Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan lived in Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods respectively. With their rigorous painting style, they are unique in the painting circle of Qing Dynasty and are famous for their "two original" in the history of painting.
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Overview of Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan's Life
The historical records that recorded Yuan Jiang's name and simple situation earlier include The Painting Collection of Chinese Dynasties (including continuation), The Painting Collection of Yangzhou in Li Dou, The Addendum of Anonymous Painter, etc. These history books were written in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, from the late Yongzheng period to the Qianlong period, and the writing time was not far from the painter's life. The following are the relevant raw materials.
Yuan Jiang, Jiangdu people, word, good landscape, good pavilion. He is a middle-aged unknown painter, so he has made great progress and called for a visit to Xiansi Temple. Wait a minute. -Zhang Geng "National Dynasty Painting Collection"? Continue to record the volume.
Yuan Jiang, a native of Jiangdu, is good at landscapes and pavilions. He is a middle-aged painter, and he has made great progress in his skills near an anonymous person. He was once elected to the spiritual practice hall. -Anonymous Addendum to the Painter
Yuan Jiang, whose real name is Wen Tao, is from Jiangdu. He is good at landscapes and pavilions. He is a beginner in Chou Shizhou. In middle age, he got an anonymous painter and made great progress. -Li Dou's "Yangzhou Painting Boat Record" Volume II
Judging from the above three documents, the contents of the text are similar and obviously copied from each other. Judging from the completion time, Zhang Geng's "China Dynasty Painting Collection" and Anonymous's "Painter's Addendum" are slightly earlier.
According to the records of the above materials, we can know that Yuan Jiang is a native of Wen Tao and Jiangdu, now Yangzhou, Jiangsu, which is completely consistent with Yuan Jiang's works and seals. In addition, according to Shang Chengzuo and Huang Hua's Index of Font Names of Ancient Painters and Sculptors in China, Yuan Jiang also had a name called Xiuquan, which was not recorded in the history of painting, but a painting on page 12 of Yuan Jiang's later work "Landscape" contained "Yaoquan" and "Yaoquan". This painting was painted in the year of Guihai (the eighth year of Qianlong, 1743), and it is a later painting in Yuan Jiangshu's works, with a period of years. These two seals have never been seen in Yuan Jiang's other paintings. There are two possibilities here: first, the word "Xiuquan" was used by Yuan Jiang in his later years; Second, the word "Xiuquan" is the seal of the collector, which is more likely. At present, there is no more data to prove that "Xiuquan" is the name of Yuan Jiang. Yuanjiang may be named "South Scorpion", which is not recorded in any literature, only in his works. On the axes of Yuan Jiang's Painting Smoke and Spring Thunder Needle collected by Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, the author wrote "South E Zi Jiang" and "South E Zi Xi brushwork" respectively, which should be advocated by the painter himself.
After roughly sorting out the collected works of Yuan Jiang's series by year (dry year), we can find that his earliest works were written in the 27th year of Kangxi (Chen Wu, 1688) and his latest works were written in the 11th year of Ganlong (Bingyin, 1746), with a creative time of about 50 years. According to this speculation, Yuan Jiang was born in the tenth year of Kangxi and died in the eleventh year of Qianlong, aged about seventy.
