Chinese Painting

Compiled by Dr. V. Ramirez

For educational use only
Chinese painting
developed from a relatively fragmentary set of
images on a scroll toward a more coherent,
structured composition that took full advantage of
the scroll form of most paintings.
Before the 12th century there was great interest
in realism. This link will take you to photographs
of famous Chinese mountain landscapes that are
typical landscape subjects for painters.
However, later the Chinese painting style
became more stylized, following set conventions
or rules of form.
The scroll form of books and paintings in China
had distinctive effects on the visual images placed
on these surfaces.
Chinese paintings do not have single point,
linear perspective of the kind typical of Euro-
American art. Instead, the perspective points shift
as the viewer's eye moves through the landscape,
unrolling, perhaps, a section of the scroll at a time.
The scene may include a lake shore, above
which tower mountains; yet both the lake and the
mountaintop pavilion will seem to be at eye level.
Pathways are created in the composition to lead the
viewer from one level to the next.

The Six Principles of Chinese
Painting
Hsieh Ho about 500AD:

First Principle: Painting should have life and vitality.
i.e. the beliefs and thoughts of the painter will bring life to his
painting.

Second Principle: Use brush in a controlled manner.

Third Principle: Subject of Painting shall be recognisable.
This means the image the painter is projecting should be
recognisable to the viewer. However, it does not mean that the
painter should try to replicate the subject in his painting, which
is not customary in Chinese painting.



Fifth Principle: Plan placing of picture on paper
thoughtfully.
As discussed before, space is an important element in
Chinese painting and an integral part of the composition.
As a rule, two-third of the picture should not be painted
on. Normally more space is left at the top than at the
bottom of the painting. The unpainted space at the top
represents heaven, the space at the bottom represents
earth, and the painting itself is said to join heaven and
earth together.

.
Fourth Principle: Colour, including different tones and
shades of black, should be used with care.


Sixth Principle: Practice and Improvement is
achieved through copying.
In the Western art world, originality, creativity and
non-conformity are characteristics expected of an
artist. In Chinese art, no stigma is attached to copying.
The Chinese believe that by copying other great
paintings, the artist will learn and improve his skills.
They also believe that each artist's spirituality will
show through his work. Therefore, even if an artist
does an excellent copy of a painting by another artist,
his painting will bring out different feelings to that he
has copied
Confucian Painting
Northern Qi Scholars Collating Classic Texts (detail)
Traditionally attributed to Yan Liben, Active 7th century, died 673
Northern Song dynasty, 11th century Handscroll; ink and color on silk
Denman Waldo Ross Collection, 1931 31.123
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Learning from the past was one of the primary
values of Chinese culture. In 556 Emperor
Wenxuan invited leading Confucian scholars to
compile classic texts for the education of the
crown prince. This lively handscroll represents
various aspects of this project. In the scene
shown here, four scholars are gathered on a
wooden couch, supplied with food and drink, as
well as writing implements, and tended by
maidservants. One scholar's imminent departure
seems to have upset his companions.

The Thirteen Emperors
Tang dynasty, second half of the 7th century
Handscroll; ink and color on silk; Denman Waldo Ross Collection, 1931 31.643
Attributed to Yan Liben: Active 7th century, died 673 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Emperor Taizong, patron of the artist Yan Liben,
wrote a set of "Imperial Admonitions"for his son
so that the crown prince could learn from the
virtues and mistakes of past rulers, as the
philosopher Confucius advised. This scroll was
created in a similar spirit, with vigorous
characterizations of emperors stretching back to
the Han dynasty. The painting of the robust
figures, with strong, wiry outlines, vivid facial
expressions, and forms rounded by shading,
reflects the influence of Buddhist images
arriving from Central Asia.

Hawk on Pine
Yuan dynasty, second half of the 14th century
Hanging scroll; ink & light color on silk
Marshall H. Gould Fund, Frederick L. Jack Fund, and Asiatic
Curator's Fund, 1996 1996.2
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

This imperious hawk seems to ignore the pheasant
below, readily available prey. A poem appearing on
a similar hawk painting alludes to scholar-officials
of the Yuan period who refused to serve the foreign
Mongol rulers, rejecting the opportunity to make an
easy living. The representation of the hawk in ink
monochrome rather than color increases the
likelihood that it symbolizes the integrity of a
principled Confucian scholar.


Daoist Painting

Li Cheng
"A Solitary Temple
Amid Clearing Peaks"

Northern Song Dynasty
Hanging scroll; ink and
slight color on silk
44 x 22 in.
The Nelson-Atkins
Museum
Kansas City, Missouri

Winter Landscape with
Temples and Travelers
Attributed to Fan Kuan: Active
late 10th-early 11th centuries
Northern Song dynasty, 11th
century
Hanging scroll; ink and light color
on silk
Chinese and Japanese Special
Fund, 1914 14.52
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

One of the great masters of Chinese landscape painting,
Fan Kuan was acclaimed for a unique style reflecting the
mountainous scenery of his native province.

