Chinese art

Regarding the time of the origin of this art, there are different interpretations. Tradition itself attributes the creation of Chinese painting to the four founding fathers: Gu Kaizhi (Chinese 顧 愷 之) (344–406), Lu Tanwei (Chinese 陆 探微 ser. V century), Zhang Senyao (c. 500 - c. 550 g. .) and Wu Tao Tzu (Chinese 吴道子, 680-740), who lived from the 4th to the 8th centuries of our era.

However, as a result of archaeological research, today's scholars delay the birth of Chinese painting 1000 years earlier, in the era of the fighting kingdoms of Zhan Guo ^[1]

The second well-known representative of the “painting of intellectuals”, the famous landscape painter Guo Xi in his treatise “On Painting” ^[2] , considers the painting a kind of psychological portrait of the author, emphasizing the high meaning of the personality and nobility of the artist. The artist emphasizes the need for perfection of the personality of the master. He considers poetry to be another important aspect of a painting, citing a phrase belonging to an unknown author: “Poetry is a formless painting; painting is a form of poetry. ”

Since the days of the artist Van Wei (VIII century), many “intellectual artists” have preferred monochrome ink painting over flowers, believing that: “In the middle of a painter’s path, mascara is simple above all. He will reveal the essence of nature, he will end the deed of the creator. " ^[3]

It was during this period that the main genres of Chinese painting were born:

• The genre of plant painting, in particular bamboo painting. The founder of bamboo painting was Wen Tong.
• Painting flowers and birds .
• Mountain landscapes (山水 ， shan shui , that is, "mountains and waters").
• Animalistic genre (翎毛. Ling mao . That is, "feathered and fluffy").
• The genre of the portrait.

In the era of Tang and Song, the most famous works of Chinese painting are created. The wizards appear:

• At Tao Tzu (680-740).
• Li Sysyun (651-716) (founder of the landscape direction of Chinese painting).
• Li Zhaodao (675-741)
• Wang Wei (701-761)
• Han Huang (723–787)
• Han Gan (c. 706 - 783)
• Zhang Xuan (714-742)
• Xia Gui (1195-1224)
• Ma Yuan (1190-1279)
• Mi Fei (1051-1107)
• Van Ximen (1096 -?)
• Huizong (1082–1135)
• Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145)
• Wen Tong (1019-1079)
• Go Xi (1020-1090)

Since the inception of Chinese painting on silk and paper in the 5th century AD e. many authors attempt to theorize painting. Perhaps the first among all was Gu Kaizhi, from the filing of which six laws were formulated - "loofah":

• Shants - spirituality,
• Tianqui - naturalness,
• Goutu - a composition of a painting,
• Gusyan is a permanent basis, that is, the structure of the work,
• Mose - following tradition, ancient monuments,
• Yunby is a high ink and brush technique.

They will form the ideological framework around which Chinese painting will develop over the next centuries.

The reigns of the Tang and Song dynasties are considered the highest peak of Chinese culture . The same can be said about Chinese painting. Over the subsequent dynasties of Yuan, Ming, and Qing, artists focused on samples of the Suna period. Under the Sung Emperor Hui Zong (1082–1135), Chinese culture reached its zenith and began to decline. In 1127, the forces of the northern barbarians of Zhurzheni besieged and captured Kaifeng, the capital of China and the largest city on earth at that time. The emperor himself, an artist, was also captured. This event marked the beginning of the era of northern barbarian conquests in the history of China. 150 years after the Jurchen conquest, the era of the Mongol conquerors arrived. From 1271 to 1368, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty ruled in China. In 1368, the last Chinese (Han) Ming dynasty came to power in China.

Unlike the artists Tan and Song, the painters of subsequent eras did not strive to create new styles, but rather imitated the styles of bygone eras in every possible way. And often they did it at a very good level, like artists from the Mongol Yuan dynasty that followed the Song era.

• Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322)
• Van Meng (1308–1385)
• Ni Tsan (1301–1374)
• Ren Renfa (1255-1327)
• Guan DaoSheng (1255-1327)
• Ke Jiuxi (1290–1343)
• Zhao Yong (1289–1360)

Among the artists of the Yuan era, it is worth noting the spouses Zhao Mengfu and Guan Dao Sheng. It was a union of two prominent artists, while Zhao Mengfu's wife, Guan DaoSheng, who lived in 1262–1319, was one of the first women artists to have known. Zhao Yong, born from the marriage of Zhao Mengfu and Guan DaoSheng, also became one of the prominent Chinese artists. The Mongol Yuan Dynasty was replaced by the Ming era. Among the many artists of the Ming era, four artists are distinguished: Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengmin, Tang Yin and Qiu Ina . They went down in history under the name "Uska Four".

In general, artists of the Minsk era were guided by samples of the Song era, as did the largest master of the Ming era Wen Zhengmin (1470-1559). But there were innovations. A great impetus to the development was the painting of figures. A distinctive representative of the Minsk art tradition can be considered the original artist Qiu In (c. 1475 - c. 1552). He painted in several genres at once and became famous both as a great landscape painter and as a brilliant representative of the painting of figures. Qiu Ying also wrote in the genre of erotic painting, often portraying not only nudity, but also sexual intercourse. Erotic painting was one of the achievements of artists of the Ming era.

Another famous artist of the Ming era - Tang Yin (1470-1524) was also famous as a great landscape painter and as the luminaries of painting figures. In the Ming era, the animal genre also developed, the great master in the depiction of monkeys was the emperor Zhu Zhanji (1398-1435). The Ming Dynasty ruled China at the same time as the Renaissance flourished in Europe. It is interesting to note that at different ends of Eurasia, synchronously and independently from each other, interest arose in the image of the human body, including nudity.

In 1644, the Ming Dynasty fell. China was again conquered by the Manchu barbarians who ruled the Celestial Empire up to the Xinhai Revolution of 1911.

And although the newcomers, the conquerors, soon after the conquest, “self-cited” and adhered to Confucian orders, each subsequent invasion created a new split in society, affecting, among other things, the development of painting. Since the Mongol conquest in the 13th century, “provincial” painting of artists who did not want to enter the service of the imperial court of conquerors began to develop. The first known hermit artist was Ni Zan (1301–1374). He belonged to a noble family, but, not wanting to join the Mongols and transferring most of his property to the Taoist monastery, he spent the rest of his life in wanderings. Many other artists from the Yuan era followed his example, such as Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen and Wang Meng.

A similar situation was repeated again, 400 years after the Mongol conquest, when China came under the rule of the new Manchu conquerors, who proclaimed the beginning of the Qing Dynasty. The internal political situation of the “troubled” period of the Ming dynasty, the Manchu Qing dynasty caused a sharp change in the life and work of Chinese artists. In order to express their rejection of Manchu rule and to remain faithful to the Mines, many cultural figures categorically refused to cooperate with the new rulers. When it turned out that the rule of Qing was established firmly and for a long time, many artists became discouraged, some took tonsure and imprisoned themselves in the monastery. So did the artists Hong Ren , Kun Tsan, Zhu Da and Yuan Ji, who went down in history as "four monks."

At the same time, some of the hermit artists chose not only the traditional Buddhist or Taoist "religion" for China as a monastery, but also Catholicism. So the artist and poet Wu Li (1631-1718) became the very first Catholic Chinese bishop.

However, many talented Han Chinese artists continued to serve at the court of the Jurchen and the Mongols or the Manchu. So, during the Mongol Empire, the family of artists headed by Zhao Mengfu became famous at court, and during the Qing Dynasty, painting flourished in the city of Yangzhou, where tens of thousands of artists worked and worked, the most famous of them were the artists who made up the so-called “eight Yangzhou originals . "

• Gao Fenghan (1683-1749)

During the reign of the Qing Dynasty, one of the founding theoretical books on Chinese painting, Zetsziyuan Huazhuan , 芥子 園 畫 傳 (Word about painting from the garden “mustard seed”) was written.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries turned into an era of great change for China, and not only because of the Manchu conquest. With the beginning of the colonial era, China is becoming increasingly exposed to the cultural influence of Europeans. A reflection of this fact was the transformation of Chinese painting. One of the most interesting Chinese artists of the Qing era is considered to be Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), an Italian Jesuit monk, missionary and court painter and architect in China. It was this man who became the first artist to combine Chinese and European traditions in his drawing.