It is mentioned in The Collection of Paintings of Past Dynasties in China and Addendum to Painters that Yuan Jiang, a painter, "went to the Waiyangxintang" during the Yongzheng period, which was the seat of the internal affairs office of the Qing Dynasty, which meant that he entered the court and became a dedicated painter. And Li Dou's "Yangzhou Boat Record" records about Yuan Jiang, although basically copied from the above two books, but the book only deleted the fact that Yuan Jiang had visited the palace. I think that in the process of copying, Li Dou screened the materials according to his own knowledge, and the content of Yuan Jiang's offering to the palace was deliberately deleted. Hu Jing's Annals of Painting in the Imperial Palace is a book that specifically records the court paintings and court painters of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties in the Qing Dynasty. Although there are some omissions, judging from a large number of works by painter Yuan Jiang, if he did worship the Imperial Palace, it should be recorded in the book, but Yuan Jiang's name is listed as "Shiqu" and has entered the painting academy, as well as his surname. Hu Jing once participated in the compilation of the third edition of Baodi in Shiqu, and had contact with the paintings collected by the imperial court, but he didn't write down any of Yuan Jiang's works. When court painters and some ci-minister painters in the Qing Dynasty painted or presented their works for the emperor, there was a fixed format for the inscription on the screen, that is, adding the word "minister" in front of the name to show that they painted exclusively for the emperor, without exception, which can be confirmed from a large number of court paintings and ci-minister paintings left over from the Qing Dynasty. The number of Yuanjiang's works spread to this day is not small, but none of them have been engraved with the word "minister". In addition, we didn't find any traces of Yuan Jiang's activities in the archives of Ruyi Pavilion in the Qing Dynasty. When Li Dou, the author of the Record of Yangzhou Paintings, copied the entries about Yuan Jiang in the Record of Yangzhou Paintings, he deleted the plot that Yuan Jiang only wanted to enter the palace. In the same book, Biography of Zhang Zongcang after Yuan Jiang clearly stated that "paintings are dedicated to the palace". Li Dou is very familiar with the story of Yangzhou, and his deletion must be well-founded. It seems that the above situation is no coincidence. They show that the record that Yuan Jiang, a painter, offered sacrifices to the palace during Yongzheng period is untrue, and Yuan Jiang did not offer sacrifices to the palace.
As for the reasons for the mistake, firstly, Yuan Jiang has been to Shanxi to paint for a long time, and he has indeed been to Beijing. The author doesn't know much about him and mistakenly thinks that he is "enshrined in the palace"; Second, Yuan Jiang's painting style is neat and meticulous, rich in color and decorative. Generally speaking, such works should be classified as "institutional paintings", so the author is classified as a court painter.
According to other materials, we also learned that Yuan Jiang was active in the painting circles in his hometown of Yangzhou as an adult, drawing garden architectural drawings for local wealthy businessmen, and his works were very realistic. He has also been to Nanjing, and continued to go south to Zhejiang, where he rendered and colored his large-scale works, and even sketched in the painter's high residence. In the early years of Yongzheng, Yuan Jiang was hired by Shanxi businessmen who operated salt industry in Yangzhou to paint in Shanxi. As for whether Yuanjiang stayed in Shanxi or returned to his hometown Yangzhou in his later years, there is no convincing historical data at present, so there is no conclusion.
Compared with Yuan Jiang, there is less information about Yao Yuan's life story. Yao Yuan's name first appeared in Addendum to Painters, which was written in Qianlong period. There are only a few figures in its written records, which are attached to the entry of Yuan Jiangzhuan: "... (Yuanjiang) has a sub-name, and a castle in the mountains and rivers can still keep the family law." The word "Yao" is also mistaken for the word "Yao".
What is the relationship between Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan? In addition to the book Addendum to the Painter, there are Uncle Lun and Brother Lun. Uncle Shuo can be found in China Painters' Classic (quoted from Qing Painting Collection): "Yao Yuan, Yuan will be the son." The theory of "brothers" can be found in Qin Zhongwen's History of China Painting and Li Yu's Outline of China Art History. However, when Qin Zhongwen talked about Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan in the book, his tone was not very sure: "About brothers." "Uncle's theory" and "Brother's theory" appeared very late, and the basis is not sufficient, so the author thinks that "father-son theory" should be correct.
Yao Yuan's name is included in the Record of Yangzhou Painting Garden written by Wang Xie (quoted from Chuncaotang Essays): "Yao Yuan, whose word is Zhaodao, is from Jiangdu." This is consistent with the size and native place of the inscriptions and seals on Yao Yuan's works. Yao Yuan's word "Zhaodao" was chosen as the font size, obviously because his father Yuan Jiang hoped that he would achieve the same achievements as Li Zhaodao, a famous painter in the Tang Dynasty, and compare himself with his father. He is a painter who is famous for his "green landscape" and "golden landscape" in the painting history of China, and is called "General and Xiao Li". Yuan Jiang asked his son to use the word "Zhao Dao". From this detail, we can also see the tradition and aesthetic orientation that Yuan Jiang admired and inherited in painting art.
At present, Yao Yuan's earliest work was painted in the 12th year of Yongzheng (1734), and his latest work is "Spring Color Picture Axis of Qionglou" (now in the Guangdong Provincial Museum), which ended in the 49th year of Qianlong (1784) and took 50 years to create. From this calculation, Yao Yuan was born in the last years of Kangxi and died in the forty-ninth year of Qianlong (1784). When Yao Yuan was born, Yuan Jiang was probably older, and he was an old man's son.
