Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor The Symposium Papers in Two Volumes Ph0ebus 6, Number 2 A Journal of Art History 3 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Contributors Ju-hsi Chou Arizona State University Christina Chu Hong Kong Museum of Art Ginger Cheng-chi Hsu University of California, Riverside Chu-tsing Li University of Kansas Alfreda Murck The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Richard Vinograd Stanford University Marshall P. S.Wu The University of Michigan Museum of Art Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor The Symposium Papers in Two Volumes Edited by Ju-hsi Chou and Claudia Brown Phoebus 6, Number 2 A Journal of Art History Art History Faculty School of Art College of Fine Arts Arizona State University Editorial Board: Ju-hsi Chou Betsy Fahlman Donald Rabiner Editors: Claudia Brown Ju-hsi Chou Editorial Consultant: Anne Gully Index and Glossary: Jane Leong Richard Raymond Design: Thomas Detrie Cindy Phillips Typography: Typography Unlimited, Inc. Lithography: Horizon Graphics Inc. Copyright © 1991 Arizona Board of Regents All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Arizona State University vigorously pursues affirmative action and equal opportunity in its employment, activities and programs. Contents 207 Preface 209 Figure, Fiction and Figment in Eighteenthcentury Chinese Painting Richard Vinograd 228 Yuan Jiang: Image Maker Alfreda Murck 261 Zheng Xie's Price List: Painting as a Source of Income in Yangzhou Ginger Cheng-chi Hsu 272 Jin Nong: The Eccentric Painter with a Wintry Heart Marshall P. S.Wu 295 An Overview of Li Jian's Painting Christina Chu 316 Eighteenth-century Foundations in Modern Chinese Painting Chu-tsing Li 329 Epilog: Rubric and Art History The Case of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou Ju-hsi Chou 351 Notes 381 Glossary 393 Index Preface Ph0ebus 6, in two issues, publishes in revised form the papers from the international symposium held at the Phoenix Art Museum, 3-5 October 1985, in conjunction with the exhibition, The Elegant Brush: Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor, 1735 - 1795. Together with the exhibition catalog, these form a trilogy which serves to investigate painting in eighteenth-century China. Phoebus 6, Number 2 provides an index to all three volumes. Phoebus 6, Number 1 presents general perspectives on the Qianlong era as a whole and afterwards shifts its focus onto the court in Beijing and its sponsorship of painters and paintings. Phoebus 6, Number 2, in turn, examines those artistic phenomena beyond the walls of the capital, with a justifiable concentration on Yangzhou in its heyday. This is followed by a brief glimpse of an evolving painting tradition in Guangdong and an analysis of the eighteenth-century foundations of post-Qianlong painting. Funding for the present volume is provided by the School of Art, Arizona State University, which regularly publishes Phoebus: A Journal of Art History. Additional support was received from the Asian Arts Council of the Phoenix Art Museum. The 1985 symposium was sponsored by the Arizona Humanities Council in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Humanities, and further supported by the Flinn Foundation and by Mr and Mrs Roy Papp. Grateful acknowledgment is extended to the Flinn Foundation for its contribution of major funding for the exhibition, and to the J. Paul Getty Trust and AT&T for their generous support of the exhibition catalog. To those who contributed to and participated in the symposium, the editors wish to make known their sincere gratitude and appreciation. A Note on Romanization R o m a n i z a t i o n of C h i n e s e c h a r a c t e r s i n Phoebus 6, will a d h e r e t o t h e pinyin s y s t e m , w i t h t h e f o l l o w i n g e x c e p t i o n s : Anglicized words which are already a part of the normal English vocabulary and are not easily substituted, e.g. Yangtze. Terms and names in titles of publications using different systems of romanization, e.g. The Literary Inquisition of Ch'ien-lung (not Qianlong). Self-chosen names of modern Chinese scholars in the West, familiar through previous publications, e.g. Yu Ying-shih (not Yu Yingshi) and Wen Fong (not Fang Wen). Place names outside of mainland China, the usage of which is accepted internationally, e.g. Hong Kong (not Xianggang) and Taipei (not Taibei). Figure, Fiction and Figment in Eighteenth-century Chinese Painting Richard Vinograd An occasion such as the exhibition, The Elegant Brush, devoted to the art of a single period under the Qianlong Emperor, inevitably leads us to reconsider some of the terms and formulations with which the period has been characterized. We all recognize that general characterizations are part rhetorical formula, part stereotype, usually inadequate and often misleading; most often they fulfill the historian's need for a clarity that is seldom an attribute of the historical data under study. But we should not underestimate the power of such characterizations, perhaps most marked w h e n they are submerged, to set the direction of our investigations and the terms of discourse which our interpretations will follow. It is perhaps the least studied fields which are most vulnerable to the tyranny of the formula; thus we are doubly grateful to the organizers of this exhibition and symposium for directing attention to a surprisingly neglected period. There appear to have been a couple of major directions in the study of eighteenth-century painting. The first took the polarity between court circles and the independent masters of the southeast as its leading theme. 1 This is a useful and still valid approach, of course, but perhaps any kind of polar scheme tends to exaggerate the contrasts between extremes, and this is probably still more tempting when one side has such an intriguing label as the Eight Strange or Eccentric Masters with the other side overshadowed by the imperial presence. The court is perceived as a stronghold of artistic conservatism, and the southeastern schools in the Yangzhou area as a dialectical counterweight, with a n e m p h a s i s o n qualities s u c h as free e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n , spontaneity, individuality, humor and a boldness of approach verging on the uncontrolled. Disregarding the inadequacy of such stereotypes to account for the artistic situation at the time, it is of interest that the artistic qualities attributed to the Yangzhou masters can also be qualities of personality. 2 There is a tendency in this approach to focus on anecdotal or biographical studies that would confirm a certain kind 210 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor of personality, and to place the valuation of paintings on a standard related to the expression of a certain attitude. The danger is that it can lead us away from the complexities of particular paintings, or from paintings in general, and replaces a considered appraisal of quality and concern in painting with characterizations of painters. A more recently popular direction in studies of the period has been toward an investigation of patronage, or, more broadly, of socioeconomic factors in art.3 This is in many ways a healthy corrective to some earlier approaches, and has some important strategic advantages. First, we can look at and interpret the entire period in consistent terms; clearly, imperial patronage is a central issue for court painting; on the other hand it is helpful to look at the art of the southeast not simply as the spontaneous creations of eccentric minds as has long been the practice, but in terms of a group or class of artists working under some common constraints and in parallel directions, responding to changing sources of sponsorship and altered markets. Second, such an approach allows us to incorporate new fields of data and broader ranges of investigation into our studies of art. Studies of economic distribution and power, the sociology of the merchant class, education and office-holding patterns among the merchant elite of the southeast can all be relevant to our explanations of artistic phenomena. 4 A patronage-centered approach does lead productively to new modes of art-historical explanation. Instead of spontaneous whimsy as the engine of artistic production, we are apt to consider relationships between such phenomena as the taste for extravagant gesture and ostentatious display among the newly wealthy merchants and a certain surface boldness and flashiness of style among the artists of the region and period. Or we might consider what seems to be an increased specialization in genre and style and possibly higher volume production by artists in the context of a freer market economy and a broader but more openly competitive patronage base for art. Patronage studies have been, and promise to be, so broadly useful that I would not make even a rhetorical pretense of arguing against them, although the focus of this paper lies in another direction. 5 1 would only add a couple of qualifications. First, I would argue that the usefulness of this strategy is increased to the degree that the concept of patronage is expanded from a narrow focus on material kinds of exchange to include symbolic exchanges of all sorts between patron, artist and audience, exchanges of values, prestige and significance, as well as of harder forms of compensation. Second, a potential drawback of narrower kinds of patronage studies is that they tend to conceive of art in terms of product, of subject matter in terms of demand, and of styles as the Figure, Fiction and Figment 211 result of market pressures or the need for publicity. Most of all, in this light art is seen as a epiphenomenon of social or economic structure, something tossed up from the here-and-now (in this case, of course, the there-and-then) of contemporary events, whose potential significance is circumscribed by that origin. The danger, of course, is that the work of art will, just as in personality-centered approaches, be pushed into the background, seen as a more or less incidental by-product of a social event. The value and meanings proper to an artistic tradition with its own history of concerns, as well as those kinds of significance that cannot comfortably be seen as grounded in socio-economic motives, may well be overlooked. One quick, if somewhat indirect, way of suggesting some of the limits of the patronage-centered approach, while introducing some of the specific concerns of this paper, is to refer to recent studies of the eighteenth-century Chinese novel, particularly of Cao Xueqin's Qianlong period masterpiece, The Dream of the Red Chamber. In particular, two recent critical studies of that novel, by Andrew Plaks and Lucien Miller, have attempted to redress what they see as the limits of studies focused either on the identity and biography of the author, or on the novel as a mirror of eighteenth-century aristocratic society and political events. Plaks sees the novel as fundamentally concerned with archetypical patterns of thought and making use of an allegorical method. 6 Miller's study explores three interpenetrating modes in the fictional world of the novel: a realistic or mimetic mode, an allegorical mode focusing on myth, and the narrative mode of fictional devices and personae. 7 He sees the realistic concerns of the novel, with its subtle psychological characterizations and a rich evocation of the rarefied society of upper-class garden and boudoir, as only one coequal facet of the text. The other principal concerns are the author's complex manipulation of fictional devices, especially the complex masked personae of author, commentator and narrator, and beyond that a broad mythic framework for the story which deals with fundamental issues of reality and illusion, transcendant and sensual experience, and moral confusion and enlightenment. There is, of course, no inherent reason why Qianlong period painting s h o u l d directly parallel t h e concerns of e v e n t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t of contemporary novels. It does seem to me, however, that critical approaches to literature of the time are very likely to touch on issues that are apposite for the sister art of painting. Moreover, these literary studies point to a certain set of intellectual concerns and a world view expressed in fiction that must at least be considered as a relevant 212 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor conceptual framework for eighteenth-century painting. 8 In fact, I see pointed parallels between themes and approaches in The Dream of the Red Chamber and those found in contemporary painting. I want to point out some dimensions of significance in eighteenth-century figure painting that go beyond the mimetic impulse or a response to patronage demands. One of these dimensions has to do with the painted figure as fiction, which may involve emphasis on a persona or on impersonating some historical or literary figure; elsewhere it may be manifested in the artist's preoccupation with presentation or point of view, or in the foregrounding of the problematic nature of the pictorial equivalent of narrative voice and tone. Another dimension has to do with the figure as figment, including paintings in which the asserted level of reality of the figure depicted is in doubt, or where the line between the perceptually present and the illusory or apparitional is blurred; others involve cases in which the painted figure is psychologically or ontologically absent from the everyday world of discourse and interaction, or paintings in which the whole representational enterprise is called into question. I will discuss very briefly examples of three categories of figure painting that exemplify these concerns: portrait images, genre figures or anonymous contemporary types as opposed to identified individuals, and figures from the realms of literature, myth and religion. We are accustomed to thinking of portraiture, perhaps especially Chinese portraiture, as the pictorial genre most straightforwardly involved with the here and now of physical appearance, and beyond that, with assertions of status or of social role through depictions of dress, surroundings, accouterments and the like.9 In those concerns portraiture is linked closely with patronage (narrowly conceived), performing functions of commemoration and glorification. Above all, portraiture is conceived as a genre of painting that affirms a selfidentity. I would like to begin with two portraits, rather conventional in stylistic terms, that throw into relief at the outset the potential ambiguities and internal contradictions that can lie beneath even seemingly placid pictorial surfaces in eighteenth-century figure painting. Both works have been discussed at length in other studies, so I will only touch upon them here. They embody the poles of eighteenthcentury society and culture: one is a youthful portrait of the Emperorto-be Qianlong posed as a Taoist priest, and painted in 1734 (Figure 1 ); the other is a portrait of perhaps the leading southern poet and man of letters of the time, Yuan Mei, painted by Luo Ping and carrying an inscription dated 1781 (Figure 2) .10 Qianlong represents all of the values Figure, Fiction and Figment 213 ft t St *T§ « * * & t » 4 ^ * f if il * £ * » ** 4 t * 4 + c » a? J Figure 1. Portrait of Qianlong as a Taoist Priest, dated 1734. A jf. t * * 1 A & f a * * * A Figure 2. Luo Ping, Portrait of Yuan Mei, dated 1781. Collection unknown. Figure, Fiction and Figment 215 of ritual, authority and control of both state and culture; Yuan Mei was a humorist and sceptic and a free-living, unconventional soul.11 What is remarkable is that both subjects raised in their inscriptions fundamental questions about their self-identities. The prince Bao inscribes the question: 'Who knows the true self of this youth' to accompany his role as a Taoist priest, and signs himself T h e Ever-Verdant Scholar/ 12 Yuan Mei raises a whole chain of cunningly offhanded questions, about the adequacy of his portrait and the nature of the self that is depicted in the portrait, that lead to ever more disturbing and fundamental analyses of selfhood and identity. 13 He concludes with a conceptual shrug: 'the picture can simultaneously be me and not me, it doesn't matter.' It is true enough that for the future Qianlong, the imperial function demanded a universe of roles to be assumed, many of which are documented in an array of portraits of Qianlong as everything from Buddha to bowman. 14 Thus, there is no special reason to assume that this image, as a Taoist priest, was a particularly sincere or revealing one. But the very bewilderment of roles that lay before him may have led the emperor-to-be to dwell for a moment on the elusiveness of a true identity, and there may thus have been a sincere penetration in his plaint. In a similar fashion, we can recognize that Yuan Mei might have been acting playful or even devious in his elaborate self-analysis and rhetorical self-destruction, while still raising pointed and profound questions about the reality of persons. At any rate, the congruence of these concerns, in images of figures that we should otherwise expect to be radically disparate in intellectual focus, should alert us to levels of significance in portraiture beyond the functional. The next image I would like to consider has also been treated eloquently and at length in a published study by Wai-kam Ho; it is the Literary Gathering in A Yangzhou Garden, painted in 1743 by Fang Shishu and Ye Fanglin, and depicting the eminent Yangzhou patrons, the brothers Ma, and their guests.15 It would seem that this work is a nearly perfect embodiment of the centrality of patronage factors in the figural art of eighteenth-century Yangzhou; not only do we see cultural patronage in action, so to speak, with the painting's commission and the scene of the Ma brothers' gatherings depicted in it, but the scroll also records b o t h t h e participants a n d t h e social structure of their relationships, with the 'correct order for seniority by age and social standing,' all the minute calculus of status, reflected in the compositional placement of the figures.161 would only add to this interpretation by noting that even this most specific and realistic of group portraits has a shadowy sub-agenda connected to it. There is a certain inevitable 216 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor idealization involved with the reconstruction of the event after the fact by the painters. 17 Moreover, the cultural associations and prototypes for the gathering are numerous and recognized even by the participants. Associations with the early recluse-poet Tao Yuanming and with Du Fu of the Tang are recorded in the inscriptions by participants, and Wai-kam Ho suggests a pictorial prototype in an early Ming garden group portrait owned by the Ma brothers. 18 It seems likely that the shadow of the fictional Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden would lie over an image of artistic pursuits in a garden, and the stiff, audienceoriented portrayal of the participants in the Ma brothers' gathering picture certainly implies an awareness of posing in rather well-worn roles on a long-established stage.19 Thus, although the primary focus of this image is certainly the participants as social figures, or even as figurations of society, they also appear as characters in cultural fictions. It would be hard to imagine a more extreme contrast in technique and presentation to the previous group portrait than appears in Jin Nong's Self Portrait, Walking with a Staff of 1759 (see below, Wu, 'Jin Nong,' Figure 7). All color and finished detail are dispensed with in this nearly minimalist portrait image, as well as the engagement with the audience, since Jin Nong portrays himself in profile. Also diminished, it would seem, is the whole realm of issues concerned with patronage since in a self-portrait we have not patron and artist, but a presentation of a self-image. In fact, the situation is a little more complex than that. A self-portraitist can be concerned with many of the same issues as a commissioner of a portrait image; whereas the economic factors may be absent, certainly motives of publicity, prestige and commemoration may still be very much alive in a self-portrait, and these are the factors of gain that a portrait commissioner is paying for. Even the withdrawal into the profile view shifts the audience engagement from the plane of visual eye-contact or confrontation to that of intellectual dialogue with the artist's inscription at the upper right, which he seems to walk toward and point to with his staff. The curiously distanced and impersonal rendering of himself in profile, along with an odd tour de force treatment in what approaches reduction to a single outline stroke, the kind of technical conceit we might expect in one of his plum paintings, but seemingly almost callous in a self-image, are both symptomatic of Jin Nong's transformation of this portrait from the category of a physical and social image to that of a conscious cultural fiction. While absorbing his identity into a brushline, Jin also associates himself with certain cultural forms pointed to in his inscription. 20 The text makes a claim, quite spurious in art-historical terms as Jin may well have been aware, for the near-uniqueness of the accompanying Figure, Fiction and Figment 217 self-portrait in Chinese painting, and his recounting of famous portraitists and portraits over time links him by association with some of the greatest names in the whole tradition. At the end of the text, Jin alludes to the more prosaic function of portraiture as a record of his appearance for a long-separated friend, but he asserts his status as a cultural type, showing, in his words, 'the air and appearance of a recluse.' What Jin does not acknowledge in his text is perhaps equally as interesting as what he asserts. The closest compositional parallels to his self-portrait come in late Song dynasty images of strolling poets, such as Liang Kai's famous image of Li Bo, with its profile presentation and drastic economy of technique. 21 Jin Nong's visual echo of this type may have intended an association through similarity even as the issue of indebtedness is evaded. Finally, this image belongs in the category of fictional figures not only because of the willful association with selected cultural types, but on the more general level of its conscious manipulation of presentation and technique. What I would call a portrait figure as figment is exemplified by an image of the Chan master Tan by Luo Ping in 1763 (Figure 3). Luo portrays the monk seated in an outdoor setting, in a fashion reminiscent of Chan Buddhist priest or abbot portraits from as far back as the Song dynasty. Initially, then, the formal associations are with a category of portraiture that was primarily commemorative and realistic, with a welldefined religious function - the type known as chinso- that suggest the more constraining aspects of patronage at work.22 However, the artist's inscription and some features of the image raise some fundamental questions about the nature of the portrait subject, and the level or levels of reality that are presented. Luo Ping's inscription records an encounter with the monk in which the artist observes a similarity with the Chan eccentric figure, Budai, supposed to have been a reincarnation of the Buddha of the Future Maitreya, whereupon the monk Tan produces a cloth bag to complete the identification. 23 It is not completely clear, and perhaps cannot be in this realm, whether the artist intends a portrait of the monk in the guise of Budai, or instead and more radically, a manifestation of Budai in, or through, Monk Tan, as the inscription seems to suggest. At any rate, the painting presents a living Budai, leaning on his bag, bare-chested and with his belly exaggerated into a swelling hourglass shape. W h a t is especially intrigu- ing, and disturbing, is the linking of traditional Chan imagery (usually treated humorously) with the specificity and sense of confrontation implicit in the full-face portrait of an individual who meets our gaze with a piercing equanimity. Both genres of painting are distorted by the interpenetration. Figure 3. Luo Ping, Portrait of the Chan Master Tan, dated 1763. Suzhou Museum. Figure, Fiction and Figment 219 Thus it appears that these eighteenth-century portraits differ not only in techniques and conventions of presentation, but more fundamentally in the underlying conceptions of the persons they represent. The next category of images to be considered comprises genre figures, presumably contemporary figures who are not individually identified and are therefore more conveniently associated with classes or types. The artist who chiefly specialized in genre figures in the eighteenth century was Huang Shen whose output reveals a diverse array of approaches and conceptions. 24 He painted a few more or less directly observed genre images, such as his Blind Beggars, that suggest a kind of social realism in their concerns, but there seems to have been much less of this type of painting than our view of eighteenth-century southeastern schools, with their acknowledgment of economic pressures on artists and their reflection of the strengthening of more popular levels of patronage, might lead us to expect.25 Rather than a straightforward depiction of the contemporary environment or social reality, most of Huang Shen's genre figures seem overtly theatrical in the sense of presenting stock characters, little varied in essence from one to the next except for the accouterments that identify them alternately as fishermen, flower-bearing elders, immortals or literary paragons from the past.26 They are consistently histrionic in style, with rough, powerful brushwork and splashy ink patches that rather stridently call attention to the technique, and quite overpower any distinguishing characterization of the figures. The issue of artistic sincerity is as difficult to avoid, given an acquaintance with a series of such figures, as it is adequately to assess. Most seem ready made and massproduced, rather sentimental in their appeal. There is a certain tension between reading them as figures from the contemporary environment or as somewhat idealized types, with literary and art-historical associations. In either case the conspicuously uniform, somewhat coarse and sentimentalized treatment implies that these may have been rather cynical products, designed to provide a kind of instant cultural aura for sale.27 On the other hand, they may have been meant as ironic or satirical pictorial comments on just such pretensions, on the distance between cultural ideals and an often besotted-looking reality. The ambiguity raised has to do with a voice, or authorial tone, and with the breakdown of the artist's and viewer's complicity in a representational fiction. Some, at least, of Huang Shen's genre figures involve pointed social satires, directed at issues like the commercialization of values and the reality of economic pressures and burdens that may lie behind his stock genre types. An early album attributed to Huang Shen, dated 220 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor 1720, presents in a restrained style genre figures that are fictional or literary in the sense of exemplifying common wisdom, folk sayings or parables; these include the householder reduced to a beast of burden by family responsibilities, and the scholar who exemplifies the commercialization of cultural values by illustrating the power of those with money to command the services even of ghosts.28 Some others of the Yangzhou genre figures, mythological figures or poets which have a suspiciously everyday quality about them as if they were courtesans or drinkers suddenly endowed with a higher identity, are reminiscent of some Wu school imagery of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, as in Tang Yin's art. Here the reverberations call to mind analogies to artistic situations in which ideal values and concepts of artistic status were very much challenged by circumstances, and the tension between the ideal and the actual in artist's lives was paralleled by a confusion in the nature of depicted figures.29 There seem to be two diametrically opposed tendencies coexisting somewhat tensely in eighteenth-century figure painting: one is toward a trivialization of formerly prestigious subjects, and the other toward a mythologizing of the everyday. One other genre image that has some affinities with both the social realist and parable types, but with some extra dimensions of its own, is a painting of Blind Beggars by Cai Jia, active until the mid-eighteenth century (Figure 4).30 It is rendered with an almost etherealized version of the plain outline manner that renders the figures, isolated against a plain background and seeming to hover in their diagonal arrangement, nearly insubstantial. The drawing manner achieves a special poignancy because the image is of figures who are blind. Moreover, the accompanying poem alludes to the relation of painting to perception in a fashion that suggests a consciousness of fundamental issues of representation, and points in turn to the elusive, figmentary quality of the figures depicted: 'With only beggar's instruments they go, a long journey. Six ears can hear the world but there is not even one eye to see it. Don't say this painting doesn't pay attention to them; this floating world is all confused a n d indistinct.' 31 The last line includes a Buddhist reference and implies the illusory quality of the phenomenal world; it may suggest a kind of blindness in painters that parallels that of the depicted beggars.32 The final category of figure paintings that I will discuss includes images that are explicitly literary, art-historical, or mythical/religious in their inspiration. These works can reveal an interest in the fictional or figmentary through their choice of theme. An example is Hua Yan's Figure, Fiction and Figment Tt * * r«l a * * 2 i 5 % * * * »A 2? ft 51 * m * * « A v 1X Figure 4. Cai Jia, Blind Beggars. University Art Museum, Berkeley. 221 222 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor illustration of the Northern Song writer Ouyang Xiu's Sound of Autumn Ode, in which the sound of autumn wind engenders in the narrator the auditory illusion of calamitous sounds, and then, w h e n the sound is identified, a vivid meditation on the melancholy and transience of the h u m a n situation. 33 Hua Yan's somewhat askew composition and frail figures suggest the mental tumult of the narrator, but hardly convey the profundity of cosmic rhythms evoked in the original prose-poem. This kind of irresolute and ambiguous tone is echoed in an album leaf by Jin Nong, with an inscription identifying it as an attempt to imagine retrospectively the intent of an original by Ma Hezhi of the Southern Song that carried a poem by the Empress Yang Meizi, on the theme of Conversation in an Autumn Grove'4 Jin concludes by asking rhetorically of his own effort to recapture the flavor of the original: 'Is this it? Or is it not? I can't know that myself.' Jin's questioning of the epistemological underpinnings of his dialogue with the past is perhaps echoed in his composition, in which one of the conversing figures has his face hidden by a tree trunk; a sense of incompleteness or uncertainty about the adequacy of the image is translated into a partial erasure of one of his painted figures. In the realm of mythical and religious figures, we are even more forcibly struck by the ambiguous and at times nearly illusory status implied in some examples. A painting by Wang Shishen (Figure 5) probably represents the ascetic Buddha-to-be Sakyamuni meditating in the wilderness, chin resting on knees, in a pose characteristic of the iconographic type.35 The accompanying poem is certainly Chan Buddhist in flavor, but the imagery also seems to suit the mood of the times: Like a reflection in a mirror, or the moon in the water; the cloud passing the mountain top - the lion emerges from his cavern. The final reference is presumably to Sakyamuni as the Lion of the Sakya Clan, emerging from his mountain privations and austerities to return to the world. But this is a very insubstantial spiritual lion, quite unlike the emaciated, troubled, and all-too-humanly vulnerable figure in Liang Kai's famous version of the subject.36 Wang Shishen's Sakyamuni remains in dreamy meditation, seeming to float above the rocky platform below him, at the same uncertain, mirage-like distance that the reflection of the moon floats in, or on, the water below, as the poetic images imply. There are a number of other related Buddhist and secular figures from the painting of the period.37 The prominence of sleeping, dreaming, or meditating figures in the painting of the time reminds us of The Dream of the Red Chamber: im : m 4 - Figure 5. Wang Shishen, Ascetic Sakyamuni Meditating. Guangdong Museum. 224 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Thus the preface, with its stress on the origins of the novel in a dream-vision, and the hidden meaning of its affairs, points to the theme of complementary opposites, zhenjia... 'the author relates that he once passed through a dream vision, and afterwards he hid the real affairs therein and composed this book, the stone record...' The passage points to a continual question in the novel, what is ultimately real? This line suggests that Ts'ao [Cao] takes what is 'real' in a dream-vision and hides that reality to create his work of fiction, or, conversely, that he uses a dream-vision to disguise the facts of 'real,' that is, conscious life. Whichever reading we adhere to, a neat ambiguity has been built which signifies the unity of dreams and reality, the unconscious and conscious experience, and of 'true' and 'false'...38 That is, the spatial totality of the allegorical vision of the novel is of an order that includes both being and non-being within its scope, so that the apparent opposition of being and non-being emerges as an example of the sort of interpenetration of reality and illusion for which the dream is the nearest analogue in human experience. 