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The great variety of stylesand techniques created by Chinese ancient masters has made landscape painting not only an important segment of Chinese culture but also an outstanding symbol of Eastern art.
In the Han Dynasty and the period of the Three Kingdoms, landscape provided the perspective to figure painting. It was in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern dynasties that it began to develop into an independent art form.
As early as the Jin Dynasty, painting devoted its service to the cause of Buddhism. Frescoes decorated the walls of temples and pagodas. Painters already were capable of capturing the momentum of water, continents and mountains.
In the course of its development, Chinese landscape painting has undergone constant changes. Painting flourished in early Tang. Wealth and grandeur brought about meticulously and intricately painted landscapes in gilded blue and green.
In late Tang, the dynasty declined. Water and ink replaced blue and green in landscape painting. With the reshuffling of the central government system during Northern Song, and the flowering of literature and art, the emphasis in landscape painting was on imitating nature as well as expressing the inner spirit.
In the Song and Yuan dynasties, while carrying on the tradition of ancient masters, great painters were noted for their unique styles. They incorporated the spirit of the ancient masters in their works without being restricted by the ancient modes. Hence, landscape painting gained in substance.
The Ming Dynasty, however, was a period of imitation. Various schools extolling the teachings of ancient masters were formed. The consolidation of past traditions as well as the development of new schools and styles took place during the Qing period.
In the past hundred years, Chinese landscape painting has assumed new forms. Today, in particular, Chinese landscape painting exhibits the spirit of the past masters but not their forms.
The following is a sketch of the major characteristics in Chinese landscape painting.
Pursuit of sublime resemblance: Chinese landscape painting embodies both spirit and character. To express form with inner glamour is a basic demand.
A good painting should resemble and at the same time not totally resemble the real object. Art form is of higher level than the real form because it is an extraction and condensation of reality.
Painting must reflect the outstanding rhythm and characteristic of the object painted and only in this way can a painter breathe life and character into the thing he paints.
In the Tang Dynasty, WU Daozi was called to paint the 300-mile landscape of Si Chuan.
Having completed the work in one day, he said to the emperor, "I don't have any draft. I just remember the scenery in my heart." Knowing one's subject through and through is the prerequisite to depicting its nature, feature and spirit.
Emphasis on mood-in-composition: It is essential for a painting to make the viewer feel that there is scenery beyond scenery, emotions in the scenery, and to savour what lies beyond.
Mood is the theme and sentiment. An artist's world is the observation, perception and understanding of nature. Mood-in-composition must be reserved. Expressing the mood without the trace of a brush-stroke allows one to associate.
Dai Xi of Qing Dynasty at one time discussed "imagination" ' He said, "Painting that shocks is not as good as that which delights. One that delights is not as good as that which fires the imagination."
Tang Zhi Qui of Ming Dynasty used the word "hiddenness" to evaluate landscape painting. He believed that the more hidden the scenery, the more expansive its vista. On the contrary, the more exposed the scenery, the lesser its content.
He also said, "To paint mountains and cliffs, one must have its road, wood, temple partly hidden and partly shown." In this way, the distance is clearly shown and it has more depth. If more is hidden than exposed, then the interest it offers would be infinite.
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