Chapter 21 The second quarter is the gentle Wu faction

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the development of industry and commerce caused some cities to expand rapidly.At that time, Suzhou was densely populated with merchants from all over the country, making it a well-informed, prosperous and prosperous metropolis.Along with the prosperity of the economy, Suzhou is also a gathering of humanities, and there are many literati and artists.In the history of Chinese art, Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin, and Qiu Ying, known as the "Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty", were all active here.Also known as "Wu School of Painting" or "Four Schools of Wu School".

Shen Zhou (1427-1509 A.D.) was born in Changzhou (now Wu County, Jiangsu Province) with the style name Qinan and the name Shitian.Born in a prominent family, the three generations of his ancestors are all famous for calligraphy and painting, and have a rich collection.Shen Zhouyuan, who was educated in his family, was well-read and versatile, did not pass the imperial examination, and devoted his whole life to the artistic creation of poetry, calligraphy and painting.He is generous and kind, has many friends and disciples.Painters such as Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin, Li Zhu, Wang Lun, Sun Ai, Wu Qi, Lu Wen, etc. all came from his disciples and had a high social reputation, and were promoted as the leaders of the "Wu School of Painting". "Wu Jun Dan Qing Zhi" (written by Wang Zhideng) called Shen Zhou "the painting is the first in the contemporary era", and listed him as the first person among the gods.

Shen Zhou learned from famous painters such as Fa Wang Meng, Huang Gongwang, Dong Yuan and Ju Ran.He can absorb and store everything, integrate the strengths of various schools, and he is good at landscapes, figures, and flowers.The achievement of landscape painting is the highest.According to the history of painting, there are two styles of his paintings. Before the age of 40, the brushwork is delicate, which is called "fine and heavy"; Shen".The works handed down from generation to generation include "Atlas of Scenic Spots on the Two Rivers", "High Picture of Lushan Mountain", "Three Cypresses", "Spring Mountain Desire for Rain", "Cue Staff Picture", "Night Sitting Picture" and so on.

"High Map of Lushan Mountain" is 193.8 cm high and 98 cm wide, and it is now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.It is a huge masterpiece by Shen Zhou when he was 41 years old.In the painting, there are layers of mountains and waterfalls.Long pine giant trees, gloomy and lush.Nearby, a person stands with his back to watch the waterfall. The scale is very small, which shows the majesty and magnificence of the mountains and rivers.The painting method is imitated by Wang Meng, and the brush and ink are more solid and vigorous.Self-titled "Lushan Gao" in three seal characters, and wrote a long poem, full of emotion and heroic momentum.The inscription at the end: "Chenghua Dinghai Duanyang Day, the door of Changzhou Shenzhou poetry and painting, respect for the birthday of Mr. Youdao Zun in Xing'an".Explain that this picture was drawn by Shen Zhou to celebrate the birthday of his teacher Chen Kuan (named Mengxian, named Xing'an).Chen Kuan's ancestral home was in Jiangxi, and when he painted Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi, it was obvious that he used Lushan Mountain as a metaphor for the noble character of his teacher.The material selection and conception are quite ingenious.

Among the "Wu Men School of Painting", the one who lived the longest and had the greatest influence is Dang Wen Zhengming.Some people in the history of painting believe that the "Wu School of Painting" originated from Shen Zhou and then from Wen Zhengming. Wen Zhengming (1470-1559 A.D.) was born in Changzhou, formerly known as Bi, styled Zhengming, and named Hengshan.Born in a family of officials, he also took the imperial examination in his early years, but was not admitted because of untimely conditions.So he concentrated on poetry, calligraphy, and painting, and lived an elegant life of qin and wine.His poetic style is easy, clear and natural.In terms of calligraphy art, he has extremely high attainments in seal script, official script, regular script, running script, and cursive script, especially his lower script, which is gentle, beautiful, vigorous and rigorous, is famous all over the world, and is known as "the first in the Ming Dynasty".In terms of painting, Wen Zhengming is not only good at landscapes, but also flowers and figures.His painting style is "exquisite and clear in his early years, extensive in middle age, and both thick and thin in his later years". "Orchid Pavilion Xiu [xi Detailed] Picture" is a representative work of Wen Zhengming's meticulous style.

Xiuxiu is a custom in ancient times. In order to eliminate bad luck, people go to the water's edge to freshen up in the first ten days of the third month of the lunar calendar to remove the dirt.In the ninth year of Yonghe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 353), 41 literati, including Wang Xizhi, Xie An, and Sun Chuo, gathered at Lanting in Shanyin (Shaoxing, Zhejiang), washed by the water, drank wine and wrote poems.Later Wang Xizhi wrote an essay describing this event, which was passed down as a good story by literati of all dynasties.Wen Zhengming's "Orchid Pavilion Restoration" (24.4 cm high, 60 cm wide, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing) is a landscape painting of figures based on this story.

This picture is a banner, and the picture is very open.The mountain stream is like a stream, bubbling from a distance, winding and converging in Lanting.Its pavilion is built on the water, with a thatched roof and vermilion fence, facing the wind on all sides.In front of the pavilion and behind the pavilion, there are dense old trees and bamboo forests.The left half of the painting is slightly green in the spring mountains, and the grass is just growing.It is precisely "the sky is bright and the air is clear, and the wind is smooth." There are three people sitting opposite each other in the pavilion, and several people are sitting in a row by the stream.

