Foreword:
Yangzhou has been famous for its economic prosperity since Sui and Tang Dynasties. Although it experienced the disaster of changing soldiers, it always recovered quickly after the war because of its superior geographical position, convenient transportation, fertile land and rich products. In the Qing Dynasty, although it was destroyed by the massacre on the 10th, it developed in the three generations of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, and became a metropolis along the southeast coast of China and an important trade center in China. Since the prosperous time of Kanggan, the society has been stable and the culture has been prosperous. Middle-class families and even slightly wealthy people have asked to hang calligraphy and painting in their rooms to show elegance. There is a folk saying that "there is no calligraphy and painting at home, it is not an old home." According to "Yangzhou Painting Boat", there are more than 100 well-known local painters and painters from all over the world, many of whom were famous at that time, and a large number of creative masters emerged, among which "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" is a famous one.
The Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou were a group of innovative painters who were active in Yangzhou during the Qing Dynasty. Eight eccentrics painting theory has a long history, but the names of eight people are different, including, Li, Shan Li, Jin Nong, Huang Shen, Zheng Xie, Gao Xiang, Wang, Gao, Hua Yan, Bian Shoumin and Min Zhen. There are as many as fifteen or sixteen people.
Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics advocate innovation and self-improvement. Learn from nature in artistic creation and express your own temperament; In the style of painting, each has its own characteristics, competing for novelty; In terms of expression, it pursues the perfect combination of poetry, book and seal. They opposed the dominant orthodox school of painting at that time and were called "strange". With the passage of time and the change of ideas, the name "Qi" has changed from derogatory to commendatory.
The paintings of the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou are full of interest, both in form and spirit, and thought-provoking. Its positive and innovative spirit has had a strong impact on traditional conservatives and had a far-reaching impact on the painting style of later generations.
First, the formation of Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics
1, Linjiang, convenient transportation.
Yang Di ordered the excavation and construction of the North-South Grand Canal, connecting Qiantang River, Yangtze River, Huaihe River, Yellow River and Haihe River. Such a huge project has benefited thousands of generations. Yangzhou is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Canal, with convenient transportation, frequent exchange of talents and materials, and increasingly affluent region. Yangzhou flourished in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "The spring breeze on Yangzhou Road is ten miles, not as good as rolling a bead curtain". By the time of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou prospered again and became the brightest pearl along the Yangtze River and the Canal.
2. Every industry is thriving, and salt industry is the most important.
Yangzhou is located in the middle of Jiangsu, on the north bank of the Yangtze River, where the Yangtze River meets the canal. Taking advantage of transportation is not only an important channel for water transportation, but also a distribution center for Huai salt. During the reign of Kanggan, Yangzhou, driven by the salt industry, saw a pattern of prosperity in all industries. Such as lacquerware, jade, block printing, etc. Enjoy a high reputation in the country.
3, officials Chongwen, salt merchants train scholars.
Yangzhou has a strong historical and cultural atmosphere. At that time, local officials such as Wang Shizhen, Kong and Lu Jianzeng attached great importance to culture. It is often "doing business during the day and answering words at night". Scholars and celebrities are treated with courtesy. At that time, salt merchants practiced the style of cultivating scholars and often held poetry parties. In this case, there is a grand occasion of "half an episode of the world's scribes".
Shi Tao advocates borrowing the past to open up the present.
Shi Tao lived in Yangzhou in his later years. He advocates that painting "pen and ink should follow the times"; In art, he advocated "the supremacy of heaven and law". From theory to practice, it pioneered the cultural transformation and innovation in Qing Dynasty, absorbed the essence of traditional culture, but was not bound by the traditional spirit, opposed to sticking to the old rules and dared to break the old laws, which laid the foundation for the formation of Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics.
Second, the representative figures of Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics
The Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou is the general name of a group of painters and calligraphers with similar styles who lived in Yangzhou in the middle of Qing Dynasty in China, or "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", which has a long history. But eight people have different names. According to Li Yubang's "A Survey of Ou Boluo's Calligraphy and Painting", the eight eccentrics are Li, Shan Li, Jin Nong, Huang Shen, Zheng Xie, Gao Xiang and Wang. In addition, Gao You, Bian Shoumin, Min Zhen, etc. Being listed as "Eight Eccentrics" in various books, opinions are very inconsistent. Today, people got the number "eight" from Li Yubang.