Through his works, as well as painting lessons, Castiglione demonstrated the features of the European drawing technique, which required the observance of the laws of perspective and chiaroscuro, he introduced the Chinese to such genres of European fine art as oil painting and copper engraving, thanks to him, ceiling painting and still life were spread . From the time of Castiglione to the present day, oil painting, as well as the western style of painting, have become increasingly popular in China.

XIX and XX centuries became for China a great test of strength. China has entered an era of change, an unprecedented scale. During the nineteenth century, China lost 2 opium wars to the European colonialists and suffered considerable ruin by the Europeans. In 1894-1895, China loses the war in Japan and is divided between European colonial empires (including Russia), the United States and Japan into zones of influence.

At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Manchu Qing dynasty finally discredited itself by suppressing a Chinese national uprising against European influence (Boxer Uprising) with the help of soldiers from European and Japanese armies. Soon, China is the scene of the battle of the colonialists: Japan and Russia, and is again ruined. The consequence of all these events was the Xinhai revolution of 1911, which led to the fall of the empire and the proclamation of the Republic. The Xinghai revolution was followed by half a century of political chaos, weighed down by a new war with Japan (World War II), which led to new incredible destruction. In the wake of the devastation of World War II, the cultural revolution of Mao Zedong followed.

All these events could not but have an impact on the cultural life of China and on Chinese painting in particular. Among the Chinese intelligentsia, the number of Westerners was growing. In the 19th century, the provincial city of Shanghai became a center of trade with European states. Shanghai soon became one of China's largest trading ports. After this, many Chinese artists rush here, wishing to earn and study the European traditions of painting. Thus was born the Shanghai School of Painting, now the most famous.

The fall of the empire also became one of the most important events in the history of Chinese painting. Previously, the imperial court was one of the main sources of orders for paintings, and when the emperor was gone, many artists were left without work. In addition, as noted above, before the revolutions of the 20th century, most Chinese artists belonged to the circle of the court nobility, and after these events the painting finally "went to the masses." Due to great social upheaval, many lines of artists were interrupted: with the beginning of the 20th century, the period of “100 schools” began in Chinese painting, which is sometimes characterized by a radical departure from traditions and incredible genre improvisation. And all this happened against the backdrop of the increasing influence of European artistic traditions in Chinese painting. Thus, the famous Chinese artists of the 20th century, Xu Beihong (1895-1953) and Lin Fengmyan (1900-1991) studied in Europe. ^[four]

However, the most prominent person in Chinese painting of the 20th century was Qi Baishi (1864-1957), combining two previously incompatible biography features for a Chinese artist, he was an adherent of "painting of intellectuals" and at the same time came from a poor peasant family . Qi Baishi also received wide recognition in the West, in 1955 he was awarded the International Peace Prize.

Qi Baishi went from a simple carpenter to a world-famous painter. Outwardly, his paintings continued the traditions of intellectual artists, for example, they combined painting, calligraphy, poetry and engraving, but at the same time, they clearly felt the originality and originality of the author, whose life was so unlike the life of an ordinary intellectual. Having lived for a long time in the village, Qi Baishi painted rural landscapes, vegetables, fruits, insects, fish with pleasure. Today, Chinese painting is undergoing a new period of transformation. After the discovery of China to the Western world at the end of the 20th century, interest in Chinese painting has grown in Europe, America and Russia, and nowadays, more and more Europeans, Russians and Americans appear among the masters of Chinese painting.

