From Matteo Ricci's boating in the East to the spread of western learning to the east, he brought a lot of western classics, religious paintings and prints, as well as the concepts of perspective, light and shade, anatomy and so on, which had an impact on the academic and artistic circles in China. The first encounter between Chinese and western prints can be seen from the published Mo Yuan by Cheng, and the absorption and integration of new European prints introduced to China can be seen from Jiao Bingzhen's Plow, which can be said to be a successful experiment of integrating European perspective concepts into local art.
Key words: the introduction of printing into the West, printing communication and schema transformation
(A) the spread of printing to the West
T. F. Carter, a professor of Chinese Department at Columbia University in the United States, said in his book The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread to the West: "Among all the great inventions in the world, printing is the most international. China invented papermaking, and took the lead in trying block printing and movable type printing ... Turks are the main figures who brought block printing out of Asia. ..... ","The life of European knowledge (the world) has left the dark century and entered the light, so the need for printing naturally arises. Judging from various fact studies, China has provided a large number of such materials. We can conclude that the initial motivation of printing is to move from China to Europe. " (1) "At that time, the road had been opened, and Mongolia had great influence, from the Euphrates River and the Volga River to the Pacific Ocean." (2) Naturally, "China and Europe meet. The former is an ancient civilization with hundreds of years of printing history, and the latter is Europe that is feeling the demand for books. At the end of the Mongolian era, the first block printing finally appeared in Europe. " (3)
In the Oxford Art Guide, we can see such a passage: We can also think that western woodcuts used for paper printing appeared in the15th century, and developed continuously in Germany, Italy and France in the following 100 year. It appears in three main forms: religious pictures, playing cards and book illustrations. (4
Marco Polo's Travels says that printed matter such as paper money, cards and books "is popular wherever people go."
"After the death of the Yuan Dynasty, printed matter began to appear in Europe. There are two kinds: (1) playing cards (gambling tools); (2) religious portraits. The time when the card was first printed is still uncertain, and European scholars have traced it back to Arabs. However, in Araby's records, no player has ever mentioned cards. However, it is not a myth to say that the card was introduced to Europe from Mongolia. " ..... "At the same time, religious portraits were printed in southern Germany, Belgium and Venice, and the purpose of printing icons was exactly the same as that of Taoist Buddhists printing spells. At that time, Europeans were convinced that icons had the power to exorcise demons. " (5)
For example, the earliest existing religious portrait "statue of St. Christopher" (st? Christopher), printed in 1423, with Latin words: "If you see the statue of St. Christopher, you can avoid all the disasters today." (see figure 1)
Later, a woodcut book called "Black Book" appeared, that is, a set of group paintings were printed on a printed board and merged into a book. "Every page is printed from a wooden board with both words and illustrations." Every page is printed from plates engraved with illustrations and letters, which are sold in the market or used by priests to spread teachings.
When Gutenberg invented alloy movable type printing in 1450 and solved the imposition technology of movable type printing and woodcut illustrations, it became possible to print a large number of book illustrations. Then Germany (1454), Italy (1455), Switzerland (1468), Netherlands (1473), Belgium (1473) and Spain (/kloc). In thirty-five years, printing spread all over Europe.
(B) Schema transformation
Although the techniques of woodcut prints are useful, cheap and popular, European artists have carried out a series of experimental transformations in their own wood workshops and goldsmith workshops, which developed in two directions: First, the woodcut prints were transformed from the simple single-line structure in the early days, and the pictures were organized into fine painting patterns popular at that time by using linear density, with rich details and subtle changes.
On the other hand, the goldsmith's workshop has developed a brand-new carving technique (engraving), in which copper is used instead of wood, wood carving knife is used instead of pusher, and intaglio printing is used instead of relief.
More specifically, woodcarving is to use a meat cutter to carve out unnecessary parts and keep the necessary parts. When printing ink on wood block with roller, only the convex part is covered by ink, and the concave part does not contact ink, so it is called convex printing. Gravure engraving copper plate is to carve the required pattern on the copper plate with a pusher. Every line in this pattern is concave. Wipe the ink on the concave place by hand, and then wipe the ink on the convex place on the copper plate with a soft cloth. Only the concave places are inked. When printing, put the paper dipped in soft water on the copper plate, press it gently, and the ink in the concave part of the copper plate will be transferred to the paper. This printing method is gravure printing.