39 This brings us, finally, to a consideration of ghost images in eighteenthcentury painting. The most prominent subject is the ghost official Zhong Kui, the demon-queller, who is depicted in a variety of states. He leans pensively on a tree trunk, supervises a retinue in attendance at his sister's marriage, or slouches stuporously homeward, his drunken frame supported by ghost-helpers, in a formulation that combines the fashion for ghost figures with an interest in vague states of consciousness - sleeping, dreaming, meditation and intoxication (Figure 6) .40 The popularity of the subject is a case study in the difficulty of accounting for motivations for iconographic choice. Images of Zhong Kui were certainly occasional images, hung outside of doorways on festival days.41 Thus we can't exclude the issue of patronage and market demands in their popularity, although the images discussed here should probably not be confused with the truly popular, mass-produced imagery of the professional workshops. We might also say that the popularity of Zhong Kui is a reflection of the literary taste for g h o s t stories in t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , r e p r e s e n t e d b y t h e early eighteenth-century specialist in the genre, Pu Songling, and his story collection.42 The third kind of motivation we could ascribe would have to do with the beliefs of the artists, their fascination with ghostly lore, or, more subtly, their awareness of the iconographic type as a vehicle for some critical or artistic statement. The more interesting and complex an image is the more difficult it becomes to separate ulterior and interior motives. This is equally true of the most famous and Figure, Fiction and Figment Figure 6. Luo Ping, Drunken Zhong Kui, dated 1762. Palace Museum, Beijing. 225 226 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor important example of the ghost genre in eighteenth-century painting, Luo Ping's Fascination of Ghosts handscroll (Figure 7).43 We cannot exclude a reflection of currently popular literature in the form of illustration of ghost tales as the motivation for the scroll, although simpler kinds of sponsorship would seem unlikely in view of the artist's long-term possession of the scroll. Moreover, the artist Luo Ping forthrightly maintained his special ability to perceive ghosts and to paint them; personal belief, verging on what we might call aberrant psychology, was certainly a factor in his choice of specialty.44 It is worth inquiring what kinds of contemporary cultural patterns and issues with which this admittedly quite exceptional scroll is connected. What is significant perhaps about ghost images is that issues of reality and illusion are moved from the mind of the artist or viewer to the being of the subject. It seems to me that the intellectual trends of the eighteenth century reach toward two seemingly quite different poles: one may be exemplified by the school of textual criticism, with its evidentiary and sceptical spirit; the other may be typified by The Dream of the Red Chamber, with its acceptance of the mythical and the illusory as coequal aspects of existence with mundane experience. 45 In another sense, however, both poles have to do with a disillusionment, intellectual for the textual critics, moral or spiritual for the characters and readers of The Dream of the Red Chamber. The eighteenth century seems to have been a period of debunking and reexamination of old traditions, including, in the realm of art, the capsizing of the hierarchy of painting subjects and the demystifying of the status of the artist.46 In the realm of social and cultural values we see a satire on the world of Confucian literati in the novel The Scholars; and in the intellectual realm we see a pursuit of sharply critical, that is philological, paleographic and connoisseurship, activities of all kinds.47 We note that a major study of the Qianlong Emperor is concerned with the disparity between 'image and reality/ 48 Even the reality or knowability of the self and the adequacy of cultural images of it were called into question, as we saw in our first two portraits (Figures 1 and 2). It would be surprising in such a world not to find compensating activities and assertions. The Dream of the Red Chamber, even as it deals with spiritual disillusionment, finds refuge from the world of rationalist analysis in the sphere of allegory and myth, and in the sheer richness of its language, imagery and fictions. It may well be symptomatic that the major artist whose life most nearly coincided with the Qianlong reign period, Luo Ping (1733 - 99), was the author of a text not about art history, connoisseurship, technical secrets of painting, or even about painting theory, but of something called Record of What I Believe in which he deals Figure, Fiction and Figment 227 Figure 7. Luo Ping, Fascination of Ghosts, dated 1797, detail. Xubaizhai Collection, Hong Kong. with spiritual and epistemological matters: ghosts, demons, reincarnations, fate and the like.49 Thus the importance of ghost subjects in his art, and more broadly in the figure painting of the time, might on the one hand reflect the accumulated ghosts of tradition and cultural practice that were under assault through satire or textual examination, or, on the other hand, might reveal an effort to preserve, in the face of disillusioning pursuits, a realm which by its very essence is proof against rationalist destruction, a realm of conflated identities and transformat i o n w i t h a d r e a m - s c a l e of t i m e a n d activity, a r e a l m a n a l o g o u s in s o m e ways to the 'Grand View Garden' in the Dream of the Red Chamber in which the real and the illusory, the true and the false, mingle.50 Yuan Jiang: Image Maker Alfreda Murck In the late seventeenth century Yangzhou was one of the most prosperous cities of the empire largely due to the privilege of administering the highly profitable government salt monopoly. The Yangzhou merchants who amassed fortunes directly or indirectly through the trade of salt had the financial capacity to augment their social status through patronage of the arts. Responding to the economic opportunity, dozens of artists prospered in Yangzhou. 1 Some painters with literary reputations were sought after for their social cachet. They were patronized with a modicum of traditional respect; that is, their paintings were acquired through friendship and persuasion as well as payment in cash or tangible goods. Other painters were frankly professional with a commercial relationship to the newly wealthy. Among them was Yuan Jiang, a native of Yangzhou, who with his followers created one of the most prolific schools of painting of the eighteenth century. Richly detailed and technically accomplished, their paintings were visual entertainment suitable in scale as well as aesthetic content for the opulent mansions of Yangzhou merchants. This essay will focus on Yuan Jiang and how his paintings were shaped by and reflect his time. Yuan Jiang was astonishingly versatile as an examination of his extant paintings reveals. He could paint everything from Song academy flower studies, to ink plays in t h e Xu W e i style (handscrolls of 1720 a n d 1721), and from brilliantly colored wall murals (The Palace of Nine Perfections) to intimate album leaves in monochrome (albums of 1711 and 1720). Expansive landscapes with palaces and sumptuous gardens are only the most distinctive and recognizable of his paintings. With references to historical allusions and classical styles, his paintings answered multiple needs among Yangzhou's well-to-do: of generous proportions, they served to fill the walls of spacious new villas; with grand historical themes, they demonstrated an appreciation of the past; and in alluding to contemporary events, they celebrated the Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 229 present. His broad artistic range and his frankly commercial status lead to the reasonable assumption that Yuan Jiang painted what would sell and what would sell was determined to a large extent by the demands of his clientele. Biography Yuan Jiang is little mentioned in surviving records of the eighteenth century. As he did not compose poems, there is no literary collection. His birth and death dates are unknown, and as a professional he is given only the most summary biography in Zhang Geng's Guochao Huazheng Xulu of about 1740: Yuan Jiang, zi Wentao, from Jiangdu. Excelled at landscapes and architectural painting. In his middle years he obtained anonymous sketches after ancient paintings and then made great progress. In the Yongzheng era (172335) he entered court as painter-in-attendance (zhihou).2 The next mention of Yuan Jiang appears in the Huaren Buyi, an anonymous text published around 1790. Close in content to the above, it adds that Yuan Jiang's court appointment was to the Outer Yangxin Palace Hall (Wai Yangxindian). 3 A painter of Yuan Jiang's skill surely would have made an able court artist, but the record is not entirely consistent. In 1795 Li Dou repeated most of the above information in Yangzhou Huafang Lu, deleting the reference to a court appointment and adding only that Yuan Jiang early studied the style of Qiu Ying (ca 1494 - ca 15 52). Surely aware of previous biographies, Li Dou must have doubted the detail about service at court. The meager historical record summarized above is admirably augmented by Yuan Jiang's paintings which were widely appreciated and have been preserved in quantity. It is from the paintings and the inscriptions on them that we know that Yuan Jiang travelled to Nanjing, Zhejiang and Beijing. It is from the extant dated paintings that his active dates can be tentatively established (see Appendix). The dated paintings extend from the earliest composition known to me of 1680 to the latest creditable picture of 1730. For thirty-five years from 1691 to 1726, paintings survive from virtually every year. In three rare instances Yuan Jiang included a reign name in his inscription: The Palace ofNine Perfections (Jiucheng Gong) of 1691, Landscape of 1716, and The Green Wilderness Hall (Liiye Tang) of 1720. These three exceptions are important, for they provide specific years by which to anchor the other cyclical dates. Paintings with cyclical dates outside the forty year period 1690 - 1730 must be carefully considered as to authenticity and as to whether they fall at the early or late end of Yuan's career. 4 The 230 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor almost one-hundred dated works, along with another fifty undated pictures, provide a portrait of a prolific artist, confident of his craft and responsive to the currents of the time. Three hanging scrolls provide evidence for Yuan's presence in north China, if not his formal service at court. A landscape dated 1724 is inscribed by Yuan Jiang in Yantai (Beijing), placing him in the capital at the beginning of the Yongzheng reign. 5 Second, an undated river scene in a private collection carries the seal of Prince Yi (1686 - 1730), the thirteenth son of Kangxi and the half-brother of Yongzheng. Prince Yi would have used the seal from his enfeoffment in 1723 until his death in 1730.6 The third painting provides persuasive visual evidence for a sojourn in Beijing. In a hanging scroll now in Phoenix, Yuan Jiang depicts Chinese scholars in blue robes and queue setting off past willow trees for the triennial examination. A rare example of contemporary costume and hair style, the painting is inscribed by Fu Wangwen, an unidentified official who may have served as an examiner. His poetic references to pounding brushes, locked doors, and imperial favor make the palace examination context clear.7 Although it is safe to conclude that Yuan Jiang visited Beijing, the question of service as zhihou is confounded by the absence of his name in court records; not a single work by Yuan Jiang is listed in the imperial catalog Shiqu Baoji and there is no instance of Yuan ever having used 'your servitor' (chen) in signing a painting. Pointing to the absence of Yuan's name in palace archives, Nie Chongzheng argues that the position at court was a local Yangzhou embellishment of Yuan's travel to Shanxi and Beijing. According to an oral tradition, Yuan Jiang and Yuan Yao (his putative son) were engaged by the Wei family, a banking family from Shanxi, to decorate its extensive mansions in Taiyuan. This story was given credence by an assortment of over one hundred Yuan Jiang and Yuan Yao paintings coming onto the Beijing antiques market from Shanxi during the period immediately after the fall of the Qing dynasty. 8 Although Yuan's detailed, colorful style would have appealed to t h e taste for t h e decorative a m o n g t h e Qing emperors, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that Yuan Jiang served officially at court. Yuan's brief inscriptions on his paintings suggest a self-effacing professional with high enough social status to sign his own name, but humble enough to use occasionally the craftsmanly verb zhi ('made'). Yuan Jiang never reveals his mood or the circumstances of his painting. Typically an inscription includes the following: title with an indication Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 231 of his art historical model; more than half the time, a pair of characters for a cyclical year (in several instances only one character of the pair is given); an indication of the month in literary or colloquial language; and a signature which consistently reads 'Hanshang (literally "on the Han River," a reference to Yangzhou) Yuan Jiang/ Their terseness stands in sharp contrast to the longer, self-reflective inscriptions of his older contemporary Daoji (1642 - 1707) and his friend Li Yin (active second half of the seventeenth to the early eighteenth century). Art and Commerce The demand for paintings in Yangzhou was an economic boon for all artists. For some painters, like the individualist Daoji, however, it was also a physical trial. Jonathan Hay cites a letter from Daoji to a patron negotiating a four-panel screen. It is indicative of the financial risks as well as the physical effort required to create large, multipanel compositions. ...'You know that originally my work was not associated with the general run of painting, and that I should not have to paint screens. I only do it because I have so many mouths to support and my old illness is getting worse all the time! When I exhaust all the Xuan and Luowen paper on the market, and connoisseurs cannot find more, only then do I turn to satin and silk for my calligraphy and painting; and it is after silk that I turn to screens. When I get a [folding] screen, it has twelve [panels for] paintings. The first and last ones are useless [because they are much narrower than the others], but the middle ten are fine for painting. I split the screen into its individual sections and paint it that way, which means I can't paint it as a [continuous] composition. I know that none of you gentlemen can be as free with your finances as before, so I charge twenty-four taels for the whole screen. But if someone wants a continuous scene, it means standing on a scaffold or a bench, stretching my arm and craning my neck to reach the painting, up and down, up and down, always moving about or standing. For painting in these conditions I charge fifty taels per screen. Now that I'm old I don't have the energy I used to. It's difficult for me to move the brush around vigorously. And even if I can complete the screen, it may be of no use - 1 may ruin one of the panels, then the other eleven will all be worthless. It is better if I just paint twelve separate panels...9 The letter is a valuable document for shedding light on prices of paintings as well as on Daoji's working methods. For a continuous composition Daoji charged more than twice the price of a series of individual compositions of the same width. While a substantial sum, fifty taels of silver is not out of line at a time when Yangzhou salt 232 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor merchants were among the wealthiest people of the world.10 We do not know if Yuan Jiang charged similar prices for his screens, but the Daoji letter makes clear that the cost of materials was significant. Given the necessary investment of silk, pigments and time, large compositions were probably done only on commission and not produced to be held in stock. In Yuan Jiang's case extant paintings indicate that he may have based his large screens on previously executed hanging scrolls.11 A rare example of Daoji's large continuous-composition screen painting can be found in the twelve-panel Panoramic Garden Vista dated 1693 in the Palace Museum, Taipei. A stream laces between islands of bamboo, garden rocks, flowers, banana and pine which are arrayed in a shallow space. An unspecified background suggests that we are viewing a corner of a garden against a plaster wall. The five compositional clumps stand independent of one another, visually connected only by the meandering stream and overlapping branches. Although the individual elements are handsomely painted, the labor of which Daoji spoke is evident in the additive nature of the composition. He is not at ease on this large scale, but is struggling to balance the elements as he fills the paper.12 Not a painting done for his own pleasure, it is a commercial production. The physical effort and financial risks necessary to produce large continuous paintings did not inhibit Yuan Jiang. From his earliest multi-paneled screens, one senses a confidence and delight in creating seamless, sweeping compositions. By 1693, the year of Daoji's Panoramic Garden Vista, Yuan Jiang had been painting twelve-panel screens for more than a decade. One must wonder if the success of Yuan Jiang's huge compositions did not put pressure on other Yangzhou painters to work on a similarly grand scale. The earliest extant example of Yuan Jiang's large scale work is a twelvepanel screen in Beijing, entitled Landscape with Architecture in North Song Brush Idioms (Appendix, entry 1681.1). Completely at ease with the large format, Yuan Jiang f r a m e d the composition w i t h steeply rising banks o n the two narrow end panels, guiding us deep into the low-lying distance, bringing us back to a rural estate in the foreground. The ample residence with courtyard is next to a structure of bizarre rock forms which grow mushroom-like into massive mountains, a technique which he will use repeatedly with increasing mastery in later compositions. The distinctive qualities of Yuan Jiang's style are fully present: a high point of view, graceful sweeping curves into the distance, a consistent recession, and harmonious proportion of architecture, figures and landscape. The design, however, is slightly less complex Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 233 and the execution somewhat less accomplished than works such as The Palace ofNine Perfections discussed below. Whereas some motifs such as cascading waterfalls and clusters of pines are virtually identical in the two paintings, Landscape with Architecture is unquestionably the less mature work and its cyclical date of xinyou therefore corresponds to 1681, a decade before The Palace of Nine Perfections. Solidly within the traditions of both literati and professional painting, the subject matter of Landscape with Architecture is familiar: a comfortable country estate with gentlemen meeting in a courtyard, fishing boats plying a river, a scholar gazing at a waterfall, in short, the genteel activities of an idealized rural existence. It is consistent with the traditional range of subject matter for professional painters in the Ming dynasty who in turn drew upon Northern and Southern Song court painting. To decorate halls and villas in the Ming, Zhe school painters provided bird and flower studies as well as landscapes, often heightened for dramatic effect with extremes of weather, mixed with bucolic themes of fisher folk and the aesthetic pursuits of the literati. One of the most frequently encountered subjects in Yuan Jiang's painting, the lavish imperial palace, is scarce in Ming painting. 13 Palaces had no place in the solitary search for plum blossoms in winter or in the pursuit of self cultivation. What then are palaces doing in abundant numbers in the work of Yuan Jiang? Depicted in the heat of summer, beneath an autumn moon, blanketed by snow, Yuan Jiang's palaces are extravagant architectural complexes. His intriguing compositions lead the eye back into private courtyards, across lotus ponds to secluded pleasure boats and involve the viewer in the daily life of the privileged. When Yuan Jiang identifies his palaces, the inspiration is invariably attributed to Han and Tang dynasty models, but a case can be made that they reflected their own time. In the year 1691 Yuan Jiang produced a huge composition entitled The Palace ofNine Perfections (Figure 1). Grandly conceived and exuberantly executed, the composition strctches over twelve hanging scroll panels almost twenty feet in width. The inscription written at the upper left on the twelfth scroll reads:The Palace of Nine Perfections: Yuan Jiang of H a n s h a n g imitates antiquity. The time: I n d i a n S u m m e r of t h e xinwei year of the Kangxi reign (the tenth lunar month of 1691).' Yuan Jiang's ostensible subject was the celebrated Tang dynasty imperial retreat which was located in the hills north of Xi'an. First built around AD 600, repaired and expanded under Tang rule, the Palace of Nine Perfections provided the imperial family with relief from the oppressive heat of Xi'an. Although it was destroyed by the end of the ninth century, its 234 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor k % Figure 1. Yuan Jiang, The Palace of Nine Perfections, dated 1691. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. legendary splendor lived on in literary descriptions, providing a theme of imperial luxury and historical lustre. Like a well-crafted poem, however, a good painting embraces more than one level of meaning. The details within this airy composition considered with contemporary events suggest that the more relevant inspiration was the pomp and splendor of the Kangxi emperor's second Southern Tour which passed through Yangzhou in 1689." During the Kangxi emperor's first tour to the south in 1684, Yangzhou had been bypassed, perhaps out of cautious respect for the citizens' bitterness from the harsh and bloody Manchu massacre there in 1645. But Yangzhou was deemed politically safe by 1689, for during Kangxi's second tour the city was favored with a two-day visit on 23 and 24 March. Whereas the 1684 tour tested the political waters, during the 1689 tour Kangxi cultivated the image of a sensitive aesthete. The procession of about 300 colorful banners, splendidly garbed outriders, Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 235 and the august presence of the Son of Heaven himself must have impressed the populace. Along with recent military successes, the Southern Tour of 1689 seems to have engendered more tolerance towards Manchu rule and a new enthusiasm for imperial tradition. If the visit kindled enthusiasm among the populace, the plan to commemorate the 1689 Southern Tour in a cycle of large paintings undoubtedly caused a stir in painting circles. A pictorial record of the tour was apparently discussed as early as 1686, during preparations for t h e trip, b u t a m a s t e r painter w a s n o t designated until after t h e tour. 15 Wang Hui (1636 - 1717), the preeminent painter of the day, was appointed to design and supervise the execution of the scrolls. Wang Hui with his impeccable orthodox pedigree may have been the inevitable choice, but other painters undoubtedly hoped to be considered. Beyond responsibility for the complete cycle, there were assistant painters to be assembled. Wang Hui's entourage included Wang Yun 236 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor (1652 - after 1735), a Yangzhou painter who shared stylistic affinities with Yuan Jiang. From the time of the Kangxi emperor's visit in 1689 throughout the subsequent months as Wang Hui prepared to depart for Beijing with his painting assistants in 1690, talk of documenting the imperial tour was surely a topic among artists. Painted in 1691, The Palace ofNine Perfections includes motifs that can be related to the imperial tour. An imperial procession approaches from the left and passes over a steep, ornately carved marble bridge. A canopy is held above an emperor who, from his white steed, gazes wistfully, the sensitive aesthete, at the lush scenery. As prescribed by Qing ritual, outriders follow with ceremonial paraphernalia and imperial insignia including a jue wine vessel, a falcon, and a conical crown which in design is strongly similar to Manchu head gear (Figure 2). The hats of the outriders also resemble Manchu design. The tail end of the extensive entourage rounds a hillock in the far distance (the carriage may refer to Kangxi's eldest son Yinti who accompanied him in 1689) while within the airy halls of the palace bamboo-slat curtains are raised in preparation for the emperor's arrival (Figure 3). The expansive mood is enhanced by a bright mineral palette, frequently used to depict paradises of the immortals, a reference to longevity.16 Is it conceivable that a wealthy Yangzhou salt merchant could be so brazen as to commission a picture of the reigning emperor and to hang it in his home? It is possible, I believe, due to the artful convergence of multiple meanings: Tang imperial splendor and the auspicious theme of longevity provided ample, and highly complimentary, camouflage for the discreet presentation of recent imperial events still vivid in memory. The motive for commissioning the screen might have been pride in Yangzhou's successful hosting of the monarch, indicating some acceptance of the Kangxi emperor with a public display of confidence in his rule. Cynical motives may also have played a role in the commission of The Palace of Nine Perfections. Since it was the emperor's pleasure that dictated which merchants were to be allowed to trade in the lucrative government-controlled monopolies, the compliment of comparing Kangxi's reign to the High Tang may have represented a 'protective act' by a vulnerable Yangzhou merchant eager to demonstrate his loyalty.17 Whatever the motivation, Evening Palace Scene after Guo Zhongshu seems also to have been inspired by the imperial visits to Yangzhou. The 1693 garden composition contains some of the most delicately detailed imperial style pavilions and halls to be found anywhere (Figure 4). From a high point of view outside the wall, we are permitted a glimpse Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 237 of the elite world within: a lantern-hung dragon boat has delivered guests across a private lake; an extensive garden residence is screened by high walls and veiled by mists; servants are available but discreet. The architectural detail is specific and graphic from the embellishments on marble trim to the cantilevered brackets of the eaves. Rapidly sketched with fidelity, the specificity of Yuan Jiang's palatial gardens argues for some concrete inspiration. Even his fertile imagination could not have concocted these buildings. He had some hints from the Mustard Seed Garden Manual the painting manual first published in 1679, but the few sketches of palatial architecture pale beside Yuan's fully conceived complexes. Had Yuan Jiang visited some of the temporary residences built for imperial visits? Had he been enlisted with other professional craftsmen to decorate beams, screens or lanterns within the new halls? Although there is no record of those who worked on the temporary imperial residences, the detail within Yuan Jiang's paintings argues that he had firsthand knowledge. Yuan Jiang's hanging scroll in Shanghai entitled Spring at Riverside Pavilions in Style of Guo Zhongshu depicts a sumptuous imperial garden under moonlight. Connections to an imperial visit are suggested by the mood of anticipation among those who wait on the marble terraces and within the halls, and by the elaborate dew collector erected on a terrace in the far distance. The painting dates to the second lunar month of 1704, less than a year after the Kangxi emperor's Southern Tour of 1703 and third visit to Yangzhou, and about a year before the 1704 tour, for which preparations may have already begun. Even the paintings of the immortals' island of Penglai are little more than excuses to depict sumptuous imperial halls. (In the 1708 hanging scroll, for example, the imperial architectural program is complete down to carved marble ramps over which sedan chairs would be carried.) Yuan Jiang's palace paintings represent a convergence of his unusual talent for architectural painting on a large scale with the flurry of Kangxi's imperial visits. The building and refurbishing of halls in Yangzhou necessitated by the imperial visits provided Yuan Jiang with new inspiration while well-to-do merchants proved eager customers for his paintings. Whatever their intent may have been the palace paintings are a special feature of t h e Yuan school, a n d t h e period of their production corresponds roughly with the decades of the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors' southern tours. Far from the refined world of gardens and palaces was the business of trade, a theme close to the daily experience of the Anhui and Yangzhou merchants. Yuan Jiang and his colleagues gave heroic proportions to 238 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Figure 2. Yuan Jiang, The Palace of Nine Perfections, dated 1691, detail. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. trade in a pictorial theme that appears with unexpected regularity in Yuan school painting while it is virtually absent in those of contemporaries. In ox-cart paintings by Li Yin, Yan Yi, Yuan Jiang, Yuan Yao and the obscure Tan Song, transport carts ply their ways over impossibly steep terrains, fording streams and pausing at remote mountain inns.18 The popularity and persistence of this subject may be linked to the transport necessitated by the salt business. It was the responsibility of merchants holding lucrative salt franchises to supply the frontier garrisons with arms and essential provisions. Besides seeing to the distribution of salt, the franchise-holding merchants had to transport goods to the northern borders.19 Anhui merchants had learned to deal Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 239 with the logistics of shipping local products from mountainous southern Anhui to cities of the Yangtze delta. The Yuan school's colorful paintings romanticized this frequent and constant travel. Just as the lone scholar-official on horseback travelling to a new post appealed to the educated elite, these pictures of caravans of carts moving supplies to f a r - f l u n g regions s e e m to h a v e b e e n irresistible to t h e m e r c h a n t class. When depicting ox carts on mountain tracks, it was the custom of Yuan school painters to identify the Northern Song monumental painter Guo Xi (ca 1010 - ca 1090) as the source of their inspiration, and indeed a painting attributed to Guo Xi on this theme is in the Palace Museum, Beijing. But the subject matter is atypical of Guo Xi, and, as 240 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Figure 3. Yuan Jiang, The Palace of Nine Perfections, dated 1691, detail. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. with other credits given to Northern and Southern Song masters, the connection is loose, a convenient credential of antiquity rather than a genuine stylistic source. Reclusion If, amid all of this commerce and pictorial extravagance, an image of political protest was desired, the Peach Blossom Spring by Tao Qian (Tao Yuanming, 365 - 427) might have provided it. Tao's famous account describes a fisherman whose attention was arrested by banks of blossoming peach trees. Pausing to look around, he happened upon a grotto which led to a secluded valley. Passing through the grotto, he accidentally discovered a Utopian community of a past regime, oblivious to the cataclysmic political changes outside. Having enjoyed the peace and security within the valley, the fisherman returned to the capital to report to the magistrate his exciting discovery. A search party explored the stream but never again located the Peach Blossom Spring. Figure 4. Yuan Jiang, Evening Palace Scene after Guo Zhongshu, dated 1693. Collection of Mr and Mrs Oscar L. Tang. 242 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Over the centuries in essays and illustrations some scholars interpreted the story as an immortals' paradise unattainable by normal humans; others treated it as a real but unreachable community within this world.20 The standard iconography includes the grotto, a boat near bank of blossoming trees, and the fisherman, paddle in hand, approaching the entrance to the cave or encountering the inhabitants of the peaceful realm within the valley. Paintings of Peach Blossom Spring typically emphasized the other-worldly theme of an immortal's paradise through the use of malachite and azurite pigments. As this fanciful treatment continued into the Qing dynasty, the text was simultaneously used to demonstrate disaffection with the present. The Ming loyalist Zhang Feng (ca 1610-62) departed from the conventional imagery to convey his sense of disgust and dislocation during the chaos of the Manchu onslaught. On a leaf from an album done in Nanjing in the summer of 1644 he painted a fishing boat moored in a cove and a path leading into the trees that border the water (Figure 5). In his inscription at the upper left he wrote, T h e mouth of this stream resembles Peach Spring but it is not.' 21 The inclusion of boat, trees and path raise expectations that Peach Blossom Spring may be near, but bands of mist bar the entrance, and the restrained, cool treatment, without a glimpse of the grotto, leaves us on the outside of the valley to share Zhang Feng's disappointment. Although the potential for political dissidence was inherent in the theme, the paradisiacal interpretation of Peach Blossom Spring continued to be popular in the early Qing. At the same time the idea of the real world existing within the remote valley was explored. Yuan Jiang painted a hanging scroll of Peach Blossom Spring in 1718 and a year later expanded that visual structure to his most dramatic interpretation of the theme in a set of twelve hanging scrolls twenty-four feet wide. The story begins at the right and follows the convention of depicting the moored boat, the grotto and the bank of blossoming trees which originally caught the eye of the fisherman. On the left side of the rock- passage the story continues with the fisherman meeting the startled inhabitants. But this is neither an immortals' paradise nor an unattainable valley within the real world; to the left of the village lies a lake with a complex of buildings of aristocratic style, a gentleman's garden. The Peach Blossom Spring grotto as a symbol of physical and psychological transition to another state had long since been incorporated into garden designs in the form of gates and passage ways. The concept found expression in paintings such as Qiu Ying's Thatched House in the Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 243 Figure 5. Zhang Feng, Peach Blossom Cove, dated 1644. