Pictorial art can be traced back to the age of cavemen. Color painting was mentioned in the Confucian classics. Even the use of oil-paint has been discovered on specimens of silk, lacquer or pottery of a very early date. But Chinese painting in the classical form and style was only made possible after the 3rd century B.C., when the finely-pointed writing-brush, which we Chinese prefer to call a "pen," was first invented and then gradually improved.
Chinese painting, like the painting of other cultural areas, began with figure-painting for the purpose of keeping a vivid pictorial record of important events, such as hunts, battles, processions and the like. We know that mural paintings of historical scenes and figures already existed during the Han Dynasty (B.C. 206-A.D. 220), and that there were painters in attendance upon the emperor at the Han court. As an instance of this, we may recall the story, well-known to every Chinese, of the court painter, Mao Yen-shou, who maliciously disfigured the most beautiful lady Wang Chao-chun in her portrait, which he was commissioned to paint in order to aid the Emperor Yuan (B.C. 48-32) to select, from among his court ladies, a bride for a powerful Hunnish chieftain. The tragic fate of this charming and talented lady occasioned by this unscrupulous act became subsequently a source of inspiration for poets, playwrights and painters alike.
In spite of the many descriptive records of Han paintings, there is none of them extant. All we can see today are the rubbings taken from stone carvings in sacred buildings or sarcophagi. But there is a famous piece of painting by Ku K'ai-chih on a silk scroll, dating from the next period, Tsin Dynasty (A.D. 265-420), which is still well preserved. It is named "Admonitions of the Imperial Preceptress", after its subject-matter. Although some art critics hold the view that this is a copy of Ku's original, executed by a talented painter in the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), it remains immaterial to those whose main interest lies in a study of the composition, style and technique of a great painter of human figures in the Tsin period.
It was during the Tang Dynasty that classical Chinese painting came of age. The preceding age, Sui Dynasty (A.D. 589-618), was too brief for the realization of any great artistic achievements. I once examined an unquestionably genuine Sui scroll entitled "Travelers in Spring" by Chan Tzu-ch'ien, a renowned painter of that period, and I could not help noticing immediately that the landscape part of this scroll was still in an immature stage. However, a brilliant period of cultural renaissance, especially in poetry and painting, was inaugurated as soon as the T'ang Dynasty took up its rule over China. The painting of human beings and animals alike developed in parallel lines with art of landscapes. The number of great masters was almost evenly in different fields, and some of them were skilled in every field. Among the figure painters, Yen Li-pen whose famous scroll "Foreign Envoy Arriving with Tribute" is now preserved in Taiwan and reproduced in this work, was a versatile pioneer in this field. Two distinguished artists, Chou Fang and Chang Hsuan, were generally recognized as masters in painting court beauties, while Wu Tao-tzu painted Buddhist and Taoist figures with simple but firm lines that convey a deep sense of serenity. Han Kan was -known as China's supreme painter of horses was in great vogue. Among landscape painters, the two generals Li Ssu-hsun and Li Chao-tao, father and son, ranked foremost, because they prepared the way for the florescence of Chinese landscape painting during and after the 8th century. They painted in a wide range of brilliant colors, especially blue and green, with exquisite taste. Another master of the same period, who founded a different school of landscape-painting in monochrome, was Wang Wei who was also a great poet. He painted human figures as well as landscapes, but it is in the latter branch that his influence and contribution became permanent.
The intermingling and integration of these two trends of art, figure and landscape-painting, into a single stream opened a new era, which well deserves the name suggested' by John C. Ferguson, "The Renaissance of Chinese Art." The following is what he said in this connection:
"The period of T'ai Tsung (the second emperor but true founder of the T'ang Dynasty) may be considered the renaissance of China's art as it was also of its literature. The date of this renaissance may be approximately designated as A.D. 700 just as that of Western art may be given as A.D. 1400. It will thus be seen that Chinese painting as we now know it is earlier by seven hundred years than our Western painting. This period of seven hundred years, i.e. A.D. 700-1400 was in China the Golden Age in which the great artists of the T'ang Dynasty, Five Dynasties. Sung and Yuan Dynasties flourished."
