color, which emphasized the starkness and linear quality of the plant. They spent time observing nature, the formation of petals and leaves, how a plant grows, to better know the spirit of the subject matter they painted.
The move of the capital to the milder southern climate of Hangzhou may have increased the interest in gardening. The nearby city of Suzhou grew as a convenient retreat for scholars, officials and merchants. Gardening increased during the Song dynasty and reached its height during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Landscaping became an art with established masters.
The Chinese scholar’s garden was the combination of a landscape painting and a poem with symbolic plants and architectural elements. The garden was a retreat to a stylized, miniature form of landscape where the scholar could reconnect to his spiritual nature. The plants represented virtues that reminded him of his own strengths. Bamboo is strong but flexible. Pine represents longevity, persistence, tenacity, and dignity. Flowering in the winter, plum blossom represents renewal and strength of will. Chrysanthemum symbolizes splendor and joviality. The chrysanthemum is also associated with a life of ease and retirement from public office. Retired scholar-officials bred different varieties of chrysanthemums and trained them to grow in different formations.
Like a landscape painting, a garden had rocks and water. The water was in the form of lakes and streams with bridges crossing over them and rocks with waterfalls. The rocks were mounds or decorative Chinese scholar’s rocks. The sculptural Taihu rock was especially prized for its fascinating shapes carved out by wind and water. It is only procurable from Tai Lake, just west of Suzhou. During the Song dynasty, Taihu rocks were the most expensive objects in the empire.
The architecture included pavilions for various purposes, inner and outer walls, and covered walkways for protection from sun, wind, and rain. The walls had moon-shaped doorways and lattice windows in the shapes of different objects, such as apples, pears, circles, squares, and pentagons. The pavement might consist of alternating black-and-white tiles. The principles of yin-yang and feng shui and the symbolism of objects and forms governed the design and placement of every element.
Literati Painting in the Yuan Dynasty
In 1215, the Mongols led by Genghis Khan defeated the Jin rulers in north China and captured Beijing. The watery terrain of south China and the resistance of the Southern Song prevented Genghis Khan’s son, Kublai Khan, from gaining control in south China until 1271. The last disappearance of Song rule in the far south was completed by 1279. In the new Yuan dynasty, the Mongols dominated the military and administrative spheres and did not trust the Chinese, who held mainly lower posts in the administration. This forced a large number of scholar officials into early retirement and to the bottom of the social scale.
In their leisure time, the literati did calligraphy, wrote poetry and literature, made paintings of birds and flowers that they had raised, practiced horticulture and flower arrangement, made and played musical instruments, and studied philosophy. They formed mutual support groups, where the wealthier helped those less well off. Paintings often served as a means of repaying a benefactor.
The literati brought the formal expressive qualities of calligraphy to their practice of painting. The eight basic strokes were adapted to depict the stalks, joint rings, and leaves of bamboo. Drybrush strokes gave rocks rough shapes and volume. The speed and energy that made calligraphy an art form was transferred to the lines of monochrome ink paintings of plants. In the boneless style, with no outlines, an artist could render an object quickly and spontaneously to capture the energy and essence of the moment. This was a new way of instilling the qi energy into the painting and satisfying the first principle of the classic Six Principles that still governed Chinese painting.
In landscape painting, the goal was no longer to paint the illusion of external realities but to make brush-created appearances that convey the artist’s personal and unique style. The style became the ultimate substance of the work. The surface texture and line became the source of interest. The “Four Great Masters of the Late Yuan”—Huang Gongwang, Ni Zan, Wu Zhen, and Wang Meng— created works that sizzle with the energy of their brushstrokes.
The Ming and Qing Dynasties
Weakness at the center and peasant rebellions ultimately brought the Yuan dynasty down. Chinese rule was restored and consolidated in the Ming dynasty, which lasted for nearly three hundred years (1368–1644).
The Ming painters inherited the two distinct and irreconcilable traditions of the Song and Yuan dynasties. The Song painter used the style he inherited to achieve an objective representation. The Yuan painter developed his own style to achieve the freedom of subjective expression. Any new style that the Ming painters could come up with would be linked to either of these two traditions.
The Che School and Academy painters imitated the Song painters in works that had decorative appeal but little spiritual depth. They conceived of the Song, particularly the Southern Song, as being of a single style. The Wu School continued the Yuan style by following the traditions of the individual styles of great Yuan masters. The Che School professionals eventually became more like the Wu School literati. In both schools, painting became a conversation with the past, expressing personal statements on ancient styles. The idea of copying past masters led to actual fraud in trying to pass off later paintings as original Song paintings considered more valuable. Ming copies of earlier painters still cause problems for museums trying to authenticate paintings. Sophisticated tests of materials are required to determine the actual age of a painting.
The Manchu conquered China in 1644 and established the last dynasty, the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). In this period, the art included many Western influences, eclectic designs, and copies of earlier works. Genre paintings of plants, animals, and still lifes with fruit and vegetables became popular. These were simplified paintings, stressing the essence of the subject and its relation to nature rather than photographic reality. The vitality and harmony of the rendering were more important than technique. These modifications in style carried over to the present time.
Enduring Principles
Through the ages, Chinese painting showed consistent features that distinguish it from classical Western ideas of painting and design.
• The artist paints the inner spirit of the subject or expresses his inner spirit through his style. Realism is subservient to these goals.
• A painting can be done in outlined (boned) or free-form (boneless) style.
• Compositions are asymmetrical, and odd numbers of flowers, leaves, and other groupings support asymmetry.
• Using asymmetry enables triangular areas of open space that keep a picture simple and peaceful.
Chapter 2
Setting Up
Treasures of the Painter
Like Western artists, Chinese painters have their own tools, materials, and forms of expression. The calligrapher and the artist use the basic tools called the Four Treasures:
• Brush
• Ink stone (for grinding the ink)
• Ink stick