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Peach-Blossom Village in which a scholar's studio is nestled in a remote valley surrounded by mountains in the intense blue-green palate of paradise paintings.22 Yuan Jiang chose to paint with muted pale-green and pink tints. Qiu Ying's retreat is otherworldly; Yuan Jiang presents a garden of this world within Peach Blossom Spring which itself is comfortably located on a broad river where fishermen, farmers and a transport boat can be seen. Yuan Jiang further stretches the standard Peach Blossom Spring motifs to include sericulture, an activity that is mentioned in Tao Qian's account but rarely depicted in painting. The inclusion may have been calculated to deflect official criticism of ostentation by embracing a recent imperial admonition. The Kangxi emperor, who saw the function of art as largely didactic, commissioned the court painter Jiao Bingzhen (active ca 1689 - 1726) to produce a series of twenty-three paintings on rice growing and silk-weaving. In 1696 the designs were carved into five pillars in the palace as well as into wood blocks for distribution as prints. In his preface to the set called Gengzhitu ('Picture of Tilling and Weaving') the Kangxi emperor wrote, 'We hope that all in our land will be devoted to these primary tasks of agriculture and sericulture, and that they will be diligent to gain and frugal to accumulate; so that they may have more than enough food 244 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor and clothing and jointly achieve an era of security, peace, wealth and longevity. This is our sincere wish to benefit the people.'23 By incorporating sericulture as well as agriculture into the garden, Yuan implies that Peach Blossom Spring is no longer remote, and does not represent a subversive wish to withdraw from society. On the contrary, the benefits of diligence and frugality, as well as an idyllic world, can be found here. Yuan Jiang's panoramic composition takes us from the remote spring and grotto at the right to an increasingly spacious and contemporary world on the left. We move from the mythic elements of the original text on the right to increasingly familiar contemporary images on the left, from distant past to recognizable present. Yuan Jiang's painting thus compliments the garden owner on having created a harmonious Peach Blossom Spring within this world. The imagery of the Peach Blossom Spring is taken one step further in the Qianlong reign, at a time when the emperor sought compliments on the quality of his government and court officials felt it necessary to offer them.24 The notion that a Utopian world could be created within a garden was, under the brush of court official, painter and calligrapher Dong Bangda (1699 - 1769), extended to embrace the empire itself. In an undated hanging scroll, Dong depicts a colorful landscape covered with blossoming trees. There is no solitary fisherman or grotto, but the title proclaims the rosy theme: 'Spring Dawn at Peach Spring.'25 The message is clear: under the benevolent reign of the Qianlong emperor the entire empire had become the long-sought haven of Peach Blossom Spring. Dong's bold manipulation of the theme was subtly used by the court painter Xu Yang (active ca 1750 - after 1776) in the fourth scroll documenting the Qianlong emperor's Southern Tour.26 The handscroll opens with pink blossoming trees along the dikes at the confluence of the Huai and Huang rivers. Approximately thirty-four feet later the scroll closes with a bucolic country scene with a fisherman, paddle in hand, in the far distance. The long visual treatise on river conservancy is thus bracketed by the motifs of Peach Blossom Spring, conveying to the emperor a flattering message of universal peace. The t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of traditional symbols - w h e t h e r to accom- modate the Qing, to disguise dissent, or to delight wealthy clients - was characteristic of Qing painting. Yuan Jiang, both imaginative and pragmatic in his approach to subject matter, routinely incorporated contemporary references into his compositions. Indeed Yuan Jiang was encouraged to modify ancient themes to gratify the wishes and self-images of his clientele, wealthy merchants largely independent of the weight of scholarly tradition. Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 245 The Appeal of Literati Style Yuan Jiang's robust personal style was originally formed during the 1670s and 1680s in contact with several innovative painters in Yangzhou. The most notable was Li Yin (active second half of seventeenth - early eighteenth century) who was a generation older than Yuan Jiang. Acclaimed in his circle as a modern master, Li Yin had a broad stylistic range from the lyrical to the fantastic. His most elaborate landscapes of writhing mountains, which sometimes border on the nightmarish, undoubtedly influenced Yuan Jiang's complicated peaks. In one particularly daring exercise Li Yin thought to turn upside down the conventional compositional formula of a flat recession at the bottom and mountains at the top.27 In his Landscape with Travellers, traders with ponies and ox carts set out from an inn at the lower right. Viewed from a height, the road carries the travellers in serpentine curves around the foreground mountains and along a snaking river in the background. Justified by a long inscription, this innovative composition, still eccentric under Li Yin's brush, was adapted and used to great effect by Yuan Jiang.28 What Yuan Jiang added to Li Yin's formula was a more realistic handling of space adapted from Western techniques. From his earliest works, a form of converging perspective can be found in Yuan Jiang's paintings, gracefully integrated with traditional approaches. A masterful treatment can be seen in the hanging scroll Watching the Tide dated 1716. In Yuan Jiang's interpretation this ancient theme of the Hangzhou bore is startlingly realistic, with boats swept along precariously by the roiling water. A dramatic diminution of scale across the estuary is reinforced by an aerial perspective of barely outlined distant mountains modelled in light wash and of pale boat masts obscured by mist. The foreground rocks, on the other hand, are as contorted as the whipped-up waves of the incoming tide. Fully in command of Western techniques of recession, Yuan Jiang combined a consistent progression into depth with his hallmarks of strange rocks, slashing brushwork, a high viewpoint, and an airy luminosity. 29 Ultimately Yuan Jiang and his patrons could not resist the draw of literati taste. Yuan Jiang's occasional dabbling in literati styles gained m o m e n t u m in the late 1710s. Although silk was still his most frequent painting ground, he began more often to use paper, and to paint in the private formats of album and handscroll, his hanging scrolls were now sometimes of the tall, narrow proportions preferred by educated gentlemen. Washy peaks without outlines often replace deeply 246 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor cleaved mountains with jagged facets. Compositions tend to be less densely painted and color is occasionally replaced by monochromatic ink plays as in passages of the striking handscrolls of 1720 and 1721 of fruits and flowers, or in six of the leaves in the album of 1720. This incorporation of literati elements in his style may be the progress to which Zhang Geng refers in Guochao Huazheng Xulu cited above. In 1719 Yuan Jiang painted a four-panel continuous landscape composition featuring figures in Manchu dress. Each of the scrolls was inscribed by one of four scholars who were residents of the Xiaoxing region of Zhejiang. The following year one of the inscribers, Lu Zengyu, earned the juren degree which qualified him to go on to the triennial Palace examination which he passed in 1721, earning the highest degree, jinshi. Another inscriber, Wang Binghe, earned the same degrees in 1729 and 1735.30 Perhaps these new acquaintances encouraged Yuan Jiang to practice a more scholarly style. In the fall of the same year Yuan Jiang painted a garden landscape; in an unusual departure from his custom, he indicated where he was painting, in The Hall of Green Wilderness (Figure 6). During 1719 he also painted a picture of the Hall of Green Wilderness and in the following year created a sumptuous multi-panel composition on gilded paper of the same title, formally including the Kangxi reign name in the inscription. 31 A feature which is common to both the 1719 landscape painted in the Hall of Green Wilderness and the large screen composition of the Hall of Green Wilderness is a broad terrace overlooking an expanse of water. 32 Green Wilderness Hall was a name used in the Tang and Song dynasties, but it was also adopted by several scholars of the Ming and Qing. Although the owner of the garden in which Yuan Jiang painted has not yet been identified, it is unlikely that Yuan's large panorama of the theme is merely a recreation of a famous historical garden. The number of paintings in succession and their shared features argue that he was portraying a contemporary garden at the request of the owner. In the a u t u m n of 1720 Yuan Jiang suppressed his own distinctive brushwork in an attempt to paint in the styles of Yuan dynasty masters such as Wu Zhen and Ni Zan. The resulting album on poetic themes is a provocative merging of professional and literati traditions. Yuan Jiang's handling of Su Shi's (1037 - 1101) prose poem on the Red Cliff (Figure 7) embraces some of the best features of both aesthetics: rich ink tones and strong brushwork combined with Yuan's penchant for dramatic presentation. Seen from a high point of view, the precipitous Figure 6. Yuan Jiang, Landscape Imitating the Ancients, dated 1719. From Kokka no. 584. Figure 7. Yuan Jiang, Su Shih's Prose Poem on the Red Cliff, leaf from album dated 1720. The Fujii Yurinkan, Kyoto. Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 249 cliff and the vast expanse of river dwarf the small boat. The subject matter in this album ranges from lines of Tang poetry to topics of general interest like viewing the Hangzhou bore and a scholar playing a zither in his pine-shaded study, a leaf which comes closest to capturing literati aesthetics. Yuan Jiang was at home with large scale works and must have felt cramped on small pages, but albums like this gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his versatility. Financial incentives undoubtedly played a role as well. Having built a garden estate, an owner would naturally want to display within it some of the objects appropriate to a refined life; albums and handscrolls for private viewing were essential. Yuan Jiang had a gift for painting. Whether simple album leaf designs or elaborate architectural murals, he gave his paintings an energy and originality which carries through even the many reworkings of a theme. Among professional painters of the Qing, Yuan Jiang stands alone in his ability to combine superb draftsmanship, harmonious color, and clear detail in large landscape compositions. Viewed from a distance, the huge paintings appear as airy landscapes. Seen up close they present a transporting vision of daily life, idealized and romanticized. Yuan Jiang managed to weave the contemporary dreams, aspirations and successes of the new economic elite with grand themes of the past. Proclaiming pride in a materialistic world, Yuan Jiang's paintings reflect their time and document the shifting concerns of late seventeenth and early-eighteenth century Yangzhou society. Appendix Dated Paintings by Yuan Jiang Abbreviations of the Titles Cited Anhui Chugoku no Hakubutsukan ('Museums of Continental China'), Part II, V: Ankisho Hakubutsukan ('Anhui Provincial Museum'). Tokyo, 1988. Barnhart Barnhart, Richard. Peach Blossom Spring: Garden and Flowers in Chinese Paintings. New York, 1983. Cahill Cahill, James. 'Yuan Chiang and His School,' Ars Orientalis, V (1963), 259-272; and VI (1966), 191-212. EDCP Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, 1980. FC Forbidden City (Zijincheng). Guangdong Guangdong Bowuguan Canghuaji. Beijing, 1986. Guo Guo Weiqu. Song Yuan Ming Qing Shuhuajia Nianbiao. Beijing, 1982. Harada Harada Bizan (Kinjiro). Nihon Genzai Chugoku Meiga Mokuroku. Kyoto, 1975 reprint. Harada-K Harada, Kinjiro. Chugoku Meiga Hokan ('The Pageant of Chinese Painting'). Tokyo, 1959. Huang Huang Junbi Xiansheng Juanzeng Wenwu Tezhan Mulu ('Catalogue of Special Exhibition of the Gifts of Mr. Huang Junbi'). Taipei, 1985. Li Li Jinyan, 'Yuan Jiang de Song Ying Tu' ('Yuan Jiang's Pine and Eagle'), Dagong Bao (Hong Kong), 29 June 1985. Nie Rogers Nie Chongzheng. Yuan Jiang yu Yuan Yao. Shanghai, 1982. Rogers, Howard. Masterworks of Ming and Qing Painting from the Forbidden City. Lansdale, PA: 1988. Shanghai Shanghai Bowuguan Canghua. Shanghai, 1959. Sekai Koyama Fujio, ed. Sekai Bijutsu Zenshu ('Encyclopedia of World Art'), XVII: 'Chugoku 6, Minshin.' Tokyo, 1968. Suzuki Suzuki Kei, ed. Chugoku Kaiga Sogo Zuroku ('Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Paintings'). 5 vols. Tokyo, 1982-83. Taipei National Palace Museum, Hai-wai I-chen: Hui-hua. Taipei, 1985. Tianjin Chugoku no Hakubutsukan, VI: Tianjin Art Museum. Tokyo, 1982. Treasures Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Treasures from the Shanghai Museum: 6,000 Years of Chinese Art. San Francisco, 1983. Weng Weng Wango. Gardens in Chinese Art. New York, 1968. Yangzhou Kao Mayching, ed. Paintings by Yangzhou Artists of the Qing Dynasty from the Palace Museum. Hong Kong, 1984. Xu Zhongguo Xu Bangda. Lidai Liuchuan Shuhua Zuopin Biannian Biao. Hong Kong, 1974. Group for the Authentication of Ancient Works of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy. Zhongguo Gudai Shuhua Jingpin Lu, I. Beijing, 1984. Zhongguo Tumu Group for the Authentication of Ancient Works of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy. Zhongguo Gudai Shuhua Tumu ('Illustrated Catalogue of Ancient Works of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy'), I-VII. Beijing, 1986 - . Yuan Jiang: Image Maker Year/ Title Format Media Collection Source Landscape with Hanging Ink and Ching Yuan Chai Cahill Storm scroll color on silk Landscape with 12-panel Ink and Rongbao Zhai, Rongbao Architecture in screen color on silk Beijing Zhai, 1987.1 Cahill 251 Lunar Month 1680 1681.1 (1966), fig. 23 Northern Song Brush Idioms 1683 1683 River Landscape, 3 of 12 Former Landscape after album Manchu Imperial (1966), Guo Xi, Mt Peng- leaves or Household figs. 24-26 lai (Same as hanging below?) scrolls Landscapes Large Ink and Not given; Nie, album of color on silk seals of Xiuquan p. 25 in one leaf (listed as 1743) 12 leaves 1686 1691.7 1691.10 Landscape Hanging Ink and Palace Museum, Nie, p. 25 after Mi Fu scroll color on silk Beijing (listed as 1746) Landscape after Hanging Ink and color Yabamoto #6953, Suzuki, Guo Xi scroll on gold paper Osaka JP12-086 Palace of Nine Set of 12 Ink and The Metropolitan Bamhart, Perfections hanging color on silk Museum, I25a-1 no. 40 scrolls 1693 Night of Moon and Flowers on Spring River Hanging scroll Ink and color on silk Guangdong Provincial Museum Nie, p. 20 1693.8 Evening Palace Hanging Ink and Mr/Mrs Oscar Sotheby's, Scene after Guo scroll color on silk L. Tang Zhongshu 11/19/86, lot 13 252 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor EDCP, No. 256 1694 Carts on a Ink and Nelson-Atkins Autumn Winding Mountain scroll Road after Guo Xi color on silk Museum of Art 1694.12 Sailing Through Hanging Ink and Sotheby's, the Gorges scroll color on silk 6/3/86, lot 72 Hanging Ink and Hanging after Guo Xi 1695 Wutong Tree Autumn and Autumn 1696.10 1697.3 scroll color on silk Art Research Nie, p.20; Institute Meishu, 1963.5; Hibiscus After Sekai Bijutsu Huang Quan Taikan Peach Blossom Set of 8 Ink and Spring after hanging color on silk Yuan Masters scrolls Landscape after Hanging Ink and Guangdong Ma Yuan scroll color on silk Provincial Museum Shanghai Museum Zhongguo Tumu, hu 1-3410 Nie, p. 20; Guangdong, pi. 180 1698 Yangtze Gorges Hanging Ink and Palace Museum, Cahill (1963), after Li Zhaodao scroll color on silk Beijing fig. n ; Night of Moon Hanging Ink and National Gallery, and Flowers scroll color on silk Beijing Fan Ink and color Palace Museum, Zhongguo Tumu, on paper Beijing jing 1-5183 Hanging Ink and Ltishun Museum Nie, p. 20 scroll color on silk Hanging Ink and Yabamoto #6953, scroll color on silk Osaka Escaping the Hanging Ink and Heat at Mt. Li scroll color on silk Landscape after Handscroll Ink and Nie, p. 20 1698 Nie, p. 20 on Spring River 1699.2 Landscape after Ma Yuan 1700 1701.5 1702 1703.10 Returning Tipsy Landscape Zhao Mengfu color on silk Nie, pi. 20 Capital Museum Zhongguq Tumu, Shanghai Museum hu 1-3411 Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 1704.2 Spring at River- 253 Hanging scroll Ink and color on silk Shanghai Museum Shanghai, pi. 82 Hanging Ink and Yantai Diqu Nie, p. 20 scroll color on silk Wenguan Hui A Secluded Folding Ink and color Ching Yuan Chai Weng, no. 13 Dwelling fan on paper Landscape Handscroll Ink and Guangdong Nie, p. 20 color on silk Provincial Museum side Pavilions in the Style of Guo Zhongshu 1704 1706 1706 1707.2 Landscape Pulling Carts Hanging Ink and National Museum, Cahill (1963), over a Mountain scroll color on silk Stockholm fig. 20; Suzuki, Pass after Guo Xi 1707.10 1708.4 E20-004 Landscape after Hanging Ink and Asian Art Museum, Liu Songnian scroll color on silk San Francisco B60D85 Peach Blossom Hanging Ink and Los Angeles County Spring scroll color on silk Museum of Art Penglai, Isle Hanging Ink and Palace Museum, of Immortals scroll color on silk Beijing Taipei, pi. 171 Zhongguo Tumu, jing 1-5184; Cahill (1966), fig. 2; FC, VIII, p. 32 1708 Mist and Rain Hanging Ink and over Spring River scroll color on silk Yunnan Nie, p. 21 Provincial Museum 1710.5 1710 1710 Watching Waves Hanging Ink and scroll color on silk Landscape in the Style of Guo Zhongshu Hanging scroll Ink and color on silk The Art Gallery, Chinese University of Hong Kong Immortals' Hanging Ink and Shanghai Museum scroll color on silk Palace in Spring Mountains Nie, p. 21 Shanghai Museum Suzuki, S17-007 Treasures, no. 133. 254 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor 1710 Travelling Hanging Ink and Liaoning in Autumn scroll color on silk Provincial Museum Handscroll Ink and Shanghai Museum Nie, p. 21 Mountains 1710 Eastern Garden 1711.8 1711.10 Wenwu, 1973/1, pp.70-72 color on silk Landscape Hanging Ink and Museum of Fine Cahill with Villa scroll color on silk Arts, Boston (1966), fig. 5 Landscape with Album of Ink and Palace Museum, Yangzhou, color on silk Beijing no. 16 Architecture 8 leaves (2 leaves only) 1711 1712.3 Flowers Pine and Eagle Hanging Ink and Hunan Provincial scroll color on silk Museum Nie, p. 21 Hanging Ink and pale Shanghai Museum Zhongguo scroll color on silk Tumu, hu 1-3414; Li 1712.10 Travelling Hanging Ink and Hashimoto Cahill (1963), among Streams scroll color on silk collection, figs. 21, 27 and Mountains Takatsuki after Guo Xi 1712 Lotus Pond, Hanging Ink and Yabumoto Willow Shade scroll color on silk collection, Osaka Hall of Reading Hanging Ink and Shanghai Museum among scroll color on silk after Ma Yuan 1712 Zhongguo Tumu, hu 1-3415 Thick Willows Hanging Ink and Shenyang Palace River Village scroll color on silk Museum Chongqing Museum 1712 1713 1714.6 Pavilions between Hanging Ink and River and Sky scroll color on silk Fishermen on Hanging Ink and Los Angeles County River in Spring scroll color on silk Museum of Art, Nie, p. 22 Nie, p. 22 M85.152 Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 1714 Mount Lu Set of 12 Ink and Palace Museum, hanging color on silk Beijing 255 Nie, p.22 scrolls 1715.4 1715.10 House on Mt Lu Ink and Former Yuan Cahill (1966), (Lushan Caotang) scroll color on silk Shuqu collection fig. 8; Nie, p. 22 Clear River, Hanging Ink and Shandong Nie, p. 22 Happiness scroll color on silk Provincial Museum Hanging Ink and Harvard University Suzuki, scroll color on silk Museums, 1968.73 A10-022 Hanging Ink and Anhui Provincial Anhui, pi. 90 scroll color on silk Museum Watching Hanging Ink and Palace Museum, Yangzhou, the Tide scroll color on silk Beijing no. 17 Capital Museum Nie, p. 22 Hanging of Fishermen (Qingjiang Yule) 1716.2 1716.3 1716.3 1716 1717.11 1718.5 1718.6 Spring Snow Landscape Coolness from Hanging Ink and Pure Lotus scroll color on silk Landscape Hanging Ink and Art Institute of Cahill (1966), with Villa scroll color on silk Chicago, 44.437 fig. 7 Peach Blossom Hanging Ink and The Art Museum, Cahill (1966), Spring scroll color on silk Princeton University fig. 6 Flavor of the Fan Ink and color Palace Museum, Nie, p. 22 on paper Beijing Southeast (Dongnan Fengwei) 1718 1718 Fording in Hanging Ink and color Rongbao Zhai, Autumn scroll on silk Beijing The Road to Shu Hanging Ink and color Unknown scroll on silk Nie, p. 23 Cahill (1966), fig. 10; Nie, p. 23 256 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor 1719.2 Pavilion of Hanging Ink and Sotheby's, the Drunken scroll color on silk 6/2/87, Old Man 1719.5 lot 66 Peach Blossom Set of 12 Ink and Private collection, Sotheby's, Spring hanging color on silk Canada 6/15/83, lot 25 scrolls 1719 Landscape Summer with Figures, Hanging Ink and The Art Museum, Suzuki, scroll color on silk Berkeley A30-021 Ink and color Buildings and Goats 1719 Landscape Hanging Autumn Imitating the scroll Cahill (1966), fig. 13; Kokka, Ancients 1719 Wind and Rain Winter on Double Nine 1719 no. 584 Fan Ink and color Palace Museum, on paper Beijing Landscape with Set of 4 Ink and color Tianjin Cultural Figures hanging on paper Bureau Nie, p. 23 Nie, p. 23 scrolls 1719 1719 1720.1 Hall of Green Hanging Ink and Palace Museum, Wilderness scroll color on silk Beijing Pavilions in Hanging Ink and Unknown Landscape scroll color on silk Flowers Handscroll Ink and Nie, p. 23 Nie, p. 23; Sekai, XX Shanghai Museum Zhongguo pale color Tumu, hu on paper 1-3416 1720 Flying Snow in Hanging Ink and Palace Museum, Zhongguo Tumu, Summer Liang Garden scroll color on silk Beijing jing 1-5185 1720.8 Hall of Green 8-fold Ink and Unknown screen color on Wilderness Sekai, XVII, pi. 15 gold paper 1720.8 Deep Fragrance Hanging Ink and Pavilion scroll color on silk Tianjin Museum Tianjin, pi. 21; Nie, p. 23 Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 1720 Poetic Themes Autumn Album of Ink or Fujii Yurinkan, 12 leaves ink and color Kyoto 257 on paper 1720.11 1720 1720 1721.4 After Rain Huang, pi. 14 Hanging Ink and color National Palace scroll on paper Museum, Taipei Mountain Hanging Ink and Shanghai Museum Beneath Moon scroll color on silk hu 1-3417 Afang Palace Hanging Ink and Nie, p. 23 in Snow scroll color on silk Fruit and Flowers Handscroll Ink and color Palace Museum, Yangzhou, on paper Beijing no. 18; Zhongguo Tumu Zhongguo Tumu jing 1-5186 1721.4 Summer Trees, Hanging Ink and Rongbao Zhai, Zhongguo Deep Shade scroll color on Beijing Tumu, jing silk 1722.2 Landscape 11-096 Hanging Ink and color Sakuragi Shunichi, Nie, p. 24; scroll on paper Nagoya Harada, p. 340 1722 Landscape in the Hanging Ink and color Christie's, Spring Style of Fan Kuan scroll on paper 6/5/85, lot 72 Miscellaneous Album of Ink and color National Gallery, Zhongguo Tumu Paintings 8 leaves on paper Beijing jing 3-089 1722.3 1722.3 1722.4 Wind Fills Hanging Ink and pale Nelson Wu Suzuki, the Hall scroll color on silk collection A26-002 Palace at Dawn Hanging Ink and Freer Gallery Cahill (1966), scroll color on silk of Art, 11.257 figs. 14, 16 Nie, p. 24 1722 Lotus Pavilion, Hanging Ink and Guangdong Winter Retreat from scroll color on silk Provincial Museum Hanging Colors on silk Summer Heat 1722 Bamboo Hall scroll Sichuan Provincial Museum Nie, p. 24 258 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor 1722 1722 1722 Hanging Ink and color Beijing Cultural Zhongguo Tumu, scroll on paper Relic Store jing 12-255 Laden with Hanging Ink and Beijing Arts & Crafts Zhongguo Tumu, Chrysanthemums scroll color on silk Import-Export Co. jing 10-047 Mt Penglai Hanging Three Rams Nuwazhai 1723.2 Cahill (1966), fig. 17 scroll Landscape Set of 12 Ink and Palace Museum, Yangzhou, with Pavilions hanging color on silk Beijing no. 19; among Pines scrolls Nie, p.24 and Bamboos 1723 Landscape Hanging Ink and pale Museum of Fine Spring with Garden scroll color on silk Arts, Boston, 14.82 1723.4 Landscape Set of 12 Ink and Palace Museum, Cahill (1966), with Palace hanging color on silk Beijing fig. 18; Nie, p. 24 scrolls 1723.5 Spring Thunder, Hanging Ink and National Gallery, Insect Awakening scroll color on silk Beijing Zhongguo, I, 49 1723 Penglai: Isle of Hanging Ink and British Museum, Suzuki, Summer the Immortals scroll color on silk 1953.5.9 E15-163 1723 Birds and Flowers Pair of Ink and Palace Museum, Zhongguo hanging color on silk Beijing Tumu, jing 1724 Landscape scrolls 1-5187 Hanging Nie, p. 24 scroll 1724 1725 Snowscape Hanging Ink and Murakami Yoshiro Suzuki, scroll color on silk collection JP27-007 Winter Landscape Hanging scroll 1726.8 Landscape Private Cahill (1966), collection fig. 19 Hanging Ink and Palace Museum, Yangzhou, scroll color on silk Beijing no. 20; Nie, p.24 Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 1726 1730 Landscape Hanging Ink and Yunnan Provincial scroll color on silk Museum Spring Dawn Hanging Ink and over Lake scroll color on silk Landscape with Hanging Ink and Former Kinoshita Architecture scroll color on silk collection, Tokyo 259 Nie, p. 24 Nie, p. 25 and Mountains 1756? Harada, p. 139 Zheng Xie's Price List: Painting as a Source of Income in Yangzhou Ginger Cheng-chi Hsu In the twenty-fourth year of the Qianlong era, 1759, the retired-official painter Zheng Xie (1693- 1765), better known by his style name Zheng Banqiao, wrote a price list for his paintings. In this price list he speaks openly about the sale of his own paintings, and informs his customers that they are to pay according to the size and format of the work, and that the form of payment is to be straight cash: A large hanging scroll costs six taels, a medium-sized one is four, a small scroll costs two. Couplet and streamer are one tael a pair, while fan and album leaf are a half tael each. Those who bring gifts and food are certainly not as welcome as those who come with silver, because what you give is not necessarily what I desire. If you come with cash, my heart will be filled with joy so that paintings and calligraphy will be excellent. Gifts cause nothing but trouble, not to mention deferred payment. Furthermore, in my old age, I get easily tired, therefore, please excuse me from accompanying you gentlemen in unprofitable conversations. The list is followed by a poem of seven-character lines which reads: One earns more from painting bamboo than planting bamboo; A painting six feet tall costs three thousand cash. However much he may talk about old friendships or connections, It is like the autumn wind blowing past my ears. Again, Zheng stresses the cash transaction and asks to be exempt from engaging in social niceties. At t h e e n d of t h e list, Zheng explains his motivation for putting together such an unusual document: 'Following Monk Zhuogong's suggestion, I wrote this so as to decline visitors/1 I would like to explore in this paper some of the implications of Zheng Xie's price list. Its first and most obvious function was sheer practicality. Earlier in his life, he found it difficult to sell his calligraphy for a 262 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor living; later, as an official, he must have experienced the burden of social obligations and the trouble of coping with increasing demand. And five years after Zheng had retired from his official post, his paintings had become such sought-after items that he was compelled to invent some kind of device for self protection. What annoyed Zheng Xie was an incident that occurred shortly after he retired. In the a u t u m n of 1753, a visiting friend had asked him for a painting and did so in such a forceful manner that the artist felt reluctant to move his brush, and yet could not refuse the request because of a sense of obligation. The best Zheng could do was to write a mocking colophon on the picture to release his frustration. 2 As in the case of exchange of poetry, such a request, coming from a respected individual, could be taken as sign of appreciation or of mutual admiration. However, when this practice was pushed to the extreme it could become unwieldly and downright awkward. For instance, Dong Qichang (1555 - 1636) encountered such a situation when he served his official term in Beijing. As witnessed by the younger painter Cheng Zhengkui (jinshi of 1631), Dong was once visited by a high official who came unexpectedly and ordered his attendants to set up a table and paper for the artist. Grinding ink with one hand, the official literally dragged Dong to the table with another, forcing him to do a painting right on the spot.3 The practice prevailed that one could request painting and calligraphy from literati artists without paying. Unlike professional painters who treated painting as a source of income, scholar-official-painters like Zheng Xie and Dong Qichang were considered amateurs and were supposed to consider painting a leisurely activity, not a means of earning income. On the other hand, selling one's literary work had a long tradition, especially regarding funerary inscriptions, biographical accounts, eulogies or farewell essays. Under the term runbi, 'moistening the brush,' the practice may have begun as early as the Han dynasty and was well established by Tang times. For writing a funeral essay for his friend, the poet Bo Juyi (772 - 846) is said to have received valuable goods such as horses and carriages, silk and wool, jade and silver. Han Yu (768 - 828) demanded high monetary payments for his writing. With his skill in prose writing, Han Xizai (902-70) accumulated substantial wealth, sufficient for him to acquire more than forty concubines. Su Shi (1036 - 1101) received enough reward from one piece of writing to pay for a friend's funeral. ZhaoMengfu (1254- 1322) once acted as a go-between Zheng Xie' s Price List 2 71 in getting a commission for a needy friend. Tang Yin (1470 - 1523) put together a whole album of his own writing for sale, naming it lis hi, 'profit.' 4 In other words, the practice of 'moistening the brush' became standard in later periods and was taken as a source of income among Chinese literati. In Zheng Xie's time, the poet Yuan Mei (1716 - 1797) was well known for having received very large sums for his writings; among his patrons was the Yangzhou salt merchant Bao Zhidao (1743 -1801). In Yuan Mei's case, his reward for a single biographical account of four pages or a tomb inscription of eight hundred characters could bring as much as one thousand taels of silver.5 Zhao Yi (1727 - 1814), an historian and poet of similar stature though not so flamboyant, is reported to have enriched himself by selling writing after he retired.6 When this practice, so well established in literary circles, was transferred to the sphere of literati painting, it acquired a negative connotation. Only artists of craftsman origin were supposed to sell their paintings - not the literati. Thus, they, as well as their biographers, were reluctant to record sales, even though the practice existed. For instance, Wen Tong (1018 - 79) is said to have been paid for his bamboo painting. Zhu Yunming (1460 - 1526) refused to do calligraphy without a fee to 'moisten his brush.' 7 In fact, the scarcity and brevity of documents concerning this aspect of Chinese painting reflect not the rarity of sale but the negative attitude toward it. This attitude may have relaxed during the eighteenth century, when the frequency of records of this type increased and more details were revealed in contemporary writings. Nevertheless, a price list written by the artist himself and requiring monetary exchange must still have been considered eccentric at that time, especially coming from someone with Zheng's social status. He was a jinshi degree holder, a retired seventh-grade official, and one who had previously been known as a non-professional painter. In eighteenth century Yangzhou, painters found more opportunities to acquire patrons for their works. While professional painters, such as Huang Shen (1687 - 1766) andHua Yan (1682 - 1756), were allowed to sell their paintings openly and to negotiate payments in public, literati painters were subject to a different set of conventions for their transactions. For example, the popular Orthodox landscape painter Fang Shishu (1692 - 1751), who was a lower degree holder and member of an established family of Shexian in Anhui, was invited to stay in the Yangzhou salt merchant Wang Tingzhang's household as a guest of honor. That was after he had failed in the family salt business and given up attempting a career in the civil service. Host Wang not only 264 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor welcomed him as a honored guest but treated him as an equal. In addition, he invited Huang Ding (1660 - 1730) to come and paid him a thousand taels of silver to serve as painting instructor for Fang.8 Under this arrangement, Fang was expected to fulfill his obligation as a painter-guest, participating in social gatherings and accompanying his host in all kinds of literary activities. In this context, painting became a means of discharging the artist's obligation, a tool for him to perform his duty. Although the duties of such private employment were usually not well-defined, Fang was more than aware of his obligations. He felt, for instance, pressure from not finishing a long-overdue painting while staying in his host's household. 