1: Buddhist art in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties;
Since the collapse of the Han Dynasty under the impact of the Yellow turban insurrectionary, China has actually been divided from the Three Kingdoms, the Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and from north to south for 300 to 400 years. It was not until the establishment of the Sui Dynasty that it was temporarily unified. This is an era of social unrest, political disorder and ethical collapse. People are helpless in bitter real life, and it is often difficult to predict their own destiny. Therefore, Buddhism from the western regions found the soil for survival and development. Especially in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, monarchs and dignitaries hoped to get shelter and comfort from the Buddhist kingdom, and both believed in Buddhism, protected and advocated Buddhism. For example, Song Wendi involves Samoans in airport management; Liang Wudi gave his life for Tongtai Temple three times; Chen Wudi went to Zhuang Yan Temple and returned to the palace for a long time; Emperor Xiaowen of Wei ordered Xinglong Buddhism and Daxing Buddhist Temple seven times. Although Buddhism experienced a brief (446-452) blow because Tuoba GUI destroyed Buddhism in the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was restored after Tuoba GUI ascended the throne in Wen Chengdi. Later, the Northern Zhou Dynasty Emperor Wu destroyed Buddhism, and soon Buddhism made a comeback. So in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism gradually became an important ideological system, with Buddhist scriptures spread, Galand in rows and stupas in rows. With the unprecedented prosperity of Buddhism, Buddhist calligraphy and painting also rose and soon reached an unprecedented peak. In fact, when Buddhism was introduced to the East, it was once regarded as the magic of immortality. After more than a hundred years, by the end of the Han Dynasty, although Huang Lao no longer mentioned Buddha, the distinction between him and Taoism was still unclear. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people interpreted Buddhism with Laozi and Zhuangzi. After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Buddhism and metaphysics tended to merge, which was deeply appreciated by literati. Until the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the independent status of Buddhism, together with its deep-rooted spiritual and cultural influence, was in full swing, which contributed to the first great prosperity of Buddhist calligraphy and painting. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhist painting became the center and main body of painting in the times, and almost all people who could paint could paint. In addition, master painters such as Cao Buxing, Gu Kaizhi and Zhang Sengyou are famous for their exquisite Buddhist paintings. The record of China Buddhist art in China's painting history began in Wei and Jin Dynasties, and Buddhist painting became a major theme in China's painting from Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. In this historical period, the main parts of Buddhist painting are temple murals and grotto murals, which publicize the Buddhist story of asceticism, advocate the infinite transformation of Buddhism and the transformation of Vimalakīrti, and take the extraordinary wisdom of Vimalakīrti lay man as the main body. , are the themes painted over and over again. The achievements of Buddhist painting in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties did not stop there. Buddhist teachings have enriched the ethical significance of China's traditional painting, and the painting skills have gradually matured. The aesthetic consciousness of calligraphy and the enthusiasm for research have promoted the conscious and in-depth study of painting techniques. In this way, even in Buddhist painting, painting is not only a tool to explain Buddhist teachings, but also an act of creating beauty. What are the characteristics of China's early Buddhist paintings represented by the works of the Six Dynasties? The first is to learn from and imitate the traces of painting images and nationalization efforts. At the beginning, China's Buddhist paintings were naturally copied from the model of Tianzhu in the Western Regions. Even the earliest Buddhist painters were foreign monks. For example, when Emperor Hanming took photos of Morten and others, Tianzhu monks drew a picture of "Twenty-five Views of Sorrow" in Bao Fuyuan. After necessary study and imitation, Buddhist painters in China and China gradually grew up. While seeking and absorbing foreign art, they inherited China's long-standing cultural and artistic traditions and integrated them. Although the national style of China's Buddhist painting was finally completed in the Wu Daozi era in the Tang Dynasty, by the time of Wei Xie and Gu Kaizhi in the Jin Dynasty, China's Buddhist painting had begun to show some national characteristics. Murals from the Silk Road and Qizil, Mogao Grottoes, Maijishan, Yulin Grottoes and Bingling Temple. We can see that the modeling of Buddhist painting is gradually getting rid of the traces of Indian and Hellenistic modeling (the influence of Greek art has spread from Gandhara art to central China through the western regions), showing the characteristics of national modeling. After the mid-Northern Wei Dynasty, influenced by the culture of the Southern Dynasties, the characters tended to show off their bones and clear their images. The second is the progress of painting expression. In foreign Buddhist paintings, the nude or thin clothing modeling, shading techniques and the composition method of distinguishing social status according to the size of characters have influenced China painters and been absorbed by some painters into their own creations. Zhang Sengyou's painting of concave-convex flowers with Tianzhu method is an example. Third, the mixed factors of real life. The murals in the Six Dynasties have complex plots, spectacular scenes and great momentum, and are mostly based on Mahayana classics. Fragments of real life can often be seen in the picture, especially in the Buddhist murals at the turn of the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui Dynasty, the portrayal of the characters' modeling actions and environmental background showed a more realistic level of performance, reflecting some aspects of real life at that time. The fourth is the change of painting theme. Due to the need to draw murals of Buddhist temples and grottoes, a large number of folk painters joined the ranks of painting, and the literati also participated in Buddhist painting because of fashion. The main body of painting has changed from court painters and literati painters with different painting contents and styles before the Six Dynasties to a joint team of scholar-bureaucrat painters, folk painters and shaman teachers with the same theme of Buddhism. Their aesthetic taste and artistic pursuit also influence each other. Fifth, the difference between North and South painting styles. Generally speaking, Buddhist paintings in the south (later Southern Dynasties) are mainly temple murals, followed by scrolls, with beautiful and exquisite painting style and many new ideas, which are more Chinese than Buddhist paintings in the north. The Buddhist paintings in the north (the late Northern Dynasty) are mainly grotto murals, followed by temple murals, with rich painting style, which is more imitative and westernized than the Buddhist paintings in the south. Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is a prosperous period in the history of Chinese calligraphy art (another prosperous period is Sui and Tang Dynasties), and it is also a prosperous period of Buddhism. There are many Buddhist monks who serve Buddha with calligraphy, and there are also many scholars who write scriptures and inscriptions. There are thousands of Buddhist classics translated in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the spread and promotion of their calligraphy art has begun to show some national characteristics of China, although the national style of China Buddhist painting will be finally completed in the Tang Dynasty and Wu Daozi era. Murals from the Silk Road and Qizil, Mogao Grottoes, Maijishan, Yulin Grottoes and Bingling Temple. We can see that the modeling of Buddhist painting is gradually getting rid of the traces of Indian and Hellenistic modeling (the influence of Greek art has spread from Gandhara art to central China through the western regions), showing the characteristics of national modeling. After the mid-Northern Wei Dynasty, influenced by the culture of the Southern Dynasties, the characters tended to show off their bones and clear their images.
2. Western medieval art:
The period from the demise of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD to the beginning of the Renaissance in15th century AD is called the Middle Ages. In order to oppose the religious theocracy and admire the cultural traditions of ancient Greece and Rome, the Italians in the Renaissance thought that the historical period from the decline of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance was a brutal and dark era, which was between civilization and revival, so it was called "the Middle Ages", and later this name was inherited by historians.
Generally speaking, it refers to the western art from the 5th century to 65438+5th century, including Byzantine art, Irish-Saxon and Viking art, Otto art, Caroline art, Romanesque art and Gothic art ... Early Christian art is sometimes classified as medieval art, and in medieval European culture, the influence of Christianity was dominant, which determined the social lifestyle and social ideology at that time. Art inevitably has a strong religious color and acts as a spokesman for God and the church. Therefore, some people call medieval art Christian art, but medieval art is still rich and colorful, which is the synthesis of various cultural origins and laid the foundation for the development of modern European culture. Christianity originated in the Middle East. When it was established as a cultural form in Europe, it also brought some cultural characteristics of the East. At the same time, when the Roman Empire accepted Christian culture, it was impossible to completely abandon the deep-rooted cultural traditions of ancient Greece and Rome, especially in architecture, sculpture and painting, which had a long process of integration and transformation. Finally, after Christianity was established on the Mediterranean coast, it absorbed local cultural elements, the so-called "barbarian art", and produced some new styles in the process of expanding to Western Europe. It was not until the 10 century or so that a relatively unified Christian artistic style was formed. Therefore, European medieval art can not be simply understood as religious art, but as Christian art integrated on the basis of oriental culture, ancient Greek cultural tradition and barbarian culture.
Medieval art is one of the special manifestations of western culture. It changed the tradition of Greek art and Roman art, gradually formed its own form and content system in the development, and became a special expression of people's life, ideas, thoughts and feelings in a specific period. Generally speaking, medieval art belongs to Christian art. As an expression of religious belief and theology, this art does not pay attention to the true description of the objective world, but emphasizes the expression of the so-called spiritual world. To this end, it often exaggerates, distorts and changes the real technique in order to achieve the purpose of strong expression. Under this general feature, there are great differences between the styles of medieval art. Byzantine art was separated from European art by its oriental decoration and abstraction, and it always maintained its own independence in the development process of about 1000 years. Irish-Saxon and Viking fine arts, Otto fine arts, Caroline fine arts, Romanesque fine arts and Gothic fine arts appeared in different forms in different periods of European fine arts development, and successively occupied a place in the history of fine arts with their own unique styles. The high development of architecture is the greatest achievement of medieval art. In the Middle Ages, various forms of large-scale religious buildings were built everywhere. As historical sites, many Byzantine churches, Romanesque churches and Gothic churches have made great achievements in art and engineering design. With the construction of the cathedral, sculptures, mosaics and frescoes have also gained different forms of prosperity in different periods; A large number of outstanding sculptures and paintings by medieval artists, including mosaics, were created inside and outside the cathedral. Illustration and various small-scale arts are also important parts of medieval art, which once enjoyed considerable prosperity in the Middle Ages. Due to the influence of the Renaissance and its subsequent realistic artistic concepts, medieval art was not fully recognized by people for a long time, and was even called the "dark period" and was denied. From the19th century, western historians began to re-recognize and re-evaluate medieval art. In the 20th century, medieval art became one of the focuses of art history research.
Through the elaboration and comparison of the above two different arts, it is not difficult to find that they are both produced under certain political, economic and cultural conditions. They also played a certain role in reflecting the politics, economy and culture at that time. It has played a considerable role in promoting and influencing the art of later generations and is of great significance in the history of world art.