On Realism and Picturesque

-A survey of traditional attitudes towards nature and art

The two common critical terms "lifelike" and "picturesque" give people a sense of contradiction. "Realism" is close to reality, and it is like reality. "picturesque" picturesque, picturesque. These two words are both value criticism and both say "good".

So, is it really good? Is it better to draw? What is even more puzzling is that, as Wang Jian, a great painter in the Qing Dynasty, said: When people see beautiful landscapes, they should say "picturesque" and "lifelike". ("Dye Xiang An Postscript Painting") Danqing is a painting. So, is it picturesque? Is it better to be "realistic"? According to the historical use cases, it seems that they are all good, all good and do not conflict. How can it be? These two words appeared in our middle ages, and they were used for a long time and in a wide range, showing the important attitude of this nation towards nature and art. It was not until the vernacular became popular that we had a complete set of critical expressions. These two words are rare, but sometimes they are needed, and sometimes they are translated into vernacular Chinese.

Let's take a look at the history of these two languages first. According to the general order, there is always "truth" before "painting", so we can naturally say "lifelike"-put "lifelike" before "picturesque". But in fact, the word "picturesque" seems to have appeared in the later Han Dynasty, and "lifelike" probably appeared in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. These two successive times limit the meanings of the words "painting" and "truth", and also limit the meanings of these two words; But the meaning of this word will change with the times. In the biography of were Ma Yuan, he said:

A man with a clear beard and unique eyes.

Li Xian in the Tang Dynasty quoted the eastern view of the later Han Dynasty as saying:

Aid is seven feet five inches long and has a picturesque hairstyle.

It can be seen that the word "picturesque" existed in the later Han Dynasty, and Ye Fan's Biography of Ma Yuan in the Southern Dynasties was probably based on this record; He used a "picturesque" description without adding any words. The meaning of this language seems to have remained unchanged until the Southern Dynasties. But what does it mean to be picturesque?

As we know, until the early Tang Dynasty, Chinese paintings were mainly based on stories and characters, and the "picturesque" in "East View" obviously refers to this kind of figure painting. Because of the simplicity and naivety of tools, early figure painting can only be symmetrical in shape and clear in lines. Just look at the portrait of Wuliangye. A well-balanced painting is well painted; People's "color, hair, skin and picturesque appearance" means that they are well-proportioned in appearance, that is, they are well-born. However, it seems that only the color of the haircut skin can be clearly stated, but not the symmetry. It makes sense for Ye Fan to change it to "clear hair and beard, picturesque eyes". Symmetry is the evaluation standard of common sense, which can also be said to be self-evident, and later became a classic standard. The book also quoted Zhuge Liang's Huangling Temple in the Three Kingdoms period, which said that "the mountain on the left side of the river stands on the wall, and the peak at the foot of the forest is picturesque", and there are words such as "seeing the country win". In The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, edited by Yan Kejun in Qing Dynasty, it is said that "this article is suspicious", probably from the perspective of style or style. The author also believes that this record was written by later generations. The concept of "the victory of mountains and rivers" was gradually developed in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and it would not exist in the Three Kingdoms period; And the styles or styles are different. The word "picturesque" in this paper inherits the "scenic spots of mountains and rivers" and has a new meaning, which will be discussed below.

"picturesque" is like a painting, and its original meaning is like a local line or shape of a painting, but it is not like a painting; Because the early paintings were only based on individuals, the painter did not have a clear concept of the whole picture. It seems that this idea did not appear clearly until the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Xie Henanqi listed six methods of painting, the fifth is "management layout", which is the evidence to realize the existence of the whole picture. The word "lifelike" came into being in this era, and "lifelike" refers to the whole modeling.

For example, "Shui Jing Zhu Mian Shui Pian" says:

On Fenxian County ... There is a water jam next to it ... baimashan, the rocks are like horses, which looks very realistic.

"Realistic" here means like a real white horse. But what's good about a stone like a real white horse? This is implicated in the meaning of the word "true". This "truth" refers to the real thing, but on the one hand, it is also the "truth" that Laozi and Zhuangzi said, which is natural, and on the other hand, it contains the meaning of "lively spirit" in the first item of Sheikh's Six Laws. Only "vivid" can be natural and vivid, not lifeless. Dead stone is like a living white horse. They are alive and have business, so they are fine. The statement that "realism" is equivalent to "vividness" or "vividness" is not only true but also true. If these words are true, the idea of "lifelike" mainly follows the development of painting.

At this time, the painting method has developed from symmetry to imitation of the whole object. The second one in the six laws seems to mean symmetry, and the fifth one means further symmetry. The third part, Crops with Ideographic Characters, the fourth part, Giving Talents with Classes, and the sixth part, Transfer from Model to Character, are all about how to imitate objects or nature. Of course, the most important thing is "vivid charm", so put it in the first place. "Realism" means being close to nature, imitating nature like painting, and being more or less realistic.

Zhang Huai in the Tang Dynasty ... "Broken Book" said:

Emperor Taizong ... you are good at ancient posts, almost realistic.

This means that Tang Taizong imitated the calligraphy of the ancients, almost like them, just like those ancients. But it does not seem to imitate nature. But calligraphy is the expression of words, and imitating calligraphy is also imitating words; And imitating characters, as mentioned above, is still imitating nature. Besides, China's calligraphy and painting are in the same strain, and the basic techniques are all concerned about "using a pen". Calligraphy imitates calligraphy, and naturally there are similarities with imitation painting. However, from copying calligraphy to copying nature, we have to turn a corner. Always turning a corner, I can't help but forget the whole person when I see the work. Thus, imitation becomes a rigid sketch. Calligraphy is inevitable, so is painting. It's unnatural. Mr. Guo Shaoyu once pointed out that Taoism naturally has two realms: "apotheosis" and "meeting with God". The "charm" of "vivid charm" seems to have originally borrowed musical terms. On the one hand, this whole language has also accepted the ideas of "deification" and "meeting the gods" and comprehensively said it, so as a basic principle, it ranks first in the six laws. But imitation has become mechanization, and this basic principle has obviously been ignored. In order to emphasize it, people in the Tang Dynasty put forward the concept of "God", saying that it is not an exaggeration to be retro. Therefore, Zhang Huai began to divide calligraphers into "magic goods", "wonderful goods" and "energy goods", and Zhu Jingyuan added "one product" to his paintings. These four qualities, namely, spirit, beauty, ability and ease, later became the general standard of art criticism and also a classic standard. The three products of God, Miao and Yi are all based on Taoist thought, metaphysical mind and philosophical attitude, but not common sense. Only ability is the standard of common sense.

Of course, it is not important to emphasize the spirit, and imitation may be "close in appearance"; But this is only in indirect imitation of nature. Imitating other people's paintings and poems is an indirect imitation of nature, and it can also be said that art imitates art, and a direct imitation of nature, such as "rocks are like horses", can be said to be a natural imitation of nature, but also a "realistic". Han Yu's poem "Early Plum in Chun Xue" says:

These are all suspicious,

Pay attention to two lifelike!

Chun Xue is like Zaomei, and Zaomei is like Chun Xue. It is also a natural imitation of nature, but it is also like painting. As for Han Wo's poems:

Although talent is hard to celebrate,

It is best not to be realistic!

It is said that although poetry is light and can't be described, can't it be painted vividly! This refers to the beauty of women, which returns to figure painting, and it can be said that art imitates nature. This is also an example of imitating nature directly and demanding "realism", just like "rocks are like horses".

In the Song Dynasty, Su Shi directly denied the "likeness", saying in the poem "Drawing Branches in the Master Book of King Yanling":