Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou
Yangzhou has been famous for its economic prosperity since Sui and Tang Dynasties. Although it experienced the disaster of changing soldiers, it always recovered quickly after the war because of its strategic location, convenient transportation, fertile land and rich products. Although the Qing Dynasty was destroyed by the 10th Massacre, it developed in the three generations of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, and became a metropolis along the southeast coast of China and an important trade center in China. Dajia is a wealthy businessman, surrounded by many places, especially the salt industry, which is rich in the southeast.
Economic prosperity has also promoted the prosperity of culture and art. Scholars and celebrities from all over the world gathered in Yangzhou. At the initiative of local officials, poetry receptions are often held. Poetry creation enjoys a good reputation throughout the country. Some salt merchants themselves are very rich and arty, and they attract more celebrities from all over the world to Yangzhou. Yangzhou has thus attracted many celebrities from all over the country, including many poets, writers and artists. Therefore, Yangzhou at that time was not only the economic center of the southeast region, but also the center of culture and art.
In order to meet the needs of his luxurious life, wealthy businessman Da Jia has a great demand for material and spiritual products, such as exquisite handicrafts, precious pearls and jade, fresh clothes and delicious food. He is even more eager to search for calligraphy and painting. As far as the wind is concerned, middle-class families among the common people, even the slightly rich, also seek rooms for hanging calligraphy and painting to show elegance. As the folk proverb says, "Without calligraphy and painting at home, it is not an ancient family". The great demand for calligraphy and painting attracted and produced a large number of painters. According to "The Story of Painting a Boat in Yangzhou", there are more than 100 local painters and painters from all over the world, many of whom were famous at that time, and "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" is one of them.
The works of Yangzhou School of Painting, represented by "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", are distinctive in both material selection and composition. The formation of this artistic style is closely related to the innovation trend of painting circles at that time and the change of people's aesthetic taste. In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, China's painting was trapped by conservative thoughts, with copying as the mainstream, and the painting world lacked vitality. This fading wind has aroused the dissatisfaction of people of insight and talented painters. Shi Tao, a great painter who advocated innovation, appeared in Shi Tao, Yangzhou, and put forward the slogans of "pen and ink should keep pace with the times" and "can't get away from it", which shook the painting world like footsteps in an empty valley. Shi Tao's theory and practice "opened a school of Yangzhou", and finally gave birth to a group of innovative painters such as "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics".
Eight eccentrics in Yangzhou include eight painters: Zheng Xie, Luo Pin, Huang Shen, Li, Gao Xiang, Jin Nong, Shan Li and Wang. It has been nearly a hundred years since the rise of Emperor Kangxi and the death of Luo Pin, the youngest painter among the "Eight Eccentrics" in Jiaqing four years. Their paintings are numerous, widely circulated and immeasurable. According to the existing Catalogue of Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou compiled by modern people, more than 8,000 paintings are collected by more than 200 museums, art galleries and research units at home and abroad. As an outstanding group in the history of painting in China, they have become famous all over the world. Because the word "eight" can be used as an adjective or as a divisor.
"Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou" has extensive knowledge and is good at poems and songs. Life was bumpy for most of my life, and I finally embarked on the road of selling paintings for a living. Although they sell paintings, they express their feelings with paintings, and they have higher pursuit in the art of painting and calligraphy, and are unwilling to flow into the ranks of ordinary painters. Their knowledge, experience, artistic accomplishment, profound skills and artistic pursuit of innovative ideas are different from those of ordinary painters. They reached the realm of new ideas, new compositions and new techniques, created a new generation of painting styles, and made immortal contributions to the development of China's painting.
