The origin of Chinese painting can be traced to the surface of earthenware with simple plant and animal design dating back as early as the Neolithic Age. By the Warring States period, some 2500 years ago, ancient Chinese painting had already become highly sophisticated, producing paintings on silk using brush and ink. Chinese painting reached its peak in the Tang and Song dynasties. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it flourished and numerous schools of painting were formed by adopting two traditional styles - literati painting and professional painting.

 

 

Paintings of the Ming Dynasty

Court Paintings

Although the Ming court did not establish imperial painting academies, professional painters from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces were recruited as court painters. While continuing the tradition of the Southern Song court painting, the Ming court painters developed a distinctive court painting style. Prominent landscape painters of the Ming court included Li Zai 이재, Wang E 왕악, and Zhu Duan 주단, Bian Wenjin 변문진, Lin Liang 임량, and Lu Ji 여기 were some famous court painters of flower and bird subjects.

 

Birds and Flowers, Lu Ji 여기(Early 15th century~ca.1505)

Late 15th~Ealry 16th century, 156.7x77.0 cm

 

Professional Painters and the Zhe School 절파 浙派

While court painting blossomed within the palace, the Zhe School founded by Dai Jin 대진 thrived outside the palace. The Zhe School was named after Zhejiang 절강성, the home province of the founder Dai Jin. Dai Jin was a professional painter at the court, but he returned to his hometown.

His artworks influenced many professional painters. He inherited the style of Ma Yuan 마원 and Xia Gui 하규 of the Southern Song Dynasty and developed grand yet moderate composition and various brush strokes. He had many followers such as Wu Wei 오위 and Zhang Lu 장로.

 

Landscape, attributed to Dai Jin 대진(1388~1462)

ca. 1438, 147.5x73.6 cm

 

Playing Music, Wu Wei 오위(1459~1508)

15th~16th century, 151.3x95.2 cm

  

Literati Artists and the Wu School 오파 吳派 

With economic development, Suzhou area in the mid-Ming period became culturally rich. Suzhou laid the foundation for literati painting by inspiring many painters such as Ni Zan and Wang Meng with its beautiful scenery in the late Yuan period.

Shen Zhou 심주 and Wen Zhengming 문징명 were the leading figures of the Wu school of literati artists. The school was named after Wu county, the old name for Suzhou where the two painters worked and were born. The Wu school artists excelled in poetry, calligraphy, and painting. They mainly worked in the region of Suzhou, enjoyed political freedom and were wealthy. They followed the tradition of the Yuan style while developing a distinctive style of literati painting.

 

Mount Jin, Attributed to Shen Zhou 심주(1427~1509)

15th~16th century, 27.8x200.0 cm

 

Landscape after Li Cheng, Zhu Zhinfan 주지번(?~1624)

Late 16th~Early 17th century, 20.7x18.5 cm, Owned by Gansong Museum

 

 

Dong Qichang and Northern Southern School Theory 남북종론

In the late Ming, Dong Qichang 동기창 was highly instrumental in consolidating the Literati painting tradition as the leading and most popular trend in landscape painting.

Dong Qichang's theory of painting is Northern Southern School Theory. He classified paintings since the Tang Dynasty into two types, the northern style and the southern style. Dong pointed out the essential differences between the vigorous and imposing style of the north and the subtle lyrical ambient of the south. Dong used his theory as a tool for comparison between the carefree crude and spontaneous Literati style and the more ornamental colorful professional styles.

 

 

Landscape Album, Dong Qichang 동기창(1555~1637)

1607, 33.0x22.0 cm

 

 

 

Paintings of the Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty and also a non-Han regime. The Manchu established the Qing Dynasty and persecuted anti-Qing movement to strengthen their rule, but also accepted Han culture by restoring the civil service examinations and promoting large-scale compilation projects.

The Qing court supported art enthusiastically and developed local art schools and recruited and trained artists. In particular, Emperor Qianlong was dedicated to supporting the compilation of the list of royal collection as well as writing poems and drawing pictures himself. He was a passionate patron of calligraphy and painting works.

 

Orthodox School and the Four Wangs, Wu and Yun

In the early Qing Dynasty, the Four Wangs 사왕 – Wang Shimin 왕시민, Wang Jian 왕감, Wang Yuanqi 왕원기, and Wang Hui 왕휘 – as well as Wu Li 오력 and Yun Shouping 운수평 were influenced by literati painting and came to represent the Orthodox School. They followed the theories and techniques of Dong Qichang and this provided the cultural legitimacy of the early Manchu rule; therefore, Southern School literati painting appealed many artists and became the mainstream painting of both imperial and local art schools.

 

Landscape after Juran's "Viewing the Waterfall in Autumn Forest"

Wu Li 오력(1632~1718), 1672, 78.7x27.0 cm

 

 

Individualist Masters and the Four Monks

The Four Monks were Bada Shanren 팔대산인, Shi Tao 석도, Kun Can 곤잔, and Hong Ren 홍인. They were painters from the late Ming to early Qing period, who became monks because they could not bare the fall of the Ming dynasty and the reign of the Manchus. The Four Monks expressed their frustration, confusion and feeling of loss in their paintings; they portrayed the complicated state of their inner world in a unique, new style that sought free from the old traditional patterns and learn from the nature. The Four Monks were the individualist masters unlike the Orthodox School. The painting style of the Four Monks exerted a great influence on the Yangzhou School and the future generation of painters.

 

Landscape Album, Shi Tao 석도(1642~1718)

1695, 32.0x23.0 cm each

 

Yangzhou School

In the middle years of the Qing Dynasty, the circle of painting was dominated by the Yangzhou School, with "Eight Yangzhou Eccentric Painters" like Wang Shishen 왕사신  as its representatives.

 

Su Shi Wearing a Reed Hat and Wooden Shoes, Hwang Shen 황신(1687~1770)

1748, 28.3x194.5 cm, Owned by Leeum

 

Shanghai School

In the late Qing Dynasty, Shanghai formed the largest art market in China owing to its economic growth and wealth. As high officials, literary people, calligraphers and painters gathered, demand for calligraphy and painting rose sharply. The major trend of painting in the late Qing Dynasty was represented by the Shanghai School.

 

Offerings on a New Year's Morning, Zhao Zhiqian 조지겸(1829~1884)

1866, 27.5x114.0 cm