9 By gaining access to the elite group of Yangzhou high society, Fang Shishu was essentially making painting a profession and a source of income. At the same time, Fang's case typifies the traditional form of private patronage, in which the relationship between painter and patron was basically built on friendship or connection and the reward was an unspoken agreement of mutual obligation. In the case of the painter Wang Hui (1632 - 1717) in the previous century, after he had stayed with Wang Shimin (1592 - 1680) and finished making copies of old paintings for his host, the nature of the reward was neither discussed in front of him nor negotiated in advance.10 Wang Hui, of course, came from a family of professional painters and held no academic degree. Thus, if a painter with Zheng Xie's background wanted to sell his own painting, it would normally have taken the form of a private transaction, with no prior discussion or negotiation of the reward involved. Looking back at Zheng's price list from this aspect, one realizes that he was breaking the rule as a scholar-official-painter. He admitted sales of his paintings to the public and disclosed the prices, in a detailed and commercialized manner. One may credit this to his romantic and eccentric temperament and one can also argue that he was either following the literati tradition of selling writing or adopting the practice of t h e c r a f t s m a n - p a i n t e r . In a n y case, t h e existence of such a document breaks down the myth that high-minded literati took painting only as an amateur activity, a tool of self-cultivation, and a vehicle for self-expression. It also reveals the hypocrisy of those who in effect sold their paintings and yet feigned indifference toward the monetary value involved. Having made painting a source of income, Zheng Xie was essentially renouncing his social status as a retired official to become a professional painter. One may also argue that, in doing so, he was showing his respect for those who made painting their profession. Zheng Xie' s Price List 2 71 More specifically, although the art of painting was not the most desirable profession for an educated man, it nonetheless could be an alternative during times of hardship. So argues Zheng Xie in one of his famous family letters: Calligraphy and painting are considered fine arts, but are also vulgar occupations. Is it not a vulgar thing for a man who cannot do some service to the country and improve the lives of the people to occupy himself with pen and ink for the amusement of other people?11 In his opinion, the ultimate goal for an educated man should be public service. When this goal could not be maintained then one could turn to painting and calligraphy as an alternative. Private patronage, the socalled menke ('guest under the gate') or qingke ('pure guest') status in which Fang Shishu and many other eighteenth-century scholars had found themselves, was simply not a decent option. As a matter of fact, Zheng despised those who depended on their talent and served in private households in exchange for board and room as a way of life. To him, 'the talent of proteges in officials' homes and the skills of friends of leisure are good only for trimming flowers, building pavilions and terraces, and examining curios and tasting tea. They are worthy to give orders to the doorman and butlers, but what are they?" 2 To Zheng their position was essentially no higher than that of the servants. On the whole, as the road to officialdom became narrower in later Imperial China, many talented men of letters chose private patronage, especially in Yangzhou, the resurgent cultural center in the Jiangnan area. With its unmatchable wealth amassed by those of the newlyrisen merchant class eager to add some cultural flavor to their riches, Yangzhou provided a nurturing environment for those who sought financial support and literary accomplishment. The extensive lists of guests following each garden and household recorded in the Yangzhou Huafang Lu reveal the scale and the popularity of this practice. Among them were scholars of national fame such as Li E (1692 - 1752), Quan Zuwang (1705-55) and Dai Zhen (1723-77), as well as men with special talents in landscape architecture, music, poetry and painting. Yangzhou painters such as Jin Nong (1687 - 1763) and Fang Shishu sought such patronage for given periods of time. In retrospect, those of w h o m Zheng Xie was contemptuous probably served their hosts in nothing but social functions. Typically, besides being holders of lower academic degrees, such guests were equipped with the talents of writing good calligraphy, playing chess, singing kunqu, composing poems on a moment's notice, and drinking. 13 266 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Concerning scholars who associated with merchants' households, a fashionable trend of his time, Zheng expressed his disapproval in these words: A scholar should be independent. It is all right to listen to merchants' advice concerning trivial day-to-day matters, but I have never heard that one should seek their opinions regarding literature and scholarship. Our scholars from Yangzhou, however, flock to their homes and react with undue seriousness to their pronouncements. I cannot reiterate how this has damaged their scholarly integrity and destroyed their scholarly spirit.14 Even teaching, a legitimate alternative for the educated in the Confucian system, was hardly rewarding. When Zheng Xie reviewed his own experience as a private tutor teaching beginning level students earlier in his life, he considered it a stain on his career: A private tutor is truly low in class, Clinging to others' doorways for a living. Half full and half hungry, he is a vagrant guestWithout handcuff or lock, he is a prisoner with freedom. Fewer classes brings the complaint of laziness; More homework arouses the hatred of the students. Fortunately, I am on the way to 'blue clouds' now, Most of the shame can be covered by success." In this poem, Zheng Xie describes the pathetic life of a village teacher and his dilemma, keeping a balance between the wishful parents and their unmotivated children. Between public service and private patronage, Zheng Xie found his place as a freelance artist. After more than ten years in an official career, he treasured the simple and enjoyable life of a painter. He no longer had to bow to his superior or beg at the doorway of the powerful, but could simply enjoy life in solitude and ease. Even though painting was not considered a high occupation, it had been a source of extra i n c o m e d u r i n g his early difficult years. After h a v i n g held office, Zheng felt secure enough to admit this fact. In a letter dated 1745, Zheng told his brother: Your stupid brother had no profession in youth, achieved nothing in middle age and lives in poverty in old age. I have therefore been forced to earn a living by my writing brush, but in reality it may be regarded a shame and disgrace. I hope you will have some higher ambition and not fall into my footsteps.16 Zheng Xie' s Price List 2 71 To Zheng Xie, the career of a freelance artist was equal to that of a farmer. He saw plowing with one's brush in the literary field as no less decent than the plowing of a farmer in the rice field; he respected farmers and felt that they should be placed higher in the social hierarchy than the literati. 'Instead of plowing the field, I sell paintings and earn one hundred cash daily. Refinement is but an excuse, saving myself from poverty is the truth/ 17 It is acceptable then for an educated man to engage himself in a lowly profession for the purpose of supporting himself and becoming independent. Sharing this attitude was another Yangzhou master, Jin Nong. When Jin Nong was involved in lantern and inkstone making, traveling around the country to seek clients for his products, he compared himself to ancient people who could not help but engage in lowly professions before making a name for themselves.18 Jin repeatedly lists groups of 'ancient sages' to support his view and comes to the conclusion: It was not that I meant to stoop so low and demean myself. It is important for one to be independent. As long as one is supporting himself, whatever his profession may be, it is neither lowly nor disgraceful.19 Not only was Jin Nong involved in the making of handicrafts, but he also engaged in antique dealing throughout most of his life and sold his paintings in Yangzhou during his late years. In other words, painting was only one of the sources for his income. Using ancient sages and Zheng Xie as his role models, Jin made bamboo paintings into a commodity. Looking back at the age of sixty-five, Jin viewed his own life without regret and felt proud of himself for having been able to achieve self-sufficiency and financial independence. Zheng Xie's price list, in this context, can be seen as a document intended to defend those who sell their paintings and to stress the idea of professionalism. With the price list and the ideology behind it, Zheng, in a sense, was trying to define a legitimate social status for those freelance artists whose role was far from clear within the traditional social classification of scholar, farmer, craftsman and merchant. 20 Notwithstanding the dramatic way Zheng Xie announced his change of social role, one wonders whether he really needed to depend on painting as a major source of income after retirement. The study of his financial situation can provide us with a better perspective. According 268 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor to his own words, Zheng's life can be divided into three stages. The first pertained to those extremely impoverished years before his advancement to the second degree in 1734, when teaching was his major source of income, supplemented by selling paintings and calligraphy. During this period, Zheng appeared to be constantly in debt. In the second stage, having served two terms as a magistrate in Shandong, his financial status improved enormously. Houses and resorts were built and several hundred mu of land were purchased as an investment, as was a piece of funerary property for his future use. In addition, Zheng Xie was able to publish his own writings. His retirement in the year 1754 marked the beginning of the third phase, which Zheng refers to as a time when he was comparatively poor after having been modestly rich.21 In other words, Zheng was on the whole financially secure, not counting the extra income he received occasionally. For instance, on a trip to Hangzhou in 1754, he gathered fifty-six taels of silver in addition to other valuable gifts from local officials. Apparently, once one had been an official, one lived the life of an official and enjoyed its privileges for the rest of one's life. Zheng Xie was thus in a financially sound position, unless he were inclined to conspicuous consumption. 22 He wrote while making his retirement plans at the end of his first term of office: There is nothing to be afraid of in being a poor official; [on the contrary,] one should be worrying about being a wealthy official. If I were to retire, I would have extra money and would be free from worry. People would not find fault with me, ghosts would not stare at me. I am not greedy, and you are in good health. If I hesitate, then I will lose the timing. It is wise to make up my mind now!" Taking these factors into consideration, one begins to realize that painting was not the major source of income that Zheng Xie depended on for his retired life. The price list, among other functions, served more as a gesture. The sale of paintings implied that he was to live modestly after retiring from officialdom. Retroactively, this could further serve as an indicator of his honesty and incorruptibility during his service, distinguishing him from other officials who amassed great numbers of possessions. In disclosing the need to sell his own paintings, Zheng Xie sought to disperse the rumor of his having retired rich, of hiding his properties in Shandong. Zheng Xie' s Price List 2 71 A poem inscribed on a painting dated 1765 best explains Zheng's concern: Coming back from officialdom with two empty sleeves, I paint fresh breeze and sell bamboo [paintings]. Why should I be worrying about defending myself with words, Yet vainly, for not having hidden possessions all over Eastern Shandong.24 The metaphors of empty sleeves and fresh breeze are conventional terms suggestive of an incorruptible official who lives in poverty after retirement. At the end of the inscription Zheng, with pride as well as sarcasm, signs himself as the 'Old man Banqiao Zheng Xie, selfcomplimenting and self-mocking.' In this context also, the aforementioned price list served Zheng as a self-evident document addressed to his contemporaries. In addition to these ideological aspects, Zheng Xie's unique price list also sheds some light on the practical problem of patronage, and the identity of those 'consumers' of paintings in eighteenth-century Yangzhou. It is generally accepted that the rich salt merchants of Yangzhou were responsible for making the city a cultural center. Therefore, it is usually assumed that cultivated merchants like the two Ma, MaYueguan (1688- 1755) and his younger brother Ma Yuelu (1697 - after 1766), and Jiang Chun (1724-93) were the major patrons of art in their time. However, in assessing the affordability of Zheng's painting, one realizes that his price range indicates the existence of another level of patronage, one which is neither the very rich nor the poor in Yangzhou society. It is recorded in the Yangzhou Huafang Lu that a very popular actor from a Suzhou theatrical troupe earned only about ten taels of silver annually, 25 not much more than Zheng Xie's price for a hanging scroll. However, looking from the other end of the spectrum, at extremely wealthy merchants such as the Ma brothers, Jiang Chun, or those whose penchants for conspicuous consumption are amply described in Yangzhou Huafang Lu,26 Zheng Xie's price list was clearly not directed at them either. Those merchants frequently donated hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to the court and local government. For instance, to finance Emperor Qianlong's trip to the South, the salt m e r c h a n t s of the Lianghuai district contributed almost one million taels of silver for each visit. Jiang Chun, along with several other merchants, donated 200,000 taels for the Emperor's mother's eightieth birthday in 1772.27 270 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Ma Yueguan was recorded as responsible for the total expenses of restoring a local Yangzhou school in 1734.28 They also invested in antique collecting and sponsored literary activities in lavish style.29 Patronage on this high level often took forms other than direct monetary payment. For instance, the two Ma brothers hosted a number of poets and scholars in their household, providing them, besides board and room, with intermittent favors of gifts, such as paying for Li E's expenses for acquiring a concubine or for Quan Zuwang's funeral. In a well-known anecdote, Jin Nong saved a merchant from embarrassment over a poorly phrased poetic line by fabricating a literary source for it. So appreciative was the latter that the next day he delivered a thousand taels of silver to his savior.30 In other words, what these patrons paid in the form of gifts was usually much more than any work of art would have cost. And the value system on this level could not be measured in cash. Jin Nong's plum blossom painting dedicated to Jiang Chun on the occasion of his acquiring a concubine, now in the Freer Gallery of Art, was probably more a token marking their long relationship than a commissioned work. The fact that Jiang sponsored the publication of Jin's writing indicates that their relationship was more complicated than that between client and painter.31 It is also recorded that Zheng Xie and the older Ma initially met without knowing each other's identity. Mutual admiration for poetic skill led to an invitation for a brief sojourn. However, after Ma Yueguan learned of his friend's financial difficulty, he secretly sent two hundred taels of silver to Zheng's family.32 In this relationship, painting probably served Zheng more as a tool to discharge an obligation than as a source of cash; he dedicated several paintings to the Ma. Another painting, dedicated to Jiang Chun with an extensive colophon, is likely to have had the same function. 33 From scattered bits of information, one realizes that the prices Zheng Xie set for his paintings reflect a new level of clientele. Wealthy patrons like the Ma brothers and Jiang Chun played the role of promoters; the new patrons were the principal consumers of eighteenth-century Yangzhou painting. They were engaged in direct monetary transactions with the artist and purchased paintings from him with cash. In terms of economic status, they were neither people of the lower class nor were they the wealthy elite of Yangzhou; instead, they would have been his fellow officials, lower-level gentry, smaller-scale merchants and monks. This was the market to which Zheng Xie aimed his price list. The patrons were likely to remain anonymous. For them, one suspects, were produced a number of Yangzhou paintings which bore standardized subject matter, for instance, Zheng Xie's bamboo and Zheng Xie' s Price List 2 71 orchids, Jin Nong's plum blossoms and Li Shan's flowers, and which contained no dedications but repetitive, non-specific inscriptions. A series of letters by Jin Nong in the Tokyo National Museum confirms that the recipients of his commercial paintings were usually anonymous, rather than identifiable, patrons. If we use two important indicators, wealth and education, to show the cross section of the social structure, then this anonymous group falls into the middle section, excluding the extremely wealthy at one end and the poor and illiterate at the other. It included a wide range of people who appreciated works of art or admired the artists, who had enough knowledge of reading and, most importantly, enough leisure and money to acquire cultural products of this sort. In other words, the spread of literacy in late Imperial China produced an appreciative audience for works of literary and artistic merit, painting included. In Yangzhou, intense commercial activity served as the setting for commercializing the production of painting. Similarly, the residents of Yangzhou, along with visitors to the city, provided opportunities for a group of freelance artists and stimulated their growth. In this aspect, Zheng Xie's price list underlines the popularity of literati painting in the city of Yangzhou during the middle of the Qianlong era. Jin Nong: The Eccentric Painter with a Wintry Heart Marshall P. S.Wu One of the most outstanding of the Yangzhou Eccentrics, Jin Nong (1687 - 1763) began painting late in his life. A precocious poet, he received approbation from elders such as Mao Qiling and Zhu Yizun. The publication of Jingshen Ji (1718), now lost, and Dongxin Xiansheng Ji (1733) made known poems of his early and mature phases. His poetic insights and imageries, cultivated for so many years, contribute not only to the writing of inscriptions 1 accompanying his paintings, but also the shaping of pictorial images. Overlapping his poetic success, though later in time, was Jin Nong's emergence as a calligrapher, with a style unlike any other master's during or before his time. His accomplishment in that art is nothing short of stupenduous. By studying calligraphic styles obtained from rubbings of bronze vessels and stelae, a practice which had profound impact on the nineteenth and twentieth century calligraphers and painters, he paved the way for a revolution in the clerical script. As Jin Nong had no prior pictorial training, his sure handling of brush and ink came from the art of calligraphy. Indeed, the heavy, powerful brushwork of his paintings was so derived, and contributed to the development of a personal style. Along the way, Jin Nong developed as a connoisseur. An early exposure to art perhaps was a key factor, for years later he still remembered arhat images with vividness. 2 Before h e reached his thirties, h e h a d accumulated h u n d r e d s of rubbings and old paintings. His horizon further widened when he came into contact with Yangzhou collectors and when he travelled to the North and became acquainted with collectors there. 3 The opportunity of seeing rare works in these private collections must have stirred in him a hidden desire to paint. Another source of Jin Nong's art comes from his association with Yangzhou eccentrics, especially Wang Shishen (1686 - 1759) and Gao Xiang (1688 - 1753). Both had been established artists even before Jin Jin Nong: The Eccentric Painter 273 Nong launched his painting career. Through the years Jin Nong must have watched them work and have become familiar with their styles as well as with the technical sides of painting and the actual process of creation. These are vital to a beginner. Once Jin Nong took up the brush, his fame in painting began to overshadow that in poetry and in calligraphy. When did Jin Nong begin to paint? On the surface, it seems that this is a simple question that can be settled easily. Due however to a series of contradictory claims regarding this matter, the situation becomes far more complex. It may be that we need to determine, first, w h e n he actually began to paint, and second, the onset of his painting career. Most would place Jin Nong's first painting in his fifties, though others may favor his forties.4 There are indications that Jin Nong could have tried his hand in painting as early as 1723, w h e n he was in his late thirties. 5 Besides, we know of two attributions dated to 1736, testifying that he would have had sufficient experience prior to his fiftieth sui.6 Regardless of these incidental trials, the true onset of a painting career is another matter altogether, as it requires dedication and persistence. For that, we must rely on Jin Nong's own testimonial. As he himself put it, this took place in his sixtieth sui (1747), some ten to twenty years after the first experiments. He said: Master Wintry Heart started to learn how to paint bamboo after the age of sixty...7 As innocuous as it sounds, Jin Nong's confession is important for at least two reasons. The first involves the beginning of a concentrated effort. Unlike those infrequent and intermittant trials of the past, this is the beginning of a steady involvement and exploration of painting subjects. The persistance and continuity so exhibited in the following decade signals a seriousness of purpose. The second reason is the growing confidence Jin Nong displayed from then on in his successful mastery of pictorial idiom and the praise he received from his peers. Replacing the earlier sense of insecurity, we now find Jin Nong glowing in his o w n achievements: Mr Xu Bin, from Danyang, whose style name is Jiangmen, can paint narcissus with garden rocks... Hua Yan, style name Qiuyue, lived in my hometown [Hangzhou] for years. They are all old now with white hair... Whenever these two old men got together in the woods for tea, they took out their paintings and bragged about them. I hated myself for not being able 274 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor to follow in their footsteps. It was only during the sixth month of this year that I suddenly started to paint bamboo. As my works are not so bad after all, they were appreciated by these two old friends...8 That bamboo should be the first subject to launch his painting career seems only appropriate. Indeed, among the many painting subjects, bamboo is perhaps the easiest for a calligrapher to apply the skill already in his possession. After all, the brushwork in ink bamboo painting is inherently calligraphic. It also requires minimal expertise in verisimilitude and is simple in depiction. For Jin Nong, the subject served as a natural transition between the two disciplines. However, once the transition was made, he was able to go from subject to subject, switching from bamboo to vegetables and flowers, plum blossoms, figures, horses, self-portraits, and Buddhist images, as he himself acknowledged in a series of collectanea of inscriptions, which once had been attached to his paintings. 9 The following presentation adheres essentially to this rough and sometimes overlapping chronology. Bamboo In 1747 or 1748, w h e n Jin Nong was about sixty sui, he was ill and moved to his sister's home in the southern section of Hangzhou, near the city wall.10 There was no bamboo growing around his living quarters. He bought and planted bamboo roots from one of the temples near West Lake; soon there was a bamboo grove. In the summer, whiling away the long days during his illness, he started to practice painting bamboo. 11 It appears that xiesheng was his primary approach to bamboo painting. Instead of adhering to the style of earlier masters or even learning from a current expert, Jin Nong used the newly grown jade-green bamboo as his model and thereby created his own style. He said: Master Wintry Heart started to paint bamboo after he was sixty years old. He did not pay any attention to the different types of bamboo paintings of the old masters. There are thousands of slender bamboo stalks around the house and he learned how to paint bamboo directly from them.12 On the other hand, there are plenty of clues in Jin Nong's writing to testify that he also sought inspiration from the works of at least ten early masters, ranging from Tang to the Yuan periods.13 A preference for earlier masters appeared to be the rule; rarely did he pay attention to painters of the Ming and Qing dynasties.14 Jin Nong: The Eccentric Painter 275 The brushwork in Jin Nong's ink bamboo painting was wet, dark and forceful, derived directly from his calligraphy (Figure 1). He liked to compose these paintings with two or three long stalks tilting to the right, sometimes with overlapping shorter stalks at the lower left corner. The two major elements, the joints of the stalks and the shape of the leaves, are all rendered in his own unique manner. While the stalks are light in tone, his leaves are dark, almost triangular. These he described as 'the broken-off tips of bronze blades found in a forgotten ancient battle field.'15 The intention undoubtedly was to instill an archaic pathos to his bamboo paintings. By examining his extant bamboo painting, we learn that 1750 was one of his most productive years. There was an immediate market for Jin Nong's paintings, once his latent talent blossomed. Nevertheless, in the following year, he suddenly gave up bamboo as his subject. It is reasonable to assume that competition, in the person of Zheng Xie, was the chief cause. At that time, Zheng Xie had returned to Yangzhou to become a professional painter. Since in personality Zheng was just as colorful as Jin Nong, and since Zheng's bamboo paintings, which often included rocks and orchids, could be even more substantive and captivating than Jin Nong's, the decision to retreat might have been as wise as it was timely. In later years when Jin Nong occasionally painted ink bamboo, the vigorous, distinctive characteristics found in his early paintings were less evident. He arranged bamboo with small sparse leaves as the background for his flower, landscape or figure paintings, or he resorted to contour-outline ('double contour') as a method of rendition.16 The best example was done in 1762 for his student Xiang Jun (Figure 2).17 Painted on Ming dynasty paper, Jin Nong tinted the whole background with light brown washes except for white edges along the bamboo leaves, thus suggesting the presence of snow. The stalks and leaves were drawn with the so-called 'golden file' calligraphic strokes after Li Yu (937-78), the last monarch of the Southern Tang dynasty (937-75). These twisted strokes, powerful and expressive, have gnarled, uneven edges, demonstrating the vigor and strength of Jin Nong's brushwork in his old age. Miscellaneous Subjects Having put aside ink bamboo for a time, Jin Nong started to paint flowers, vegetables, figure and landscapes. Most of these were done in the format of album leaves. Whereas his ink bamboo was weighty and Jin Nong: The Eccentric Painter 277 substantial these newer paintings were lively and light. The earliest example, dated 1754, is a set of album leaves entitled Ink Play now in the Wango Weng collection, New Hampshire. 18 The first leaf shows a young boy standing at a pavilion by a pond. With a banana-leaf fan, he is trying to catch dragonflies drifting above the water. Jin Nong must have liked this composition because he used it more than once.19 The inscription in the upper right corner reads: The lotus are blooming. The silvery pond so silent. In the cool early morning, Who knows how many green-winged dragonflies are flying? The breeze from my fan Drifts through the two six-paneled windows facing the water. I remember that we once sat [closely] together. With delicate fingers, you peeled the lotus seeds [for me]. One must admire Jin Nong's ability, enhancing the painting with this evocative poem. The whole picture is exquisitely drawn, an outstanding example of originality and taste. The casually composed forms are resplendent with color. It not only reminds one of a childhood experience, but through the implied tranquility refreshes a sensibility dulled by age. On the tenth leaf, Jin Nong painted a young woman sewing in a hut. He inscribed the title on the left edge as Liichuang Pinnil Zhi Tu or 'A Picture of a Poor Maiden by a Green Window.' Here he represents the sorrow and grief of all indigent women in China. Young girls from poor families rose before dawn and toiled the whole day. In the evening light, they worked at extra tasks such as sewing for wealthy customers. Their bitterness and drudgery touched Jin Nong's heart at a tender age. This picture relates to the night thirty-eight years before when Jin Nong was ill in his home town. Cold and lonely, unable to sleep, Jin Nong decided to adopt the style name of Wintry Heart, borrowed from the verse of a Tang dynasty poem about a poor young woman sewing clothes on a cold autumn night.20 A vivid picture of that miserable woman must have imprinted itself on his mind, to be materialized much later in this album leaf. Another well known album, dated the first day of autumn in 1759, is owned by the Shanghai Museum. 21 Included are twelve landscape leaves in color. Nine of these feature figures, two feature boats, and one 278 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor ttm ^ * *-jr w Figure 2. Jin Nong, Double-lined Bamboo after Wang Wei, dated 1762. Sichuan Provincial Museum. Jin Nong: The Eccentric Painter 279 a flock of white egrets, all loosely composed and sparsely defined in thin lines against large areas of wash. At first glance, they seem somewhat weaker than Jin Nong's ink bamboo and calligraphy, in which the heavy linear strokes prevail. A change was taking place, perhaps due to his desire for elegance. From a painter's point of view, achieving the airy lightness as demonstrated in this album is a challenging task. Of this album, the best known and the most memorable image is the eighth leaf, Gathering Water Chestnuts, which is reminiscent of Shen Zhou's (1427 -1509) rendering of the same theme. 22 One month later Jin Nong painted a similar album of twelve leaves, now at the Palace Museum, Beijing.23 It is likely that, upon completing the previous album, a patron saw it and liked it so much that he commissioned Jin Nong to produce a new set. In the first leaf a kneeling middle-aged man is worshipping a small Buddhist image on a table inside a pavilion. From the inscription on the right, one learns that the image is Bizhi Fo, or Pratyeka Buddha, who taught that by seeking the cause of common affairs in one's daily life, one could attain enlightenment. This religious touch reflects Jin Nong's espousal of Buddhism late in life to escape from the snares of the mundane world. One wonders whether this picture is actually a representation of Jin Nong himself. Tinged with melancholy, a leaf in the second album portrays a young woman in a blue dress sitting on a large rock under a tree. Holding her left knee, she gazes into the distant void. Her intensity suggests complicated feelings known only to herself, an example of Jin Nong's ability to evoke mood and inner dimensions. In view of the technical, stylistic and thematic diversity found in his paintings, one senses Jin Nong's constant effort to revitalize his art. For example, Jin Nong chose a common clump of sweet flag plants as a subject for a hanging scroll.24 Drawn in the linear haimiao manner, he used neither washes, shading nor color of any sort to detract from his long, thin ink line. The multitude of unique compositions and subtle variations provide considerable visual pleasure. With an approach that was sometimes playful, Jin Nong was not adverse to use his superb skill to depict people in the temple where he lived in his old age. An example is the lively painting now at the Fuji Yurinkan, Kyoto (Figure 3).25 It depicts a tonsured cleric, a young monk, with chin resting in hand, dozing off under the banana trees. The features are quite handsome, with eyebrows shaped like crescent moons. The protruding lips are full of seductive suggestion. A viewer not only senses the youthful vigor but is teased by the half closed eyes. Figure 3. Jin Nong, A Sleeping Young Monk. Yurinkan Museum, Kyoto. jfeB ** M ** •k Figure 4. Jin Nong, Radiant Moon, dated 1761. Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. Adding to this provocation is that, beneath the priestly white robe, the tips of a pair of red shoes are showing, shoes hardly suitable for a cleric. Inthis presentation, Jin Nong's mischievous thought is disguised but evident. The most extraordinary piece produced late in his life, in 1761, is the Yuehua Tu (The Radiant Moon'), now at the Palace Museum in Beijing (Figure 4).26 In the center of this hanging scroll hangs a bright full moon. Wet washes are used to form surface shadows, suggesting the legendary hare and cassia tree. The silvery lemon of soft radiant moonlight has been evenly applied, against a background of hazy sky, treated with light blue washes. The tranquility is impressively real and its uniqueness, in the history of Chinese painting, is beyond question. 