China's painting has a long history, in which literati painting flourished from the Tang and Song Dynasties, gradually enriched and developed, and formed a complete theoretical system, leaving a large number of works, which is the pride of China's painting. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there have been many painting schools in China, each with its own characteristics. Yushan and Loudong painting schools, led by the "Four Kings", have the greatest influence, while in Yangzhou, the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" painting style, led by Jin Nong and Zheng Xie, has formed. These painters have inherited and carried forward the tradition of Chinese painting, but they have different views on inheriting the tradition and creating methods. Yu Shan, Lou Dong and other painting schools emphasize copying and learning from the ancients, take observing the ancient laws as the principle, take strengthening the ancient laws as their own responsibility, and regard themselves as "original works". Their creative method, as Henry Hui Wang, an "authentic" painter, said, is "painting with the straight ink of Yuan people, transporting the mountains and valleys of Song people and polishing the charm of Tang people, which is a great achievement". They follow the example of the ancients, and their works are mostly imitations of ancient masters (of course, there are also antique creations), which forms a rigid situation and binds the painter's hands and feet.
"Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" also respects tradition, but it is different from "authentic". They inherited the creative methods of Shi Tao, Xu Wei and Zhu Da. , did not copy the ancient laws. For example, Zheng Banqiao worships Shi Tao and he learns from Shi Tao. He also "left half, learned half, and never learned all." Shi Tao has an important influence on the formation of the artistic style of "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics". He put forward "learning from nature" and "using my method", opposed "mudding", required painters to absorb creative materials in nature, and emphasized that works should have strong personality. He believes that "the ancients could not bear me; The hearts of ancient people could not enter my stomach. I spontaneously felt my heart and exposed my eyebrows. " Shi Tao's painting thought laid a theoretical foundation for the appearance of "Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou" and applied it to practice. "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" found inspiration from nature, sought themes from life and wrote their own books, which was refreshing at that time. People often regard their own rarities as weird, so they feel strange about the works of "Eight Eccentrics" that express their hearts and gallop freely, and call them weird. There are also some painters who are used to tradition. They think that the paintings of "Eight Eccentrics" are beyond the law, so they belittle the Eight Eccentrics, saying that they are partial teachers and heretics, and that they are "unconventional and only popular in thyme". Admirers praised their works for their bold brushwork, breaking away from the shackles of established methods and ancient methods, breaking the rigid situation at that time, bringing new vitality to China's paintings, and influencing and cultivating later artists such as Zhao, Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi.
1. Zheng Xie [Zheng Banqiao]
Zheng Banqiao and his map of bamboo and stone.
Zheng Banqiao in the Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty, sitting opposite the paper window and the bamboo shadow, spread out his pen and ink to draw his favorite bamboo. "The autumn wind passed by the window last night. "He saw the breeze passing through the bamboo leaves, and the bamboo was swaying. Zheng Banqiao's theory is that there is nothing he can do. He painted bamboo without the teacher's inheritance, and he got more from the sunlight and the moon shadow on the paper window powder wall, so he directly adopted a natural method. In response to Su Dongpo's statement that he had a careful plan, Zheng Banqiao emphasized that he should have a careful plan. These two theories seem contradictory, but they are similar in essence. At the same time, they emphasize the high combination of conception and skill, but the method of Banqiao should be "like lightning, the vegetation is angry." Zheng Banqiao's "Bamboo Stone Map" shows that bamboo stands tall and straight, rising from the ground. His leaves, each with a different expression, are deep and moist in color and distinct in shade, vividly showing the texture of bamboo. In terms of composition, Banqiao handled the relationship between the position of bamboo and stone and the words used in poetry very harmoniously. The slender and peaceful beauty of bamboo sets off another style of stone. This overgrown plant has become an ideal illusion of Zheng Banqiao. The bamboo of Banqiao, even Jin Nong, the head of "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", lamented that compared with their paintings, the bamboo he painted was not as elegant as Banqiao.