Although it seems to be only a change in printing methods or tools, it is only a change from woodblock letterpress printing to copper plate gravure printing. But tools express people's thoughts and feelings. Once people feel that such tools or media are no longer suitable for expressing their thoughts and feelings, they will inevitably transform them to make them conform to their ideals.
Early woodcut prints are portrait paintings aimed at spreading teachings, which originated from the incantations of ancient oriental Buddhism and Taoism. The model is also single-line, simple and naive, and the numbers are rigid and conceptual. This schema is no longer in line with the artistic ideal of German artists in the15th century.
Artists are trying to pursue a new model. They observe nature and are fascinated by the details and textures of various themes in nature. This stems from the tradition of Yang Wenke. Yang Wenike believes that artists in the north should reflect nature like mirrors, study and observe nature, and insist on faithfully depicting the details of nature.
It is this internal driving force that makes Germanic artists carve their woodcuts more and more finely. Once they feel that these tools and materials have reached the limit and are still not enough to express their ideals, they will inevitably turn their attention to new tools and materials that are more in line with their inner expression and have more development potential, and gravure printing technology has thus emerged. Nevertheless, we can see from a large number of historical materials that the appearance of gravure printing copper plate technology did not make woodcut technology die out, but * * * developed together and influenced each other.
Because of this observation of nature and the pursuit of scientific knowledge, Paolo Uccello (1397- 1475) at the southern foot of the Alps pursues a kind of knowledge between mathematics and art-perspective. Based on the research results of previous architects and mathematicians, he "studied geometry all night and combined it with painting. With the assistance of mathematician Manetti, he formed the principle of perspective painting." Later, after Leonardo da Vinci, Van Eyck, Mantani, Fran Cesca (P.P.) Libby (F.F. (5) ...
Uccello's pursuit of perspective makes European artists introduce perspective into their works. In addition, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci's pursuit of human anatomy knowledge and exploration of light and shadow also gradually influenced German artists across the Alps.
We can see from the above-mentioned Statue of St. Christopher (1423) and St. florian written by 1460 (see Figure 2) that the picture is simple and clear, people and buildings are represented by single lines, and the relationship between people and things is not perspective, but arranged according to needs.
From a recent picture of The Last Supper (1470- 1480) from the Netherlands (see Figure 3), Christ and the twelve disciples are surrounded by characters, but there is no sense of perspective. Instead, some short and neatly arranged horizontal lines can be seen on the arch of the building and the wall behind the characters to indicate the turning point of the characters. The original concept of characters and the concept of light and shade germinated in woodcut prints, and the further strengthening of the concept of light and shade and the concept of characters can be seen from The Good Man Is Dying (about 1470).
When Diu Lei came back from Italy in 1496, he created a woodcut of a man in the bathroom (see Figure 4). Diu Lei's understanding of the anatomical structure of the main characters has reached a considerable depth, his description of the image is accurate and powerful, and his arrangement of characters and buildings in space depth is just right. It can be said that it is an important milestone to transform the early woodcut schema into a three-dimensional space with space, and to construct the Renaissance schema with the concepts of light and shadow and anatomical structure perspective.
If we compare The Last Supper written by Diu Lei in 1523 (see Figure 5) with The Last Supper written by Holland in (1470- 1480), we can see how obvious the difference is.
1525 Two European woodcut illustrations, The Shortening Principle of Painter's Research and The Art of Length, can be said to have reached the peak of European woodcut.
In the field of gravure copperplate, the evolution of schema is almost the same as that of woodcut. The earliest author of intaglio prints that can be verified now is an anonymous author. In history, his nickname is the master poker player, which means "master poker player" or "master poker player".
We can see from Figure 6 of his 1435-55 intaglio painting "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" that this "master of playing cards" works, as the first generation of German intaglio painters, pay attention to the relationship between light and shade, but still feel simple in the characterization, and there are some problems such as insufficient understanding of anatomical structure and unreasonable perspective relationship between the ground and the characters.