Like his father Yuan Jiang, Yao Yuan was engaged in painting activities in his hometown Yangzhou when he was young. During the Yongzheng period, people in Linfen, Shanxi Province built their own private garden in Yangzhou, named "Heyuan". After nine years of Qianlong (1744), He Jia built a pavilion in Heyuan. After the completion, He invited people from all walks of life in Yangzhou to write their names. Yao Yuan was one of the invitees. Two years later, in the 11th year of Qianlong (1746), He rang painted twelve scenes of pavilions and pavilions in Heyuan Garden, wrote poems with others, and added them to the plaque in the garden, named Ode to the East Garden. The information in the above two "Pictures of Yangzhou" has a clear age, which is very valuable for determining the age of Yao Yuan's life.
Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan's Painting Creation
When "literati painting" prevailed in the early Qing Dynasty, Yuan Jiang's and Yao Yuan's paintings were unique in the painting world. They inherited the fine traditions of their predecessors (mainly the exquisite brushwork of Tingshan in Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties), and made innovations and made remarkable achievements.
According to Yangzhou Painting Boat, Yuan Jiang was a beginner, and Chou Shizhou was one of the "Four Houses of Wumen" in the middle of Ming Dynasty, while he mainly painted green landscapes. Dong Qichang said: "The Li Zhaodao School is very particular about crocodiles in Zhao Boju and Zhao Bo, and has high morale. Those who imitate it can't get its elegance. If Ye Fu and Qian Shun, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, were built for 500 years, they were enemies.
Yuan Jiang studied Chou Ying's paintings in his early years, which shows that he mainly inherited the traditions of Li Sixun and Li Zhaodao in the Tang Dynasty, which can also be seen in Yuan Jiang's nickname "Zhao Dao" for his son Yao Yuanqi. The "green landscape" of Zhao Boju and Zhao Bo crocodile brothers in Song Dynasty also belongs to the traditional painting method; Qiu Ying is a painter who is good at copying ancient paintings. It seems that Yuan Jiang studied painting in his early years and worked hard on the works of his predecessors, including Chou Ying.
Yuan Jiang, a middle-aged man, "gained ancient paintings with an anonymous name and made great progress." Some people speculate that Yuan Jiang "was painted by an anonymous person in middle age, which may be the name of the Song Dynasty". From Yuan Jiang's works, we can see that he absorbed and adopted the painting methods of Fan Kuan, Guo, Li Cheng,,, Xia Gui and Yan Ciping, and absorbed many advantages of landscape painting since Yuan and Ming Dynasties in terms of business position (composition).
The stage hall in Yuan Jiang's landscape paintings has inherited the tradition since the Tang and Song Dynasties. Pavilion painting, also known as "house wood", needs to be marked with a ruler when painting buildings. "Boundary painting" is a branch of traditional painting in China. In Yuan Dynasty, Tao divided painting into thirteen subjects in the Record of Dropping Farms, among which "Balcony Boundary Painting" was a subject. After the Tang Dynasty, there were experts who specialized in painting pavilions and pavilions. However, with the great development of "literati painting" in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, boundary painting was gradually regarded as a craftsman's work, and its status became lower and lower. "On secular paintings, there must be thirteen paintings, starting with mountains and rivers and based on boundary paintings." In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, few people were good at boundary painting, and most of their works lacked artistic conception and vitality. It is in this situation that Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan revived the boundary painting which has been declining since Yuan and Ming Dynasties.
While studying ancient traditions, Yuan Jiang did not neglect to learn from painters who were better than himself or his contemporaries. During the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, a group of Yangzhou painters were famous for their meticulous brushwork, good at green landscape painting, and quite active in painting circles, such as Li Yin, Xiao Chen, Yan Feng and Yan Yue brothers. These painters' painting style is neat and meticulous, which is quite different from the "literati painting" style. Li Yin, in particular, is good at boundary painting and landscape painting to learn Tang and Song styles. Although there is no written record that Yuan Jiang studied painting from Li Yin, the artistic connection between Li Yin and Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan is obvious. The painting styles of painters such as Li Yin, Xiao Chen, Yan Yi and Yan Yue undoubtedly have a great influence on the formation of Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan's painting styles. It is on the basis of drawing lessons from predecessors and contemporary painters that Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan created unique boundary paintings of landscapes and pavilions, which made the traditional boundary paintings reach a new height and became an important school in the painting circle of Qing Dynasty.