282 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Plum Blossoms Jin Nong started to produce plum blossom paintings around 1756 when he was in his early seventies.27 He seems to have adapted the styles and skills of earlier plum blossom masters, plus those of his two artist friends, Wang Shishen and Gao Xiang, whose artistic careers had come to an end.28 As a result, his plum paintings lack the stylistic distinction found in works of other subjects, as his rendition of flowers, calyxes and stems are very traditional indeed. So is his tendency, like early poets and painters, to use the theme to symbolize the fragile beauty of an elegant young woman. In a playful mood, he inscribed on a painting of red plum blossoms: By the window of my room at the lodging-house, I created this plumblossom painting. To tint the flowers I borrowed the rouge of a beautiful lady who lives in a jade pavilion. I hope she will not be vexed at this old man who stole her cosmetics. When she tries to apply her morning makeup, she will be unable to mark a red dot on her lips. I could not stop from laughing.29 His personal traits become apparent only when one analyzes the way in which the composition is organized. One first notices his thick, inkwashed tree trunks (Figure 5), which begin from the right corner and extend diagonally to the opposite edge. Also notable is his tendency to focus on the middle section of the tree. Both aspects recall his bamboo paintings and are extensions of the same approach. A more pronounced departure from the accepted pattern lies in his willingness to deal with the plum blossoms as components of pictures which included other images. Thus he would, at times, add human figures to the scene or arrange the plum blossoms against a landscape setting for the purpose of instilling a lyrical mood.30 In the context of plum blossom paintings, it may be useful to address the question of authorship and authentication. In 1755, Jin Nong accepted a student, Luo Ping (1733-99), who, as one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, was almost his equal in f a m e a n d accomplishment. The following year the master accepted a second student, Xiang Jun, probably also from Yangzhou.31 Many of Jin Nong's later plum blossom paintings may have been painted by his pupils and only inscribed by him. He himself admitted this.32 As a result, ascertaining authorship becomes a formidable task. Fortunately, works by these disciples are still available for comparative purpose, many more by Luo Ping than by Xiang Jun. The latter is represented by a handscroll, the only know work by Xiang Jun; in spite of bearing a poorly executed inscription and signature Figure 5. Jin Nong, Blossoming Plum, dated 1760. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri (Nelson Fund). purportedly by Jin Nong, it can be reattributed to the disciple since the end of the scroll is found to contain two small seals that read:' Jun' and 'Gongfu.' 33 Both refer to Xiang Jun. Comparing works of the teacher and students, one finds similarities but also fundamental differences. Jin Nong liked to paint his main tree trunks with heavy black ink. When the trunks are intersected by 284 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor thinner branches, white spaces are left to define edges. He also liked to bend his small branches in sharp angles. In contrast, Luo Ping's tree trunks are usually formed with drier brushwork. His blossoms tend to be more realistic and his compositions are fuller, with twigs and flowers crowding against one another. Of the three, the least talented was Xiang Jun. From the handscroll cited above, one sees that his branches are generally long and straight, lacking the twist and turn of the other two painters. The presence of thick ink lines and dots on top of the finished boughs may be Jin Nong's, attempts to rectify the perceived weakness or deficiencies in a student's work. In addition, while Jin Nong and Luo Ping preferred to paint with zhongfeng, with the tip of brush kept at the center of the brushstrokes, Xiang Jun used pianfeng, or 'the side of the brush.' The taidian ('ink dots') on Jin Nong and Luo Ping's tree trunks and branches are round; in contrast, Xiang Jun frequently resorted to flat dots. According to Jin Nong's own writings, Luo Ping was the bolder of the two disciples, favoring large trunks and thick branches in his plum blossom paintings. Xiang Jun was more careful, drawing only thin trunks and looser branches. 34 After having studied their works, we can vouchsafe the credibility of Jin Nong's analysis. Horse Painting Jin Nong began painting horses around 1757-58 after the age of seventy. According to Dongxin Huama Tiji ('Mister Dongxin's Inscriptions on Horse Paintings'), the choice of the subject stems from his conviction that he himself is like a fine horse without due recognition. Half of the twelve entries in that text deal in one way or another with failed hopes and dreams. It seems that Jin Nong's failure to pass the civil service examination was a source of pain and frustration, which intensified during his later years. In this sense, the horse paintings were a vehicle for expressing long pent-up resentments. In one of the inscriptions he wrote sarcastically: I now paint horses in cold and deserted atmospheres. Gazing at my painting I seem to see myself, filled with pity for my toiling and rootless life. There is no Bo Le (the legendary horse expert) in the human world. Even if there is and I can meet him now, he probably would reject me due to my old age. Besides, amid the wind and dust in the wilderness, I no longer wish to be recognized.35 His unique horse paintings were inspired by old paintings which Jin Nong had seen in his early days.36Thus these horse paintings display an archaic overtone beyond reflecting a melancholy and desolate mood. Jin Nong: The Eccentric Painter 285 Unlike his tradition-bound plum blossom paintings, Jin Nong's horses are different from any previous attempts. Intending to express the noble nature of the animal, most of his predecessors would favor verisimilitude as an essential goal. Accordingly, they utilized fine brush lines to define the form of stallions and to render the mane and tail by drawing each long hair one at a time. In contrast, Jin Nong, being the first one to rebel against this practice, used thick calligraphic strokes to draw his subjects. His modulated, expressive brush lines are energetic and powerful, swift and free, showing his consummate skill. One of Jin Nong's favorite modes of rendering the horse shows it standing in the lower portion of the painting, facing left, with its hindquarters touching the right edge. Bulky in bodily form, the horse's legs are made slender, with large joints, and the pointed hooves are drawn in the shape of clamshells. The arrangement of the four legs also follows a special pattern: the right hoof is raised slightly above the ground and the left legs are stretched forward. The tail is heavy and tousled, sweeping from right to left, resulting in a ' s ' shape. Furthermore, the left eye, which is the only one showing, is half hidden by a disorderly mane. Over all, in his predilection for drawing the head big and heavy, the animal looks more like a mule than a horse. The remaining space is left empty, providing plenty of room for his long inscriptions. As a subject, the horse is more difficult to render than other genres such as bamboo and plum blossoms. In terms of anatomical detail and organic structure, the variety of poses and appearances, it takes effort and discipline before one can capture the form and spirit of the animal. Since Jin Nong lacked formal training, it was necessary for him to choose a standard portrayal. Once he managed to establish a satisfying pattern, he tended to use it continually with only slight modifications. This is why his extant horse paintings resemble one another. The two best known horse paintings by Jin Nong are the DayuanMa ('A Ferghana Horse') and Hualiu Tu ('The Horse, Hualiu'), respectively in a private collection in Taiwan, and the Osaka Municipal Museum." The first work exhibits a great white stallion drawn with heavy ink lines. According to Jin Nong's inscription, the animal is fashioned in the way of a Ferghana horse, a rare and speedy breed in ancient times. The exalted stallion, head lifted high, displays a fearless and dignified bearing. With a long didactic inscription at the upper portion, it alludes to the bitter and cruel campaigns fought in the desolate wilderness in the past. One must admit that Jin Nong's painting is infused with heavy emotions. 286 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor When Jin Nong's Dayuan Ma is compared to the small pony in Hualiu Tu (Figure 6), the latter is perhaps even more expressive and laden with sentiment, the size notwithstanding. In this work, the artist drew a bony, under-sized black horse with a white saddle-cloth. Hualiu is figured among the eight legendary horses owned by King Mu (reigned ca 947-928 BC) of the Zhou dynasty, powerful animals with meritorious achievements in the battlefields.38 However, this small horse could hardly be that. Instead, it is a shabby, docile and miserable beast, such as those used for daily chores on a farm in Northern China. Head down, it seems to have lost its will. Partially covered by an untrimmed mane, the eye that peeks through is large and sad, filled with indignation and bitterness. Before the Qing dynasty, few Chinese painters made use of animals and birds to express h u m a n feelings. It was not until the seventeenth century that Zhu Da (or Bada Shanren), one of the yimin painters, depicted fish and birds with eyes which conveyed anger, isolation and hostility; that was reflective of the artist's resentments towards the ruling Manchu court.39 One or two generations later, Jin Nong followed suit, though his purpose was quite different. There was no antiManchu feelings, but a cry against the indifference of a time when talented men were laid waste. Jin Nong's Self-Portraits If Jin Nong's horse paintings were used to vent his resentments, then his self-portraits were his unparalleled way of extending friendship and h u m a n bonds. They were farewell gifts to close friends and students. By sending them his portraits, he asked to be remembered when he passed away. Thus his self-portraits were painted with specific recipients in mind. Unfortunately, even though nine were recorded in his Dongxin Zixiezhen Tiji, only one example remains, that is, the self-portrait done for his hometown friend, Ding Jing (Figure 7 and Figure 8a).40 Painted as a h a n g i n g scroll, it portrays Jin N o n g in profile, a b a l d - h e a d e d old m a n in a white robe with a tiny pigtail hanging on his right shoulder. He has a thick mustache and long beard. Holding a staff in his right hand, the man stares into space, his beady eye sharp and alert. The emphasis is on lightness and clarity; thus it manifests economy of line, simplicity and absence of any background. These further strengthen Jin Nong's own dignified and lofty bearings. The long inscription on the right side not only balances the figure but also summarizes the history of Chinese portrait painting based on Jin Nong's own knowledge. in* Figure 6. Jin Nong, Hualiu Tu, dated 1760. The Osaka Municipal Museum. Although lacking in anatomical accuracy, this self-portrait confirms descriptions of his appearance found in his friends' writing. 41 Further confirmation comes from Jin Nong's portraits painted by contemporary artists (Figure 8). The first known instance was by the Yangzhou painter, Gao Xiang and drawn w h e n Jin Nong was at the age of fortyseven (Figure 8b). Reproduced as the frontispiece in his Dongxin Xiansheng Ji, it shows the frontal view of a middle-aged man with a bald head and long beard, not dissimilar from the figure in his self-portrait. Being a woodblock impression, the printed lines may lack the flexibility afforded by a brush; nonetheless, Jin Nong's features are clearly defined. ****** m |jji} IKi? Si! I! I j i ! !«! IS* ft"** aS; it?* n t u Figure 7. Jin Nong, Self-Portrait, dated 1759. Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. Two portraits were done by his student, Luo Ping. One is dated 1760 (Figure 8c) and depicts the teacher who, naked to his waist, is seated in an armchair with a large fan in his right hand, dozing off under banana trees on a hot summer day.42 A small boy-servant sitting on the ground behind his master is also asleep. Luo Ping undoubtedly has witnessed such a scene - a moment of relaxation in the life of Jin Nong in Jin Nong: The Eccentric Painter 289 Yangzhou, and his depiction has a ring of truth to it. Even though Jin Nong's image is rather small in ratio to the pictorial surface, one can discern those familiar features without fail. The second, undated portrait displays the master sitting on a rock, reading a palm-leaf sutra written in Sanskrit, with the bald head, small pigtail, heavy mustache and long beard intact (Figure 8d).43 Signs of age are apparent, for example, small b u m p s of loose skin o n t h e back of his n e c k a n d wrinkles around eyes, giving support to the theory that this must have been done during Jin Nong's last years.44 The resemblance between the self-portrait and portraits is remarkable though they span more than a decade and are by different artists. They reflect Jin Nong's ability to achieve a measure of verisimilitude. 290 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Religious Figures Around the same time that he was painting horses, Jin Nong began to experiment with religious figures. A conversion to Buddhism had taken place, w h e n he forsook his wanton ways for a life of purity. One inscription on his Buddhist paintings says: ...After my wife passed away, I lived alone and was celibate. I used to have a mute concubine but later I sent her away. Now I stay at a Buddhist temple in Yangzhou, and partake of food in its kitchen. Day after day, I eat only vegetables and actually have begun to enjoy this kind of meal. Aside from copying Buddhist scriptures, I dedicate myself to painting Buddhist images. A weak man of seventy years old like me dares not pray for any blessing. All I want is to have plenty of time to enjoy my peaceful life as well as to watch the beautiful scenery surrounding Buddhist temples in Jiangnan...45 It appears that the old painter was experiencing an acute sense of the transience of life. By the eighteenth century, Buddhist painting had lost much of its vitality. In their attempt to emphasize the divine nature of the Buddha and Buddhist deities, painters adhered strictly to the canonical prescriptions, for example, sacred attributes such as ushnisha or the topknot, the hair in snail-like form, the urna or the tuft of hair between the eyes, and the mudra or hand gestures. The unwillingness to deviate resulted in hardened patterns and further limited interpretation. On the other hand, Jin Nong sought a fresh approach, including an attempt to fuse the h u m a n and divine.46 This approach is not entirely unique, since in the historic past the concept of the divine king often resulted in images which, in retaining the usual attributes of a deity, carried the visages of specific rulers. Nonetheless, it is far from being common w h e n the case in point pertains to an individual less exalted than royalty. In 1759, along with his experimentation with self-portraits, Jin Nong also painted a Buddhist painting for his friend, Zhang Geng (1685 - 1760).47 It portrays a slender Buddhist figure holding a staff with both hands, standing under a bo tree - an arrangement that was to gain favor with Jin Nong in his Buddhist paintings. 48 The painting appears straightforward. However, as one reads Jin Nong's inscription on the upper left and Zhang Geng's at the lower left corner, one begins to grasp the significance of this work. Jin Nong's inscription reads: On the 28th day, 11th month, the 24th year of Qianlong (1759), I drew fresh water from the Bodhisattva Spring and washed my fingers and nails. Then I burned excellent incense and painted a picture of the Buddha of Longevity Jin Nong: The Eccentric Painter 291 for the pure Master Mijia Jushi (Zhang Geng), so that he could worship and offer sacrifices to it forever and ever. Master Mijia's lean and graceful appearance looks rather like that of the Buddha of Longevity himself.49 So this is an image of Amitayus, Buddha of Longevity, a subject with which Jin Nong was fairly familiar. From the comment, the resemblance between the image and Master Mijia seems to be incidental at best, except that there is a hidden angle about which the artist is reticent. Zhang Geng's poetic colophon, however, is more direct and forthcoming: With all my exertions, I had taken care of my compassionate mother until she passed away. At the end of my own life, I recalled and recognized her face. I have tried to purify myself [for years], yet I still cannot attain this state. Ashamed and bewildered, I burn incenses in front of my mother's kind appearance.50 It appears that, out of respect and in a touch of inspiration, Jin Nong had incorporated the facial features of his friend's mother into the Buddha image. If so, the resemblance between the latter and Zhang Geng himself should come as no surprise. Little wonder that the slender figure looks rather like a nun! What this demonstrates, beyond his ability to capture the appearance and personality of an individual and to incorporate them into his religious images, is Jin Nong's conceptual boldness and subtlety. Indeed, by carefully going through his Buddhist figures, one may find that each has its own distinctive set of personal features and traits, possibly modelled after Jin Nong's patrons or their relatives. In this manner, he not only pleased his patrons but also could maintain a sense of liveliness in his religious oeuvres. The majority of his Buddhist figures are standing or sitting under a bo tree with large leaves. They wear robes defined by heavy ink lines. Only the facial features of the figures are carefully depicted, allowing individualized portrayal. The rest of the body, including the hands and feet, is usually covered by the garment. Most have intense, solemn expressions. One of his Buddhist paintings bearing the first inscription in the Dongxin Huafo Tiji was still in existence forty years ago.51 The date on this work, 1760, no doubt stands for the beginning of his Buddhist phase. Here the Buddha is portrayed as a standing corpulent figure, with short curly hair, heavy beard and mustache. Most of the traditional 292 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor attributes such as the urna and mandorla have been omitted. Only a bald spot on the top of the head suggests the ushnisha, the protuberance that conveys the Buddha's wisdom. The down-cast eyes as well as the clasped hands inside the sleeves make the figure look more like a gentle, good-natured Chinese sage than a sacred deity from India. The composition, comprising a figure surrounded on three sides by a long inscription in Jin Nong's inimitable calligraphy, is utterly unique in the history of Buddhist painting. Jin Nong arranged his writing evenly around the figure, filling the whole background. This reminds us of the large, boat-shaped nimbus or body-halo behind the deities in early Chinese Buddhist sculptures. The narrow white space between the script and the contour of the figure looks like the shining light of a mandorla. Jin Nong's composition best demonstrates the ingenuity of merging an inscription into the painting, a novel practice favored by Yangzhou artists during the eighteenth century. 52 The text of this long inscription may be regarded as the finest survey of Chinese Buddhist painting ever written in the eighteenth century, as Jin Nong surveyed all the Buddhist painters and their recorded, representative works from the Han dynasty through the end of the Southern Song period. The inscription also indicates his awareness of the Buddhist caves at the Longmen site in Henan. 53 As a result of his knowledge, Jin Nong's religious painting has a peculiar, archaic quality. One of his works, depicting the vigorous Bodhidharma, found its way into the imperial collection, labeled as an anonymous Song painting (Figure 9) .,4 The grave and earnest patriarch sits on a mat, legs crossed in a meditation pose. The black tree trunk and leaves form a strong contrast to the white robed figure in the foreground. Even though Jin Nong's signature and seals were cut off, perhaps by a cunning antique dealer, the thick linear work with uneven edges on the robe, the black tree trunk and four clusters of large leaves are typical of his style. There is little doubt that this picture is originally painted by Jin Nong. Emperor Qianlong inscribed it in 1769, six years after Jin Nong's death. As is well known, Jin Nong had been long obsessed by his failure to achieve recognition by the court. It was ironic that his work should posthumously reach the Emperor under a false attribution! Summary The productive period of Jin Nong's life as a painter spans roughly between 1747/8 and 1763. During these years he was able to garner the energy and produce his fine pieces. Toward the end, physical decay set in, as he was losing his eyesight as well as his hearing in the left ear. His Figure 9. Anonymous Painter, Damo under Tree. Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, Republic of China. 294 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor life was to drag on for several months longer. In the ninth lunar month of 1763, at the age of seventy-seven sui, he passed away, lonely and destitute in a small Buddhist monastery in Yangzhou, the Sanqiu An ('Shrine of the Three Autumns'). Left behind is a noble pictorial heritage, the scope and range of which are all the more astounding in view of Jin Nong's basic handicaps, that is, a belated start and the absence of formal training. One can only attribute this miracle to his talismanic mind, his latent talents and his sensitive touch. Under his handling, themes which to his contemporaries might simply be dismissed as commonplace or even frivolous had charm and novelty. Indeed, so flamboyant and wilful was Jin Nong in painting that he could change without cease. Once he succeeded in tackling one subject he would proceed to another, charting a new course and direction, always seeking fresh ways to explore the hidden potentials. His works are never monumental in size or elaborate in composition. Rather, his is an art that was bonded intimately with his life experience and conveys a sense of immediacy or transiency." During the eighteenth century, few can match his furious pace, the quickness and breadth of his imagination, let alone his penetrating and fiercely original vision. This original vision sets Jin Nong apart from his contemporaries as a crane among the chickens. When he referred to the works of the past, the tendency was to use them largely as a point of departure, or to extract essence and to gain or regain that primitivity which is the core of his brand of archaism. Both old and new, both traditional and individualistic, Jin Nong's art struck a meaningful balance, the very reason for its ready and immediate acceptance. An Overview of Li Jian's Painting Christina Chu Li Jian (1747-99), whose ancestral home was Bajiao village in Shunde district, Guangdong province, was a descendant of scholars; both his grandfather and great-grandfather had been students at the National Academy. Li Jian's father, Li Zhenshan, however, took up rice trading as a profession. His business required him to take intermittent, but long, residences in Nanning, Guangxi, where Li Jian was born to his second wife, Madam Lei. The precocious child was reputed to be able to compose poetry and essays from ten sui onwards. As an adolescent, he immersed himself in the study of the classics and indulged in frequent travels to the fantastic caves of Guilin. The young Li Jian took with him paper and brushes to sketch landscape during those outings and during homeward journeys to the family's village in Guangdong. Li Jian did not actively pursue an official career except for a belated attempt at the prefectural examination at 27 sui. On his return, he took up serious studies in classical learning from two masters, Huang Chao and Lu Songzhang. From this time onward, Li Jian confined his travels to Guangdong province, except perhaps for short trips across the province's northern border.1 Although Li Jian acquired his fame early as an accomplished poet, his fame in painting eventually far outweighed that in poetry. It is not known from whom Li Jian learned to paint. There is also controversy concerning when he began to paint. An unidentified portrait painting (Figure 1) in The Art Gallery, Chinese University of Hong Kong, painted in the year 1789 when the artist was forty-three sui, bears the following inscription: When I first started painting, I used to live in the villages. Big brother [name undecipherable] used to come over and watch me paint. Looking back, it has been thirty years and my painting has just matured. Now both our hair and our beards are white. Time goes by as the river flows; I contemplate its passage.2 ! i r < finyt i15 ii1 f ft I * * J iti J f* ^^ %£ g . i - J * s> A I \i JI /« & / * ft % Aimt fr fj> pf vt iPitiii {fA V £ if ' " i * \ ** * t i ib: *k 5 \<*> / * lib ji it HO. v A' " J o 'j ' W * * -I *4 )J£M* fi f/wm fil >* K l *u i *i CM** ^f J > A if(I i ^ Figure 1. Li Jian, Figure, dated 1789. Collection of The Art Gallery, Chinese University of Hong Kong. * An Overview of Li Jian's Painting 297 This places the start of his painting career around twelve sui. On the other hand, in 1794, when Li Jian was forty-eight sui, he wrote: I have been painting for forty years. Before thirty sui, I was proud of my painting. After forty, I looked back and was ashamed. It was only in the last few years that I really grasped something close to the essence of nature and that which was in the spirit of Dong Yuan and Wu Zhen.3 If this is true, then he started painting as early as age eight. The differences in these recollections notwithstanding, the artist clearly had an early start. That the youthful Li Jian was slow to gain a reputation in painting can be inferred from the writings of Weng Fanggang (1733 - 1818). Weng, who became Inspector of Education in Guangdong in 1764, knew neither him nor his poetic and painterly skills before he left the province in 1771.4 During these years, Li Jian was between age eighteen and twenty-five. Some twenty-five years later, after the two finally met in 1796-97, Weng reported that Li's mountain dwelling was thronged with admirers who had come to commission paintings. The earliest surviving painting by Li Jian was recently discovered and published by Li Yuchun of the Guangdong Provincial Museum. An eight-leaf album entitled Luofushan Youji ('Travels at Mount Luofu'), dated 1768 when the artist was 22 sui,5 the work was signed Li Jin, a name he apparently began to use around that time or earlier. The album sheds new light on the early stage of Li Jian's development as a painter. Prior to the discovery of the 1768 album, it was generally accepted that Li Jian's early style, as exemplified by works done in his thirties, showed a close resemblance to Ni Zan and Wang Meng, and that paintings showing strong Daoji (Shitao) influence were of later dates. The Luofushan Youji, however, reveals a close relationship to the works of such Guangdong artists as Zhao Tingbi and Lai Jing. Thus, in his formative years, Li Jian was under the influence of Guangdong painters w h o mainly continued the Wu school tradition. His paintings following Yuan styles were, then, of his middle period of development, though soon they were to take on Daoji's stylistic elements. The latter's influence was to prevail through the very end of his painting career and was instrumental in stimulating Li Jian's attempts to emulate various old masters. 298 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor The earliest sign of Daoji's influence came in 1781, when Li Jian was thirty-five sui. In that year, he painted a fan with an inscription declaring his indebtedness to Daoji.6 Although its resemblance to that master's style is remote, the painting signals the beginning of Daoji's impact, which intensified with time. In the same year, however, he was also working in other manners, mingling the Dong-Ju tradition with the Wu school idiom. For example, Cloudy Mountain1 is done in the style of Dong Yuan and displays the characteristic hemp-fibre cun in delineating the folds of the mountains and the use of dots to suggest vegetation. The foreground rock, leading the eye movement through a gentle diagonal, condenses the middle ground tremendously. On the whole, it shows a rather stiff handling of the so-called Dong Yuan manner. 8 Contemporaneous with the Cloudy Mountain is the painting Travellers in the Spring Mountains.9 The complex movements with overlapping landscape elements engender a rather smooth transition from the foreground through the middle ground into the far distance. In approach, it is reminiscent of the Wu school tradition, as seen in Shen Zhou's Mount Lu in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Both display compressed space, characteristic of that school. The next painting we encounter was done four years later. In Solitary Boat on Misty Water (Figure 2), we witness a loosening up of the brushwork. The Dong Yuan hemp fibre cun relaxes in a Wu school composition with a stark Daoji overtone. The same kind of looseness can still be seen in the 1788 Bamboo and Rock.10 However, the following year saw an intensified effort to imitate Daoji. Five paintings are known to have been painted in that year, including a fan11; three hanging scrolls: Xiao Wufeng (The Little Black Peak'),12 Deep Autumn Colors" (Figure 3) and Precarious Rock by a Babbling Stream (Figure 4); and an album.14 Together, they illustrate his fervor in repeatedly copying Daoji, with the recurrent motif of a feathery tree for which Daoji was the source of inspiration. This effort continued until 1790 when he painted The Great Black Peak.'" Commenting on this preoccupation, Xie Lansheng observed in his Changxingxing Zhai Shuhua Tiba ('Collection of Inscriptions from the Changxingxing Studio'): After his middle years, Qiaoweng (Li Jian) was extremely fond of Shitao (Daoji). He imitated Shitao meticulously and diligently to the point that every brush stroke looked like his.16 Figure 2. Li Jian, Solitary Boat on Misty Water, dated 1785. Chongyizhai Collection, Hong Kong. 300 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Figure 3. Li Jian, Deep Autumn Colors, dated 1789. Chongyizhai Collection, Hong Kong. Figure 4. Li Jian, Precarious Rock by a Babbling Stream, dated 1789. Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art. 302 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor To shed additional light on this matter, we may consider Li Jian's repeated attempts to render a subject which Daoji had made famous, namely, the Furong Wan ('Hibiscus Cove'). Furong ('hibiscus') appears to have had strong personal associations for Li Jian. He came from Furong Village, his studio was called the Furongting ('Hibiscus Pavilion'), and his collection of lyrics was named Furongting Yuefu ('Lyrics of the Furong Pavilion'). Afurong, or opium, may also have figured in Li Jian's life. During his life, opium was imported in great quantity into China along the coast of Guangdong, with Guangzhou as a major point of entry. Thus, there has been speculation that Li Jian became an addict, particularly after forty-three sui, when he was so afflicted with breathing problems and frail health that he may have turned to opium for relief. This may be another reason for Li Jian's obsession with the furong image. Despite these allusions, the first known instance of the theme among Li Jian's extant corpus occurs in the album of 1789 mentioned above. To the leaf Hibiscus Cove, Li Jian added a poetic inscription, which reads: When the hibiscus flower blooms, the autumn colors are at their best. Their reflection flutters in the water and, shrouded in the mist, turns the color of purple jade. Who is listening to the chanting across the river? The song rises over the flowers to the immortal pavilion. The Monk of Bitter Melon (Daoji) did a painting of Hibiscus Cove. It was the inspiration for doing this painting. Although this is the earliest surviving example, we learn from literary sources that one year before, in 1788, at forty-two sui, Li Jian painted the same subject in not one but a whole series of paintings: The Monk of Bitter Melon did a painting of Hibiscus Cove. I loved it dearly and made more than ten copies of it. On the seventeenth day of the eighth month in the year wushen (1788), I visited the monk Zhi in the Cidu Temple and I made one more copy.17 The theme of Hibiscus Cove recurred nine years later. In the 1797 album in the Guangzhou Art Gallery, Li Jian painted the second leaf in the spirit of Daoji under this same Furong Wan title. In his inscription, Li Jian contrasted Daoji's treatment with that of his own: Shitao did a painting of Hibiscus Cove. The scenery depicted was that of Jiangnan in autumn. In Guangdong, we also have this flower in the summer time. Therefore, when I paint the Hibiscus Cove, it could be a summer scene. Early in 1794,1 did a painting on this theme. An Overview of Li Jian's Painting 303 In the meantime, not only did Daoji serve Li Jian well as a source of pictorial motifs and themes, he stirred in the later artist a desire to investigate sources of greater antiquity. Li Jian came to see Daoji as the inheritor of the Dong-Ju style through the Four Masters of the Yuan period. This interpretation enabled him to take a great step forward by moving backwards in time, to study closely the styles of the Song and Yuan masters. Hence the wide-ranging styles of Li Jian, which include not only the close imitation of Daoji (Figure 5),18 probably done before 1794, but also an uncharacteristic effort to reconstruct Guo Xi's style through the Yuan masters, chiefly Ni Zan (Figure 6). Other related works from this period of Li's career include Landscape after Wang Meng of 1792,19 Solitary Pavilion by An Old Tree after Ni Zan of 1794,20 Silent Green Peaks and Cold Jade Spring after Wu Zhen of the same year,21 Landscape after Ni Zan of 1795,22 and the Heavenly Pond after Huang Gongwang, dated 1796.23 In this connection, Li's archaistic blue-and-green landscapes,24 a perplexing and heretofore undatable series, may now be attributed to the 1790s. Representative of this group is the winter landscape Journey to Shu (Figure 7). Li Jian gave the style a regional flavor in Red Kapok in Green Mountains25 with a grove of kapok trees in the foreground. Although distinctive of Guangdong, the red kapok leaves parallel the a u t u m n scenery of northern China. A series of zigzags moves through the level distance of the middle ground, which is also characterized by a drastic tilting of the picture plane. Because of its rather systematic series of hemp fibre cunr the range of high rising mountains depicted there can be immediately associated with Huang Gongwang, harking back ultimately to Dong Yuan. Li Jian's innovation, however, was to introduce the red kapok into the painting repertory. Xie Lansheng confirms this in Changxingxing Zhai Shuhua Tiba: Among the painters of Guangdong, Erqiao Shanren (Li Jian) was the first one to introduce the red kapok into landscape painting. His distinctive technique uses vermillion dots exclusively without depicting individual leaves.26 On a painting of this subject, Li Jian left the following commentary: In recent years, when gentlemen from all over China have come to visit Guangdong and have requested my paintings, I have always resorted to this subject. A few dozen paintings like this have thus passed through the [Dayu] Mountains [to other parts of China].27 j>L t 1 / $ t: ^ M P r X •' ftflH > :!