1. Zheng Xie (1693- 1765), a native of Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, is now known as the head of the Eight Monsters. His masterpiece is a picture of bamboo and stone. Xu Beihong, a famous painter in modern times, wrote an inscription for Zheng Xie's Zhu Lan: "Mr Banqiao is one of the most outstanding figures in China in the past 300 years. His thoughts are strange, his style is strange, and his calligraphy and painting are especially strange. Looking at his poems, paintings and calligraphy, I want to see Gao Zhi, but also reflect benevolence and sadness in amazement, especially rare among ancient and modern geniuses. "
2. Gao Xiang (1672- 1734), also known as Gao, whose real name is Wei San, is also known as Garden, Nancun, Shu and Taoist. The ancestors moved from Shandong to Tieling, Liaoning, and Li Hanjun hung the yellow flag and served as assistant minister of punishments. He is the teacher of Luo Pin, the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou. Gao is good at painting with fingers, and his "finger painting" has become an important school in painting.
3. Jin Nong (1687— 1764), whose name is Shoumen, is Dongxin, a native of Hangzhou. He is well read and versatile. He began to paint after the age of 50 and was poor all his life. He is good at flowers and birds, landscapes and figures, especially at ink painting and plum blossom. His paintings are simple and simple in shape, elegant in layout and novel in conception. His works include Meme Map and Moon Flower Map. At first, he created a kind of official script, calling himself "lacquer script", which had another interest, and was also called Jin Nong style or Dong Xin style. His strokes are thick and thin, elegant and heavy, and his fonts are mostly rectangular, top-heavy and very beautiful.
4. Li Yi (1686- 1762), born in Xinghua, Jiangsu. Kangxi was promoted in fifty years, and in fifty-three years, painting was called a sacrifice of the imperial court. Because I don't want to be bound by orthodox painting style, I am excluded. After three years of Qianlong, he was elected as the magistrate of tengxian and returned to the provincial government. After two different titles and a demotion, he went to Yangzhou to sell paintings for a living.
5. Huang Shen (after 1687- 1770) was born in Ninghua, Fujian. He is good at freehand brushwork figures, intercropping flowers and birds, landscapes and bold colors. There is a collection of poems in Jiaohu. As one of the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou, he is an all-round painter.
6. Li (1695- 1755) is a native of Nantong, Jiangsu Province, whose alias is Qingjiang, Yibaishan, Zhiyuan and Jieyuan. In the eighth year of Yongzheng, he became the magistrate of Lanshan (now Linyi) in Shandong Province. He was arrested and imprisoned for offending his boss. In the first year of Qianlong, he was released and the official was reinstated. Later, he was appointed as a magistrate in Qianshan and Hefei, Anhui Province, and was still convicted and dismissed from office because he did not please.
7. Wang (1686- 1759), a native of Shexian County, Anhui Province, lives in Yangzhou and sells paintings for a living. Flowers and plants, pen at will, colorful. He is especially good at painting plums and often goes to Meihualing outside Yangzhou to enjoy and write plums.
8.( 1733- 1799) A famous painting in the hometown of Qing Dynasty, with two big peaks, is called "Hua Tian", "Jinniushan", "Zhou Fisherman" and "Shi Lian". His ancestral home was Shexian, Anhui, and later he was from Ganquan, Jiangsu (now Yangzhou). Representative works include: Weather Outside Things (Picture Book), Two Peaks Covered with Flowers, Autumn Height in Dangui, Sunrise in the Shade, Singing in Gu Qing, Painting Bamboo with Sound, etc. Author of Xiang Ye Caotang Collection.
Yangzhou Eight Eccentric Painters broke through the shackles of "authenticity" and, on the basis of inheriting the tradition, concentrated on their own creation and development, trying to create a new painting style with their whole life. Undoubtedly, they have made great contributions to the development of Chinese painting, and their creative ideas and numerous works are valuable legacies for us to learn and inherit.
3. Where is the "strange" of Yangzhou Eight eccentrics?
A: The life experience of Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics is bumpy, with unique thoughts, unconventional techniques, fluent writing style and unique personality and high standards. In that era when the feudal system was extremely cruel and the literary inquisition flourished, they dared to be different and unconventional. No wonder a governor shook his head and called it "strange, strange". Deng Tuo once wrote that "the strange names of Yangzhou were blown by the Song Dynasty, and Lan Zhuying was accompanied by the sound of books", which can be regarded as a summary of their "strange" characteristics.