Yuan Jiang's and Yao Yuan's boundary paintings of landscapes and pavilions can be divided into two categories according to the objects depicted: one is sketched works, and the other is completely imaginary works.
Both Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan have good landscape paintings. For example, Yuan Jiang's "Looking at the Garden" (collected by Tianjin Cultural Relics Company) depicts a garden building in Nanjing. Zhanyuan is the residence of Xu Da, the founding father of junior high school in Ming Dynasty. In the late Ming Dynasty, Xu Da's descendants changed it into a garden building; In the early Qing dynasty, this place became the official office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yuan Jiang's Landscape is developed from right to left. The first thing you see is the high courtyard wall, and there are several servants dressed in Manchu costumes cleaning in the aisle of the courtyard wall. There are heavy buildings and pavilions in the courtyard wall, with winding paths leading to a secluded place, ancient trees and strange flowers, and stacked stones and peaks. A pool of water ripples. In the background, a touch of distant mountains sets off the tower shadow, and the inscriptions of some pavilions in the painting are clear and identifiable. For example, the couplet of "A glimpse of the building" is "Qiu Ji lives in bamboo leaves; Spring cold has rhyme to keep plum blossoms "; There are two couplets in the pavilion, "Come to the Double Phoenix Celebration". One is that "the case is good and the heart is always quiet; The court has a pomegranate flower dream, one is "every lonely cloud attracts wild cranes;" "Always bring a bottle of wine to seal the famous flowers." Fine pen and ink, meticulous description, complex but not chaotic, dense but not broken, clear picture, a good performance of the pattern and style of a Jiangnan garden building. Judging from the painting method, it may be Yuan Jiang's earlier work, but it is already quite impressive.
Yao Yuan also has a strong realistic ability. In addition to many landscape paintings featuring ancient poems and fairy tales, there are some wonderful landscape paintings handed down in Yao Yuan.
The banner of Winning the Han River is one of his representative works of realistic painting. Combined with the written materials such as "Yangzhou Ship" and "Yangzhou Mansion", it should be the scenery in the northwest of Yangzhou suburbs. The gatehouse in the lower left corner of the screen should be the north gate of Yangzhou (also known as Zhenhuaimen); The river outside the city gate is Chenghe River, outside the north gate is Meihualing, and there is Shi Kefa's ancestral home (Shi Kefa, the anti-Qing general in the late Ming Dynasty) on the ridge; The Meihua Academy, which was built on the site of Chongya Academy in Ming Dynasty during Yongzheng period of Qing Dynasty, is also here. West and north along the river, across the Slender West Lake, is the Shugang Scenic Area in Yangzhou. Before Jian Zhen and monks went to Japan in the Tang Dynasty, the daming temple Peace Mountain Hall in Yangzhou was above Shugang. In Yao Yuan's paintings, these places of interest are shown in detail. The whole picture is composed of a bird's-eye panoramic view, with a close shot, a middle shot and a long shot, with distinct levels and a clear view. Such a large handwriting can never be drawn without on-the-spot sketch and investigation. On the basis of sketching, Yao Yuan carefully managed his position, took all of it, and kept improving, leaving a masterpiece reflecting the scenery of Yangzhou in the early years of Qianlong, which provided us with valuable information on the historical face of northwest Yangzhou at that time, and its value was various.
In addition, Yuanjiang and Yao Yuan also have a large number of virtual landscapes and castle paintings with the themes of fairyland in folk myths and legends and famous huge buildings in ancient history. Such as Epang Palace, Liangyuan, Jiucheng Palace, Chenxiang Temple, Lishan Palace, Lvyetang and Penglai Fairy Island. These painting themes have been described by Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan many times.
Yuan Jiang's Flying Snow Map in Liangyuan depicts a garden built by Liu Wu in Liang Xiaowang in the Han Dynasty. Liang Xiaowang likes to make friends with guests from all over the world. At that time, celebrities Sima Xiangru, Mei Cheng and Zou Yang all lived in this garden. Yuan Jiang put this famous building in the heavy snow. Gorgeous and bright architectural decorative color paintings and simple and elegant white snow form a strong contrast in color, while the building arches and doors and windows are delicate and delicate, which has nothing to do with the snow on the roof, resulting in a strong contrast between reality and reality. This is an excellent border painting.