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Its flower-and-bird part is created with fingers. When Gao Zhi draws a fan, the shapes of the two birds are natural and unrestrained, while Poems on Peony Flowers says, "It's also like rouge painting peony, when painting, the sun shines. It turns out that the flowers belong to Fusang, and people are not allowed to look at them. " This poem is very interesting. Surprisingly, a gorgeous peony suddenly appeared in the picture, which was beautiful. On the contrary, it has a self-destructive atmosphere after beautiful scenery and can't bear to see it. The peony in full bloom in the tea garden exudes the decadent beauty of spring breeze. Gao (1672- 1734), real name, Wei San, alias Garden, Nancun, Shu and Taoist. My ancestors moved from Shandong to Tieling, Liaoning Province, and set up the Han army with yellow flags. They once served as assistant minister of punishments. He is the teacher of Luo Pin, the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou. Gao is good at finger painting, and his "finger painting" has become an important school in painting. In his later years, the reputation of expert finger painting spread far in North Korea, but he still painted "a fingernail is bleeding and a candle burns every day". In the eighth year of Yongzheng (A.D. 1730), he was asked to paint in the Ruyi Pavilion in Yuanmingyuan for three years, and he created exquisite silk meticulous paintings such as the Map of the Yangtze River. According to Gao Bing's theory of finger painting, Gao Paige once painted a portrait of Lu Shun, the senior minister of the Ministry of War, and drew a portrait as tall as a real person. After the painting was finished, Lv Shun's disciples were overjoyed and said, "What a skill! Enter the Tao! "
3. Jinnong
Jin Nong (1687- 1763), whose name is Shoumen,No. Dongxin,No. Liu Jishan, is from Renhe, Zhejiang. His paintings absorb the length of Han portraits, simple and childish, and the pen and ink are very similar. It is this clumsy beauty that makes Jin Nong's paintings between similarity and dissimilarity, thus making them unique.
Masako Aoki came to China in the spring of 1922. When visiting the West Lake Night Market, the Japanese sinologist found a rubbings of Jin Dongxin's Plum Blossom Map. In Mr. Dong Xin's hometown of Hangzhou, Aoki found a film of Dong Xin's art in a booth. Aoki said that this is the sincerity that can connect the gods. He used the passion of worship to record the scene at that time ("Jiang Nanchun? ; Bamboo sawdust "). This Plum Blossom Picture is engraved with seven poems that Aoki has been chanting for a long time: "The wild plum is as thin as a shadow, thank you for sharing it. I can't be busy behind closed doors at the moment, so I have to swallow some flowers and beards. " Regarding Jin Dongxin, Wang Zengqi's short story "Jin Dongxin" is very good-looking, because Jin Dongxin's famous poem "The setting sun shines on the peach blossom crossing, and Liu Xufei comes in patches of red", and the salt merchant Cheng Xuemen paid 1200 yuan. Jin Dongxin's Plum Blossom Map copied by Qi Baishi is very famous. The rubbings of Plum Blossoms purchased by Aoki Hangzhou and the Plum Blossoms copied by Qi Baishi and Jin Dongxin are now in front of us. This is really the supreme romance in collectors' minds.
4. Li Shan
Li Shan (1686- 1762) was born in Xinghua, Jiangsu. Kangxi was promoted in fifty years, and in fifty-three years, painting was called a sacrifice of the imperial court. He was excluded because he didn't want to be bound by the orthodox painting style. After three years of Qianlong, he was elected as the magistrate of Tengxian County, Shandong Province, and returned to the provincial government. After two different titles and a demotion, he went to Yangzhou to sell paintings for a living. He has the closest relationship with Zheng Xie, so Zheng has the theory that Yangzhou sells paintings and makes friends with Li Jiu. In his early years, he studied landscape painting from Wei, a fellow countryman, and inherited Huang all the way. When he worshipped the imperial court, he studied painting from Jiang Ting. Later, he asked the master of finger painting for advice and advocated freehand brushwork. When he was in Yangzhou, he was inspired by Shi Tao's brushwork, so he splashed ink with a broken pen, and his style changed greatly, forming his own unique style, and pen and ink blended into a strange taste. He likes to draw long articles, and his writing level is uneven, which makes the pictures very rich, and his works have a great influence on flower-and-bird painting in the late Qing Dynasty.