• * $ t : ; * 4 -A* * H ^ -s ; & •a I" «J J /i^ ^ $ r. J «t <•>:f 41: fu H jb, i &- # * * ^ )i y ^ ; to : 1 * X * t H k •\t M lit. •0 \ i. -V- 1 di. * * A i X * •t A I ?K & A % ** «£ ri ' O1 4 -f- f I jt 1 : » f" * £ * -f il v i-; * 5 *£ pp** ^ * a * P* n 4 y r :*• it, < ^ V• v A; ^ t y Wf vjr^ii! ?! v -t ( /V "' - * * i 1 v i . - ; * v . ' % * J* f v WjgPt*.:, Figure 6. Li Jian, Elegant Bamboo and Bare Trees, dated 1794. Chongyizhai Collection, Hong Kong. •U. Figure 7. Li Jian, Journey to Shu. Collection of P. T. Huo, Hong Kong. Figure 8. Li Jian, Landscape, dated 1795. Collection of The Art Gallery, Chinese University of Hong Kong. An Overview of Li Jian's Painting 307 These paintings had a regional flavor which delighted those from outside of Guangdong, but it appears that such gongbi, blue-green works, appealed as well to the local connoisseurs and collectors. This is documented by the inscriptions on Li Jian's painting after Zhao Lingrang dated 1795, notable for the prevalence of rectangular rock forms as well as the red leaves (Figure 8),28 features not seen in works earlier than 1794. The inscriptions by Huang Danshu (1757 - 1808),29 Wu Rongguang (1773 - 1843)30 and Xie Lansheng (1760 - 1831)31 acknowledge unanimously that this was considered one of the finest paintings by the master. Thus Huang Danshu wrote: When Qiaoweng (Li Jian) painted casually, there is a kind of desolate and transcendant quality about his work. Judging from the brushwork of this painting, it seems to be quite deliberate. He used to say to me: 'In this painting, I tried to emulate Jing Hao, Guan Tong and the Four Yuan Masters.' Looking at it now, the brushwork and ink tones are harmonious. The spirit is quite lofty, truly grasping the untransmittable secrets of the ancients. There is not a trace of copying and imitation involved. Ye Menglong had many paintings by Qiaoweng. Regarding this painting, we should indeed cherish it!32 This is followed by a short verse by Wu Rongguang: His powerful brushwork is like that of Jing Hao and Guan Tong. This painting does not disgrace such fine paper..." Wu appended the comment that: 'There are many paintings by Erqiao, but this must be the finest.' Xie Lansheng, too, wrote a poem to celebrate this work, and its owner, Ye Menglong, treasured it greatly. This archaistic, refined and elegant style by Li Jian clearly was much admired.34 Corollary to this development, Li Jian increasingly tended to paint on silk, a support more appropriate to the rich blue-and-green landscape style. How did Li Jian obtain concrete sources for his archaistic revival, and why did it occur in the 1790s? The answer lies in the fact that it was around this time that Li Jian's fame in painting was soaring. His paintings and his company were equally sought after by the Guangzhou socialites, including bureaucrats, salt merchants and hong merchants who had acquired their wealth through the prosperous overseas trade in that city. Many pre-Song, Song and Yuan paintings, some with dubious authenticity, were bought in Shanghai or Beijing by Guangdong collectors during their commercial or political travels to the north. 35 Surviving catalogs of the famous collections of Fengman 308 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Lou of Ye Menglong (1779 - 1843) and Tingfan Lou of Pan Zhengwei (1791 - 1850) record a number of paintings bearing Li Jian's inscriptions. Both collectors were many years Li Jian's junior. Ye Menglong was twenty years old and Pan Zhengwei was only eight w h e n Li Jian died. Paintings in their collections bearing Li Jian's inscriptions may have been acquired through family inheritance. Ye Menglong's father, Ye Tingxian, was a wealthy salt merchant and a close friend of Li Jian. Almost all of the paintings by Li Jian recorded in the Fengman Lou catalog were painted for Ye Tingxian personally. Among paintings recorded in Pan Zhengwei's catalog is a blue-and-green landscape attributed to Li Zhaodao and inscribed by Li Jian.36 Such works no doubt provided sources for Li's archaistic works. In the latter part of Li Jian's evolution, he pursued two paths. On the one hand, to please those patrons whose taste leaned toward the traditional and the colorful, he painted meticulous blue-and-green landscapes.37 In particular, the frequent appearance of red kapok trees, a motif reminiscent of Lingnan, reflected his concession to his rich patrons, who would carry the souvenir paintings back to their respective native provinces. On the other, he pleased himself and his intimate friends with an approach derived from Daoji's literati flavor. These two styles are not, however, mutually exclusive. The sound technique he learned by studying Tang and Song masters gave him a good basis for exploring his own spiritual landscape. In Li Jian's last years, the artist painted a number of significant works. Among them is the landscape painting which may be considered the best of Li Jian in existence. This painting, dated 1794, is in the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art and was lent to the exhibition, The Elegant Brush: Chinese Painting Under the Qianlong Emperor, 1735- 1795" Its compositional elements ease back into space in a comfortable, uncongested recession. This painting is truly a synthesis of all of the elements of its precursors: background mountains in the Dong-Ju tradition, foreground trees testifying to the Daoji repertory. A landscape painted on silk, mentioned previously, indicates a Wu Zhen influence (Figure 9). This was done in the same year he painted the Heavenly Pond after Huang Gongwang, that is, 1796. Two years later, another painting shows a lingering presence of the familiar rectangular rock form (Figure 10), as does one of his last paintings, done in 1799, the year of his death (Figure 11). The spatial arrangement is tortuous but bears all the traces of Li Jian's characteristic style. Figure 10. Li Jian, Landscape, dated 1798. Chongyizhai Collection, Hong Kong. Figure 11. Li Jian, Landscape, dated 1799, Chongyizhai Collection, Hong Kong. * A' 312 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor The last painting here discussed suggests indebtedness to Ni Zan (Figure 12). Even the style of calligraphy is written in the vein of the Yuan master. It is a somber painting, in which Li Jian made one more effort to explore the Yuan masters.39 Unfortunately, he died that year. Were it not for this untimeliness, his early fifties would have been a good starting point to soar to even greater heights, as did many painters who enjoyed better health and greater longevity. Li Jian was himself fully cognizant of his own approach and direction in painting. The initial change in his style, away from the Wu school, may be attributed to a growing distaste for that style. Thus, in an inscription on a 1787 album recorded in Tingfan Lou Shuhua Ji, the artist praised Kuncan for having escaped contamination from the Suzhou heritage: Shiqi (Kuncan) painted after the style and method of Huang Gongwang. His use of the brush is very elaborate and particular. Among the Ming painters, this bald headed old man was the only one not contaminated by the Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming school. I painted this painting with Shiqi (Kuncan) in my mind but the result still looks like Huang Gongwang.40 He came to admire the Yuan masters, Huang Gongwang and others, particularly Ni Zan, w h o m he favoured over Wang Meng and Fang Congyi. In his choice of prototypes, he appears to have subscribed, in a general way, to the theory of the Northern and Southern schools. Li Jian regarded the Southern school as composed of Jing Hao, Guan Tong, Li Cheng, Dong Yuan, Juran, and the Four Yuan Masters. Being a man of the eighteenth century, however, he sought to add Daoji and Kuncan to this rank. On the other hand, he did not sweep aside the Northern masters as if they were unworthy of attention. Zhao Boju, for example, won his praise: People who exerted themselves in painting but were not contaminated by the craftiness of the Song academy were few. If the painted scenery is not too elaborate, it can fire people's imagination. If the use of ink is sparse and vivid, then it attains the spirituality of the literati. Since the appearance of Zhao Qianli (Zhao Boju), only Qiu Shizhou (Qiu Ying) came close to being a painter of the Northern school who did not practice craftiness. He lacked the cultivation of a learned gentleman well versed in the ancient texts. This painting of mine may look exaggerated but it may be close to real landscape.41 There is one major lacuna in Li Jian's overview of historical sources in painting. Although he extolled the seventeenth-century individualists, he never once mentioned the six masters of early Qing in his »* I e. ^ * • —...:» / * v I Jk\ s L & -is \ • 4 $ ' V > tor i Figure 12. Li Jian, Landscape in the Style ofNiZan, dated 1799. Chongyizhai Collection, Hong Kong. 'h 314 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor writings, namely Wang Shimin, Wang Jian, Wang Hui, Wang Yuanqi, Yun Shouping and Wu Li, nor, for that matter, did his painting echo theirs. The pervasive dominance of the Orthodox school in the Qianlong period could not have been overlooked. Possibly Li Jian resented this school as a continuation of the Ming tradition of literati painting taking up the line of the Dong Qichang heritage. Having rejected the Wu school, he could also do the same to these orthodox masters, by association. From another angle, Li Jian's rejection of the orthodox masters and his preference for the monk painters, Daoji and Kuncan, may have had an historical root. The people of Guangdong put forth a very stiff resistance against the Manchu towards the end of the Ming dynasty. Two of the last Ming emperors, Zhaowu (Zhu Luyue) and Yongli (Zhu Yulong), were respectively enthroned in Guangzhou in 1646 and Zhaoxing 1657. When the Manchu took Guangdong, the massacre that ensued was no less severe in scale than those at Yangzhou and Jiading. Immortalized were the 'Lingnan Sanzhong' ('Three Patriots of Lingnan'), who were martyred in this province during the Manchu invasion. They were Chen Zizhuang (1596 - 1647), Chen Bangyan (1603-47) and Zhang Jiayu (1615-47), all of w h o m had served the Ming court. Other local anti-Manchu leaders included Yu Long and Wang Xing. The latter did not cease to resist the Manchu until 1659, when he and his family committed suicide by fire. During Li Jian's life time, reaction to the Manchu holocaust was still alive. Theyimin mentality was also strong. In fact, some scholars trace this yimin heritage back to the Southern Song, a source for the continuing anti-foreign sentiment in Guangdong that has never dissipated. That may explain the large proportion of monk painters mentioned in the Lingnan Hua Zhenglue ('Painters and Paintings in Lingnan'). Some even attribute to this inspiration the 1911 revolution, which was staged in Guangdong. This political attitude may account for Li Jian's rejection of the Four Wangs, w h o m he may have associated with the Qing court. His refusal to meet with the great poet, Yuan Mei, may further reflect his anti-establishment and headstrong nature. The frustration he encountered in the official examinations no doubt led to further bitterness. In choosing to live as a recluse, Li Jian nonetheless had to make a living by selling his painting. This practical need put him in close association with rich patrons. By the Qianlong reign, Guangzhou had already developed into a prosperous seaport and Li Jian's patrons all accumu- An Overview of Li Jian's Painting 315 lated their wealth from overseas trading. The affluence of Guangzhou encouraged patronage of the arts, and landscape painting flourished as never before. Indeed, before Li Jian's time, there were only a few important landscape painters, Gao Yan (ca 1630-91) and Huang Bi (ca 1730). The best known Ming dynasty Guangdong painters are Lin Liang (ca 1416-80), a bird-and-flower specialist of the Zhe school, and Zhang Mu (1607 - after 1686), a horse painter in the Yuan tradition. Both of these artists followed the mainstream of the Jiangnan tradition of painting, and acquired their fame in part by taking official posts in the North. Other Guangdong painters active before the Qianlong era were literati who dabbled in bird-and-flower in the xieyi techniques that were but an extension of calligraphy. It was Li Jian who founded the landscape tradition in Guangdong. It later prospered, consolidated by Xie Lansheng and Xie Guansheng, who, as sons of a close friend of Li Jian, were greatly influenced by him. From this point on landscape painting in Guangdong followed its own course. Although Guangdong painters drew inspiration from the Jiangnan tradition from time to time, their landscapes nonetheless established a distinctive flavor of their own. Eighteenth-century Foundations in Modern Chinese Painting Chu-tsing Li One of the leading painters of the Yangzhou school in the middle of the eighteenth century, Zheng Xie, once attached a note above the entrance to his studio. The note, written in 1759, reads in part: Large size, 6 taels of silver; medium size, 4 taels; small size, 2 taels; fan or album size, half tael. Gifts and food are not so acceptable as white silver, since what you send me may not be what I like to have. If you send me silver, it will please my mind, which will guarantee the excellence of both painting and calligraphy. Gifts are quite troublesome and accounts are hard to collect. I am sorry to say that being so old and tired I shall not be able to entertain you gentlemen with useless conversations. 1 Reading this, one finds a mercenary spirit, a certain pretentiousness, a sense of humor, some elements of sarcasm, some forms of satire, and also a proud, uncompromising spirit. All these, except the last, reflect an anti-literati spirit. Yet, Zheng Xie was regarded as one of the leading literati painters of that period. The style of his paintings of bamboo shows a freedom of the brush, a mixture of painting and calligraphy, and a concentration on ink that are all typical characteristics of literati painting.2 His new type of literati approach in the eighteenth century anticipated the modern spirit in Chinese painting. The e i g h t e e n t h century, especially t h e sixty year reign of E m p e r o r Qianlong (1736-95), in many ways laid the foundation for modern art in China. It was a period when the Qing dynasty was at its apogee, with control over an empire much larger than all the territories covered by the present map of China. Besides Manchuria, which was the homeland of the Manchus, the emperor was in control of Inner and Outer Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan, and a portion of Southeast Asia. With the accomplishments of the three emperors, especially Kangxi, before him, Qianlong ruled over a large empire that enjoyed a peace Eighteenth-century Foundations 317 and prosperity not seen during the several centuries before. So enjoyable was the life in China that the population tripled during the reign of Qianlong. At the same time, the emperor also enjoyed himself immensely on the throne. This sense of well-being was very much reflected in the art connected with the court. Qianlong himself, who had come to the throne at the age of twenty-four, was a painter, calligrapher and poet with a tremendous appetite for the arts, especially painting. As a painter, he thought of himself as a literatus in the mainstream of that great tradition, especially as it was represented by the work of the Four Wang school, or the orthodox school, of early Qing.3 Since both Wang Hui and Wang Yuanqi, the two major figures of that school, had served under his grandfather, Kangxi, many of their followers enjoyed the benefits of the special favors they had received in the court.4 The fact that so many members of these two Wang families devoted their lives to art resulted in a curious reversal of the respective positions of the two major trends in Chinese painting. The tradition of literati painting - in particular the Ming tradition as reflected in the work of Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming, which had been known for its eremitic spirit, and had stood apart from and opposed to the works of the court professionals - now became the art of the court and officialdom. In other words, literati painting, within the tradition of the Four Wang school, became academic and professional. Imperial sponsorship resulted in a school of painting that was overly imitative, repetitive and conservative, a school that was more interested in preserving its cultural hegemony at the court than in creative efforts. Thus, although the painters of this orthodox school dominated the court and the Jiangnan area, the so-called literati painting was definitely in a state of decline. This can be seen in the works of the so-called 'Four Little Wangs/ such as Wang Chen and Wang Jiu.5 The good life of the period can also be seen in another type of painting connected with the court, namely figure paintings by court artists recording the activities of the emperor and his retinue. These were paintings done in the tradition made important by the Ming artist Qiu Ying, who, though never a court painter himself, developed a style of painting that laid great stress on representation, attractive colors, meticulous details and beautiful figures. Some painters of Qianlong's court, like Xu Yang, recorded many of the emperor's activities, such as the emperor's famous visits to the Jiangnan region with elaborate details of various cities, towns, the countryside along the Grand Canal, 318 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor and all the ceremonies connected with the trip.6 These paintings give us an extremely vivid picture of the life of the common people in the most prosperous part of China. The magnificence of this period can also be seen in another type of painting closely related to the last in function, though quite different in style. These were paintings in the Westernized style introduced by the Italian painter, Giuseppe Castiglione, who was sent by the Pope to the Chinese court.7 Because of his skill as a painter in the Italian style he was made a court artist, and served the same function as that of Xu Yang, although he worked with a greater sense of modelling based in his European training. Castiglione and several other European artists were assigned the tasks of painting portraits, rendering special activities of the emperor, his family and other court figures, as well as depicting birds, animals and other unusual objects brought to the emperor as tributes.8 The rich details of the figures and objects, the solidity of treatment, the gorgeous colors and the heightened sense of space were all delightful to the emperor and his courtiers. Indeed, the style of this group of European artists exerted a noticeable influence on the figure paintings of later court artists. These three types of painting reflect the glories of the court of Qianlong. The last two types served the same function as official photography in the modern period, while in some ways reviving the functions of the court art of the Tang dynasty. The first type, literati painting of the orthodox school, demonstrated the emperor's appreciation of the great cultural tradition of China and his interest in becoming a part of that mainstream. However, by identifying himself with that tradition, and by his sponsorship of literati painting and artists, Qianlong inadvertently impaired its development as the most exciting tradition in Chinese art. It became stultified and lost its creative force. All three types of court-related paintings served mainly the interest of the court and lost touch with the common people. Although court painting did have some influence on the art of the nineteenth century, it was not the major foundation for the development of modern Chinese painting. Of much greater consequence to the later development of Chinese painting was the emperor's avid taste for traditional painting and calligraphy. Because of his insatiable interest, thousands of paintings by great masters of the past, which had been in the hands of many well-known private collectors, gradually found their way into the palace. Many of the officials in Beijing and the provinces, knowing the emperor's desire, made special efforts to search for old paintings Eighteenth-century Foundations 319 and to present them to the emperor as a way to gain imperial favors, such as appointments and promotions. The imperial collection, as recorded in the two monumental catalogs, the Shiqu Baoji and the Bidian Zhulin, was the largest ever assembled in the history of China, containing works by famous masters from the Six Dynasties period all the way to the emperor's own time. 9 This great collection had a tremendous effect on the development of modern Chinese painting, both negative and positive. On the negative side, the formation of this collection at court deprived many people, including artists, of contact with these masterpieces of the Chinese tradition. By the end of Qianlong's reign, most of the major surviving works by great masters of various periods had gone into the Emperor's collection. Whereas this was certainly good for the emperor and some of the courtiers close to him, it meant that all these masterpieces had disappeared from the world. In the days before photography and collotype printing, the result was that painters in China were quite ignorant of the great works of the past. Without access to the imperial collection, the only knowledge they had of the works of old masters was through copies and imitations made by some of the painters of their own period or shortly before. Although there were still major works in private hands, this lack of exposure made it difficult for many painters to receive direct inspiration from the masters, thus lowering the standards of traditional Chinese painting. On the positive side, because of the loss of direct contact with the great works of Song and Yuan, many painters turned elsewhere for their inspiration. Paintings of the so-called 'Four Gentlemen'(plum blossom, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo) and 'Three Friends of Winter' (pine, bamboo and plum blossom), which had been somewhat neglected during the Ming and early Qing periods, became extremely popular during the Qianlong period. Whereas a few artists looked to some of the Ming and Qing painters, such as Chen Shun, Xu Wei, Daoji and others, as their models, none of them was so overburdened by the weight of great masters as to be essentially imitative, but were quite free to explore their own ways of expression. As a result, the creative energy of this period was not found in those works patronized by the emperor and his court but in the ones that were created at a distance from the court, such as those by Zheng Xie mentioned at the beginning of this paper. Zheng Xie and a number of other artists were patronized by the newly risen merchants of Yangzhou, the most prosperous city in China during the eighteenth century. During this period, there was a great 320 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor change in the social structure, making the merchants and the cities extremely important. The rise of Yangzhou as the economic center of China during this period has been the subject of much study.10 In the long history of China, merchants traditionally ranked at the bottom of the four major professional groups, namely scholar, farmer, artisan and merchant. Although there were famous merchants in the past, they were at the mercy of scholar-officials. To protect their wealth,' merchants would send their sons to be educated in order to pass the imperial examinations and become officials. Their social status had always been quite low, but because of their new wealth, they also became quite powerful in Chinese society. To show that they were people of status, they developed a taste for art and literature. Indeed, they became the new patrons of the arts. During the eighteenth century, the richest merchants in China lived in the city of Yangzhou. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze river, Yangzhou first became important during the period of the Six Dynasties. But its real importance began with the Sui dynasty, when the Grand Canal was first constructed, linking the rice-producing Jiangnan area with the capital Luoyang. In fact, Yangzhou at that time was more or less the southern capital of the empire. From that time on, since the Grand Canal became the link between the north and south, Yangzhou, located right at the crossing of the Yangtze and the canal, remained always an important city. However, it was during the Qing, with the new salt laws, that Yangzhou came to control trade in China. As a result, some of the merchants became fabulously rich, billionaires by today's standards. Yangzhou thus replaced Suzhou as the richest city of China. With new wealth came the heightened interest in culture. Scholars, poets, painters and others were attracted to the city, and great art collections and libraries were formed. Literary gatherings became one of the fashionable activities of Yangzhou.11 Yangzhou was also the forerunner of Shanghai, which became the new cultural center during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During t h e middle of t h e n i n e t e e n t h century, w i t h t h e o p e n i n g of the seaports to foreign trade after the Opium War of 1840-42, the northsouth traffic, due partly to the deterioration of the Grand Canal and partly to the introduction of the steamboat, was shifted to the coastal route. Shanghai thus emerged as the new seaport for both domestic and foreign trade, gradually reducing the importance of Yangzhou. With its new wealth Shanghai began to attract artists and scholars and major art collections. In the city of Shanghai, the merchants enjoyed a new importance unmatched even in Yangzhou. This new importance Eighteenth-century Foundations 321 came with the development of the foreign concessions, or settlements, in Shanghai and other cities as a result of the Opium War. Under the terms of the treaty, China opened up five seaports for foreign trade, with areas in them especially designated for residence by foreigners who enjoyed extraterritorial rights, immune from the control of the Chinese authorities. At first, these settlements were mainly for foreigners, and their populations were quite small. However, during the 1850s, with the Taiping Rebellion causing great upheavals in the southern part of China, wealthy Chinese from the Jiangnan region flocked to these settlements by the thousands for safety. As a result, Shanghai, which had a rather small population during the period of the Opium War, suddenly grew to a city of half a million. Once its position as a haven from all the Chinese turmoil was known, the city grew at a fast pace. Under the protection of foreign governments, the Shanghai merchants were able to avoid all the vicissitudes of Chinese political, military and social changes and to prosper in their businesses. Thus they became independent, free from the control of the court in Beijing and the regional officials. Since in these foreign settlements the merchants from abroad were the most influential people, Chinese merchants living in these areas also enjoyed a great sense of importance and prestige, which they had never had before in Chinese history. With their wealth and position, they became great patrons of the arts.12 With these social changes came a new sociology of art. In Shanghai, which was primarily a commercial city, many artists simply came to seek their fortunes without any pretense of being high-minded literati of the past. Whereas literati painters traditionally looked at the arts as a pastime or amateurish activity, the new painters had no qualms about working for money and they regarded painting as a full-time j ob. Some of them, such as Ren Bonian, went so far as to try to sell his paintings in the streets.13 This was never done before in China, but in the business dominated society of Shanghai, it became a common practice. With this change also came new developments in subject matter, style and ideas in painting. All of these changes can be traced back to eighteenth century Yangzhou. Let us take a look at s o m e of t h e m a j o r aspects of painting d u r i n g t h e eighteenth century and see how they affected the art of modern China. We have mentioned above the three major types of paintings related to the court in Beijing. Although those types were continued into the nineteenth century they were definitely not the most influential. The only one of any consequence was the Orthodox school, which, 322 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor because of the favoritism of the court, continued to attract generations of painters in the Jiangnan area. Perhaps the best of these painters was Dai Xi (1801-60), a high official and a loyal subject to the Qing government. However, even in his case, he did not try to follow Wang Hui very closely, but wanted to develop in his own way, less grandiose in his compositions, simpler in his brushwork, fresher in his insight into landscape.14 The most important group in the eighteenth century to influence modern Chinese painting was undoubtedly the Yangzhou painters. Although the leading artists there were known as The Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou,' their number was not limited to eight and they were not necessarily eccentric. They included such painters as Wang Shishen, Jin Nong, Zheng Xie, Li Shan, Li Fangying, Huang Shen, Gao Xiang, Luo Ping, Gao Fenghan, Hua Yan, Min Zhen, and a number of others. Some of them were native to the Yangzhou area, but most of them were attracted to the city because of its reputation for wealth and patronage. As a group, they showed certain characteristics that led to the formation of modern Chinese artistic practices.15 Most of the painters in Yangzhou were full-time painters. Some of them, having passed the governmental examinations, served as officials in some parts of China or even at the court in Beijing. But when they came to Yangzhou they had already become frustrated with public life. In Yangzhou they were seeking two things. One was patrons, who were usually quite wealthy people interested in having poets and painters stay in their houses or villas, as an indication of their good taste and high prestige. This was quite a common practice in Yangzhou. The other was money. Either they worked like Zheng Xie and simply set standard prices for their paintings, or they painted for patrons who sent them gifts as compensations. These practices became quite common during the nineteenth century, especially in Shanghai. Many painters, especially the so-called 'Four Rens,' belong to this category. Thus the tradition of literati painters as amateurs was c h a n g e d . M a n y of t h e m o p e n l y sought p a t r o n s a n d m o n e y . Another major attribute of the Yangzhou painters was specialization in subject matter. In order to establish a reputation for themselves and to sell their works, it seemed necessary to be identified with a special subject. Thus Wang Shishen first and Jin Nong later were known for their plum blossoms.16 Zheng Xie was most famous for his bamboos and orchids.17 Li Shan and Li Fangyin were specialists in flowers and plants and pine trees.18 Huang Shen was mainly a figure painter.19 Luo Ping Eighteenth-century Foundations 323 caused a sensation w h e n he painted ghosts.20 Hua Yan though versatile was well known for his birds and flowers in colors21 as well as in historical subjects and personages. Gao Fenghan, after his right arm was handicapped in the middle of his life, became known for his lefthanded paintings.22 This specialization, characteristic of Yangzhou painters, became a part of the modern tradition. Some painters, such as Ren Bonian and other Rens, specialized in figure paintings, while others, such as Zhao Zhiqian and Wu Changshuo, painted mainly flowers and plants. In modern periods, Qi Baishi's shrimps and crabs, Xu Beihong's horses, water buffaloes and cats, Wu Zuoren's camels and pandas, Huang Zhou's mules, Ye Qianyu's minority dancers, and Cheng Shifa's young girls of Shishuangbana in Yunnan are all very typical, not to mention those landscape painters with specializations of Huangshan (Dong Shouping, Liu Haisu, Song Wenzhi and many others), Guilin(Bai Xueshi, Li Keran and others), the Three Gorges (many painters) and other famous sites. Although some of the modern painters, especially those active after 1949, did not specialize for mercenary purposes, the practice came from the Yangzhou painters. There was a sharp departure among Yangzhou painters from the high and noble subjects of the literati. While many Yangzhou artists did paint the traditional subjects of the literati, such as the T o u r Gentlemen' and 'Three Friends of Winter,' others explored areas seldom touched upon before. These new subjects included common people in their everyday surroundings by Huang Shen, the ghosts of Luo Ping, the informal portraits of Luo Ping and Hua Yan, and the depiction of familiar places by Huang Shen and far-away regions by Hua Yan. The treatment of these subjects was also quite different from that of early periods. There is greater informality, such as Master Dongxin Taking a Nap under the Shade of Banana Plants, Shanghai Museum, 23 a sense of humor in many portraits,24 some elements of self-pity in many poems by artists on the paintings, an extremely personal way of treating their objects like Zheng Xie's blending of poems with his bamboos 25 and many others. All these are parts of the modern spirit in Chinese painting. In the works of Ren Bonian, Qi Baishi and other modern painters, we find something quite similar in expression. There was also a change in the attitudes of the artists towards society. In the past, literati painters often expressed concern for cultural values or philosophical thoughts, attempting to identify their personal situations with cultural crises and social changes. However, most of the painters in Yangzhou seemed to be far less concerned with broad, general issues than with their own personal feelings and tragedies. 