the interpretation of political implications also became the characteristics of narrative paintings during this period, such as "Zhongxing Ruiying Picture", "Jin Wengong Restoration Picture", "Book of Songs", "Picking Wei Wei Picture", "Wen Ji Returning to the Han Dynasty", etc.
"Zhongxing Ruiying Tu" volume was drawn by the Southern Song painter Xiao Zhao . It praises the theme of "Zhongxing" of Emperor Gaozong's compliance with the will of heaven and inherits the throne, and has an extraordinary significance to the rulers of the Southern Song Dynasty. The volume of "The Restoration of the Country of Duke Wen of Jin" was painted by Li Tang according to "Zuo Zhuan", which depicts the story of the prince of Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period, fleeing to Song, Zheng, Chu, Qin and other countries, and then reviving Jin. This work has become a model work on the theme of "Dynasty Revival" in the form of comic strips, and also a metaphor for the determination of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty to revive the Song Dynasty. Li Tang's "Picking Wei Tu" uses the story of the aristocrats at the end of the Shang Dynasty recorded in "Records of the Grand Historian" that Shuqi was ashamed of eating Zhou grain, picking Wei Zi to satisfy hunger, and finally starved to death, showing his integrity against surrender.
"Book of Songs Pictures" series also comes from literary works, "Hong Kong Emperor Gaozong of Songs and Xiaozong's 300 "Book of Songs" were written by Ma Hezhi. The Book of Songs and its annotations are classic Confucian texts and have been valued by emperors of all dynasties. The emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty organized this picture to pay attention to the classic doctrine of Confucian . On the other hand, Emperor Gaozong conveyed some political expectations for Emperor Xiaozong through this. It is worth mentioning that this volume introduces the "freehand" painting method into narrative painting, changing the style of fine brushwork and plain painting to unify the appearance of narrative painting.
Natural paintings with flowers and bird themes began to appear in the Yuan Dynasty. The "Changkun Business Map" by Chu Fang, the Yuan Dynasty collection, is a fine-brush narrative painting of flowers and birds. This volume is a painting with the theme of small insects being eaten in fine brushwork, drawn by the Yuan Dynasty painter Xie Chufang in the first year of Zhizhi in Yuan Dynasty (1321). The painting can be divided into six parts, each group is centered on several clusters of flowers and plants intersecting each other, and a variety of small animals are passing through it. The picture seems to be full of vitality and pastoral interest, but in fact it depicts the scene of animals strangling and hunting for survival, and uses it to compare the world. Later, many people wrote inscriptions, mostly Yuan people, which shows the state of mind of the literati of the Yuan Dynasty. This picture is circulated in an orderly manner and well-painted manner, representing the high level of realistic painting style of flowers and birds in the Yuan Dynasty, and is also a model work that inherits the realistic painting style of Song Dynasty painting. Among the narrative paintings with characters as the theme in the Yuan Dynasty, "Zhang Guolao meets Minghuang" is the most outstanding. The picture depicts the story of Zhang Guolao and his disciples visiting Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Li Longji. The painting captures Zhang Guolao casts spells in front of Emperor Minghuang of Tang and depicts them. This work is set in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, with vivid expressions of characters, expressing the recognition and retroness of Jiangnan literati of the Yuan Dynasty for the culture since the Tang and Song dynasties.
The Northern Song Dynasty showed a more complex visual pattern of many characters and many plots, presenting multiple plots in a single frame, that is, a single frame and multiple scene narrative, which can be roughly compared to a summary in literary narrative. During the Southern Song Dynasty, narrative paintings were mostly political propaganda posters that graphic literature, full of political ambitions to restore the dynasty and govern the country. Narrative painting techniques have also begun to diversify, in addition to fine brushwork, there are also plain drawing and freehand painting. In the Yuan Dynasty, narrative paintings dominated by flowers and birds appeared, further expanding the content of narrative paintings, and the paintings of this period also reflected the contradictory mentality of painters under the rule of ethnic minorities.
Narrative paintings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties: The division between the palace and the folk
Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, narrative paintings have begun to serve reality more, recording historical events, war scenes, celebrity deeds, and other scenes that occurred at that time. In terms of painting techniques, aesthetic tastes, subject content, etc., the differences between the court and the folk have also begun to appear. The palace narrative painting focuses on drawing major historical events that affect the national process, while the folk, especially the literati, tend to gather the themes, which are used to record the interactions of literati and express personal aspirations and interests.
is first of all, it is a work of recording important historical events, expressing the grand narrative of the country, and court life. The main body of this type of work is usually a court painter. It has been mentioned less in the past art history, but it is a very distinctive narrative painting of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, there were "The Anti-Japanese War Picture", "Hangml4 Pair of Victory Picture", "Hangml4 Nandu Fanhui Picture ", "Xunzong Fu You Picture", etc., and in the Qing Dynasty, there were "The Southern Tour of Kangxi", "The Southern Tour of Qianlong", and "The prosperous Summer Picture".