5. Huang Shen
Huang Shen (after 1687- 1770) was born in Ninghua, Fujian. He is good at freehand brushwork figures, intercropping flowers and birds, mountains and rivers, and using bold colors. There is a book of poems in Jiaohu Lake. As one of the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou, he is an all-round painter. Huang Shen's freehand brushwork figures created a unique style of painting with cursive script. When Huai Su's cursive script arrived in Huang Shen, it became "bald and intermittent", with bolder brushwork and bolder style. With such a wild brushwork, the brushwork is "lightning fast", the weather is magnificent, and the stippling is like a wind leaf. Huang Shen's figure paintings are mostly based on fairy tales, depicting the lives of historical figures and ordinary people such as woodcutters, fishermen, vagrants and beggars in real life, bringing a new breath to figure paintings in Qing Dynasty. Huang Shen's portrait album "A Beautiful Woman Appreciating Flowers" depicts a beautiful woman's obsession with flowers. The map of Xishan crane is based on Su Shi's Flying Crane Pavilion. On the right side of this picture, there is a white crane. The old man seems to be looking up at the crane flying in the sky. The boy has a flower basket in his hand, but he is very happy. "I dreamed of Yangzhou Road all my life, and the empty cranes returned" (Huang Shen's "Crane Training in Lin Bu") Huang Shen lived in Yangzhou twice and spent 17 years in Yangzhou, which became his lifelong attachment.
6. Li
Li (1695- 1755), a native of Nantong, Jiangsu Province, whose name is Qingjiang, alias is Yibaishan, is the owner of Yiyuan Garden. In the eighth year of Yongzheng, he was appointed as the magistrate of Shandong country-specific ones (now Linyi). He was arrested and imprisoned for offending his boss. He was released in the first year of Qianlong and was reinstated. Later, he was appointed as the county magistrate of Anhui Buried Hill and Hefei, but he was still convicted and dismissed for failing to please. When you are an official, you have a benevolent government and people are very virtuous. After becoming an official, he stayed in Nanjing to borrow a garden and often went to Yangzhou to sell paintings. He is good at painting pines, bamboos, orchids, chrysanthemums, plums, miscellaneous flowers and worms, and he is also good at painting people and landscapes, especially plums. The works are bold, colorful, careless and eclectic, which is intended to be between Ivey, Bai Yang and Zhu Han. Plum painting is famous for its thin and hard, old stems and new branches, and its side is curved. With the method of occasionally printing plum blossoms, the famous poems about Mei have sentences that are not depressing or bizarre. I also like to draw pine and bamboo in the strong wind. Shi Nengji is a collection of poems about plum blossom house compiled by later generations, with only 26 poems, most of which are scattered in paintings.
7. Wang
Wang (1686- 1759), whose real name is Chilin, alias Waishi, is an old man in late spring. A native of Shexian County, Anhui Province, Yangzhou sells paintings for a living. Flowers and plants, pens are random, beautiful and colorful. He is especially good at painting plums and often goes to Meihualing outside Yangzhou to enjoy and write plums. Jin Nong said that plum blossoms are famous for their dense plums and numerous branches. They are beautiful and elegant. The beauty of painting plum lies in that Guangling has two friends. Wang Chaolin paints many branches and Gao Xitang paints sparse branches. (Inscription on Painting Plums) But judging from his works of painting plums, they are not all luxuriant, but often sparse. No matter how simple or complicated, you have time to wrap the fragrance and enjoy the snow and mountain scenery. At the age of 54, he was blind in his left eye, but he could still draw plum blossoms. When he showed his works, he engraved: He was born blind in his left eye, but he still kept one eye to see plum blossoms. At the age of 67, he was blind, but he could still write weeds and pay attention to his thoughts. The so-called blindness is not to turn a blind eye to your own heart. It's a good poem, and it's the author of "Chao Lin Shi Hua".