Daoist thought achieved its fullest artistic expression in
such monumental landscapes for the founder of Daoism,
Laozi, had preached that the True Way, or Dao, was
manifest in the changing forms and eternal laws of nature.

The Dao was achieved through the balance of opposing
yet complementary forces, such as mountain (shan) and
water (shui), the two words that form the Chinese term
for landscape. Landscapes such as this one became the
classic models to which later Chinese landscape painters
would constantly return.

Nine Dragons
Attributed to Chen Rong: Active first half of the 13th
century
Southern Song dynasty, dated 1244
Handscroll; ink and touches of red on paper
Francis Gardner Curtis Fund, 1917 17.1697
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

In the poem on this scroll, Chen Rong writes that he
painted it in an intoxicated state. Meditation and other
mind-altering experiences have long been associated with
Daoist transcendental practices.

The dragon is one of the most ancient and powerful
images in Chinese culture, representing creative forces of
the cosmos. Here, the nine dragons' varied expressions
and movements are manifestations of the Dao, the Way of
Nature.

The contrast of solid rock and fluid, ever-changing waves
and clouds accords with the fundamental Daoist concept
of life as the interaction of two forces: yin and yang.

The Daoist
Immortal L
Dongbin
Crossing Lake
Dongting
Southern Song
dynasty, mid-13th
century
Round fan mounted
as album leaf; ink and
light color on silk
The rivalry between Buddhism and Daoism sometimes
led to one religion adopting the myths of the other.
According to legend, Bodhidharma, the founder of
Chan Buddhism (known in Japan and the West as
Zen Buddhism), crossed the Yangzi River on a reed.
In the story shown here, the Daoist immortal Lu
Dongbin surpassed this feat, crossing a vast lake
with no support at all.


Buddhist Painting
Guanyin
(Avalokitesvara
Bodhisattva) as
Savior from Perils
(Northern Song dynasty
975)
Hanging scroll
mounted as panel; ink
and color on silk
Maria Antoinette
Evans Fund, 1927

Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is known
as Guanyin in China and has been the most worshiped
Buddhist deity there.

A believer who calls upon Guanyin will be delivered
from such dangers as falling from a cliff or being
engulfed by fire or water, perils shown in small scenes
around the central figure here. In front of Guanyin is an
offering table; the young men at right and left, identified
as "virtuous boy"and "evil boy,"probably represent
Sakyamuni, the Indian prince who became the Buddha,
and his wicked brother.

The inscription indicates that the Buddhist nuns kneeling
in the foreground are the donors who commissioned the
painting.

Lohans Bestowing Alms
on Suffering Human
Beings
Southern Song dynasty, about
1178
Hanging scroll mounted as
panel; ink and color on silk
General Fund, 1895 95.4
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston







Lohan Manifesting Himself
as an Eleven-Headed
Guanyin
Southern Song dynasty, about 1178
Hanging scroll mounted as panel; ink
and color on silk
Denman Waldo Ross Collection, 1906
06.289
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

A Lohan is a disciple of the Buddha who becomes a sage and seeks
to help other believers attain the reward of Enlightenment. Lohan
worship flourished in China, with the original group of sixteen
Lohans ultimately expanding to five hundred.

These two paintings come from one of the earliest sets to represent
this vast number, one hundred paintings preserved in the renowned
Zen temple Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, Japan. Created by professional
painters from the trading port of Ningbo, these dramatic and brightly
colored images were designed to attract and impress large groups of
worshippers. Ten are displayed in the exhibition.

In the group at lower left of the painting Lohan Manifesting Himself
as an Eleven-Headed Guanyin, the man in yellow examining a sketch
is probably the donor of the paintings. Standing next to him is the
artist, holding a brush, with Yishao, the abbot of the temple for whom
the paintings were first commissioned, standing behind.

Guanyin with Fish Basket
Yuan dynasty, late 13th-early 14th
century
Hanging scroll; ink and color on
silk
Chinese and Japanese Special
Fund, 1905 05.199
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Bodhisattva of Compassion, traditionally shown in
male form in India, became the female deity Guanyin in
China during the Song dynasty.

In one legend, Guanyin appeared in a river village as a
beautiful young woman with a basket of fish, offering
herself in marriage to anyone who could memorize the
sutra that would free him from the damnation of lust.

The cult of the "fish basket Guanyin"spread throughout
China, reaching Korea and Japan in the fourteenth
century.

[Zhao MengFu][Chao Meng-fu] (1254-1322)

References
http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/dragons/no
rth3.htm
http://www.pitt.edu/~asian/week-10/week-
10.2.html
http://www.china-interface.co.uk/introzh.htm#Painting