How to appreciate Chinese landscape paintings
Northern Song Dynasty Fan Kuan's "Travel to Streams and Mountains" Chinese landscape painting is a manifestation of Chinese national culture and is unique to our country's national culture. It contains rich cultural essence and long historical connotation, such as the idea of "harmony between man and nature" and so on. It does not aim to simply or directly reproduce the natural landscape, but to show the painter's cosmology and aesthetic tendencies through paintings, which not only includes the painter's own understanding and artistic accomplishment of art, but also the painter's feelings about nature with the help of the Chinese culture of pen and ink The result expressed by unique means of artistic expression. Its characteristic in expression form is the so-called "between similarity and dissimilarity" (Qi Baishi's words). This is very different from Western paintings that aim to reproduce natural landscapes. Therefore, appreciating Chinese landscape paintings cannot simply be based on "likeness", but requires the appreciator to have relatively rich historical, humanistic and artistic accomplishments. However, as far as the laws of painting art itself are concerned, over the past two thousand years, people have still achieved some generally recognized principles. I think it might be helpful to give you a brief introduction to these criteria. Paintings are divided into "three grades". The ancients first divided landscape paintings into "three grades": divine grade, wonderful grade and powerful grade. Some people also divided these "three grades" into three grades. Xia Wenyan's explanation is that "the charm is vivid and natural, and people cannot see the ingenuity, it is called a divine product. The pen and ink are superb, the color is applied appropriately, and the meaning is interesting, it is called a wonderful product. The shape is similar without losing the rules, it is called a wonderful product. The ability to taste". Zhu Jingzhen believed that "on top of the 'three grades', there are more outstanding grades", and someone seconded the opinion (Wang Xiufu). Some people also think that Yipin should not be evaluated together with the "three qualities" of Shen, Miao and Neng (Zhang Yanyuan). There are many kinds of them. I personally think that Xia Wenyan's explanation of the "three qualities" of Shen, Miao and Neng has outlined a standard for appreciating landscape paintings that is more suitable for the Chinese national aesthetic psychology. Xie He's "Six Methods" From a technical perspective, most of the "Six Methods" proposed by the Southern Qi painter Xie He in "Ancient Paintings" are used as a guide. That is, "vivid charm", "bone-based brushwork", "according to the image of objects" (modeling ability), "applying color according to the type" (coloring ability), "management position" (composition ability) and "transfer and imitation" (inheritance). ability). Moreover, he believes that "qiyun must generate knowledge." Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty also said in "Essays on Painting a Zen Room" that "Qiyun cannot be learned. It is known in this life and has its own divine teaching." Zou Yigui in the Qing Dynasty said in "Xiaoshan Painting Manual" that "taking charm as the first priority is the opinion of connoisseurs, not the method of writers." In other words, everyone agrees that the charm of a painting is the most important factor in determining its quality. Of course, the origin of Qi Yun cannot be fatalistic. Dong Qichang did not say anything like Sheikh. After he concluded that "qiyun cannot be learned," he pointed out a winding road to the secluded world for painters: "However, there is also a way to learn. Read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles..." In other words, painters must continue to Improve your self-cultivation and get inspiration from nature. Another piece of experience worth mentioning that is widely accepted by the painting community is to “observe the potential from a distance and observe the quality from a close distance”. When we appreciate a landscape painting, first of all, we examine its momentum from a distance. Then stand close and check whether the brush used in the painting is straight and strong, whether the rubbing method is expressive, whether the ink used is in harmony with the five colors, and whether it meets the requirements for a good painting described in the previous painting theory. Atmosphere, pen and ink, and charm. Nowadays, people have more new ideas when discussing painting. Lu Yanshao, a great contemporary painter, said in his book "A Brief Discussion on Landscapes": "The quality of a painting should be measured from its atmosphere, pen and ink, and charm. If these three points reach a higher standard, it is Good painting. Otherwise, it is not good painting." In addition, Lu Yanshao emphasized that "painting should not be flat." Li Keran, a master of landscape painting with charm, subtlety, pen and ink, richness and grandeur, proposed five aspects: "qi", "containing", "north", "wind (feng)" and "big". That is to say, a good painting must have a lively charm, subtle imagery, powerful pen and ink, rich content, and grand momentum. Some painters proposed adding "something innovative". These are developments from previous generations.
Twelve Taboos about Landscapes When appreciating a Chinese landscape painting, the painting must not have the "arrangement is overwhelming", "no distinction between near and far", "mountain has no energy", "mountain has no energy", which was summarized by Rao Ziran of the Yuan Dynasty in "Twelve Taboos of Huizong" "The water has no source", "There is no danger in the environment", "There is no way in or out", "The stone stops on one side", "The tree has four branches", "The figure is rickety", "The pavilions are complex", "It is unsuitable" and "It is stained with helplessness" ” and other problems or defects. These 12 points by Rao Ziran comprehensively summarize the previous research results and have been adopted by the painting community. The aesthetics of Chinese landscape painting include virtuality and reality, shades, primary and secondary, gathering and dispersion, white space, breathability, etc. However, for viewers, it looks a little more professional. I will discuss it with you again when I have the opportunity in the future. (Long Yaoting)