Silk book, reset color, 28.7 cm long and 335.5 cm wide, collected in the Palace Museum.
Gu, a native of Jiangnan, was a painter of Southern Tang Painting Academy in the Five Dynasties. His "Han Xizai's Night Banquet" is rigorous and delicate in composition, elegant and vivid in character modeling, rich and smooth in lines and bright and elegant in colors, which fully embodies the style and characteristics of figure painting in the Five Dynasties in terms of techniques and styles.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960 AD) is a turbulent and divisive era in the history of China, but it is an important period in the art of painting. The pursuit of artistic conception and the exploration of interest have made new progress in landscape painting and flower-and-bird painting, which indicates that painting will shift from narrative to higher-level lyricism. The figure paintings of the Five Dynasties are also more exquisite, which combines the simplicity and boldness of Qin and Han Dynasties with the significance of Wei and Jin Dynasties, and gradually dilutes the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty. However, figure painting has not been able to get rid of the secular function of "preaching and teaching to solve doubts", requiring vivid representation of real events and characters, which directly promotes the development of realistic techniques objectively. From ancient figure paintings, we can not only know some historical events, but also understand the face of that era and people's spiritual realm through the vivid images of fertile farmers or moderate people.
According to Xuanhe Map, Han Xizai's Night Banquet Map was written by Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who went to Han Xizai Mansion to spy on her banquet at night. Han Xizai, the protagonist in the painting, came from a noble family in the north and took refuge in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Li Houzhu wanted to appoint him as prime minister, but Han Xizai saw that the country was in trouble and refused to take the post, so he indulged himself all day and drank wine with his guests for a long time. Most of the other characters in the painting are real people, such as Lang Kui, the top scholar, and Deming, a monk, who are frequent visitors to North Korea. In the picture scroll, although Han Xizai is a degenerate, he is always frowning, and it is hard to hide his worries. The console table is relatively low, which is a transitional period from sitting on the floor to sitting on the feet. Pipa, flute and drum, beds with beautiful piers and indoor furnishings all reflect the characteristics of the times. Realistic themes require painters to observe life deeply, capture the details of life, remember it with their eyes, appreciate it carefully, and then reproduce it artistically, raising the natural form to an artistic form.
The Night Banquet adopts the traditional continuous story expression of China. It is divided into several parts with screens as the plot progresses, and the protagonist Han Xizai appears in each part. By listening to music, watching dance, having a rest, playing flute and hosting a banquet, the whole scene of the banquet is described in the form of a narrative poem. The painter carefully arranged the composition. Each paragraph has a plot, a place and a combination of characters. Each paragraph is relatively independent, but unified in a strict overall layout. Complexity meets simplicity, and reality is full of rhythm. The three pictures in the picture are not the same, which reflects the artist's ingenuity. The trend of the characters is rich, dense and well expressed, and the whole picture is stored in the picture scroll, which is close and full of tension. In the third scene, a candlestick was placed with red candles shining high, which pointed out the specific time of the banquet, but did not describe the night in detail. This traditional image expression technique and way in China has become a "meaningful form".
The painter's portrayal of characters is particularly in-depth, and the spirit is written in form, showing a superb artistic level. The figure painting techniques in the Five Dynasties have developed unprecedentedly, and Gu is a famous figure painter. In ancient times, portrait painting was called "portrait", and "truth" refers to the inner spiritual essence of the object, that is, "God". With superb portrait skills, creating figure paintings is naturally handy. Through the corresponding description of different objects' postures, eyes and gestures, some of the characters in the painting are dancing, some are happy with the beat, and the modality is vivid. Moreover, the protagonist deliberately describes it and is full of songs. Han Xizai is tall, with a long beard and a tall scarf. From listening at the bar to waving a hammer and drumming until the end of the song, his eyebrows are always locked on different occasions. He was thoughtful and depressed, in sharp contrast to the scene of singing and dancing music at the banquet. It shows Han Xizai's complicated inner world and depicts the special characters, which is very vivid, thus deepening the picture of the banquet.