Another artist who only left his initials was an E.S. painter in Upper Rhine. Judging from his work Lover on the Grass Shore, the description of characters and anatomical structure is better than that of Poker Master, but his interest is mainly in the innovation of printmaking technology. For example, he likes to decorate clothes with a small awl drill, and he took the lead in using many new brushstrokes such as curves and strokes.
Although as early as before Martin Schon Goyle, "his direct pioneer E.S. painter developed many new techniques of printmaking, which made printmaking more elaborate and made great progress, printmaking was still a handicraft at this time. Under the influence of E.S., Schon Goyle further promoted printmaking to art, and he became the most influential illustrator in Northern Europe at that time." (6)
His huge and exquisite intaglio painting The Road to Calvary (Figure 7) shows the author's profound understanding of perspective and mastery of anatomical knowledge, vivid and accurate depiction, the transition from sunny days to dark clouds, the dramatic conflict between the crowd and Christ, and the author's proficiency and profundity in scheduling big scenes.
In The Story of Art, Gombrich praised Martin Schon Goyle, thinking that he tried to make us feel the true texture and appearance of the object he wanted to express. It is a miracle that he successfully achieved his goal without using brushes and paints or oil paintings. He thinks that reflecting space and faithfully imitating reality are the pursuits of Martin Schon Goyle in his works, but this pursuit will not destroy the principle of balance in composition.
In a word, from the primary stage of "master player" to the skill preparation of E.S. painters, and then to the development of Martin Schon Goyle, intaglio copperplate has reached a mature stage, and their careful and exquisite works make this technique quickly become a model of "beautiful art". Diu Lei developed gravure painting from technique to schema to perfection.
15 14, Diu Lei's intaglio copperplate "St. Jerome in the study" (Figure 8) (St. Jerome in the study) has reached the peak of intaglio copperplate, and the whole painting is transparent. In the subtle light, St. Jerome was absorbed in his research, and the pattern of the pane was projected on the wall, half bright and half dark, with animals in it. All kinds of relationships are handled properly and reached the state of perfection.
It seems that history has chosen Diu Lei. On the one hand, he is deeply rooted in Yang Van Ike's northern Renaissance artists' observation of nature and imitation of natural traditions, and his many travels have benefited him from the painting experiments of Italian southern Renaissance artists. The fine artistic traditions on both sides of the Alps nurtured his growth.
It can be said that the woodcut prints introduced to Europe from the East, as well as the intaglio copperplate prints appearing in Europe, have gradually changed from the early planarization and simple stylized modeling to the European Renaissance print schema with clear logical relationship between light and shadow, correct anatomical structure, three-dimensional perspective space concept, sensitivity and keen observation, which can shape details.
Diu Lei is the representative and master of this new schema.
Woodcut and intaglio copperplate soon spread all over Europe. In Antwerp, there are many large printing workshops and printmaking studios. "... they printed countless intaglio copperplate plates based on paintings (The Missing Man by Bosch and Bo Luger). "(7) ..." and set up a printed matter production center with Su Ye as the theme; ..... its export volume is very large. America, led by Spain, is the main demand place for this commodity, and France, Italy and Spain in Europe also accept the supply ... So it is not surprising that there are a large number of such prints in China. Undoubtedly, the missionaries stranded in China also used the printmaking brought by Brussels as one of the methods to spread their teachings. ”(8)
That's true. After Columbus discovered the new American continent in 1492, 1498, Da Gama bypassed the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. 1582, Italian missionary Matteo Ricci arrived in Macau. Due to the decline of the Mongolian Empire in the Yuan Dynasty, the cultural exchange between China and the West was interrupted by land and then connected by sea.
(3) the spread of western learning to the east and the combination of Chinese and western learning.
1582 is the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty in China, and it is a period of extremely prosperous engraving printing and publishing in China: "It was very important for Yongle to move to Beijing in the early Ming Dynasty. In two cities and thirteen provinces of China, all bookstores have official sculptures as well as people's sculptures. At that time, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang and Jianyang, Fujian, lettering was a prosperous scene, and lettering was heard. (9)
"Matteo Ricci came to China, and then Catholicism began to plant its roots in China, so western learning spread to the east, western art was introduced to Central China, and Gai also began from Matteo Ricci." ( 10)
"Li has lived in China for a long time and is fluent in Chinese and Mandarin. When he came to the East, European and Western pictures, printed images, books and utensils, and other sciences, such as philosophy and philosophy, were also introduced to China through Li's preaching. " ( 1 1)
In the 28th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (Gregorian calendar 1600), Li wrote on his tablet: "I would like to present one idol, two mother idols, one nerve, one cross pearl, two clocks, one world map and one book for the command."