"Lanting Restoration" depicts the scenery meticulously and rigorously. The trees are filled with double hooks, and the mountains and rocks are painted with turquoise on a large area without using a brush, which makes the picture have a feeling of "spring comes to the world and everything is fresh".Although the characters are small, they are meticulously portrayed, with different postures, vivid and natural.This picture is painted on golden paper, which is more antique, noble and elegant. The works handed down by Wen Zhengming include "The Picture of High Trees in Deep Spring", "The Picture of Zhenshang Zhai", "The Picture of Mountain Rain", "The Picture of Ancient Wood and Cold Spring" and so on.

Tang Yin (1470-1523 A.D.) had the style name Bohu, and his own name was Liuru Jushi, and he also had nicknames such as the master of Taohua Temple.A native of Wu County, Jiangsu Province, he is very talented. At the age of 29, he participated in the imperial examination and passed the provincial examination.The next year, he went to Beijing for the examination and was dismissed for being innocently involved in the fraud case in the examination room.From then on, he traveled all over the world and made a living by selling calligraphy, painting and poetry. He once wrote a poem: "If you don't make alchemy, you don't sit in meditation, if you don't work for merchants, you don't plow the fields. When you get up, you paint green mountains and sell them. Don't make money in the world." Although Tang Yin's painting name is high, But unavoidably suffered from the heat of the world, which made him bohemian and cynical. There were many romantic anecdotes spread among the people, and he once engraved the seal of "the first romantic talent in the south of the Yangtze River" to claim himself.

Tang Yin has many talents, and he is omnipotent in poetry, calligraphy and painting.Landscapes, figures, flowers, feathers are all painted very well, such as "Autumn Wind Fan Picture", "Kurcha鸜鹆〔qu yu Quyu〕picture" and so on.Most of his landscape paintings are based on the Southern Song Dynasty painters Li Tang and Liu Songnian, but he can gather the strengths of all the masters, integrate them, change the big axe to the long mochi, and create a delicate, meticulous and flowing artistic style.The works that have been handed down include "Zhenze Smoke Tree Picture", "Mountain Road Pine Sound Picture", "Green Mountain Companion Picture", "Riding a Donkey and Thinking of Homecoming", "Jiangnan Farming Picture" and so on.His "Smoky Trees in Zhenze" shows the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River.In the painting, the waves are surging, the river is vast, and above the islands, there are dense bamboo forests and huts.The boat is moored, and the smoke is curling up.The contrast between the flowing river and the stable island makes people feel the feeling of "a lonely person who is thousands of miles away and does not know when he will return".The brushwork is meticulous, the composition is concise, the depiction is meticulous, and it has a strong Jiangnan taste.

Qiu Ying was a painter who was born as a painter. He became one of the "Four Masters of Ming Dynasty" by later generations.His painting style is delicate and elegant, containing an elegant and elegant charm amidst the prosperity and magnificence. "Spring Night Banquet Peach and Plum Garden Picture" can be an example. This picture is titled "Preface to the Spring Night Banquet of Peach and Plum Garden" by Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty. , the scene of flying a wine glass and getting drunk on the moon".Nearby in the painting are lake stones, small bridges, flowing water, and curved railings.The silver candle in the middle is tall, like daytime.Several curvy old trees are scattered in the garden, and the spring breeze blows the buds on the old and new branches, and the delicate flowers are like brocade.A long table was placed under the tree, and the four Li Bai brothers sat around the table, drinking wine, raising chopsticks, or concentrating on the peach blossoms, with a chic and elegant demeanor.In addition to delicious food and wine, there are calligraphy, painting and cultural relics on the table, pointing out that this is not an ordinary banquet. The hosts are all talented literati and refined scholars. They enjoy flowers, drink freely, write poems to express their feelings, express their brotherhood, and enjoy family happiness.There are also several children and maids who serve dishes, deliver food, pour wine, and wait on the left and right.In the distance, there is a wall with a corner door leading to another courtyard. The pavilions, trees and distant mountains are looming, making it look very remote. This landscape painting with figures as the main body has a proper layout, fine workmanship, rich and elegant coloring.Against the backdrop of richly colored scenery, the characters are often dressed in white robes, which are very eye-catching.The lines of clothing are thin and smooth, and the banqueters look real.All this fully demonstrates the painter's superior skills. Qiu Ying (AD 1502-1552), styled Shifu, named Shizhou, was born in Taicang, Jiangsu Province. He lived in Suzhou for a long time and worked as a painter when he was young. Later, the famous painter Zhou Chen discovered his extraordinary talent and accepted him as a disciple. .Qiu Ying studied the traditional techniques of the ancients very hard, and copied a large number of famous paintings of the Tang and Song Dynasties, but he imitated the ancients without blindly imitating the ancients.He is good at landscapes and figures, and his painting style is neat and beautiful but not gaudy.Qiu Ying engaged in painting, from maturity to death, only a short period of 20 years, but left a large number of works for future generations, whether it is a long scroll or a fan booklet, they are all rigorous and meticulous, and there is never any sloppy or slack.Qiu Ying's works are also handed down to the world, such as "Taoyuan Fairyland Picture", "Jiange Picture", "Autumn River Waiting for Crossing", "Tongyin Qinghua Picture" and so on.