Whether it's coloring or using a pen, the expression of "The Night Banquet" is exquisite and skillful. The ancients made good use of mineral pigments to paint, and after years of tempering, they are still dazzling. "The Night Banquet" uses many colors such as crimson, vermilion, azurite and stone green, with strong contrast, but the whole picture is unified in the rich changes of ink levels, and the colors and inks set each other off, which is moving. The ancients painted with pens. After accurately grasping the physical characteristics of the object, the pen should not only outline the external outline of the object, but also show the essence of the object. Line is an independent artistic element, which has unique aesthetic significance in oriental painting. To sum up, the change in the use of pens is "light words, but it is changeable in practice because of the painter's wonderful understanding and natural spiritual changes." "The Night Banquet" is straight with a pen and smooth lines. In the long line of round pen combined with iron line drawing and You Simiao, Fang Bi is frustrated and has a lasting appeal. The combination of figures' clothing patterns is rich and varied, and the beard and hair are sketched, "hair roots and raw meat are more powerful than health", which has created a vibrant artistic image.
Attachment 1: Han Xizai (902-970), Zi Shu, an official of Southern Tang Dynasty in Five Dynasties and Ten Countries, was born in Qingzhou. Tongguang Jinshi in the later Tang Dynasty. Because his father was killed by Li Siyuan, he defected to Wu. In the Southern Tang Dynasty, he was promoted to be a doctor and assisted the prince in the East Palace. Excavate ascended the throne, moved the official department to be the foreign minister, edited and edited the history museum, served as the doctor of Taichang, and worshipped the Chinese book.
In 958 (the first year of Jiaotai), the currency depreciated, and he proposed to cast iron money to increase its value. A new big money is ten old money; A new penny, when two old money. Imitating the specifications of Kaiyuan Bao Tong, Xu Xuan is a book seal. New money was minted and widely circulated. Han Xizai paid a visit to the assistant minister of the Ministry of Finance and made money. Later, he was promoted to minister of war and was appointed as a bachelor of Qin Zhengting.
He reads widely. I have never worshipped anyone. Good at writing, history says that "the patent system is elegant and harmonious." Scholars and Taoist priests kept asking him for inscriptions. He is also good at talking, listening, dancing, and has exquisite brush and calligraphy works, which is as famous as Xu Xuan. Singing, dancing, painting and calligraphy are all tasteful. He played bohemian and guarded Mount Wu, which loves prostitutes. Wu Wangshan is extremely handsome and smart, and can sing and dance well. Han Xizai tasted drums, and let Wushan dance "Six Yao" have fun. There are "Han Xizai's Night Banquet" and "Zongle" to record his luxurious life.
The late master (Li Yu), who dared to speak with loyalty and justice, repeatedly tried to seal him as a phase, but found it absurd and shelved it.
He is an assistant minister in Zhongshu and a bachelor in Zheng Guangting. After his death, he was named Right Servant Shooter, with the same title as Pingzhang, and was named "Wen Jing". There are more than 50 collections, quasi-collections (lost) and mottoes. In The Road to Ancient and Modern Wang Ba, Shu Ya prefaces it.
Attachment 2 Appreciation of Han Xizai Night Banquet
In the Palace Museum in Beijing, there is a classic painting over 0/0,000 years ago-"Han Xizai's Night Banquet". Treasure of the Town Courtyard was written by Gu, a famous painter in the Southern Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties. After thousands of years of tossing, it is a miracle that it can still be preserved intact.
Gu, a native of Jiangnan, is famous for his good painting of figures. He once painted in the Hanlin Academy in the Southern Tang Dynasty for a long time. & lt& lt Han Xizai's Banquet >>, a description of real life at that time, reflects the true story, with profound theme and high artistry. Speaking of this famous painting handed down from ancient times, there is an unusual story.
According to the description of traditional Chinese painting "Xuanhe Pu Shu", Han Xizai, a calligrapher of the Southern Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties, was a very talented official, born in a noble family in the north, and became a scholar at the end of the Tang Dynasty. He knows music and is good at poetry, calligraphy and painting. He is good at painting and full of political talent. But this person is constantly singing and dancing, indulging in debauchery, often gathering guests at home, drinking from time to time, and often singing loudly. Put your own difficulties on the song and dance night banquet. Li Yu, the weak leader, relies heavily on Han Xizai, and wants to use him as a phase, but he is not at ease. It turned out that at that time, the country was divided, the north and the south were divided, and the national strength of Nantang was weak. The powerful Northern Zhou Dynasty posed a serious threat to the Southern Tang Dynasty. Li Yu, the late ruler, was very suspicious of northerners who were officials in the Southern Tang Dynasty, fearing that they would have second thoughts. Recently, it was reported to the late emperor Li Yu that some North Korean officials would get together at the home of Han Xizai, the minister of northern nationalities. Li Yu, the deceased, is puzzled. In order to understand the real situation, he sent Gu and Zhou Wenju to sneak into Han Zhai late at night to learn about the activities behind him.