Matteo Ricci's statue of God and Mother of God was the earliest artwork introduced to Europe.
Gu, who has seen Matteo Ricci himself and the portrait he brought, said in Hakka: "Matteo Ricci is also a native of Western Europe. His face is covered with beard, and his eyes are as deep and yellow as a cat. Fluent in Chinese and Mandarin. Come to Nanjing, live in Zhengyangmen Xiying, and say that your country worships God. God is the creator of everything in the world. The painted god is a child, held by a woman and called the mother in heaven. This painting is mounted on a copper plate, and the surface is painted five times, so it looks lifelike. Body and arm in arm, like a hidden towel on the chessboard, the concave and convex parts of the face are different from those of strangers. People ask why this painting is so? Answer: "Chinese painting is to draw yang instead of yin, so the person who looks at it is flat, not concave and convex." My Chinese painting is written in both yin and yang, so my face is high and my arms are round. "mortal faces are facing the sun, so they are all bright white; Standing on the side is white to the bright side, and there is a dark phase if you don't face the bright side. Portrait writers in our country all use this method, so it can distinguish people from life and death. "
The Collection of Pictures of Chinese Dynasties says: "Matteo Ricci, a Western European fluent in Chinese, came to Du Nan in the Ming Dynasty, lived in Xiying, Zhengyangmen, painted their leader, and held a child as a woman, which was a statue of God. They are full of air, bright and lovely in color. Taste said, "China can only draw the front, so there is no bump. Our country also draws Yin and Yang, so all sides are perfect. "
According to what I have seen above, Matteo Ricci not only brought European painting to China, but also talked about the theory of using optics to express light and shade in western painting, so the theory of western painting sprouted in China from Li.
According to Xiao Ye's Matteo Ricci and Printmaking in the Late Ming Dynasty, "According to Pei Huahang's Matteo Ricci's Contribution to China Science, Matteo Ricci studied hard in Italian Jesuit school, studying mathematics, astronomy and perspective painting principles. It is said that Matteo Ricci studied this technique, which is difficult to distinguish between art and mathematics, and used it to draw pictures himself. "
It can be said that two modern painting concepts, light and shade and perspective, were introduced by Matteo Ricci and began to gradually influence artists in China.
Matteo Ricci was also the first person to introduce European prints into China.
According to Matteo Ricci, the sixth volume of Ke Yan, "There are many books printed in other countries, all of which are printed repeatedly on one side of the white paper, with words beside them;" Paper, such as Yunnan tissue paper, is thick and tough, with fine ink. There are pictures, people and fine hair. "
In addition, Cheng Mo Yuan, written by the famous Mohist () in Ming Dynasty, is one of the four major ink genres in Ming Dynasty. The book is printed with his own patterns for ink painting. This painting was painted by Ding, a famous painter, and engraved with the gold medal of a famous engraver, which is called the Double Wonders.
In this ink spectrum reflecting the patterns of immortals, figures, landscapes, etc. The four Christian religious prints introduced by Matteo Ricci are printed on page 35 of volume 6 and after other volumes 3.
The first picture is "faithful but floating on the sea and suspicious" (see Figure 9); The second picture shows two disciples hearing the truth (see figure10); The third picture is entitled "lewdness and filth"; The last painting entitled "God" was presented to the program by Matteo Ricci, a European missionary who preached in China during the Wanli period. Cheng carved these four corroded prints into woodcuts, with lines as thin as hair, which is tantamount to copperplate prints.
Jason Chung's evaluation of the first painting "Faithfulness Floats on the Sea, Doubts Sink" is: "In this painting, Pietro, who walks around the sea and shows miracles, suddenly loses his faith and will sink. The thin parallel lines of waves, the crossing lines of fishing nets in fishermen's hands, and the thin line drawing of distant mountains and buildings can all remind us of the original copperplate prints. "
From the second painting "Two Disciples Hearing the Truth", we can see that the roadside castle leading to Macheng Village has rich and subtle details and light and shade changes, which seems to have the tradition of Martin Schon Goyle and Albert Diu Lei's meticulous description of castles and trees.