There is a great deal of historical truth in this statement. If we carefully study some of the Western Renaissance paintings, we shall not fail to notice that even in the case of such a famous example as Leonardo de Vinci's "Mona Lisa," despite the superb technique and delicacy of expression in representing the human figure, the portrayal of landscape appears rather stiff and not quite homogeneous as compared with Chinese painting of the same time or even of an earlier period.
During the transitional period between the Five Dynasties and Sung Dynasty, Chinese landscape painting not only reached maturity but also gained ascendancy over other branches of painting. This was primarily due to the creative genius and persistent efforts of a number of masters such as Ching Hao, Kuan T'ung, Tung Yuan, Chu Jan, Fan K'uan and others, which resulted in the influence of this school becoming pervasive and permanent. Among these masters there naturally existed a great many differences in regard to style, technique and manner of expression, because an artist as such must possess his own individuality, taste and personal preferences. But the artists of this period were usually classified, or rather subdivided, into two schools: the Northern and the Southern. Ching Hao, Kuan T'ung and Fan K'uan were considered as belonging to the Northern School, the characteristics of which were impressiveness, magnitude, heavy and sharp strokes together with greater contrast between light and dark. On the other hand, Tung Yuan and Chu Jan were the pioneers of the Southern School, the outstanding features of which comprised serenity, gentility, smoothness and more harmony than contrast. These differences, however, have often been exaggerated, for some of the great painters succeeded in assimilating the best of both schools.
During the first half of the Sung Dynasty, there were a number of distinguished calligraphers and men of letters who interested themselves in painting, in which they attained remarkable proficiency. The following are some of the great names belonging to this category: Chao Pu-chih, who excelled in painting landscapes and human figures; Wang Hsien, who was a famous landscape artist; Wen T'ung and Su Shih, who produced exquisite bamboo studies; Mi Fei and his son Mi Yu-jen, who painted misty mountain peaks; and last but not least Emperor Hui Tsung, a great connoisseur and gracious patron of art, who was also a talented painter of landscapes, flowers and birds. Their active participation not only gave tremendous encouragement to painters, but also brought about a closer union between Chinese painting, poetry and calligraphy, as I have already pointed out. This unique tradition has been preserved up to the present day among the great artists. In this connection, we must not fail to mention the names of two very unconventional artists, Liang K'ai and Fa Ch'ang of the Southern Sung Dynasty (1127-1279), whose style is characterized by the dynamic use of bold, simple strokes applied with unhesitating spontaneity -a style so distinctively impressionistic that they might well be considered the unacknowledged forerunners of present-day modernistic painting.
In spite of the rising influence of the Northern School of painting led by Hsia Kuei and Ma Yuan, together with members of Ma's family, by reason of their improved technique and original contributions during the latter part of the Sung Dynasty, the succeeding one, Yuan Dynasty, was dominated by the Southern School, which included most of the great Yuan painters, such as Chao Meng-fu, Huang Kung-wang, Wu Chen, Ni Tsan, Wang Meng, and others. Many of these harked back to Tung Yuan and Chu Jan, their forerunners, but their own genius added a great deal to the perfection of their artistic work. Their composition and brushwork became more natural and their poetic feeling more intense.
The early Ming paintings were imitative of the Yuan tradition, until the appearance of the creative work of Shen Chou (1427-1509). He was a versatile artist and bold, who expressed his aesthetic feeling and vivid imagery in forceful but unconventional forms. He was fond of using broad and spontaneous strokes of the brush, and his poems, supplementary to the painted scenes, were always superb. His noble personality and devotion to art inspired a whole generation of talented painters. The brilliant styles of T'ang Yin and Ch'iu Ying were quite different from his, but both of them were closely associated with and influenced by him. His most famous disciple was Wen Cheng-ming, who painted with very fine strokes expressive of a fine sensitivity and conveying a delicate mood of serenity and repose.