"Anti-Japanese Anti-Japanese Picture" presents the situation of Japanese pirates invasion, refugees of the people, war on the water surface, and the victory of prisoners in the form of a hand scroll. It is a narrative painting that combines discursive merit and records. Using the historical event of successfully fighting against Japanese pirates, we demonstrated the strong military strength of the Ming Dynasty. In fact, any dynasty has its core competitiveness. The Qing Dynasty's " pacification of Zhunmen Huimen's victory map ", "pacification of prisoners in the Western Regions", and "pacification of Zhungartu" are all narrative paintings that express the grand history of the country, and at the same time they also play a military deterrent role in neighboring countries and regions.
Ming Dynasty Qiu Ying's "Japanese Pirates Picture Scroll" partially
The painting of the emperor's patrol image is a noteworthy feature of the Qing Dynasty. Although it depicts the emperor's travel scene, it is also a narrative painting of important national events. Emperors in the Qing Dynasty implemented the "Party Governance", so the emperor's travel was the best in all dynasties. The creation of "The Southern Tour of Kangxi" laid a blueprint for such images, and the twelve volumes of "The Southern Tour of Qianlong" were based on this. This picture depicts the first trip to Jiangnan by Emperor Qianlong. He imitated the old example of Emperor Kangxi's southern tour, set out from Beijing, passed through Dezhou, crossed the Yellow River, and headed south along the canal. He traveled through Zhenjiang, Suzhou, Jiaxing, Hangzhou and Shaoxing, and recorded the scenes of Emperor Qianlong's investigation of customs, inspecting officials and people, inspecting river engineering, inspecting troops, worshiping Yu Temple, and visiting famous scenic spots in the lakes and mountains during Emperor Qianlong's southern tour.
In addition to the palace, folk paintings also have records of the major historical event of Qianlong's southern tour - "The Picture of Ten Thousand Wars to the Sky". This picture is painted in porcelain green paper and gold, which is more magnificent than the "Qianlong Southern Tour" and takes the situation where the people of Suzhou welcome the emperor before the Qianlong Southern Tour. Since the emperor's portrait cannot be depicted at will, this painting uses a yellow umbrella to signal the emperor. In fact, before depicting "The Southern Tour of Qianlong", painter Xu Yang painted "The Funny Picture of Gusu", which depicted the prosperous scene of Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty. This can be seen as the tradition of customs paintings such as "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" continued in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, while in the Ming Dynasty, it was represented by "The Southern Capital Fanhui Tu". "The Picture of the Southern Capital's Farming" shows the urban scene of prosperous commercial commerce, dense population and rich life on both sides of the Qinhuai River, the former capital of Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty.
At the same time, images such as "Xingyuan Elegant Collection", "Lanting Elegant Collection", and "Lanting Xiuqi" that depict scenes of literati and elegant gatherings gradually emerged among literati in the Ming and Qing dynasties. "Apricot Garden Elegant Collection" is painted by Ming Dynasty painter Xie Huan . It uses realistic techniques to reproduce the historical scene of nine cabinet ministers including Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Yang Pu gathering in Yang Rong's mansion Xingyuan. Literati of the Ming and Qing dynasties were keen on poetry and prose activities, and would draw the attendees one by one as a commemoration, and frame the poems and prose that everyone sang as a postscript behind the painting. The "Lanting Repairing Constitution" painted by Wen Zhengming shows the widely circulated literary legend "Lanting Repairing". From it, you can see the scene in Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Preface" - the mountains and steep mountains, and the flowing water in the water, scholars and scholars, sitting or lying down, watching the scenery and drinking, and conceiving them.
In addition, there were also pictures based on literary works in the Ming and Qing dynasties. For example, the Ming Dynasty painter Du Jin painted the "Poetry Pictures of Ancient Sages" to select poems written by ancient people, and wrote them according to their poetry and also with their skills, which is more contemporary. The "Journey to the West" in the Ming Dynasty and the "Water Margin Scroll", "Grand View Garden Picture Banner" and "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" visually present literary works based on the picture albums or hand scrolls depicted by the four masterpieces.
Generally speaking, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, figure paintings were not as prosperous as landscape paintings and flower and bird paintings, and narrative paintings also declined. However, compared with the Song and Yuan dynasties, the theme and scale of narrative paintings in this period were even larger, with more than a dozen narrative painting series reflecting one theme at the same time, and narrative albums also became popular. Some of these albums were based on novels in the Ming and Qing dynasties and were of great characteristics of the times.
Of course, from another perspective, narrative portrait paintings are not strictly defined. For example, the theme of " Su Wu Shepherd " has become a painting with portraits as the main body in Ren Bonian's writings to express personal aspirations.
(The author is an associate research librarian at the National Museum of China)
Source: Wenhuibao