This is the first encounter between China woodcut and European copperplate. Although it was printed on the ink spectrum in the form of reproduction, it is of great significance as the first experiment of China people on the localization of western printmaking.
From then on, "China people are also interested in the paintings brought by western priests and the method of shading of Yin and Yang, as if they were born in China." Because of the new heart. China painters gradually became interested in them. " ( 13)
Light and shade method and perspective method spread to the Qing Dynasty. "When Kangxi was a western priest, painting was used to worship the inner chamber, and most of the people in charge of painting in Qin Tian Jian were western priests. People in China are talking from top to bottom, influenced by their paintings, so they are unconscious. Since Jiao Bingzhen created the atmosphere, the Academy of Painting has followed suit in many aspects. On the occasion of Kanggan, many famous people. " ( 14)
"Jiao Bingzhen, Jining, Qin prison facial features are. Workers, positions from far to near, from big to small, unhappy, Gaisifa "(15).
Jiao Bingzhen's paintings are most famous for farming and weaving. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Shou had painted a picture of farming and weaving. "In the thirty-fifth year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1696), he was ordered to redraw the plan." When Qianlong was in office, Chen Mei was ordered to draw a ploughing and weaving map, and both works were cold. At the end of the year, I heard lettering. Only forty-six paintings painted by Shi Jiao were given to the princes in volumes and then reprinted. There are more than ten versions handed down from generation to generation, which shows the prosperity of painting academies in previous dynasties. ( 16)
See Plough Weaving Map (Figure 1 1), written by Qing sage Kangxi and engraved by Zhu Gui and Mei Yufeng. Farming and weaving 46 plots, half of which are farming and weaving.
Xiang Da said in the article "The Art of China was Influenced by the West during the Ming and Qing Dynasties": "Jiao's paintings are all decorated by imitating architecture, so they are all funny and naturally show the spirit of leisure and peace. The most difference is that it is also right to apply the western perspective to painting. Jiao painted forty-six, and Zhang Pushan said, "Its position is far and near, which can be seen from the big to the small. The landscape of trees, lusheng and characters is still old-fashioned, limited to the size of distance, using western methods. Cover China's paintings with scientific methods. Blending Chinese and western cultures, a sudden emergence. "
Wu Zhou said in "Hundred Pictures of Ancient Prints in China": "This" Plowing and Weaving Map "is absolutely exquisite, including village scenery, homework, cocoon making in silkworm house and carding and weaving in computer room, without exception."
Jiao Bingjun's Plow and Weave is composed of strict perspective, which directly integrates the scientific painting concept from Europe into painting. By this time, Matteo Ricci began to play a role from the European perspective introduced by China, and a successor with solid skills appeared. Taking the painting concept since the European Renaissance as an ideological weapon, Matteo Ricci completed the transformation from the traditional schema of China to a new schema with modern painting characteristics.
From printing in China in Yuan Dynasty to Europe, printmaking flourished in Europe and returned to China, but it has gone beyond the process of "Mo Yuan" in Jiao Bingzhen.
The simple copying of European copperplate prints, his own creation based on European modern painting concepts, and the integration of Chinese and Western painting schools are worthy of recognition. His works can be said to be the strong response of China painters to the spread of western learning to the east after the works of European printmakers were introduced to China.
(4) Postscript
I often think that the Mongols, as conquerors, brought our four great inventions to Europe together with the Black Death. The introduction of paper and printing made Europeans begin the prelude of religious reform, and Europe gradually transitioned from the Middle Ages to the modern social form. In the16th century, Matteo Ricci came to China, and western learning spread to the east, bringing a large number of European scientific and technological books and European works of art, as well as translating a large number of oriental classics into Europe, which can be said to be learned from the spread of the West. China and Europe, in the same position, had a honeymoon. Three hundred years later, westerners used the compass invented by our ancestors to drive warships to China's territorial waters, used gunpowder invented by China to open our coastal defense, and used paper invented by China to force Manchu ministers to sign unequal treaties. The reason is really worth pondering.