Yuan Jiang has a Tide Map, which is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Silk color painting, 97 cm long and 13 1 cm wide. This picture is made by Bing (17 16), which is Yuan Jiang's early work. Every year from August 16th to 18th of the lunar calendar, it is the spring tide period of Qiantang River. During the Southern Song Dynasty, because the capital was moved to Lin 'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang), tide watching became an annual grand event for the ruling and opposition parties. At that time, the sea went up against the Qiantang River along the trumpet-shaped mouth, such as "Yucheng Snow Ridge, coming from all directions, the sound was like thunder, and those who shocked and exploded swallowed the sky and covered the ground were extremely heroic." This work depicts the grand occasion of tide watching in the Southern Song Dynasty. The picture is composed diagonally, the lower left corner is full of congestion, and the upper right corner is left with a large blank, forming a strong contrast between reality and reality, which clearly shows that the painter is influenced by the composition of Ma Yuan, a painter of the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy. When painting rocks, we draw more lessons from painters such as Li Cheng, Guo and so on in the Northern Song Dynasty, and pay attention to the expression of the sense of volume. The brushwork is flexible and changeable, and painting rivers also has the aftertaste of Song people. Pay great attention to the color contrast, exquisite and gorgeous pavilions set off the white of the river. The horizontal composition is quite consistent with the theme of the picture, which makes the surging tide more powerful. Others include Yuan Jiang's Summer Resort Map, Aquilaria Pavilion Map, Three Mountains on the Sea Map and Yao Yuan's Penglai Wonderland Map.
Yao Yuan's representative works with the theme of "Four Scenes of Mountains and Waters" include Spring in the Sea, Rain is Coming, Autumn Colors in the Han Palace and Noisy Paintings. Among the four scenic spots, pavilions dominate in the Spring and Autumn Period, while mountains and water dominate in Xia Dong. If these four paintings are hung in the same hall, the beauty of pavilions and the grandeur of mountains and rivers are great. Compared with Tong Jingping, these four paintings have the same effect. "Spring Flowers on the Sea Bridge" is a picture depicting the spring scenery. Behind the pine tree, you can vaguely see purplish peach blossoms and green willows. The whole picture is peach blossoms and green willows. The summer scenery in the Four Seasons screen is called "Rain is coming", which is taken from a famous sentence by Xu Hun, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. The description of the wind is the most prominent part of this summer landscape painting. Autumn scenery with Four Scenery is based on the story of Wang Zhaojun's marriage to Xiongnu in Han Dynasty. In fact, the author's interest lies not in the story itself, but in depicting the magnificent palace. However, Yao Yuan shrouded the magnificent buildings in the darkness, and the moon hung high, which seemed a bit bleak. It is also in line with Wang Zhaojun's parting feelings that he is about to leave his hometown relatives. The Negative Mystery Map is the last of the four scenic spots, showing the winter scenery. The word "negative mystery" means to bask in the back to keep warm in winter. The picture shows the thatched cottage in the village. After a hard year, several farmers gathered in front of the house to chat and bask in the sun. The shabby thatched cottage is in sharp contrast with the magnificent palaces in spring and autumn.
Twelve screens of bamboo, incense and pine painted by Yuan Jiang are now in the Palace Museum in Beijing. This painting was painted in Guimao year (the first year of Yongzheng 1723), which is the representative work of Yuan Jiang's painting art in its mature period. "Bamboo and pine" refers to the Book of Songs? Xiaoya, a metaphor for the prosperity of families and pine trees based on the firmness of bamboo, is often used as a toast when a new house is completed. This group of twelve screens looks like it was painted for the completion of a manor. Exquisite buildings near mountains and rivers appear among pines, cypresses and bamboos, which are quiet and elegant. The rocks, lakes and buildings in the painting are all natural; The whole painting is dominated by turquoise, and only a few beautiful colors are used in the room, which is harmonious and unified. From this group of works, we can see the artist's ability to deal with big scenes.
