Introduction to Chinese Landscape Painting - Page 2

The painting that I have titled ‘In the Beginning’ above is my first attempt at painting a Chinese Landscape painting. It is a work in progress, so I am planning to share with you the progression of this painting as we go along.

The beginnings of Chinese Landscape representations date back to the late Zhou period (475BC – 221BC). Most of these occur in cast metal, usually stylised trees or mountains on bronze mirrors and inlaid bronze vessels.

These ancient motifs are distinguished by symbolic simplification, revealing a lack of interest in landscape other than as a magical setting for figures performing magical rights. These early remnants indicate that landscape painting held a secondary position to the dominant figure painting and was used as a prop saying, ‘the scene is set out of doors’.

Gu Kaizhi was a man from the lower Yangtze Valley who gained a great reputation as a painter at the Qin court of Nanking. Amongst his work is a beautiful handscroll titled ‘Nymph of the Luo River' .

Read more: Gu Kaizhi · Nymph of the Luo River

Read more: Chinese Narrative Painting: The Nymph of the Luo River

Read more: Location of Luoyang City jurisdiction in Henan

So often in Chinese Landscape Painting, we come across artists working alongside poets, and this painting illustrates a poem by Cao Zhi. In it, Gu Kaizhi arranges his rocks and trees to create a space cell or stage for the poet and his attendants, who are quite large and obviously of paramount interest.

This technique of forming ‘space cells’ was used frequently by Buddhist painters in their frescoes on the walls of cave chapels at Dunhuang in Northwest China. These frescoes painters reflected a Taoist influenced concern with the meaning of the Universe, especially in the manifestations of nature as a mysterious or magical power. However, the creation of pure landscape art was beyond or beneath the interests of Buddhism.

Longmen Grottoes – Luoyang (Luoyang is the cradle of Chinese Buddhism, its birthplace).

The Six Principles
of Xiè Hè

© Richard Lines - detail from ‘Winter Happiness'

Almost contemporary with Gu Kaizhi, the fine arts of criticism and aesthetic theory began in China. Xiè Hè, a painter active in Nanking (now Nanjing), was one of several artists and critics who focused on the qualitative judgment of painting aesthetics and technical theories. Xiè Hè has become best known of all the early writers because he formulated Six Principles which make a painting worthy.

1. SPIRIT ESSENCE (animation through the spirit consonance)
This has been interpreted by Soper (an art critic) to mean the artist must first seek and stress the ultimate character of his subject, the horsiness of horses, the humanity of man; on a more general level, the quickness of intelligence, the pulse of life, in contrast to brute matter.

2. GOOD BRUSHWORK (Bone method, structural method in the use of the brush)
This Principle means that unless the brush strokes establish the basic form, all other work, such as colouring and perfection of detail, is useless. Since the individual brush stroke can never be covered up or smeared over, as in European oil painting, but must stand forever revealed, the brush has been misused unless the stroke is purposeful and essential in the picture’s structure. In this sense, the brush performs the same task as the quill in Rembrandt’s drawing.

3. GOOD DRAWING (fidelity to the object in portraying forms)
Things should be recognisable, though they can be interpreted to mean a kind of realism. However, it may mean something other than academic realism but only intelligibility.

4. CORRECT COLOURING (conformity to kind in applying colours)
As the third Principle refers to the proper shapes of things, this one relates to their colour, and almost without exception, early Chinese paintings were coloured, and the monochrome ink painting was some centuries in the future.

5. COMPOSITION/PLANNING (proper planning in the placing of elements)
A good painting should be planned appropriately and composed

6. STUDY OLD MASTERS (transmission of the experience of the past by making copies)
In this final Principle, Xiè Hè advises learning Chinese Brush Painting, studying and copying the old masters.
Please note: My above interpretations of these six principles are purposely very brief indicators.

Fritz van Briessen, in his publication ‘The Way of the Brush’, states, ‘ During centuries, these principles have been subject to many different interpretations and recently to many translations in Western languages.

These translations differ even more than the various Chinese interpretations’ …. he then lists seven leading translations, naming their originators at the outset; these are well worth reading. as a taster, these are the alternative translations listed for the ‘Second Principle:

1. Bone Manner (i.e., Structural) Use of the Brush.
2. Anatomical structure.
3. Skeleton drawing with the brush.
4. La loi des os au moyen du pinceau.
5. Manner of brushwork in drawing lines.
6. The art of rendering the bones or anatomical structure utilizing the brush.
7. The framework should be calligraphically established.

A short stroll in preparation for a long journey

During the journey we are about to embark on, we will be covering the Landscape paintings from five Chinese Dynasties, TheTáng, Sòng, Yuán, Míng, Qing, and finally landing in the twentieth century.

Before we set out on that journey, there is one artist whom we must touch on: this is Zhan Ziqián, a famous painter from ancient China from Yangxin County in modern day Shandong Province.

We are now visiting the very embryonic age of Chinese Landscape painting. This painting is considered the earliest Landscape Painting on record where the Landscape is predominant and does not play a supporting role.

Zhan Ziqián was born into a noble family and served as an official during the Suí Dynasty.

Enjoy this brief stroll; there is a long journey ahead. Spring Excursion (Strolling about in Spring)

Continue Reading About The Tang Dynasty