Before the Three Kingdoms, painting was mainly a "coloring" occupation, belonging to the "Garden of hundred schools of thought", and it had not yet entered the art palace, so it did not produce a relatively complete painting theory and a relatively successful painting work. Whether it is "casting a tripod to make a statue", "making people know that God is treacherous" (in the words of Zuo Zhuan) or "taking shape as a mirror and taking the present as a mirror" (in the words of Confucius), the social function of painting is fully emphasized, but its artistry is not paid enough attention. In the Three Kingdoms period (as well as the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties), this exhortation was shattered by the cruel social reality, and people longed for a stable, happy and peaceful life. So more realistic themes were added to painting, and painting developed from preaching to reflecting real life, which took a big step towards artistry. For example, in the tomb of Wei and Jin Dynasties unearthed in Jiayuguan, about 240-280 AD, more than 600 brick paintings depicting characters' activities were found, among which characters had different postures and demeanor. In this tomb unearthed in Dingjiazha, Jiuquan, a magical cat was also painted peeking at a naked woman sweeping the yard. On the tomb walls excavated in Nanjing, Jiangsu and other places, the "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest", who have no merit, rudeness, inability, holiness or sage, and are free from Taoism, occupy the underground halls originally occupied by immortals, loyal ministers and righteous men. All these explain a problem, that is, Wei and Jin painting and ideological liberation are consistent, and they are both pursuing human liberation, individual freedom, social value and aesthetic essence of self.
However, compared with the political, military and literary figures of the same period, there were not many painters who specialized in painting in the Three Kingdoms period, and many paintings were the continuation of the preaching in the Han Dynasty. For example, Cao Zhi's Preface to Painting Praise illustrates this problem.
According to legend, the paintings in the Three Kingdoms period mainly include:
Wei's The Portrait of Jia Kui: Jia Kui, with a good word, was once the secretariat of Yuzhou, and was named as the Hou of Guannei for his meritorious service. After Jia Kui's death, Yuzhou officials missed him very much, carved stone statues for him and built ancestral temples.
Wei's Portrait of Cang Ci: Cang Ci, with filial piety, was once the magistrate of Dunhuang. Because of his outstanding achievements, people were very sad after his death, and his appearance was painted to commemorate him.
Map of Qiaozhou in Central Sichuan: Yizhou secretariat Dong Rong painted Qiaozhou into a state school and asked him to engage in Li Tong's contribution to it. See the literature section about Qiao Zhou in this book.
Wu's Portrait of Shao Chou: Shao Chou was the prefect of Huiji, Guo Dan made meritorious service for Cao Cao, Guo Dan was killed for his crime, and Shao Chou also committed suicide for Guo Dan. Sun Hao, the Lord of Wu, praised Shao Chou's righteous act, so he ordered the county Chinese painting to appear in the temple to admonish the world.
Huang Gai, a portrait of Wu: Huang Gai, a general of Sun Quan in Battle of Red Cliffs, suggested that Sun Quan attack with fire, but he was defeated by Cao Jun. After Huang Gai's death, the people missed him, so they painted his portrait in the temple and offered sacrifices at four o'clock.
Wu's portrait of Zhang Wen's middle sister: see the literature part of this book for Zhang Wen's story. Three sisters Zhang Wen all have festivals. Zhang Wen's second sister has promised to marry Shi Ding, and she will get married soon. Suddenly, she drank medicine for her virginity and died. The villagers praised her chastity and drew her portrait.
All the above are figure paintings, with a clear purpose, for etiquette education. There were few painters in the Three Kingdoms period, which are described below according to the existing historical materials.
Wei painters mostly take politics as their profession.
Cao Mao
Cao Mao, also known as Yanshi, Cao Pisun (reigned from 254 to 260). At first, he was appointed as a noble township official. In the sixth year of Jiaping (254), Sima Shi abolished Cao Fang and made him emperor. Unwilling to be deceived by Sima Shi, he led hundreds of soldiers to attack Si Mazhao and was killed.
Cao Mao is good at drawing historical figures, such as Sketch of Ancestors, Foot Stealing, Yellow River Stream, Xinfeng Chicken and Dog, Mr. and Mrs. Fang Lingzi, Qian Lou and so on.
Yang Xiu
Yang Xiu, look at the literature section of this book. He is not only thoughtful, but also good at painting. I once drew a fan for Cao Cao and accidentally turned it into a fly. Legend has it that there are maps of Xijing and Wu.