324 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Many of the poems written on their paintings express a deep sense of self-pity, lamenting some of the adversities in their lives. In some ways it was a social protest through their own personal lives. This kind of personalization became quite usual in the modern period. All the characteristics mentioned above can be said to be the result of a business-dominated society, first found in Yangzhou and later in Shanghai. These changes in the artists' position in society, in their relationships to their patrons, in their money-making practices, in their specialization of subject matter, in the depiction of the more mundane aspects of everyday life, and in their interest in humor, satire and even social protest, are all part of the modern urban life. Added to these are paintings of beautiful ladies in their daily activities, such as those of Fei Danxu and Wang Su, and of historical and legendary figures in their typical episodes, such as those of Ren Bonian and Qian Hui'an. These were works produced to attract the interest of the new middle class in these cities. Other eighteenth-century developments which affected modern painting were the emergence of calligraphy in the northern stele style and seal-carving as art forms. During the eighteenth century, as seen in the calligraphy of Jin Nong, who collected a large number of rubbings of stelae, there was a change in calligraphy, namely, the turning away from the tradition of Dong Qichang whose roots were in the works of Wang Xizhi, Yan Zhenqing, the Four Great Masters of Northern Song (Huang Tingjian, Su Shi, Mi Fei and Cai Xiang), and Zhao Mengfu, to the more formal and monumental approach of the northern stelae. The impact of the stone rubbings turned the taste for calligraphy from the free, elegant and vigorous style of the first half of the Qing dynasty to the formal, dignified and monumental style of the second half. In their development, many calligraphers also became painters. Besides Jin Nong, there were Xi Gang, Huang Yi and others who were well-known as calligraphers as well as painters. The best known examples from the modern period are Wu Xizai, Zhao Zhiqian and Wu Changshuo, all known for their calligraphy in seal and clerical scripts, and in the twentieth century, Wang Zhen, Chen Hengke and Qi Baishi. This interest in calligraphy and seal-carving can also be seen as the result of some of the literati artists turning away from the court taste, which still favored the tradition of Dong Qichang. They felt a freshness in the rubbings and a new sense of antiquarianism that distinguished them from the stuffy practice of the court. Eighteenth-century Foundations 325 Also apart from the court taste was the interest in some local traditions of figure painting. Huang Shen and Hua Yan, both from Fujian, brought some figure paintings of folk traditions from the south. Figures from everyday life, anecdotal narratives and others were quite common among their works. They anticipated the emergence of the Four Rens. All native of Xiaoshan, close to the home of the late Ming painter Chen Hongshou, the Rens took up Chen's style but expanded his range to include all kinds of figure subjects, such as historical figures, legendary personages, literary episodes and many others. Among them Ren Bonian was the outstanding painter of this new genre. Another aspect of painting in the nineteenth century was Western influence. The several Jesuit painters from Europe in the court of Emperor Qianlong had laid the foundation stone of this direction. Although they did not have many followers outside of the court, the impact from the West continued. However, the opening of the seaports to foreign trade exposed many more painters to Western influence. Late in the nineteenth century, there was a new interest in the West, undoubtedly spurred by Japan's turn in that direction following the Meiji Restoration. Wu Qingyun, a Shanghai painter, explored some of the effects of Western watercolors with his extensive use of washes. Gao Jianfu of Canton was deeply influenced by the 'New Japanese Painting,' which blended traditional Japanese elements with European ideas. All these developments had their antecedents during the Qianlong period. The departure from the court influence of Beijing found its best expression in the art of Canton. Since the sixteenth century, Canton had been the most Westernized city in China after the Ming government designated Macao, less than one hundred miles to its south, as the only place in which Western traders were allowed to stay. Trading with the West made Canton a prosperous city and by the eighteenth century Canton was the center of south China culture. With prosperity, a large number of young people in Canton received good educations, passed governmental examinations, and served as officials in both Beijing and the provinces. As a result some wealthy merchants began to build up collections of painting and calligraphy. From late Ming on, there were some notable painters active in Canton. By the eighteenth century, some of them, such as Li Jian, began to gain a national reputation. 26 Because of its distance from Beijing, painters in Canton were the least affected by the prevailing styles of the court. Even the style of the Orthodox school, which dominated not only Beijing but also the whole Jiangnan region, did not seem to have much 326 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor influence in Canton. Indeed, to the end of the eighteenth century painters in Canton were still working in the Ming tradition. The influence of Shen Zhou and Wen Zhengming persisted into the Qianlong period; the art of late Ming and early Qing masters still loyal to Ming (yimin painters) was quite extensive. This was partly due to the political impact of the fall of Ming in 1644. Even after the Manchu army had taken Nanjing in 1645, remnants of military forces loyal to Ming still resisted here and there in south China, with many intellectuals joining them during this time. However, following a number of military defeats they gradually retreated to the south, eventually reaching the Canton area. Some of them became monks in temples while others took up permanent residence there. Since some of them were painters, they still retained the late Ming style. A number of the yimin painters, whose influence came to an end during the eighteenth century due to literary persecutions, seemed to have more impact in the Canton area than in all other regions of China. For example, the influence of Daoji was particularly strong in Canton, as reflected in the works of the foremost Cantonese painter of the eighteenth century, Li Jian.27 Although it is not easy to trace the history of the collecting of works by Daoji in the Qing period, it is known that there were quite a number of his paintings in Cantonese collections. Certainly his works in this area must have found quite a number of followers, such as Xie Lansheng in the early nineteenth century. Some Cantonese painters developed bold departures from the literati tradition. Some of the most original painters, such as Su Liupeng, Su Renshan and Li Kui, all of them active in the nineteenth century, were able to form styles entirely their own. Of these, the most important was Su Renshan, who, in his rather short life, left a body of works that has no parallels in the history of Chinese painting. Learning some of his ideas from the Mustard Seed Garden Manual and other model books, he was mainly self-taught. With no restriction from teachers, he was able to release his imagination and create some startlingly fresh works. Similarly Su Liupeng and Li Kui, to a somewhat limited degree, had their o w n individual a c h i e v e m e n t s . From what has been mentioned above, it is clear that during the eighteenth century, the changing social, cultural and artistic climate in Yangzhou laid the foundations for the development of modern Chinese painting. Although changes during the nineteenth century came about slowly, the pace quickened during the twentieth century. Indeed, during the last thirty years we have seen many of the most radical changes in Chinese painting. Epilog I Notes I Glossary I Index Rubric and Art History The Case of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou Ju-hsi Chou In the history of Chinese painting, numerical rubrics occur with a degree of frequency. The Four Yuan masters, the Four Wangs, the Eight Friends of Nanjing, Nine Painter-Friends and the Two Stones are examples that easily come to mind. In some of these instances, the intent appears simply to provide an easy handle. Some stem from friendship among those so grouped. Often it contains a hint of the achievement level of the artists involved, such as the Four Yuan masters, or those within a notable and noble heritage, for example, the Four Wangs. Sometimes, a rubric such as the Two Stones evokes a common bond, stemming from perception of priestly identity and rebelliousness. 1 On the whole, these numerical rubrics, while useful in highlighting groups of artists, should be treated with a degree of caution. It would not be prudent to impart to them any more group identity or solidarity than intended. The Nine Painter-Friends never assume much historical significance, perhaps because the friendships involved were not so much among the painters themselves but between the creator of the rubric and the painters. 2 The Four Wangs are united by their surname, and by their common approach and heritage. They are however separated in time, in generation (three), and in style - the gap being particularly noticeable in a dynastic and thus conceptual vein. The Two Stones came to be w h e n the pairing of Daoji (Shitao) and Kuncan (Shixi) was thought to be sensible, but was actually based on perceived, not real, affinities. Ostensibly, both appeared to beyimin, Chan priests, and rebels. Today we are ever more aware of the fact that while Kuncan's yimin identity is assured, Daoji's life betrays ambiguities that defy simple dynastic allegiance. Whereas Kuncan's association with Chan is beyond question, Daoji's ended with an open apostasy. In another way, while Daoji's art is still revered for its 'rebelliousness,' Kuncan's passionate devotion to Dong Qichang may cast himself right 330 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor in the midst of the mainstream. Only the rough texture of his works affords a surface contrast with the orthodox paintings, such as those of the Four Wangs. The rubric survives, but it is clear that, once fashionable, it is no longer current in art historical circles. The Eccentrics of Yangzhou Let us come to the central issue: the utility of the rubric, Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. First, it is important to note that, like most if not all of these numerical clusters, the rubric emerged after the fact. To date, no evidence of its earlier usage comes to light prior to the Guangxu period. 3 It was Wang Yun (1816 - ?) who, in his Yangzhou Huayuan Lu (preface date: 1883), first presented to us this concept; however he tantilized the reader by naming only two masters, Li Shan (1686 - 1762) and the little known Li Mian (active 1840-60).4 Others soon followed suit. 5 Li Yufen proposed, under the entry Luo Ping (1733 - 1799) in his Ouboluoshi Shuhua Guomu Kao (1897), a full list.6 They are: Li Fangying (1695 - 1755), Li Shan, Jin Nong (1687 - 1764), Huang Shen (1687 - 1772), Zheng Xie (1693 - 1765), Gao Xiang (1688 - 1753), Wang Shishen (1686 - 1759), plus Luo Ping himself. Other listings are also suggested, with overlaps and occasional unique choices. The word guai, meaning 'eccentric/ 'unusual/ ' u n i q u e / 'extraordinary' and 'strange,' is thought to allude to both the life patterns and artistic practices of these artists. 7 The time gap of roughly a century makes the rubric of Eight Eccentrics a 'distant' perception. By then, none of the eccentrics were living. They were history. Their lives had either become legends or cautionary tales. Those who coined, or subscribed to, this rubric are themselves from different generations. They can be either casual or judicious, either whimsical or serious, either condemning or worshipful - depending upon their attitudes and their affiliations. Overall, with a single, but important, exception, the Eight Eccentrics were approached with a growing sense of awe. To an ever-increasing degree they came to symbolize t h e best t h a t Yangzhou in its h e y d a y could offer, t h e a v a n t - garde of the time. But as hinted, the term, the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, has its share of problems. Ideally, if we can come to a clear understanding of the commonality underlying them, guai, and then apply it to the artists, the task should be complete. In the current usage, however, the 'eccentricity' of these eccentrics is far from certain. It means different things to different people, and it shifts in mysterious ways between art and life. Epilog: The Case of the Eight Eccentrics 331 In a number of cases, one senses that it is not so much that the artists fall under its imperative as it yields to the varying individualities of the artists. That is to say, if the identity of the eccentrics is contingent upon the core criterion of guai, then conversely the concept of guai is also dependent upon who the eccentrics were. Given the varying lists hinted above, each compiler has his idea of the Eight Eccentrics, who they were as much as what they were. The Identity Crisis Regarding the 'who' factor, the discordance among the lists of Eight Eccentrics has an unsettling effect. No other numerical rubrics display the same degree of fluctuation. Would we question the identity of the Four Wangs, the Eight Friends of Nanjing, or the Two Stones? Of course not. They are fixed from the outset. True, in the case of the Four Masters of the Yuan period, some changes did take place. However, once settled, it leaves little room for debate. They cannot but be Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen, Ni Zan and Wang Meng. To recall Zhao Mengfu to their midst, as he was initially, would be quixotic at the best. The un-certain identities among the Eight Eccentrics are exceptions to the rule. Given that, we may note that, among the known lists, Wang Yun's choice of Li Mian is not shared by others. As popular as it is, the Ouholuoshi Shuhua Guomu Kao proposal faces a challenge from Lin Xia, who omits Wang Shishen, Gao Xiang and Luo Ping and replaces them with Gao Fenghan (1683 - 1748), Bian Shoumin (1684- 1752) and Yang Fa (active 1830 - 1850).8 That, one could argue, is nothing short of dramatic, involving no fewer than half of the eccentrics. While Lin Xia's list avoids the dangling of Luo Ping at one end of the temporal spectrum - Luo clearly was of a different generation than the rest - the inclusion of the little known Yang Fa is just as puzzling as Li Mian in Wang Yun's case. Both are practically unknown. Still others would insert Hua Yan (1682 - 1756) into the group although, from the very start, it was Wang Yun's premise that the Fujian master and the Eight Eccentrics stood on opposite sides.9 In the words of this Yangzhou native, Hua Yan rose to correct what he considers to be the 'excess' of the Eccentrics: Fortunately, there came the Fujian master (Shinluo Shanren), who rose to turn back the decline. At a swing of his brush, the demons and obstacles vanish. As [his brush] descends onto the paper, the mist and cloud rise from four quarters. His artistry is shown even where the surface is empty and it leaves no visible trace where it is filled to the hilt...10 332 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor To go back to these lists, it appears that up to the 1960s, Li Yufen's proposal upheld a general tide of popularity. 11 Lin Xia's was the least known; his still had to be discovered. And Wang Yun, with his incomplete list, stood ostracized for having entertained unfavorable views towards the Eight Eccentrics, in spite of his having been the possible originator of the term. The consequence is that the vision of the seven eccentrics plus a dangling Luo Ping assumes a critical gestalt in the art of the Qianlong reign. Scholars in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and abroad have long accepted it. Publications and exhibitions of the eccentrics generally adhere to the Li Yufen's proposal. However, as interest in the Eight Eccentrics mounted, new attitudes began to surface. Particularly in China, in the 1970s and 1980s, the concept of the Yangzhou eccentrics faced much debate. 12 A degree of elasticity was thought to be useful. The Eccentrics did not have to be eight in number, some contended. They could be ten, twelve, or fifteen. All the names mentioned above could be included under the umbrella of this nomenclature, be it Li Mian or Yang Fa, Zheng Xie or Bian Shoumin, Gao Xiang or Gao Fenghan. That, however, only served to muddy the water. A parallel tendency is to advocate the disbanding of the concept by enlarging it to include not just some but all the Yangzhou artists and schools, owing to which rises the notion of 'Yangzhou Huapai.' But more about this later. The Cause Elasticity comes at the expense of precision. Without precision, the cohesiveness of the grouping is called into question. The conflicting or overlapping identities of these eccentrics are thus symptomatic. They signal the likelihood of numerical primacy in the usage of the term, the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. Somewhere along the line, even if it was not from the very start, the numerical 'eight' took on a greater degree of urgency than whomsoever was used to fill it. There were eight slots, and someone, be he Li Yufen, Lin Xia, Huang Binhong or Chen Hengke, had to take the trouble of filling them. 13 That being the case, the varying identities and overlapping choices become at least understandable. When assigned the task of filling in these slots, one is likely to seek out the most desirable candidates first (according to one's own rules and judgement) and to fill the remainder by resorting to the lesser ones. Thus, taking the four lists which are complete with all eight eccentrics one will find, first of all, a core group Epilog: The Case of the Eight Eccentrics 333 of three, namely Zheng Xie, Li Shan and Li Fangying, whose names appear on all four lists.14 In comparison, Jin Nong, Huang Shen, Wang Shishen and Luo Ping are in the second tier since they are found in three lists only. Gao Xiang and Bian Shoumin are further down the ladder, whereas Li Mian, Gao Fenghan, Yang Fa, Chen Zhuan (1686 after 1748) and Min Zhen (1730 - after 1788), each receiving only one vote, are but peripheral.15 The above analysis is useful only to the extent that it depicts a gradation ofguai or eccentricity. It does not define the precise nature ofguai itself, but it encourages us to take a closer look into the alignment of the group. Shall we construe our own list, perhaps to focus upon what we consider to be the more eccentric of the eccentrics and discarding the lesser ones? That would only add to the existing confusion by interjecting a 'modern perspective'! Another danger, made apparent by the above compilations, could be the undue apotheosis of the role of statistics in an historic study. A more plausible way is to eliminate, through a rational analysis, a couple of contenders, as a corrective to the past excess. In short, we can show our mettle but, in doing so, we do not need to go all out and wipe away the past. The Non-Yangzhou Eccentrics In this exercise of elimination, two artists come to mind: Gao Fenghan and Min Zhen. One is a left-handed painter and ostensibly unique; another falls into the spontaneous mold, sharing with other eccentrics an 'apparent' expressiveness. As artists, they may deserve the label of eccentric. The question is: should they be associated with Yangzhou? Indeed, from our perspective, neither Gao Fenghan and Min Zhen is suitable as a serious contender for the title of Eight Eccentrics. The duration of their stay in Yangzhou was either limited or, surprising enough, unknown. Let us deal with Gao Fenghan first.16 A Shandong native, Gao Fenghan's contact with Yangzhou began with an official assignment to the neigboring Taizhou in 1733-34, when he was already in his fifty-first sui. Between this and 1736, he may have had several opportunities to visit the metropolis to become acquainted with its painters and patrons like the Ma brothers and Lu Jianzeng (1690 1768), the salt commissioner of Lianghuai in the region. The likelihood is that official duties w o u l d h a v e curtailed Gao F e n g h a n ' s m o v e m e n t , so much so that his actual residence in Yangzhou proper could not have begun until 1737, that is, after his brief imprisonment that caused a decline in his health and the paralysis of his right arm. Even then, it appears that he was in a constant state of agitation. Unable to stay put, 334 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor he moved about in Suzhou, Huzhou and Jiaxing. By 1740, he was more than ready to return to his native province and did so in the following year. The total sum of his years spent in Yangzhou could not be more than four; other eccentrics were on the scene for decades. A perfect contrast is supplied by Wang Shishen, who, a native of Shexian, made his home in the city in the 1720s and stayed until his death in 1759. In retrospect, Gao Fenghan arrived as a matured Shandong painter and departed a left-handed artist. The latter aspect imparts an impression of eccentricity, but Yangzhou and its environment were not the cause; imprisonment and the subsequent physical disability were. It can be argued of course that Yangzhou was one of the few cities in China that would provide a ready reception of his left-handed approach, a weakness turned into strength by the contemporary taste for novelty. On the other hand, given Gao Fenghan's colorful personality, his boundless energy and ego, his flair for art and literature and his official status, he would have found receptive audiences no matter where he went. Certainly he fared well in his native province upon return, where he once had found his initial niche as a posthumous student of the great poet, Wang Shizhen (1634 - 1711). Indeed, one may logically inquire: if the four years Gao spent in Yangzhou make him into a Yangzhou eccentric, then the twenty years that Luo Ping, a Yangzhou native, stayed in the Qing capital should also make him a Beijing eccentric. If the latter proposition sounds ludicruous, so, shall we say, does the former. As for Min Zhen, his Yangzhou connection is best described as ephemeral.17 No documents exist to testify to the length and duration of his stay. Wang Yun did not even mention him when compiling the Yangzhou Huayuan Lu. Pushing the scenerio to an extreme, we could possibly find him in the metropolis after his lengthy Hankou and Beijing sojourn. In short, Yangzhou would have to have been his last stop in his constant and continual flight from pursuing officials and dissatisfied clients. A tantalizing glimpse into his Yangzhou connection lies in the album of 1788 in the Cleveland Museum of Art where one of his figures reveals a strong resemblance to Huang Shen. 18 Since by that time Huang Shen had been dead for more than a decade, and since his style was unknown in Beijing except perhaps in a tangential way, the contact could only have come about if Min Zhen descended from the capital to pursue his career in Yangzhou, where Huang left a sizable artistic legacy. Like Luo Ping, Min Zhen belonged to a new generation, active at a time when the rest of the eccentrics had passed into history. 19 Epilog: The Case of the Eight Eccentrics 335 This simple exercise points to the i n h e r e n t weakness in the concept of t h e Eight Eccentrics as k n o w n today. To reiterate, the rubric of Eight Eccentrics came o n t h e scene a century late. In its present usage, t h e numerical primacy requires the filling of t h e quotas. The guideline m a y h a v e once b e e n there, but its arbitrary application and its seemingly u n e n d i n g elasticity h a v e t u r n e d the rubric into a source of m o u n t i n g confusion. To sustain it w o u l d require not a solution, but a miracle. Guai and the Nature of 'Eccentricity' Looking f r o m a n o t h e r angle, it is apparent, just as the identity of t h e eccentrics is questionable f r o m list to list, that the n a t u r e of guai, likewise, is varied. Some of the Eight Eccentrics w e r e quite eccentric indeed, others only marginally so, a n d still others n o t at all. The numerical primacy has played havoc with all of us. At that, w e do n o t e v e n n e e d to probe the precise m e a n i n g of guai except in reference to t h e eccentrics that are being presented. It could be any a n d every shade of it, even including kuang ('crazy'), ci ('foolish'), ye ('uninhibited'), etc. This is essentially w h a t Lin Xia has d o n e in his Ode to the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. He sings to each a n d every o n e of the eccentrics, a n d extracts individual eccentricity f r o m each. His is a n ad hoc approach, compelled perhaps by the numerical urgency m e n t i o n e d above a n d exhibiting a tendency to splinter into m a n y sharply carved, seemingly unrelating a n d unrelated fragments. In this approach, guai is not a single concept; its scope a n d breadth admit all. It can take o n a n y shade of m e a n i n g with tolerance a n d ease. Perhaps it is reasonable to ask: h o w m u c h guai is guai? That is: h o w eccentric can, or must, a n eccentric be? Or its inverse: w h e n or h o w does a n 'eccentric' cease to be an eccentric? As a starter, p e r h a p s w e can t u r n to the four-tier hierarchy discussed above. In t h e first tier are Zheng Xie, Li Shan a n d Li Fangying, w h o s e eccentricity, defined in t h e broadest possible terms, can be easily sustained. They also appear to share, a m o n g themselves, a similar approach to the art of painting: stark images, robust forces a n d effervescent t e m p e r a m e n t . Beyond that, Zheng Xie is a n eccentric because of his outspokenness, his refusal to abide by the nicety of conventions, his bisexuality, a n d his calligraphic a n o m a l y (the liufenhan or 'Six a n d a half style'). Li Shan's richesto-rags life reflects a disregard for t h e practical a n d t h e conventional. A n d the defiant Li Fangying displays quick tempo, a n d is u n c o m p r o mising to the end. The charming episode of his making a deep b o w to an ancient p l u m reinforces a n image of eccentricity even t h o u g h it recalls a similar o n e of N o r t h e r n Song, w h e n it was Mi Fei w h o paid obeisance to a rock. 336 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor When dealing with the second tier, we can still carry the flag of eccentricity to a fair degree, though some of these do not share that stylistic affinity. Wang Shishen's art is closest perhaps to the first-tier artists but, unlike theirs, it encompasses the delicate and the tortuous. Jin Nong unveils a unique combination of lyrical images with curious block-like calligraphy, hitherto unseen and untried. The calligraphy of the Fujian master, Huang Shen, is as sure-handed and uninhibited as Huaisu. His bold rendering of figures commands a mass appeal, with themes drawn from folklore and popular myths, impressive because of size, speed and effortlessness. Having broken out of Shangguan Zhou's figurative mode, Huang startled and astonished the Yangzhou public and made a legend of himself. And mentioning Luo Ping, how can one forget his vaunted ability to see ghosts in bright daylight, not to mention the result in painting? When we come to the third or fourth tiers, the eccentricity of some of the artists rapidly fades. Confronting such a painter as Gao Xiang and/ or Bian Shoumin, we recognize that neither their art nor life is particularly unique vis-a-vis any number of eighteenth-century artists. Why were they chosen? Was it for their intrinsic merit or, as we proposed above, just for the sake of filling in the remainder of the slots? But before we proceed any further, we should recognize that this process of inquiry does little more than uphold the conventional wisdom of enumerating eccentricities of the eccentrics who are already in place. One can always find some unusual traits and an episode or two in a man's life and label him as an eccentric. Does that make him an eccentric in the full sense of the term? Hardly. To call someone an eccentric, there must be an overall appraisal of character and behavior, artistic ones included, which defies traditional bonds and practices. The irony is that the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, as a nomenclature, lacks a steady core and is therefore in itself vulnerable. It easily crumbles when challenged. As a matter of fact, it can be demonstrated that any generalization made with respect to the Eight Eccentrics, whether it involves the primary facet of guai or some secondary attributes, can never be substantiated fully or in a meaningful way. There are always exceptions and notable ones at that. 20 There is a test one can perform. Let us simply compare the 'normal range' of works by the Eccentrics against, say, the album of plum blossoms by Qian Weicheng, an orthodox artist par excellence (EB, no. 24). By the quick bravura brushstrokes in rendering the bamboo and plum blossoms, the latter appears just as eccentric as some, if not all, of the Yangzhou Eccentrics. It appears as if this orthodox painter Epilog: The Case of the Eight Eccentrics 337 adopted the spontaneous mode in this particular case. In comparison, even Jin Nong's version of the same plant (EB, no. 62) cannot muster any more force than this small album, whereas Li Fangying's (EB, no. 58) is Qian's twin in spirit. If an orthodox painter can so easily adopt the eccentric mode at will, then the solidarity of the eccentrics is thrown into question. It is as if we have driven a wedge into the core and found no hidden reserve there. The ad hoc approach has lost its edge of acuteness. Not surprisingly, mainland Chinese scholars today, having become aware of the ambiguous nature of the term guai, are beginning to tear it down. Not only, as we mentioned above, are they eager to be rid of the numerical limitation, but some are on the verge of sinking the ship altogether. Openly skeptical, they pit these Yangzhou Eccentrics collectively against the eccentrics of the old, Gu Kaizhi, Mi Fei, Liang Kai, Xu Wei, Bada and Daoji, and came to the conclusion that the eccentricity of the former was mild by comparison. 21 When these tendencies, freedom from the limitation of eight and the doubt on the nature of guai, are carried to a logical conclusion, the result is an emasculation of the concept itself. This is a course of action that displays itself strongly in the recent series of exhibitions and publications under the new rubric of Yangzhou Huapai ('the Yangzhou School or Schools'). 22 Under this new rubric, one can either extend the ranks of the eccentrics to include more (as seen above) or, going a step further, diffuse the focus in such a way as to require the full coverage of all the contemporary currents in the city of Yangzhou: Yu Zhiding in portraiture and figure painting, Yuan Jiang and Yuan Yao in jiehua or boundary painting, Fang Shishu in landscape, etc. Soon, we are no longer dealing with the eccentrics as a group, but rather individual artists in the circumstances of that burgeoning city. In a tentative way, we might describe this process as 'from rubric to art history.' Liberated from the former, we seek to uncover a complete view of Yangzhou art, and in turn we might evaluate the so-called eccentrics in terms of the larger picture, whether they are unique, exceptional, innovative or original. We can then either regroup the eccentrics or disperse them, as the situation warrants. Given that so few of the so-called the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou are Yangzhou natives, it was our contention in The Elegant Brush: Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor, 1735-1795 that a regional orientation may best be brought to suit the circumstance. Let us place Jin Nong in the Hangzhou environ and attribute his art to a Zhejiang source, 338 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor restore H u a n g Shen's Fujian root, a n d have Gao F e n g h a n carry t h e S h a n d o n g flag, for t h e r e was so m u c h of S h a n d o n g heritage in him. In this w a y w e are enabled to see t h e merging of all of these heritages in a city m a d e rich by t h e salt-industry, with painters a n d scholars clinging to that wealth. From near a n d f r o m far, t h e artists came. From Xinhua came Li Shan a n d Zheng Xie. From Huaiyin hailed Bian S h o u m i n . Li Fangying arrived f r o m Tongzhou. Still m o r e converged o n it f r o m m o r e distant lands. As is well k n o w n , it was Yangzhou's socio-economic ambiance, with its nascent, pre-capitalistic development, w h i c h m a d e t h a t mix possible. 