8. Luo Pin
Luo Pin (1733- 1799) was a famous painter in Qing dynasty. Big word, No.2 Peak, also known as Yiyun, Huamiao, Jinniu Mountain Man, Zhou Yufu and Shi Lian Old Man. His ancestral home was Shexian, Anhui, and later he was from Ganquan, Jiangsu (now Yangzhou). The present country calls itself "Zhu Cao Shilin". I am a disciple of Jin Nong, but I am not an official, so I am good at traveling. Painting figures, Buddha statues, landscapes, flowers and fruits, plums, orchids, bamboos, etc. , omnipotent. The writing is absurd, cold and unique. It is one of the eight eccentrics in Yangzhou. He is also good at drawing funny ghost paintings and describing all kinds of ugly ghosts, which are extremely wonderful to satirize the ugliness of society at that time. He is also good at printmaking, and he is the author of Biography of Guangyin Characters. After Jin Nong's death, he collected manuscripts and contributed to the engraving, so that Jin Nong's works could be passed down to later generations. His wife, Fang Wanyi, whose name is Bai Lian, is also good at painting Mei Lanzhu stone and poetry. Both Zi and Yun Yong are good at painting plums, so they are called "Luo Painting School". Representative works include: Meteorological Map Outside Things (Picture Album), Double Peaks Covered with Flowers, Autumn Colors in Dangui, Sunrise in the Shade, Singing in Gu Qing, Painting Bamboo with Sound, etc. Author of Xiang Ye Caotang Collection.
Where is the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou"?
There are different opinions about where the "Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou" is. Some people think they are strange, but they are not. The eight eccentrics themselves have experienced ups and downs. They are full of injustice and infinite anger, and they show deep sympathy for the poor class. They attack ugly things and people with the keen insight and kind sympathy of intellectuals, whether in poetry or in calligraphy and painting. This kind of thing is not uncommon in the history of China, but it is not uncommon. It is natural that people regard it as "strange". However, their daily behavior did not go beyond the scope of ethics at that time, nor did they indulge like the literati in the Jin Dynasty-playing dumb, crying and laughing. They communicate with officials and celebrities, attend poetry receptions and behave like normal people. Therefore, it is unreasonable to identify their "weirdness" from their life behavior. Now we can only study them in their works. Eight eccentrics don't want to take the road that others have already started, but want to find another way. They want to create "articles that expose the sky and the ground, words in thunder and thunder, words that curse ghosts, paintings that are ancient but not today", that is to say, they want to be different from the ancients, unconventional and novel in style. Their works violate people's appreciation habits, and people feel novel, so they feel a little "strange". As Zheng Xie himself said, "Writing is unique, and calligraphy and painting are unwilling to be praised by ordinary people. The Tang Dynasty had its own state, and ordinary people laughed at me as a Banqiao monster. " At that time, people gave them different opinions, the most important of which was that they deviated from the "authenticity", which explained the main reason why they were called "strange"?
Yangzhou Eight Eccentric Painters broke through the shackles of "authenticity", and on the basis of inheriting the tradition, they focused on their own creation and development, and worked hard to create a new painting style all their lives. Undoubtedly, they have made great contributions to the development of Chinese painting, and their creative ideas and numerous works are valuable legacies for us to learn and inherit.
After the "Four Monk Painters", an innovative painting school-"Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" rose. In fact, there were more than eight important painters active in Yangzhou painting circle at that time, about 16 or 7, and "eight" was not an exact number. According to the earliest records: Jin Nong, Huang Shen, Zheng Xie, Li (Fish List), Li, Wang, Gao Xiang,. Therefore, they are called strange because they are eccentric and strange in painting, and most of them are strong in personality, aloof and arrogant, and wild in behavior, so they are called "eight eccentrics".