The most important feature of the Chinese fine tradition is the inextricable unity of painting, graphics and calligraphy - the art of beautiful writing of hieroglyphs. Brushes and ink on paper or silk, poets write poetry, and artists - paintings. In painting and graphics, preference is given to the line. It is able to connect and disconnect, to be a connecting thread and border. Of particular importance in Chinese graphics was the curved line - the sign of the cycle of the Great Way. Before the advent of paper, inscriptions were made on narrow bamboo plates, which largely explains the peculiarity of writing Chinese characters from top to bottom. In the VII-XIII centuries. painting has won a leading place among other forms of art. Artists painted the walls of temples and palaces. In the paintings of great masters, you can see traditional objects: fragrant orchid, evergreen pines and cypresses, indestructible rocks, the embodiment of vitality - bamboo, animals, birds, etc. Chinese painting is based on a delicate ratio of delicate mineral colors in harmony with each other. The foreground was usually separated from the back by a group of rocks or trees with which all parts of the landscape corresponded. The compositional structure of the picture and the features of perspective were designed so that a person would feel that he was not a center of the universe, but a small part of it. Since ancient times, China has been painting on silk. Artists created miniature paintings on fans, screens and screens, painted scenes of city and palace life, landscapes on multi-meter scrolls. The plots were myths about heroes - ancestors, wonderful birds and the afterlife. The works of Qi Baishi, one of the most famous Chinese artists who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, reflected classical traditions and experimental searches. He copied samples of classical painting and calligraphy, and at the same time worked a lot from nature in search of his own, unique means of expression. The first carcass and stick of carcass, both old and cracked, were presented to the young Qi Baishi by his grandfather. Then he bought him a brush and some copy paper. From this time began the years of hard work and the path to glory. Particularly popular were the artist's paintings made in the genre of "flowers - birds." He liked to depict peonies, lotuses, wild plum flowers, grass bunches, etc. The artist was especially fond of aquatic inhabitants: fish, shrimp, crabs, frogs were appreciated by the master as objects of extreme artistic expression. Qi Baishi did not cease to be amazed at the beauty of the world, juiciness, freshness and brightness of pomegranate fruits, peaches, grapes, cherry berries, which he wrote masterfully.

It is interesting that most of the great Chinese artists of the Tang, Song Yuan, and Ming eras combined their art classes and service to the state. Almost every prominent artist, calligrapher and poet was also a respected official.

Moreover, often great artists served in positions completely unrelated to creativity. Wang Wei, as mentioned above, served as secretary of the civil chamber, and then secretary of the imperial court in the Tang empire.

The two most famous artists of the Yuan era were also prominent administrators. Ren Renfa served as deputy chief inspector of irrigation facilities, while Zhao Mengfu's government posts included provincial governor of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and head of the Hanlin Academy.

In general, it must be said that in China, from time immemorial, an extremely respectful attitude has been cultivated towards painting and calligraphy. The prestige of painting was so great that many emperors were not only interested in painting, but also were excellent artists, such as the Songan emperor Hui Zong (1082–1135), or the emperor of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Zhanji (1398–1435).

Today, many Chinese artists prefer European oil and canvas, instead of traditional ink, watercolors and thin bamboo and rice paper. The beginning of Chinese oil painting was laid by the Italian monk Jesuit D. Castiglione .

Sumi-e painting is a Japanese kind of Chinese painting. Initially, Sumi-e, like Se-e, was monochrome and was written only with the help of ink, but over time, Japanese artists began to write with colored mineral paints. Sumi-e painting received a great impetus not only in Japan but also in other countries of the world, in particular in the USA and Russia. In Moscow today, there is a Sumi-e school of painting, supported by the Japanese Embassy.

Among the genres of Chinese painting are the following ^[5] :

• landscapes "mountains - waters" ,
• flowers and birds
• bamboo painting,
• animal painting
• painting of figures and portraiture.

Chinese painting is also characterized by an extremely elegant language of images. Often portraying something, a Chinese artist lays a certain subtext in a drawing. Some images are particularly common, for example, four noble plants: orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, meihua plum. In addition, each of these plants is associated with a certain quality of character. The orchid is tender and refined, associated with the tenderness of early spring. Bamboo is a symbol of inexorable character, a real husband of high moral qualities ( Xun-tzu ). Chrysanthemum is beautiful, chaste and modest, the embodiment of the triumph of autumn. Blooming wild plum meihua is associated with purity of thoughts and resistance to the hardships of fate. In the vegetative plots, there is another symbolism: thus, painting a lotus flower, the artist talks about a man who has kept his thoughts pure and wisdom, living in a stream of everyday problems.

To write traditional Chinese paintings, a limited set of tools is used, the so-called “four treasures” of the artist: a Chinese brush, paint, an inkjet for grinding carcasses and mineral paints, paper.

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