When the house of Ming collapsed, a brilliant epoch of Chinese painting sprang up on its ruins. The only explanation of this ironical fact is that when the Manchu rule was established, most of the talented painters were patriotic enough not to serve under an alien regime; instead, they devoted their energy to art. Those who helped to open this new era were again divided into two schools, one of which adhered closely to old traditions, whereas the other, in a spirit of revolt, tried to shake off the trammels of traditional art in order to create something new. To the former school belonged the famous "Four Wangs," i.e. Wang Shih-min, Wang Chien, Wang Hui and Wang Yuan-ch'i, all accomplished artists, thoroughly trained in the workmanship of the masters of Sung and Yuan periods. Both Wu Li and Yun Shou-p'ing shared with them the same classical tradition, but each of them painted with an original and distinctive style of his own. To the second school belonged first of all two descendants of the Ming royal family, (1) Tao Chi, better known as Shih T'ao, and (2) Chu Ta, better known as Pa Ta Shan Jen. They were both great creative geniuses. Shih T'ao had a distinctive style in painting different kinds of subject-matter, and Pa Ta's work displays an abstract quality, which has the merit of never being puzzling. To Pa Ta, every stroke of the brush seemed to possess a meaning of its own. We must not fail, however, to mention the names of two equally well-known artists, Shih Hsi and Chien Chiang, thus completing the "Four Great Monks" of that period. I also wish to mention Giuseppe Castiglione, better known in China as Lang Shih-ning, an 18th century Jesuit father, who served as a court artist during the reign of Emperor Ch'ien Lung, and endeavored to introduce Western technique into Chinese painting.
We have now come to the end of our historical development of Chinese painting in which a short summary of its most important schools and outstanding masters has been given. The Imperial Palace Collection ceased to grow after the reigns of Emperor Ch'ien Lung and his successor Emperor Chia Ching so that the present volumes include no works later than that date and I have therefore not attempted to discuss here any of the more recent trend and achievements in Chinese painting.
As to the problem of how to attain a sound understanding of a work of art two factors are required: the first is intuitive appreciation and the other acquired taste. This requirement is all the more necessary in the case of an unfamiliar work. The essence of universality in art justifies the play of intuition while the study of aesthetics and history of ·art provides a reasonably sound basis for synthetic and analytical appreciation. With this in mind I will offer a few remarks that .may lead to a right approach to the study of Chinese painting. Naturally due emphasis must also be laid upon the differences between the two main currents in the art of painting Chinese and Western.
(1) Instrument and Technique
Chinese painting and calligraphy which is a unique art in the field of Chinese culture are inseparable twins. Both of them derive their artistic value from the use of the Chinese pen or brush which must work in conjunction with Chinese paper or silk, ink and ink slab. These four articles have been termed the "four precious possessions" of a scholar. When using the finely-pointed Chinese pen or brush to paint on thin soft paper or silk every line and every stroke must be well thought out beforehand and executed with precision because once it is put down it can never be erased. Nor is it possible for anyone to superimpose over the original a second layer of paint as is sometimes the case with Western oil painting. So Dr. Ferguson is again quite right in his general views when he concludes his comparative study of the different trends in Chinese and Western painting with the following statement:
"Painting and calligraphy (in China) developed side by side. At every stage of its growth painting has been influenced by calligraphy .... Painting in China has a background different from European painting .... Step by step in its progress Western painting was joined with sculpture and architecture but in China its companion was calligraphy. In other words it may be said that Western painting is plastic in its ideals while that of China is graphic. The former laid emphasis upon the management of light and shade in such a way as to bring figures into relief and thus produce sculptural effects. It also represents streets, buildings, galleries and interiors with geometrical perspective. But in Chinese painting brush strokes have all important—strokes which could compare in delicacy, harmony and strength with those of calligraphy."
(2) Composition and Perspective Following Dr. Ferguson's remarks on the importance of brush strokes in Chinese painting let us consider the question of perspective together with that of composition. In A. D. 425 Hsieh Ho laid down his "Six Canons of Painting" as follows:
1. Maintain vitality in the general atmosphere and rhythmic movement.
2. Show strength in using the pen.
3. Create forms suitable to the subject-matter.
4. Use different colors in accordance with the nature of various groups.
5. Plan and arrange things in their right position.
6. Make sketches of various movements from different angles.
For about fifteen centuries these six canons have exercised a tremendous influence over the development of Chinese painting.
