“Gongbi” painting and “Xieyi” painting

In general, there is a common absence of perspective and shadow in traditional Chinese painting. This does not mean that ancient Chinese painters are not able to technically represent reality. Precise depiction can be seen in Gongbi painting, a careful realist technique meaning “meticulous”, for example Rare Fowl Sketched from Life by Huang Quan.

Actually, Gongbi painting was not really appreciated by ancient Chinese scholars and intellectuals. What they appreciated was Xieyi painting, also known as freehand brushwork, a genre of Chinese traditional painting which literally means “writing ideas”. This kind of artwork does not chase for physical similarity and for the representation of reality. The freehand brushwork emphasizes the semblance in the spiritual aspect. It focuses on personality and on the cooperation of every element in the painting. An example is Immortal in Splashed Ink by Liang Kai, a great artwork especially when considering that the masterpiece was completed in a short time due to the feature of ink, kind of similar to watercolour.

 

 

 

 

 

Technical feature of brushstroke and aesthetic standards

On one hand, from the point of view of techniques, the tradition of using ink and brush could be an answer to the absence of perspective and shadow. On the other hand, more importantly, aesthetic standards and ideology beyond techniques matter. To some extent, the absence of perspective and shadow could be understood as the neglect of realistic representation. The spiritual meanings are related to Chinese philosophy. Here, for the sake of description to the aesthetic standards, the conception of ‘width’ is used to illustrate multi-views expressing experiences of a sequence of scenes, wide in space and time. The conception of ‘depth’ is used to illustrate multi-layers of intertwined aspects in figures, stories and background, deep in emotion and imagination.

 

Aesthetics of ‘Width’

The first example of aesthetic ‘width’ is the theory of three distances by Guo Xi: horizontal distance, high distance and deep distance, to interpret the relationship between the viewer and the scenery in landscape painting. In Early Spring, different ways of expressing the distance are combined without scientific perspective, but there is still harmony thanks to the composition of scenes and the wise use of clouds fixing the connection parts with a sense of ambiguity. The process of painting is similar to a process of organizing spaces in the mountain rather than a record of the real space which actually cannot be recorded with perspective in such a large angle of view.

The second example of aesthetic ‘width’ is Wind in Pines Among a Myriad Valleys by Li Tang, where we can see the itinerary of views, the composition of space, the moving of viewpoints. There are three layers of space in the painting. The close view invites viewers into the scene with a viewpoint that is lower than that of paintings in similar periods. The middle view composes a variety of temptations. The distant view blurs the feel of distance and makes the scenery seem to be endless.

 

(1) A giant rock extends towards the viewer, seemingly to invite and enter into the high pine forests behind. The middle view is organized considerately to be a series of temptations. (2,3) When we look through the pines, a screened view of a stream can be partly noticed, which is found to be the upstream of rigid stream rocks, along which our sight moves back to the close view. (4) On top of the rocks, there is a stream of the waterfall coming down from the gap of mountains. (5) The source of the water on farther mountains is screened by a giant and imposing mountain with an amazing overhang. (6) On the right, there is the source of a waterfall dropping down straight to where we noticed through the forests. (7) The clouds leave a blank space between the distant view and the middle view, which blurred (blurs?) our feel of real distance. (8) A giant mountain is standing in the middle of the painting, with no clue of how far it is. (9) Around the giant mountain, there are some misty straight mountains. On one of them, Li Tang wrote his name and the year 1124.

 

 

 

 

 

Aesthetics of ‘Depth’

The aesthetic ‘depth’ is demonstrated by an illustration in Romance of the Western Chamber, the tragic love story of Cui Yingying and Zhang Sheng, whose love and intention of marriage was destroyed by the different social classes of the families. The illustration is in the chapter Reading the Letter, depicting a scene in which the lovers tried to communicate with each other by letter with the help of the girl’s maid.

 

We are taken into the scene by the view of the maid, which is similar to the view of a viewer hiding behind the screen and trying to peep the female protagonist. However, her body is blocked by the screen except for the edge of the dress. We can only see her face by the reflection of the mirror on the table. She is reading a letter from Zhang Sheng, the male protagonist. This is one of the few happy moments in the story when the girl enjoys the sweetness of reading the letter - the only way of communication at that time. Zhang Sheng is not depicted in that reality but on the screen, where there is a lonely man on the boat, with the trees withering without leaves, implying a time of cold winter, as cold as the mood of Zhang Sheng. Because at that moment, he was unable to know if his girl had received the letter.

 

 

 

 

Western and far East, tradition and modernity

The absence of perspective and shadow in traditional Chinese painting is actually the neglect of realism, a matter of aesthetic standards, which can also be noticed in the works of western painters. We can see the use of multi-viewpoints in the paintings of Picasso and Cézanne, pursuing not simply beauty or realism but a new way of observing with different views, which is similar to the way we find in Chinese landscape painting.

 

In Vincent van Gogh’s sketch, there is a liberation of methods and strokes that has hardly appeared in western painting and had a great influence in the latter painters' works, for example the impressionists. So it is natural to wonder where the origin of the new strokes came from - and Japan might be an answer. In the 18th century, when China was isolated from the world, Japan started a strong communication with Europe. The Ukiyo-e was widely exported for decoration in favour of European clients.

 

The vision without perspective and shadow could be a starting point to think about topics like tradition and modernity, western and far east. I believe that the essence of art is basically the same despite different forms of expression in different time and space, no matter tradition or modernity, no matter western or far east, as we share the same humanity and the same intuition of aesthetics. A kind of ‘modernity’ can be seen in traditional Chinese painting by understanding the neglect of realism, expressiveness of brushstrokes and the organization of views. The concepts of tradition and modernity do not only depend on the time periods but also on the insight of art.

 

 

 

 

 

The difficulty of Chinese painting and tradition of ideology

Expressive brushstrokes with ink and brushes were a great improvement in the history of Chinese painting, not only in the technique but also in the spirit. It was once a period of high freedom and expression of individuality and art. For example in Grapes by Xu Wei, we can see skilful brushstrokes, the method of splattered ink, artistic expressiveness, freedom together with harmony in composition of painting, calligraphy and seal. However, the expressive brushstrokes were depressed from the mainstream aesthetic tendency (for example by Dong Qichang in Ming Dynasty) because of a philosophical and ideological preference based on the assumption that the expression of brushstrokes was somehow the expression of the painter’s character.

 

So the tendency of connotation in Chinese culture resulted in the depression of expressive paintings, which is a pity as far as I am concerned. Instead, the development of traditional painting is directed by another way of aesthetic standards, one that combines a plain technical expression of brushstrokes and the philosophical pursuit in spirit. In the painting of Dong Qichang, we can still see artistic improvement in the way of composition, a relation of human and nature, spiritual meaning of endlessness. But that is also the reason why nowadays Chinese paintings are hard to be discussed within an international and contemporary view, the difficulty being the understanding of the cultural background.

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Gombrich 2014

E.H. Gombrich, Shadows: The Depiction of Cast Shadows in Western Art, Yale University Press, December 2014.

 

Shi Shouqian 2015

Shi Shouqian, From Style to Huayi: Ruminating on Chinese Art History, SDX Joint Publishing Company, August 2015.

 

Wang Xin 2014

Wang Xin, Arcadia: Painting and Garden, Tongji University Press, Shanghai, 2014.

 

Wölfflin 2011

Heinrich Wölfflin, Principles of Art History, Peking University Press, Beijing, 2011.

 

Wu Hung 1996

Wu Hung, The Double Screen: Medium and Representation in Chinese Painting, Reaktion Books Ltd, London, 1996, p. 257.

 

Hu Wei 2016