Fourth, the artistic characteristics and influence of Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics
"Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" has a wide range of knowledge and is good at poetry. Life was bumpy for most of my life, and I finally embarked on the road of selling paintings for a living. Although they sell paintings, they express their feelings with paintings, and they have higher pursuit in the art of painting and calligraphy, and are unwilling to flow into the ranks of ordinary painters. Their knowledge, experience, artistic accomplishment, profound skill and artistic pursuit of innovative ideas are different from ordinary painters. They reached the realm of new ideas, new compositions and new techniques, created a new generation of painting style, and made immortal contributions to the development of China. Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics are a group of intellectuals with a sense of justice. They all know the corruption of officialdom and the extortion of wealthy businessmen. Faced with the difference between the rich and the poor in real life, combined with their own experiences, they have a strong dissatisfaction with society. They often show deep sympathy for the suffering people and make angry voices on their behalf. However, because they were educated by feudal culture, and the Qing Dynasty was in its heyday, their feelings and dissatisfaction could not break through the barriers of feudal thought. Among them, officials worked hard to build a number to let the people live and work in peace and contentment in order to maintain feudal order. If you have no intention of officialdom, you will lead an honest and clean life, which is not customary and flaunts that you have lofty ideals. And they can't get rid of the economic dependence on landlords, officials and businessmen, so they are often in extreme pain of ideological contradictions and have to compromise to survive outside cynicism.
China's painting has a long history, in which literati painting flourished from the Tang and Song Dynasties, gradually enriched and developed, and formed a complete theoretical system, leaving a large number of works, which is the pride of China's painting. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there have been many painting schools in China, each with its own characteristics. Yushan and Loudong schools, led by the "Four Kings", have the greatest influence. In Yangzhou, the painting style of "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" led by Jin Nong and Zheng Xie was formed. These painters inherit and carry forward the tradition of Chinese painting, but they have different views on inheriting the tradition and creating methods. "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" respects tradition, but it is different from "authenticity". They inherited the creative methods of Shi Tao, Xu Wei and Zhu Da. , did not copy the ancient laws. For example, Zheng Banqiao worships Shi Tao very much, and he learned from Shi Tao that "he has gone halfway and learned halfway, and he will never learn completely". Shi Tao has an important influence on the formation of the artistic style of "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics". He put forward "learning from nature" and "using my method", opposed "mudding", required painters to absorb creative materials in nature, and emphasized that works should have strong personality. Shi Tao's painting thought laid a theoretical foundation for the emergence of "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" and applied it to practice. "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" found inspiration from nature, sought themes from life, and wrote books by itself, not willing to be like others, which was refreshing at that time. People often regard their rare things as weird, so they feel strange about the works of "Eight Eccentrics" that express their hearts and gallop freely, and call them weird. There are also some painters who are used to tradition. They think that the paintings of "Eight Eccentrics" are beyond the limits, so they belittle the Eight Eccentrics, saying that they are partial teachers and heretics, and that they are "unconventional and only popular in thyme". Admirers praised his works for their bold brushwork, getting rid of the shackles of plastic and ancient methods, breaking the rigid situation at that time and bringing new vitality to China's paintings.
Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics left a glorious page in the history of China's painting. Their creative ideas and artistic practice nurtured later painters, and Zhao, Wu Changshuo, Ren Bohua, Pu Hua, Qi Baishi, Pan Tianshou and Xu Beihong, who appeared in modern China painting circles, were deeply influenced by them. The innovative spirit of "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" is always worthy of our inheritance and development.
The value of Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics to the present age.
The existing paintings and calligraphy works of Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics are collected by more than 200 libraries and museums at home and abroad. For more than 300 years, their generation of painting style not only occupies an important position in the history of painting art development in China, but also has been widely valued in the world art world, which has had a far-reaching impact. "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad. The academic research of "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" has spread all over the world, with many achievements and hundreds of well-known research experts. Yangzhou City has specially established the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" Memorial Hall.
I think, for us modern people, what matters is not their painting and calligraphy skills or works, but their innovative spirit of not being satisfied with the status quo and pursuing new styles. At that time, novelty and innovation were weird and unpopular, but they were not limited by the secular, broke the routine and opened up a vast new world of their own. Now is 2 1 century, and innovation is the mainstream. Like the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou, they don't stick to the rules, copy mechanically, give full play to their imagination, exercise their innovative thinking ability, and make our due contribution to the development of human society.