Jin Nong (1487- 1764), whose name is Shoumen and whose name is Dongxin, is a native of Hangzhou, and is called the head of the Eight Monsters. He is well-read and versatile. He began to paint after he was 50 years old and was poor all his life. He is good at flowers and birds, landscapes and figures, especially at ink painting and plum blossom. His paintings are simple in shape, elegant in layout and novel in conception. His works include Meme Map and Moon Flower Map. He created a kind of official script, calling himself "lacquer script", which has a unique interest. Huang Shen (1687— 1768) was born in Ninghua, Fujian. When I was a child, my family was poor and I benefited a lot from learning Huai Su's calligraphy. He painted in cursive script, created his own style, was good at freehand brushwork, and had the highest attainments in figure painting. Most of the works are based on immortal Buddhism and Taoism, and there are also many works that reflect the life of the lower classes. His works include Drunk Sleep and Su Wu Pastoral. Li Yu kg-* 6] Dan (1686-1762), whose real name is CheungYueng, is from Xinghua, Jiangsu. He liked painting since he was a child and became famous at the age of sixteen. He used to be the magistrate of Tengzhou, Shandong Province. He is greatly influenced by Xu Wei and Shi Tao, and his painting style is extensive, eclectic, dripping with ink and elegant in color, so that "ink and wash blend into interest." His works include "Okra Map" and "Blueprint of Pine and cypress". Li (1695— 1755) is a native of Nantong, Jiangsu. He served as a county magistrate and local official for about 20 years. Make friends with Jin Nong and Zheng Xie, and be good at painting pine, bamboo, plum and orchid. In his later years, he painted plums as a metaphor. He wrote in an inscription poem: "This plum blossom is ordinary and there is no pen to read. Painters don't understand the customs at any time, and they are very angry. " His works include Fish Tour Map and Xiaoxiang Wind Bamboo Map. Gao Xiang (1688— 1753) was born in Yangzhou and Xitang. Gao Xiang has a hard life and a aloof personality. He admired Shi Tao all his life. He is good at painting landscapes, flowers and birds, and likes to paint plum blossoms with sparse branches. His works include "Finger-flick Pavilion". Wang (1685— 1759) was born in Xiuning, Anhui. My family was poor when I was a child. I live in Yangzhou and sell paintings for a living. I am poor and happy, studying art and good at drawing plums. He, Jin Nong and Gao Xiang are known as the "four masters of Mei painting", and their works include Mei Tu and so on. Luo Pin (1733— 1799), whose real name is Xunfu, was originally from Shexian county, Anhui province, and later moved to Yangzhou. He is a disciple of Jin Nong. He is the youngest of the Eight Eccentrics, but he has a high level of knowledge and an extraordinary writing style. He was an official all his life, selling paintings for a living, and was down and out all his life. His works include "Ghost Fun Map" and "Drunk Zhong Kui Map". Zheng Xie (1693— 1765) was born in Xinghua, Jiangsu. He is a scholar of Kangxi and Yongzheng, and he is a scholar of Qianlong. He used to be the magistrate of Fanxian County and Weixian County in Shandong Province. He offended his boss by opening a warehouse to help the victims, resigned in anger and lived in Yangzhou to sell paintings for a living. He is particularly active in thought, quite original, highly accomplished in poetry and painting, and good at painting bamboo, orchids and stones. He also created six semi-calligraphy styles, including original works, cursive script, official script and seal script. People call it "a street paved with stones". He is a painter with strong people's character. When he was appointed magistrate of Weixian County, he drew a bamboo for the governor. The inscription reads: "Zhaiya lies listening to the sound of bamboo, which is suspected to be the voice of the people's suffering." Some small officials in Caozhou County always care about their feelings. "
"Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" have similar life experiences and thoughts and feelings. Most of them came from the intellectual class, some refused to be officials all their lives, and some passed the imperial examination to become small officials, but they were fired or resigned one after another, and finally made a living by selling paintings. Their lives are relatively poor. They are well aware of the corruption in the officialdom, forming a character of contempt for powerful people and wild behavior, and expressing their inner resentment with the help of calligraphy and painting.
Most of their art is based on flowers and birds, with freehand brushwork as the main expression. They attach importance to individuality and strive for innovation in their creation, which breaks through the traditional aesthetic norms to varying degrees and has certain anti-traditional significance. Their works have a strong subjective color, which is refreshing. However, at that time, they could not be fully understood and even regarded as "leftists" and were "criticized". In fact, it is they who have created a new situation in painting and broadened the road for the development of flower-and-bird painting.
How's it going? Not bad! Tell your husband!