Riding the wind of rebirth

Zhou Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Why not call this exhibition Yanxun Xiuse? The copy is ready-made - clouds move over the stream and trees invade the bookcase, the wind blows the rock spring to moisten the ink pool."

"Good! This couplet is great. It is really appropriate as the copy for the exhibition of stationery porcelain!" Weng Wange clapped his hands and said, "Elbow is really quick-witted!"

"No, no." Zhou Zhi waved his hand quickly: "I just thought of a landscape in Chengde Villa called 'Yanxun Xiu Se'."

"'Yanxun Beauty' is the fourth scene of the '36 Scenes of Kangxi' in Chengde Villa, Yanxun Mountain Pavilion. The gate hall is seven bays wide and two bays deep. There is a five-lobe pavilion in front, corridors in front and back, and a single-eaved hip roof."

"Emperor Kangxi used it as the main hall for receiving minority leaders and handling state affairs during the autumn season, and it had many furnishings."

"During the Qianlong period, it became an important palace storehouse in Chengde Villa. In order to commemorate his grandfather, Qianlong stored many items and furnishings used by Kangxi during his lifetime in this hall."

"The clouds move the stream trees to invade the bookcase, the wind blows the rock spring to moisten the ink pool. In fact, Emperor Kangxi used it as his own study and ordered the university scholar to name and write it. I can't write such a good couplet easily."

"That's really a quick thinker." Guan Shuning praised, "We couldn't even think of this copy, but you came up with it right away when I asked you to, and it's so appropriate. How much do you have in your head?! Don't ask for two people for one thing. You have good calligraphy. I'll trouble you to write down the copy and frame it."

It was a shameless move, but it was really a piece of cake for Zhou Zhi, so he smiled and agreed, and then said to Weng Yijun: "I remembered the other day that our school museum has a collection of "Water Margin Leaves Painted by Chen Laolian", which was donated by General Li Yimang. I have asked the restoration institute to send us a photocopy. When do you want it?"

"I want it now!" Weng Yijun stood up immediately: "Your school still has this treasure!"

"Don't be too happy too soon." Zhou Zhi was afraid that Weng Yijun would be disappointed after seeing the things, so he quickly explained: "The set in the Shu University Museum was not handwritten, but printed."

"Who told you that Chen Hongshou's Water Margin leaves are preserved? Aren't they all stereotyped?" Weng Yijun was surprised. "He drew the Water Margin leaves when he was 28 years old and became famous. The Water Margin leaves of later generations basically couldn't deviate from his designs. However, the Ming Dynasty was very turbulent, and the Water Margin leaf paintings were lost long ago. The ones that remain in the world are all stereotyped prints."

"Shouldn't there be a lot of printed materials? What's their value?" Zhou Zhi asked.

"Aren't inscriptions and calligraphy also prints? How many are there from the Ming Dynasty?" Weng Yijun asked in return.

Now Zhou Zhi understood. He certainly understood the importance of inscriptions and calligraphy from past dynasties. Even for the same calligraphy work, the original, rubbings, later rubbings, re-engraved woodblocks, and re-rubbings of stone tablets, etc., are all very meaningful. The changes in the versions of a stele rubbing carry a lot of historical information.

He himself is a calligraphy enthusiast, so he understands the principle of calligraphy rubbings, but he has never paid attention to prints. So even though Chen Hongshou was a very important painter in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, he really didn't pay much attention to the prints made from his works. "So that's how it is..." Although he said this, everyone could hear the perfunctory meaning in Zhou Zhi's tone.

Chen Hongshou's ancestors were officials in the Ming Dynasty, but his father's family fell into poverty. Before he was born, a Taoist gave his father, Chen Yuchao, a lotus seed, saying, "If you eat this, you will have a sweet child like this lotus." So when Chen Hongshou was born, his nickname was Lianzi. When he got old, he called himself Lao Lian, and his family name was Hongshou, also known as Xu'an and Zhanghou.

He had two great teachers. He learned literature from Liu Zongzhou, a master of Neo-Confucianism among his fellow villagers, and painting from Lan Ying, one of the three great masters of the Zhejiang School.

However, he only learned to paint flowers and birds from Lan Ying, and did not need to be taught by him to paint figures. Chen Hongshou was almost gifted in painting figures, and he showed a high talent for painting at a young age.

When he was four years old, Chen Hongshou went to his engaged father-in-law's house to study. Seeing that the walls of the room were freshly painted, he used tables and chairs as scaffolding and painted an eight or nine-foot-tall statue of Guan Gong, the Martial Saint, on the wall. The statue was standing with his hands clasped, and it looked lifelike. When his father-in-law saw it, he was so frightened that he quickly bowed down.

So when Lan Ying saw his figure paintings, he exclaimed: "If this person had finished the painting, Daozi and Zi'ang would both be facing north, how could we dare to paint a single stroke!" He believed that "this is a gift from heaven." He felt ashamed that he was not as good as Hong Shou in sketching figures, so he vowed from then on to never paint figures again.

The figures painted by Chen Hongshou have majestic torsos and the lines of their clothes are fine, strong and round. In his later years, their images were exaggerated, abnormal and strange, with prominent personalities.

The golden age of Chinese printmaking was from the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, with the works of Xiao Yuncong and Chen Hongshou being the most prominent. Xiao's woodblock prints are best known for their landscapes, while Chen Hongshou dominated the figure painting world.

He was also good at creating illustrations for literary works, which could express the spirit and temperament of the characters in the original works. His painting techniques were concise, the colors were calm and subtle, and the style was high and ancient. He was well-known in the painting circle in the late Ming Dynasty, and was as famous as Cui Zizhong of Shuntian at that time, and they were known as "Chen in the South and Cui in the North".

His achievements in figure painting are described as "powerful and bold, superior to those of Qiu Ying and Tang Bohu, and there has been no such style in the three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty." His evaluation is higher than that of Qiu Ying and Tang Bohu.

"Chen Hongshou's achievements in figure painting were from 'divine' to 'transformed' in his prime, and he became even more proficient in his later years, reaching a state of perfection. His figures are bizarre and deformed, and his lines are clear, round, fine and vigorous, yet also sparse and scattered. He continued to refine his style in the state of 'transformation'. He formed his own unique style and created a school, which is to express the inner world through the deformation of figures." Weng Yijun said: "In this regard, he was many years ahead of Picasso."

"It seems so. I have seen that set of prints. The brushwork in it is very distinctive. A large number of sharp square and straight strokes are used. The turns and changes of the lines are very strong, which can just follow the direction of the folds of the clothes and explain the movement of the characters. Even the extremely short lines start with a slightly heavy stroke and end with a slightly light stroke, making them clear, vigorous and full of changes." Zhou Zhi recalled.

"So," Weng Yijun commented, "By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Laolian's Water Margin Leaves, Bogu Leaves, Illustrations of The Romance of the West Chamber, and Nine Songs were all spread around the world through leaf cards and books. His painting skills of the heroes of the Water Margin, the painting method of the famous passages of The Romance of the West Chamber, and the image of Qu Yuan in Qu Yuan's Wandering Singing Picture made it difficult for later generations to escape from his scope."

It does make sense to say so. Although it is a stereotyped painting, Chen Hongshou's style is too prominent. Even if the stereotype causes a lot of painting information to be lost, it can still impress people with its strong personal style. The exaggerated character modeling shows the personality characteristics based on profound spiritual temperament. In addition to highlighting the painter's imagination, it also has a strong persuasiveness and transmission. Even if the woodcut version has lost a lot of its spirit, it is still unforgettable. (End of this chapter)