Xu Miao
Xu Miao is from Yan Jingshan. Official worship is commonplace. Wei Mingdi visited Luoshui and met his own otter. He likes them very much, but he can't get them. Xu Miao said: "otters love fish, but they don't avoid death." So I drew a lot of fish hanging by the water. Soon, a large group of white water otters rushed to each other. Ming Di got a lot of white otters at a time, so he praised, "How wonderful your paintings are." Xu Miao said, "I haven't written a pen. People can write a few."
Fan Huan
Huan Fan, character, Pei Ren. Literati, once wrote "An Imperial Tour", assisted by Cao Shuang, and made suggestions for it. Historical records are famous for their kindness.
Shu painters don't paint for a living, and occasionally Shi Chuanyou paints.
Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang, see the characters and literature section of this book. It is said that he is good at painting. When painting for Nanyi, first draw the sky, the earth, the sun, the moon, the monarch and the official, then draw the dragon, the cow, the horse and the camel, and then draw the hundred officials riding horses to cover their bodies and travel safely. Moreover, Nanyi people painted cows and wine, and came to see Shu officials with gold and silver treasures in their hands. Shu officials gave these things to Nanyi people. Nanyi people respect them very much. This painting didn't leave a name, obviously to appease the border ethnic minorities, which has a positive effect on the common development of all ethnic groups.
Zhang Fei
Zhang Fei and Liu Bei are both brave generals. It is said that he likes to draw beautiful people. And good at cursive writing.
Zhuge Zhan
Zhuge Liang's son is named Philip Burkart. It is said that he is also a painter.
Li Yiqi
Liu Bei's counselor Li Yiqi. According to legend, Liu Bei wanted to attack Wu and asked Li Yi how to plan, which meant to draw dozens of pages of weapons, horses and weapons with paper, then set fire to them, draw another person and bury them.
Compared with Wei and Shu, Wu has made some achievements in painting. Although only Mrs. Zhao and Cao Buxing are engaged in painting, they have made outstanding achievements.
Mrs. Wu Wangzhao
Mrs. Zhao is the younger sister of Prime Minister Wu. She is good at calligraphy and painting and has achieved a lot. According to legend, Sun Quan once lamented that Wei and Shu were not peaceful and asked people to draw topographic maps of mountains and rivers in various countries. Mrs Zhao gave Sun Quan her own topographic map of Kyushu's mountains, rivers and lakes, and embroidered topographic maps of wuyue and other countries on silk books. Mrs. Zhao's paintings are the first of the later landscape paintings, which had a great influence at that time. They are known as "needles"
Cao buxing
Cao Buxing, also known as Fuxing and Wuxing, is good at painting. Legend has it that when he painted a screen for Sun Quan, he accidentally dropped his pen and ink and turned into a fly with a wave of his hand. Sun Quan thought it was a fly that flew to the painting, so he raised his hand and patted it gently. It is conceivable that Cao Buxing is good at sketch art and has reached a very skilled level. In the winter of October in the first year of Sun Quan's Chiwu (228), Sun Quan visited Qingxi and saw a red dragon descending from the sky and roaming in Ling Bo. So, let Cao Buxing draw its shape. Sun Quan praised him for his good painting. When he arrived in Song Wendi, he often used this red dragon to beg for rain. At that time, Minister Sheikh saw the dragon head painted by Cao Buxing in the secret pavilion, and he thought it was a real dragon arrival. It can be seen that his paintings are wonderful. What Cao Buxing is best at is figure painting. He once connected 50-foot-long silks to draw a portrait, which was made with clever brushstrokes. The head, face, hands, feet, chest and abdomen, shoulders and back of the characters are all fine. Cao Buxing is the earliest famous Buddha painter in the literature. Buddhism was introduced into China in the Eastern Han Dynasty, but mainly in the Central Plains. When they arrived in the Three Kingdoms, they were successively spread to the south of the Yangtze River by wise and modest monks and Buddhist monks. According to legend, Buddhist monks traveled to Wu, and Sun Quan built Jianchu Temple for them and made it stand like a street. When Cao Buxing saw the western Buddha statues, he drew them accordingly, and since then, the Buddha statues have spread all over the world. This is the earliest painting of Buddha in China, and Cao Buxing became the earliest painter of Buddha in China.
Painting in the Three Kingdoms period did not achieve greater success because of political turmoil and social chaos. At this time, the painting content is also a transitional period from ethical propaganda to religious propaganda. Painters also moved from the Central Plains of the Yellow River Basin to the Yangtze River Basin. After Cao Buxing, there were more and more painters in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.