During the Sung Dynasty, Li Ch'eng, one of the great masters, formulated a rule on perspective. "In painting landscapes," he said, "one should decide first upon the positions of the 'host' and 'guest' mountains and then upon the relative distances of objects. After that one can mark out the scenery and the objects and arrange the high and the low." In his "Essay on Landscape," Kuo Hsi of the Sung Dynasty explained the idea of perspective. "A mountain viewed at close range," he said, "has one appearance; a mountain viewed at a distance of several miles has another. The change of appearance caused by the varying degrees of distance from the object is figuratively known as the change of shape with every step one takes.'"
So there is no doubt that the question of perspective has always been borne in mind by Chinese painters but it has never been so geometric as conceived by some of their Western colleagues. In this respect it is very similar to the question of "Time" which has its physical as well as psychological aspects as conceived by individuals of different kinds of training and different moods.
I used to be very critical about the perspective of Chinese classical paintings. When I was standing on level ground gazing at a distant mountain I thought that it must be quite impossible to include so many closely packed views as are so often seen in Chinese scrolls. However my skepticism disappeared when I was traveling by air for looking down at the ground from an angle of some forty-five degrees I could see that the perspective now tallied exactly with what was shown in Chinese paintings. I am also very fond of the long Chinese scrolls which are intended to be gradually unrolled on the reading desk so that one may imagine oneself wandering through the scenery.
(3) Concept of Nature and View of Life To the Chinese people the two primary functions of the art of painting are the interpretation of nature and the purification of life. Generally speaking the Chinese people are great lovers of nature and beautiful scenery. In the past they were never too enthusiastic about the conquest of nature but on the contrary always tried to seek harmony with this great "scheme of things entire." This was a fundamental characteristic of most of the celebrated poets and their poetic expression. Herein lies the meeting-ground of poetry and painting and it explains why verses were often added to paintings either as colophons or commentaries or else were chosen as titles. This in short is the reason why landscape painting became a dominant current in Chinese art.
Kuo Hsi, in the same work from which we have quoted above, gave an eloquent and truthful explanation of the mission that landscape painting was meant to fulfill:
"Having no access to real landscape the lover of forests and streams, the friend of mist and haze, enjoys them only in his dreams. How delightful it is, then, to have a landscape painted by a skilled hand. Without leaving his room the happy possessor finds himself at once among the streams and ravines; the cries of birds and monkeys sound faintly in his ears; light from the hills and glittering reflections from the water dazzle his eyes. Does not such a scene satisfy the mind and captivate the heart? That is why the world appreciates the true significance of pictures of mountains. If this were not recognized or landscapes roughly and carelessly approached would it belike wantonly spoiling a magnificent view or polluting the pure wind?"
In order to fulfill this noble mission however the artist must bear in mind the psychological interpretation that the famous artist-emperor, Hui Tsung of the Sung Dynasty, gave of the mental processes of Chu Jan, the celebrated monk-painter, while he was at work:
"He had a profound (sense of what was) of exceptional interest. ... Whenever he applied brush to paper it was like some author or man of parts at the moment of composing poetry, a veritable spring would gush forth in abundance from the tip of his brush .... the great riches within his breast endowed his brush with an inexhaustible fertility."
Painting is an art that helps us to regain our spiritual peace and enjoyment through aesthetic appreciation. While maintaining a due respect for modern technological and scientific achievements, we may still set apart a portion of our life, for the appreciation of art and nature and enjoy their peaceful blessings. In the midst of this age of fear and tribulation, we may still contrive to maintain, somewhere and somehow, our mental equilibrium and tranquility by means of artistic contemplation. We have great pleasure in offering these six volumes of masterpieces of Chinese painting now in the National Palace Museum to art-lovers all over the world, as we feel that art treasures of this kind should be an indispensable and integral part of the common cultural heritage of mankind and a valuable contribution to the work of promoting a well-balanced and peace-loving world civilization.
*Reprinted from Three Hundred Master Pieces of Chinese Painting in the Palace Museum.