If we compare the development of European printmaking after China printmaking spread to the west with China's reaction to western printmaking after European printmaking spread to the east, it will also cause us to think.
Since the Mongols brought printing technology to Europe, from 1423 woodcut "The Buddha of San Cristo" to 1435 gravure copper plate; 1450 After Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type printing, it took only 35 years for printing to spread all over Europe. Later, new techniques and techniques emerged one after another: 149 1 year, France invented woodcut prints with hollow templates and colors; (17) 15 10 years, color-matching woodcuts appeared; (18) to (15 16) disclose corroded copper plates. Later, there was the invention of lithography. By the16th and17th centuries, printing workshops and studios appeared in many European cities, such as Lyon, Paris, Basel, Antwerp and Nuremberg. Around 1600, Basel and Antwerp were cities with book publishing and printmaking as new industries, and their printmaking workshops were exported in large quantities ... In short, "there is printing in Europe, although it lags behind me, but it has developed rapidly in mechanical and chemical technology." Looking back at our country, before the introduction of western printing, there was no improvement except the original woodcut and movable type printing. ……"( 19)
/kloc-in 0/600, Matteo Ricci came to Beijing, and the religious prints he brought were copied and printed in Cheng's Mo Yuan. 1605 (thirty-three years of Wanli), due to commercial competition, monochrome printing of ink elements was changed to color printing. "There are nearly 50 painters, mostly four-color and five-color printers. The color pictures in this book are all painted on the block and then printed; Although a version has several colors. " -inscription by Zheng Zhenduo. 1626 (six years tomorrow), Wu Faxiang's "Brief Notes on the Edge of Meng Xuan" was printed by cowpea board method, and the arch stamp technology was invented. China woodcut prints have developed to this point, and there has been no innovation since then.
Although Matteo Ricci introduced perspective and shading from the East, the four religious paintings in Mo Yuan by Cheng can only be regarded as copying. 90 years later, in the thirty-fifth year of Kangxi (1696), it was only in Jiao Bingzhen's farming and weaving map that it was answered.
"Moreover, painters in China at that time were contemptuous and derogatory, and seldom praised them." Wu Yushan said: "My painting is called" Escape of God ",which is not formal or eclectic. Both yin and yang run counter to each other and look like a pattern ... "Zou Yigui also said:" Western paintings make good use of the Pythagorean method, so their paintings are as wonderful as yin and yang, and the houses and trees they paint have shadows. The color and pen used are definitely different from those in China. Cloth shadows, from wide to narrow, are measured by triangles. Painting the palace on the wall makes people want to walk in. Scholars can take part in one or two things, but they also have the ability to awaken. However, there is no brushwork at all Although the work is also a craftsman, it is not in the painting. " There are also many dissatisfaction with western clergy and Jiao Bingjun's eclectic new school. Zhang Qian said, "Jiao Jia changed Matteo Ricci's western paintings, but they were indecent and were not taken by the good people of the past." (20)
Therefore, "in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, western art had a little vitality with the help of the emperor, but its activities were mostly in the palace, and the influence of the people was countless." (2 1)
"Since the end of Qianlong, the power and influence of western painting in China suddenly disappeared." (22)
In the 22nd year of Daoguang (AD 1842), after the Opium War, China was forced to open its doors, and lithographs were introduced to China from Europe. It originated from Tushanwan Printing House, a Catholic printing house in Xujiahui, Shanghai, and was run by the French. According to "xianggong", "The earliest lithographs were published in the second year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (AD 650), and Ernest Major, an Englishman, founded Dianshizhai Lithography Bookstore. In the seventh year of Guangxu (A.D. 188 1), Guangdong native Xu (Hongfu) founded a bookstore, purchased 12 lithographs, and employed 500 people to reprint rare books of ancient books, twenty-four histories, Kangxi dictionary, Pei Wenzhai's calligraphy and painting spectrum, etc. For a time, it was a cloud in the printing industry. Ning people have a rock house. Three schools are divided, and leaders take the lead in opening up the atmosphere.
However, the traditional woodcut printing industry in China gradually withdrew from the historical stage.
Woodblock as an illustration of a book