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An important part of the country's
cultural heritage, the traditional Chinese painting is
distinguished from Western art in that it is executed on xuan
paper (or silk) with the Chinese brush, Chinese ink and mineral
and vegetable pigments.
To attain
proficiency in this branch of art calls for assiduous exercise, a
good control of the brush, and a feel and knowledge of the
qualities of xuan paper and Chinese ink.
Before
setting a brush to paper, the painter must conceive a
well-composed draft in his mind, drawing on his imagination and
store of experience, Once he starts to paint, he will normally
have to complete the work at one go, denied the possibility of any
alteration of wrong strokes.
Xuan paper,
as discussed in a previous article, is most suitable for Chinese
painting. It is of the right texture to allow the writing brush
wet with Chinese ink and held in a trained hand, to move freely on
it, making strokes varying from dark to light, from solid to
hollow. These soon turn out to be human figures, plants and
flowers, birds, fish and insects, full of interest and life.
Many a
Chinese painter is at the same time a poet and calligrapher. He
will often add a poem in his own hand on the painting, which
invariably carries an impression of his seal. The resulting piece
of work is usually an integrated whole of four branches of Chinese
art-- poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal-cutting.
Chinese
paintings are divided into two major categories: free hand
brushwork (xieyi) and detailed brushwork (gongbi) . The former is
characterized by simple and bold strokes intended to represent the
exaggerated likenesses of the objects, while the latter by fine
brushwork and close attention to detail. Employing different
techniques , the two schools try to achieve the same end, the
creation of beauty.
It is
difficult to tell how long the art of painting has existed in
China. Pots of 5,000-6,000 years ago were painted in colour with
patterns of plants, fabrics, and animals, reflecting various
aspects of the life of primitive clan communities. These may be
considered the beginnings of Chinese painting.
China
entered the slave society about 2000 B.C. Though no paintings of
that period have ever come to light, that society witnessed the
emergence of a magnificent bronze culture, and bronzes can only be
taken as a composite art of painting and sculpture.
In 1949
from a tomb of the Warring States Period (475-221 B. C.) was
unearthed a painting on silk of human figures, dragons and
phoenixes. The earliest work on silk ever discovered in China, it
measures about 30 cm long by 20 cm wide.
From this
and other early paintings on silk it may be easily seen that the
ancients were already familiar with the art of the writing or
painting brush, for the strokes show vigour or elegance whichever
was desired. Paintings of this period are strongly religious or
mythological in themes.
Paintings
on paper appeared much later than those on silk for the simple
reason that the invention of silk preceded that of paper by a long
historical period.
In 1964,
when a tomb dating to the Jin Dynasty (265- 420 A. D) was
excavated at Astana in Turpan, Xinjiang, a coloured painting on
paper was discovered. It shows, on top, the sun, the moon and the
Big Dipper and, below, the owner of fan in his hand. A portrayal
in vivid lines of the life of a feudal land-owner, measuring 106.5
cm long 47 cm high, it is the only known painting on paper of such
antiquity in China.
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