Gu found that the guests included officials such as Lang Zheng, Dr. Chen Yong, Ziwei Langzhu, Special Envoy, and some popular singers and dancers. The atmosphere of the banquet was unusually warm, and the guests and the host were entangled, which was very likely to get drunk. At the banquet, there were singers singing, playing music and dancers dancing. The guests were intoxicated with joy one by one.
Gu know, Han Xizai indulge in debauchery to kill time, in fact, is to protect themselves, in order to show that they are not interested in power, so as not to be suspected and persecuted by the emperor.
After returning home, Gu and Zhou Wenju drew a banquet in Han Xizai and gave it to Li Yu. After Li Yu saw this painting, he was much less wary of Han Xizai. Later, Han Xizai served as assistant minister of Zhongshu and bachelor of Zheng Guang in Southern Tang Dynasty, and his ending was very good.
There are two original pictures of Han Xizai's The Banquet, and one of Zhou Wenju's is missing. Today we see Gu's works. Gu's The Night Banquet is 28.7 cm long and 335.5 cm wide. Silk books are in color. The picture is in the form of a hand scroll, with Han Xizai as the center. The whole picture is divided into five sections: listening to songs, watching dances, resting, blowing and feasting. Paragraphs are independent and can be connected into a whole. The first paragraph is about Han Xizai feasting with his guests and listening to Li Jiaming's sister playing the pipa. In the second paragraph, Wu Wangshan danced "Six Yao", and JaeHee personally played drums. In the third paragraph, after the guests left, the host and actress rested and washed their hands. In the fourth paragraph, I wrote about Xi enjoying the cool in plain clothes and listening to the wind music played by the poetess. In the fifth paragraph, write a part about being close to guests and flirting with female prostitutes. The first two paragraphs are the most vivid. Guests and hosts listen or watch silently, paying attention to the pianist's hand and the singer's body. Drums and beats are played according to the beat, and the picture seems to have rhyme. Because of Gu's meticulous observation, he vividly described Han Xizai's banquet in Dadan. In five scenes, more than 40 characters took off their silks. In the picture, the music is melodious, the dancing is graceful and the laughter is noisy, which highlights Han Xizai's preoccupied and unhappy mental state. Han Xizai, who appears in each paragraph, has different facial angles, costumes and action expressions, but one thing is the same. No smile on her face, always deep and melancholy. Describe a brilliant but depressed inner world, immersed in debauchery, keeping a low profile and complicated contradictions. Compared with the general feast picture, it has a certain ideological depth. In fact, it is not only a picture depicting Han Xizai's private life, but more importantly, it reflects the characteristics of that particular era and reveals the contradictions within the ruling class. It also vividly reflected the arrogance and extravagance of the ruling class at that time from one side.
In artistic treatment, the traditional composition method is adopted, which breaks the concept of time and organizes activities at different times on the same picture. The organization of the whole painting is coherent and smooth. The plot of the painting is very complicated and there are many characters, but the arrangement is orderly and simple. Between scenes, the painter skillfully used screens, boxes, orchestral instruments, beds and other objects. So that they are both connected and separated from each other; It is both an independent painting and a picture scroll.
Some pictures in this picture do not draw walls, doors, windows and roofs, nor do they draw lights and candles. However, through the activities of the characters, the audience can feel that the banquet is held indoors, which embodies the concise techniques of China's traditional painting. Just like China's old plays, they don't need scenery, just use gestures, eyes and other actions to let the audience feel the surrounding scenery vividly.
"Han Xizhai's Night Banquet" has reached a high level with pen painting. The whole painting is neat and fine, the lines are smooth and round, the characters' clothes are neat and concise, and the objects are realistic. Rich and steady colors, can find the perspective of proportion. It is an ancient figure painting with important historical relics and outstanding artistic achievements.