Yao Yuan also painted many screen paintings, including Peach Blossom Screen 12, which was written in the year of Bingyin (the 11th year of Qianlong 1746) and titled Tao Yuanming's masterpiece Peach Blossom Spring in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Yao Yuan's paintings take advantage of this theme, depicting a quiet rural life, where farmers farm leisurely. Peach blossoms in full bloom and dotted mountains and rivers vividly create a comfortable environment that can be cultivated, woven and read. When Yao Yuan made this painting, he paid great attention to the fluctuation of the picture and the correspondence between reality and reality. At the beginning of the picture, the lake runs horizontally, and the rocks on the middle slope protrude. Later, he saw a lake, which ended with an abrupt peak. When the viewer appreciates this picture, his eyes move up and down with the scene, intermittently, intermittently, resulting in wave-like movement and rhythm, getting rid of the straight horizon and achieving good results.
Multi-banner painting is different from a single work, which requires the painter to have an overall consideration before painting, that is, the thinking and arrangement of "business position", which should not only pay attention to the great effect of the whole picture, but also consider the relative independence of each picture after the banner picture is divided. Both Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan can handle these problems with ease, and they are also resourceful in the creation of huge works. This is probably due to their artistic practice of arranging halls in Shanxi salt merchants' homes.
Although Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan are both famous for painting pavilions, they can also paint flowers, birds, insects and fish. Judging from Eryuan's works handed down from ancient times, the painting style of this kind of theme is relatively free and easy, but the number is much less than pavilions. It can be seen that they don't often draw flowers, birds, insects and fish, but only occasionally.
In addition, Yuan Jiang's works can be divided into fine pen and thick pen in style. Most of his works are neat and meticulous, but there are also a few works with rough brushwork (relative to his meticulous brushwork). This kind of picture frame is mainly ink or light in color and has a unique appearance. The axis of Hanshan Shuiyue collected by Henan Provincial Museum belongs to this category. This painting is vivid and lively with a pen, especially the painting method of forest, which emphasizes its density and complexity, and its brushwork is very indulgent, rather than sticking to the specific and accurate description of the shape of each tree, which is quite different from Yuan Jiang's consistent painting method.
Guihai in the eighth year of Qianlong (1743), Yuan Jiang painted a large picture album "Landscape Map", 12 folio. This album is relatively late in Yuan Jiangshu's annual works, and its painting method is relatively extensive. It seems that most of Yuan Jiang's landscape paintings are his works in his later years, from which we can also see the process of his style change. The difference between Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan's father and son in painting is not obvious. If you don't sign the money, it's hard to see whose handwriting it is. Generally speaking, Yuan Jiang's paintings are slightly tight, while Yao Yuan's paintings are slightly loose.
The paintings of pavilions and mountains and rivers in Yuanjiang and Yao Yuan have been popular in some areas for nearly a hundred years from Kangxi to Qianlong. However, with their death, this kind of painting, or this kind of painting style, has gradually declined. Although there are still a few followers, it has not become a climate, so that it eventually disappeared in the painting world. The prosperity of Yangzhou painting circle is closely related to the economic prosperity of Yangzhou, the numerous salt merchants living here and the prosperity of Yangzhou gardens. The appreciators and buyers of Yuan Jiang's and Yao Yuan's paintings were salt merchants engaged in salt industry in Yangzhou at that time. Salt merchants in Yangzhou mainly come from Shanxi in the north and Anhui in the south. Anhui salt merchants like the freehand brushwork of flowers, bamboos and stones along the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", while Shaanxi salt merchants like the landscape and pavilion paintings of Yuanjiang and Yao Yuan. Salt merchants in different regions have different aesthetic and appreciation interests because of the differences in cultural background or cultural inheritance, and this difference in interest has created a diversified face and pattern of Yangzhou painting circles. However, with the gradual retreat of Shaanxi salt merchants from Yangzhou, Anhui salt merchants became active, and the painting styles of Yuan Jiang and Yao Yuan showed signs of decline almost at the same time, showing the coexistence of artists, artworks and art patrons. In order to bid farewell to the Shanxi salt merchant He, who runs the salt industry in Yangzhou, he once made a farewell map of Guangling. Although only one person bid farewell, the departure of Shanxi salt merchant He seems to have symbolic significance, which indicates that Yuan Jianghe and his painting style are no longer beautiful.