23 There was n o t o n e style, not o n e eccentric grouping, b u t a multiplicity of styles that f u n c t i o n e d along different socio-economic strata (such as Ginger Hsu has proposed in the article in the present volume). Fang Shishu carried the o r t h o d o x heritage and supplanted it with the A n h u i tradition; h e appealed to and was acceptable to all. Zheng Xie, Li Shan, Li Fangying and Jin Nong satisfied a certain range of patrons, primarily the gentry. Huang Shen's works embraced a broader spectrum, overlapping t h e m in certain respects, but also aiming at a mass appeal. On t h e other hand, Yuan Jiang a n d Yuan Yao (see Alfreda Murck's 'Yuan Jiang: Image M a k e r ' in this volume), with their intricate and polishedy/e/zwtf, catered to still a differing set of patrons, Shanxi m e r c h a n t s included. In sum, the vitality of Yangzhou lay in its ability to absorb w h a t the other cities and t o w n s supplied, a n d integrate t h e m into its existing socio-economic hierarchy. Like S h a n g h a i during t h e n i n e t e e n t h a n d t w e n t i e t h century, it was the m a g n e t that constantly enriched itself by embracing b o t h the accepted a n d t h e novel, t h e traditional and the rebellious, t h e n o r m a l a n d the eccentric, the professional a n d the scholarly. The contemporary city of Beijing sorted and screened out the malcontent by imposing its ideal on the newcomers. Yangzhou h a d n o set conventions, but thrived in the face of a continually expanding horizon. Wang Yun and the Eccentrics How did an i n n o c u o u s concept of t h e Eight Eccentrics, about w h i c h scholars a n d laymen alike have s h o w n such a fondness, result in a cacophony of discord? Shall we, as suggested above, r e n o u n c e t h e concept of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou altogether? Is there validity to the t e r m at all? If it fails to w o r k for the Yangzhou painters during the Qianlong era is there any w a y it can? Can it, for instance, carry a different sort of m e a n i n g in the subsequent century, w h e n the t e r m first appeared? O n e m a y be r e m i n d e d that the historical process lies not in one dimension alone, a n d t h e birth of the rubric, if not the p h e n o m e n o n it covers, is indicative of some needs, h o w e v e r private, parochial or even whimsical these m a y be. Epilog: The Case of the Eight Eccentrics 339 Rhetoric aside, w e can w a d e t h r o u g h this series of interrelated questions a n d attempt to find answers. Let us suspend our disbelief for the m o m e n t a n d r e t u r n to W a n g Yun a n d his Yangzhou Huayuan Lu, in w h i c h the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou made, as far as w e k n o w , its initial appearance. 2 4 That assumption, if true, is important in at least t h r e e respects. First of all, w e m u s t take h i m a n d his text far m o r e seriously t h a n hitherto. Second, w e can u n d e r s t a n d better t h e chaos presented above by attributing it in part to W a n g Yun's r e f r a i n m e n t f r o m making the full list of the eccentrics available. That was t h e start of t h e guessing game, w h e r e each advocate p u t his o w n selection of candidates into t h e existing slots. Finally, there is also t h e likelihood of a w r e n c h i n g twist f r o m W a n g Yun's first conception along a critical line to o n e w h i c h s h o w e r e d applause o n t h e Eccentrics. That could only magnify the confusion that was already present. Take a group w h i c h s o m e o n e rejects, a n d t h e n attempt to extract traits in order to gain a positive light, that is t h e task w i t h w h i c h t h e later advocates of the Eight Eccentrics h a d to contend. The initial raison d'etre needs to be discarded; but t h e n e w findings are by n a t u r e strained a n d therefore m a y n o t be able to supplant t h e old in terms of viability a n d coherence. Indeed, in outlining his idea about t h e Eccentrics, W a n g Yun comes closest to providing us with a coherent, albeit negative, explanation of t h e n a t u r e of guai. W e m a y wish to disagree w i t h his negative appraisal, b u t w e cannot ignore his message, as has b e e n t h e case. It deserves a close look. In time, w e will also come to a p p r e h e n d that h e conjured u p t h e t e r m less for the Qianlong eccentrics themselves, b u t in relation to his o w n time a n d his o w n sensibility. He stated: Regrettably, in our Yangzhou, there emerged a series of painters whose art lay outside of the mainstream. The eccentrics are eight in number (e.g., Li Shan and Li Mian), and their styles are different. They resemble Su [Shi] and Zhang [Xu] [in the cursive, calligraphic style] in their bombastic manner and oppose the vaunted rules of Xu [Xi] and Huang [Quan]. Their paintings are done with three or six slashes of brushstrokes, and the results are too coarse even for soy-pot covers. Their inscriptions are of the dayou variety, from which they derive none but self-satisfaction. While there was no lack of impact, they have ventured into the side tracks. Novelty for the time being, their w o r k is k n o w n only w i t h i n a h u n d r e d square miles. 25 The strength of W a n g Yun's explanation lies in its focused n a t u r e . Against t h e ad hoc practice d e m o n s t r a t e d above, it possesses t h e virtue of being simple, effective a n d clear. Guai suggests not t h e usual sort of 340 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor delight t o w a r d the u n c o n v e n t i o n a l in art and life. Instead, it is limited in application a n d concrete in substance. Applied to the Eight Eccentrics, it refers to those painters like Li Shan a n d Li Mian w h o ' v e n t u r e d into t h e side tracks' a n d ' r e n o u n c e d the rules of Xu a n d Huang.' (That very m e n t i o n of Xu a n d Huang hints at the range of t h e m e s these socalled eccentrics favored: flowers-and-birds or plants in general). It involves b o t h the pictorial a n d inscriptional, and, as such, it describes those artists m a r k e d by a propensity for quick execution and a p e n c h a n t for dayou poetry in inscriptions, roughly h e w n , seldom conceived w i t h care, and replete w i t h colloquial expression. The former aspect suggests immediacy, perhaps casual or even slovenly in a technical sense. The latter indicates a less t h a n accomplished poetic skill, w h i c h in t u r n reflects on a dubious level of literary cultivation o n the part of the artist. The resultant w o r k is n o t fitting for daya zhi lin, a refined ambiance a n d audience, according to t h e a u t h o r of Yangzhou Huayuan Lu.26 Due to his less t h a n favorable appraisal of the Eight Eccentrics, W a n g Yun's ideas have only b e e n given a passing glance. Advocates of the eccentrics, w h o h a v e b e e n gaining in strength t h r o u g h the t w e n t i e t h century, blame that o n his 'conservative' a n d 'reactionary' outlook. They neglect to m e n t i o n that Wang, while not opposing t h e o r t h o d o x school, reveals an edge to his taste by singling out Daoji a n d Hua Yan as t w o of t h e towering figures in t h e Yangzhou art scene. 27 Of t h e lesser k n o w n Yangzhou painters, h e spoke highly of Yan Yi (1666 - after 1749), a student of Li Yin (late s e v e n t e e n t h - first half of eighteenth century), w h o s e paintings, derived f r o m N o r t h e r n Song sources, s h o w skill and aged sureness that 'even Yuan Jiang could not surpass.' 2 8 His o w n paintings are n o t w h a t one w o u l d consider as 'conservative' in the academic sense, a n d certainly not in the Four Wangs' m a n n e r . An album of landscapes in the Tsun-ku Chai collection, Taipei, captures a calculated subtlety of t h e lean images and astringent brushwork, containing, shall w e say, a hint of the A n h u i lineage and recalling the art of Gao Xiang. A n o t h e r painting, a figural t h e m e , w h i c h appeared in a recent auction, suggests a degree of versatility a n d range. This is in spite of t h e fact that h e was a student of W a n g Tingru, 29 w h o followed in the footsteps of Dong Qichang in b o t h calligraphy a n d painting, and Ni Can (1764 - 1841 ),30 w h o s e advice to him, in b o t h painting a n d life, was he (meaning ' h a r m o n y , ' ' m o d e r a t i o n ' a n d 'peace'). Let it also be m e n t i o n e d that W a n g studied u n d e r W u Xizhai, 31 o n e of t h e master calligraphers a n d seal-carvers of his days and an a m a t e u r painter of the flower-plant themes, sharing t h e subject matters a n d style with some, Epilog: The Case of the Eight Eccentrics 341 if not all, of the so-called Yangzhou Eccentrics. 32 Wu Xizhai was well known to the aspiring calligraphers and painters of the succeeding generations and could perhaps be considered as a catalyst for the art of Zhao Zhiqian, who in turn was an admirer of the Yangzhou Eccentrics. Wang Yun lived through the nineteenth century in Yangzhou and observed the city's steep decline from its earlier heyday. The salt industry no longer supported the merchants in their lavish life style. At the heel of sudden financial collapses and bankruptcies, their ability to support the arts slipped precipitously. Also the Taiping rebellion, which swept through the metropolis in 1853, caused death and destruction. Many of Wang Yun's compatriots, men of scholarly and artistic temperament, perished during its fall. It was with a touch of poignancy that he dedicated Yangzhou Huayuan Lu to the memory of those who died in that year. 33 Ostensibly, the Yangzhou Huayuan Lu is intended as a survey of the city's art scene during the Qing dynasty. The dedication and also the content, however, show that the author's eye was focused on the contemporary situation and not a hundred years before. Were we to ignore chapter headings for the time being, we can differentiate within the text two clusters of artists: those who had been active earlier, prior to Wang Yun's time, and those who were his contemporaries. About the first group, the eccentrics included, he has little to say but to cull passages from such texts as Yangzhou Huafang Lu, Molin Jinhua, Guochao Huazheng Lu, as well as local gazetteers. As he himself confessed, born far too late (1816) he could meet but one or two surviving masters from the previous era; they were 'as rare as the morning stars/ 34 The portrayal of his contemporaries, on the other hand, is frequently done with personal knowledge and etched in sharp relief. Keen observations and insights abound, rendering the text into an invaluable source for nineteenth-century Yangzhou painting. A degree of regional consciousness also compels him to set the liuyu ('transplants') apart from the native-born, regardless the number of years the former might have resided in the city and regardless of their role in catapulting the city toward artistic preeminence. Thus the liuyu section oijuan 3 contains such long-time residents of Yangzhou: Daoji, Huang Shen, Jin Nong, Wang Shishen, etc. Wang Yun's local pride, as well as his awareness of Yangzhou's sharp decline, compelled him to evaluate the city's achievement in art against the standard set by the Four Wangs and Yun Shouping, symbolic of outsiders. He states: 342 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Let me try to explain. In the past, our Yangzhou is noted for our heritage in painting. Since the establishment of the present dynasty, each generation has produced [some well known artists]. If we were to consider such factors as ability and circumstance, Wang Yun (Qingci) is a match for Wang Hui. In terms of knowledge and pictorial imagination, Guan Xining is on a par with Yun Shouping. Only because they have not received the support and praise of famous officials and scholars of the time, therefore their fame paled beside the masters from Loushui and Yushan. Before the creative forces were to diminish, there suddenly rose Fang Shishu..., who in no uncertain terms could measure up to the Four Wangs. Regrettably, there was but one generation of followers and none hence (of his students there were only Huang Zhen and Fang Song). Beside these, there was Qingxiang (Daoji), whose art was sweeping and forceful, innovative and unique. Potent it was, and also encompassing [in subjects and themes]... Wang Yuanqi lamented on the impossibility of surpassing this master, a sentiment which Wang Hui also confirmed and shared. These artists crystallized what may be considered as Yangzhou's best, and they were rightly the leading figures during the Kangxi and Qianlong periods.35 W h e t h e r w e agree w i t h W a n g Yun o n this survey is beside the point. Few today w o u l d object to his apotheosis of Daoji and Hua Yan, as m e n t i o n e d earlier, across the s e v e n t e e n t h a n d eighteenth centuries. But to place W a n g Yun (Qingci), G u a n Xining a n d Fang Shishu 3 6 on a par w i t h t h e Four Wangs and Yun Shouping, m a y raise a few eyebrows. This is in spite of the impact W a n g Yun (Qingci) a n d Fang Shishu m a d e locally a n d nationally, t h o u g h the scope was n o w h e r e n e a r that of the Wangs. Today, outside of Yangzhou, Guan Xining is barely k n o w n , if at all. 37 And W a n g Yun (Qingci) is noticed only because his art displays a kinship w i t h t h e Yuan Jiang - Yuan Yao school. But this lapse in j u d g e m e n t is n o t so serious as it might seem. One can attribute it to his local pride. Far more serious, even shocking, that is, to a m o d e r n art historian, and even to Wang Yun's contemporaries outside of Yangzhou, is his willingness, nay willfulness, to remove a row of commanding figures such as Zheng Xie, Li Shan and Li Fangying from the survey, leaving a gaping hole. It is as if t h e Eccentrics h a d never existed. Deprived of their presence, the city of Yangzhou suddenly was w a n t i n g in w h a t w e h a v e come to consider the unsuppressible energy some of the eccentrics h a d brought to it. From W a n g Yun's perspective, however, this was only just and fair. He even w e n t a step further; in his eyes, the Eight Eccentrics, w h o e v e r they were, w e r e the scourges who, in favoring a specific but limited approach in t h e act of painting a n d in adopting the dayou poetry in inscription, contributed to the slide in the Epilog: The Case of the Eight Eccentrics 343 Yangzhou art scene. The denigration of the Eccentrics was therefore n o t only essential, but necessary. He was looking at t h e past t h r o u g h t h e lens of his present reality. A facet w h i c h has so far escaped critical notice is that W a n g Yun's c o m m e n t o n t h e Eight Eccentrics appears u n d e r t h e entry o n his contemporary, Yu Chan, at the heel of t h e latter's biography. 3 8 Alt h o u g h a skillful artist, Yu presented to Yangzhou a style of landscape painting w h i c h is n o t e d for quick brushstrokes, full of energy a n d visually o v e r w h e l m i n g to the spectator. Lamentably, h o w e v e r , h e was lacking in literary cultivation and, therefore, to W a n g Yun, u n c o u t h , buwen. Our critic also points out that, at t h e time w h e n t h e Yangzhou patrons w e r e partial to flowers-and-birds or portraiture, Yu Chan's specialization in landscape r e n d e r e d h i m vulnerable. W i t h o u t patrons to support his art a n d w i t h o u t a m a j o r literary figure to lend a helping h a n d , his f o r t u n e e n d u r e d a series of d o w n t u r n s . In his eighties, h e was stranded in his native land, destitute beyond hope. With a n u n d e r c u r rent of sympathy, W a n g Yun c o m m e n t s o n this ill-fated artist, apparently to serve a w a r n i n g to aspiring painters: Yu Chan, whose zi is Buqing and who is a native of Ganquan, is skilled in landscape. His brushwork is strong, bold and sweeping, causing people to wonder aloud. People today do not appreciate this type ofpainting [italics mine]. Indeed, when [a painter like Yu Chan] does not have under his name major literary works or fine calligraphy to lend himself [a measure of respectability], it is only fitting that he should be cast aside... When [Yu Chan] paints, the speed is akin to the sudden gathering of a storm. Or it may be compared to the immense surge of the tidal waves. A quick wash, the brush lifts. Light and heavy, dark and bright: all of these happen simultaneously. Within a meal time, he can complete a huge painting, and does so in a single breath. When one looks at it, one feels the ink is boiling and churning, and hears the sasa sound breezing through the paper. Well versed in a variety of compositions, he can [with effortless ease] produce an infinite series of combinations. In addition, he is skilled in conjuring up a variety of scenes, so much so that, having gone through several dozens of works, none are ever alike... In his late years, his circumstance experienced a downturn and he became listless, unable to pursue matters with determination. Furthermore, he was not skilled in flowers-and-birds, subjects that were in fashion at the time...Lamentably, the older he got, the poorer he became.39 Here is a m a n w h o clearly was n o t lacking in talent, even by W a n g Yun's standard. His landscapes are a w e s o m e in a kinetic sense, changeful a n d spontaneous. The effortless ease h e displays, however, cannot 344 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor compensate for either the lack of culture (wen) or, of immediate consequence, the lack of patronage. To p u t in a n o t h e r way, it is his lack of culture that contributes to the lack of patronage. Owing to fickleness of taste, patronage in Yangzhou, as elsewhere, o f t e n was uncertain at t h e best; but, as W a n g Yun seems to say, it required 'culture' (wen) to attract it. Take h e e d to cultivate oneself and also to e x p a n d one's repertory to cope w i t h t h e unforeseen; these appear to be W a n g Yun's counsels, w h i c h o n the surface are m o r e pragmatic t h a n idealistic. Next, W a n g Yun springs to attack the Eight Eccentrics. He was apparently convinced, via Yu Chan, of t h e excesses that they h a d committed. In each of t h e m , W a n g Yun perceives a Yu Chan and the potential for disaster. Thus he points t h e finger at the eight painters f r o m Yangzhou's past while serving notice that 'the n u m b e r of eccentrics is eight, but their styles differ.' In other words, they w e r e not a group, but eight individuals, with their o w n styles a n d modes. Their only commonality - or, shall w e say, c o m m o n fault - lay in speedy execution in painting a n d pseudo-literacy in inscription. These are the sole criteria of guai, the detection of a pattern across t h e varying spectrums of style. Novel a n d popular in their o w n day, they became a b u r d e n w h i c h W a n g Yun t h o u g h t h e a n d Yangzhou could do w i t h o u t in the n i n e t e e n t h century. This reaction, private a n d personal o n the one h a n d , or u n c o m p r o m i s ing a n d didactic o n the other, is n o t simply spontaneous. It has a deliberate aspect. Implicit in it is a sense of purpose, that is, the revival of Yangzhou's artistic fortune. It comes about because of a n u m b e r of factors. One of these possibly involves overexposure of the eccentric m o d e in the city itself. Surfeit of such bombastic works, bursting at t h e seams w i t h speed a n d energy, a n d with inscriptions composed at the spur of the m o m e n t , w i t h o u t care a n d concern for rhyme, allusion a n d balance, could b e c o m e tedious, less tolerable t h a n the m o d e r a t e a n d mild. It is as if W a n g Yun w e r e saying: W e can only bear so m a n y Li Shan's or Li Mian's at a given time before all these works begin to merge together in an a w e s o m e display of monotony! 4 0 Fatigue soon sets in, w h e n year in a n d year out, o n e has to face a n endless stream of the same by the masters and, then, replications by their disciples. Worse still, a trail of fakes and forgeries soon followed the eccentrics and e x t e n d e d the approach ad nauseum. 'People today just do not appreciate t h e m . ' This was a g e n u i n e outcry, w h i c h W a n g Yun took to heart. Never m i n d that a m o n g his friends too there w e r e those w h o espoused t h e eccentric mode. 4 1 Never mind that outsiders might find it novel a n d stimulating. For a Yangzhou native, t h e novelty h a d w o r n off a n d the time w a s right for a change. Epilog: The Case of the Eight Eccentrics 345 To this general portrayal w e m a y add two familiar symptoms, w h i c h W a n g Yun m a y also have observed. One is the occasional lapse of quality as a result of commercialization of the Yangzhou art. Zheng Xie's price list is a case in point; w h e n the price is contingent u p o n size, a n d w h e n the patrons have n o say regarding t h e specifics of the commissioned work, t h e artist, assured of a level of revenue, m a y well be compelled by time a n d e c o n o m y to reduce his paintings to a f e w well-spaced and well-chosen strokes, instead of laboring over t h e m long a n d hard. By t h e same token, the dayou p o e m s that accompany t h e m could be the result of similar cost-cutting efforts. Viewed f r o m a n o t h e r angle, it is the familiar fanpiao ('meal ticket') syndrome, t h r o u g h w h i c h the artist turns out a body of works for sale, conscious only of its m o n e t a r y w o r t h a n d makes little d e m a n d either o n himself or o n t h e works u n d e r production. 4 2 But the exclamation, 'people today just do not appreciate t h e m ' could also indicate a changing pattern in patronage. As said above, t h e city of Yangzhou e n d u r e d a steep fall f r o m the glory of the Qianlong period, a n d artists and patrons w e r e likely to experience shifting alliances, especially as the old wealth vanished. In Yangzhou, if not elsewhere, t h e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y patrons m a y have t e n d e d to be far m o r e m o d e r a t e in circumstance and, possibly also, in taste. The conspicuous c o n s u m p t i o n of the Qianlong era was gone for good and, w i t h it, the craving for the novel a n d outrageous, which, f r o m the artists' point of view, enabled t h e m to attract immediate notice at t h e expense of 'transmitability.' As the t e m p o slowed, as the emphasis o n m o d e r a t i o n gained hold, artists like Yu Chan, w h o sought to continue some of the old m a n n e r s , lost favor quickly a n d decisively. In a practical way, W a n g Yun appears to be saying, this generation of artists w o u l d do well to avoid the eccentric m o d e if only for t h e sake of regaining social acceptance and well being. In that sense, W a n g Yun was a concerned critic, a n d his view in combating the Eccentrics carried conviction in his o w n time, even if his agenda a n d solution remained at best private and not loudly proclaimed. Glancing over t h e text and reading b e t w e e n lines, w e m a y extrapolate the following steps w h i c h W a n g Yun d e e m e d as important for the revival of Yangzhou's artistic fortune. They are: a r e t u r n to the wenrenhua ideal, f r o m which, according to W a n g Yun, t h e Eccentrics h a d strayed; 43 a reaffirmation of the Xu a n d Huang's rules in the subject of flora a n d fauna; a resurgence of landscape t h e m e s to offset n o t only criticism f r o m other regional centers but to strengthen Yangzhou's weakest link; a n d a relegation of orchid a n d b a m b o o to t h e status of peripheral subjects. 346 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Of t h e above, the r e t u r n to the wenren ideal, clearly signals the desire to end the eccentric m o d e as defined above. 4 4 Neither quick sketches nor dayou poetry is tolerable. This r u n s counter to the current ideas about the Eight Eccentrics. M o d e r n critics h a v e proposed that the Eccentrics actually b r o a d e n the wenrenhua a n d extend its implication beyond the traditional sense. 45 They single out in particular such features as the every-day subjects, concern for t h e d o w n t r o d d e n , and the close interweaving of calligraphic, poetic a n d pictorial imageries to an extent u n k n o w n before. In t h e same way, m o d e r n critics w o u l d also protest W a n g Yun's desire to reaffirm t h e classical f o u n d a t i o n of the Xu and H u a n g in flower-and-plant themes. But W a n g Yun's goal is essentially o n e that argues for a timelessness, a refusal to be swayed by current trends. Regarding t h e landscape and the orchid-bamboo themes, perhaps w e should elaborate f u r t h e r . The emphasis on landscape is directed at Yangzhou's weakest link. A m a j o r criticism of the art of that city, one w h i c h the rival centers m u s t h a v e instigated, a n d with which W a n g Yun h a d to contend, pertains to t h e absence of a classical tradition in landscape painting during as well as after the Qianlong era. (This is in spite of our hindsight that Yangzhou's significance in t h e formation of m o d e r n art lies precisely in subjects other t h a n landscape painting). W h a t W a n g Yun h a d in m i n d of course was not the landscape painting of Yu Chan, but something else. He wrote: Regarding landscape, there are few practicing it. But among non-native [transplanted] artists, there are many. Native artists seldom showed much interest in the subject. In the recent years, only Yu Chan specialized in it; however, he was unimaginative and wanting in refinement. The venerable Chen Yuan pursued his own solitary path; he was even more awkward and stiff and lacking in a free spirit. Others were [still less accomplished]: a few simple brushstrokes or a couple of trees complete the painting. They are not in the proper and true mode of Dong [Yuan] and Ju[ran] but are only equipped to fill the background. It is these painters who attracted much criticsm to Yangzhou, causing it to be deemed lacking in elegance and refinement (daya zhi lin).46 The picture is clear. On t h e one hand, like Suzhou before it, Yangzhou in its days of decline was attracting criticism f r o m rivalling centers. On the other hand, t h e legacy of t h e Eight Eccentrics survived into the n i n e t e e n t h century, a n d steered art a w a y f r o m the landscape. In addition, w h e n t h e eccentric m o d e invaded t h e landscape, W a n g Yun contended, it could u n d e r m i n e t h e nobility of t h e subject. Yu Chan's case is an eloquent testimonial. Indeed, w h e n the absence of landscape Epilog: The Case of the Eight Eccentrics 347 paintings and painters was becoming a m a j o r source of embarrassm e n t , t h e solution was to reintroduce a classical tradition of landscape, preferrably in t h e Dong-Ju m a n n e r , or that of Daoji a n d Hua Yan, w h o by t h e n were fully integrated into t h e m a i n s t r e a m a n d n o longer just a couple of renegades. The question is: w o u l d it have b e e n advisable for Yangzhou to artificially inject a current of landscape painting? Hindsight, in view of t h e development of painting in t h e n i n e t e e n t h and t w e n t i e t h centuries in China as a whole, w o u l d say no. W a n g Yun's belief, then, is his own, stemming in large part f r o m a traditional background. Approaching f r o m a different angle, o n e w h i c h is devoid of traditional backing, is W a n g Yun's attempt to consign b a m b o o a n d orchid to t h e peripheral. He suggests that: these subjects or genres, while respectable a n d respected, are not the t r u e testing grounds for a painter: In such subjects as orchid and bamboo, heaven's will (innate endowment) matters more than human effort. There are those whose hand is able but whose mind knows little and there are those whose mind knows much but whose hand cannot take charge; they are the same. When both mind and hand are able, still one may not avoid the flaws of ban ('stiff'), ke ('contrived') and ji ('knotted together'). When the three faults are absent, then the work may still be plagued by being either too strong or abrupt, or too weak and sedate, either approaching chaos or stasis. Because of that, among painters of these subjects, there are but a few successful ones in a given generation, and for each, there are but a few handfuls of successful works in his corpus. I therefore hold that it is the heaven's will and not the result of human effort...47 The a r g u m e n t here is at best strained. One can easily counter W a n g Yun's claim by reversing the logic. Due to the rarity of fine b a m b o o and orchid paintings a n d painters, o n e should cherish m o r e those that excel in these subjects, h e a v e n ' s will or not. One also m a y w o n d e r w h y did h e n o t include p l u m blossom within this traditional category of virtuous plants. Was it because the a u t h o r himself was f o n d of that subject a n d was n o t e d to have painted it in at least a couple of occasions? 4 8 The only conclusion w e can proffer is that h e d e e m e d these as t h e special p r o v e n a n c e of t h e Eight Eccentrics, t h u s plotting a strategy for their removal. In casting aside t h e b a m b o o a n d orchid, W a n g Yun m a y h a v e o n e particular Qianlong artist in mind, s o m e o n e w h o , besides Li Shan a n d Li Mian, could be identified w i t h these themes. The most plausible 348 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor individual is Zheng Xie, a specialist in these genres. One recalls that it was Zheng Xie w h o took pride in his o w n specialization: Shitao (Daoji) was skilled at painting, capable of handling myriad subjects. As to orchid and bamboo, they were not his principal interest. I, Banqiao, specialize in orchid and bamboo, and for more than fifty years, I refused to depict other subjects. He aimed at breadth, I favor specialization. Who can say that specialization is inferior to breadth of scope?49 And Zheng Xie had this to say about Li Shan, w h o in t u r n also took pleasure to repay t h e compliment: Li Shan, who is also known as Futang, is an old painting master. A student of Jiang Tingxi and Gao Qipei, he is so marvelous at depicting such subjects as flowers and plants, birds, insects and fishes, but more specifically, he is exceptional in orchid and bamboo paintings. However, when I, Banqiao, paint orchid and bamboo, I refuse to follow his path. Futang was pleased: 'this is an artist who is to establish his own approach.' 50 W e are not far f r o m t r u t h if W a n g Yun's list of Eight Eccentrics also includes Zheng Xie, w h o s e orchid a n d b a m b o o in his Yangzhou phase are k n o w n for the abbreviated m o d e a n d w h o s e inscriptions occasionally approached dayou poetry. The question is inevitable: w h o else, besides Li Shan, Li Mian a n d Zheng Xie, are on t h e W a n g Yun's list of the Eight Eccentrics? Given his n a r r o w definition of guai, his contenders are, or should be, painters with sparse images a n d dayou poems. Perhaps w e can point to Li Fangying or Huang Shen. 5 1 The drawback is that, w i t h o u t full concurrence f r o m the author, w e could not be absolutely sure. Given his historic survey quoted above in w h i c h the k n o w n eccentrics w e r e pointedly excluded, his list is not likely to be full of surprises. The exception of course is Li Mian. There is another w a y of dealing with this issue. That is, to spot those a m o n g the k n o w n lists of eccentrics w h o are not likely to be in Wang Yun's list. This pertains to artists whose works do not display speedy execution and whose inscriptions reflect a notable poetic achievement. Under this premise, should w e not exclude Jin Nong and Luo Ping, Gao Xiang and Wang Shishen? Their respective approaches to art carry a studied and deliberate appearance, thus contrary to W a n g Yun's definition of guai.52 W e m a y also m e n t i o n that Min Zhen never m a d e it to the Yangzhou Huayuan Lu and therefore his exclusion is assured. Epilog: The Case of the Eight Eccentrics 349 A Quixotic Quest To r e t u r n to W a n g Yun's strategy for the revival of Yangzhou's fortune, was h e successful? Did his message reach beyond the Yangzhou boundaries? F r o m hindsight, Yangzhou's loss of p r e - e m i n e n c e in t h e n i n e t e e n t h century was a fait accompli. It never h a d a second chance. Time has essentially passed it by, save for clusters of bright lights, W u Xizhai and W a n g Su 53 at an earlier period a n d t h e priest Lianxi 54 of a later phase, painters about w h o m W a n g Yun h a d fond memories. Meanwhile, critics a n d connoisseurs in or outside Yangzhou took to the eccentrics in droves. Lin Xia, Li Yufen, Feng Jinbo and Jiang Baolin - t h e latter's Molin Jinhua preceeded the Yangzhou Huayuan Lu and is f r e q u e n t l y cited there - expressed appreciation of those W a n g Yun sought to dismiss. In painting, t h e rise of Zhao Zhiqian in effect began f r o m w h e r e t h e Eight Eccentrics h a d left off. In this artist's work, t h e p o w e r f u l images, recast t h r o u g h the strength of n o r t h e r n stele calligraphy, are just as provocative as the eccentrics, a n d set off a t r e n d that w a s to culminate in W u C h a n g s h u o and Qi Baishi of t h e m o d e r n period. The emergence of Shanghai to the south, m a r k e d by foreign concessions and trade a n d a burgeoning middle class, offered painters a complex of patronage that Yangzhou once could provide, but n o longer. In Shanghai, Ren Yi and others took the commercialization of art a step further, making it into a trade n o t unlike other trades, with n o pretension of literary flair or substance. Even wenrenhua became little m o r e t h a n an ideal about w h i c h painters could only dream, as their practice n o longer conformed to its lofty aspirations. 5 5 To s u m up, there is just a touch of t h e quixotic in W a n g Yun's writing, as in most historical quests. His taste contains sufficient b r e a d t h to go b e y o n d the Four Wangs. He m a y accept Ni Can's advice o n he (moderation a n d h a r m o n y ) in b o t h art and life. But h e could also be bold in speaking his m i n d and expressing preferences w h e n such preferences are not sanctioned, in spite of his belief that extremism is suspect, that novelty has n o lasting value, or that the genre of flowersand-birds are acceptable only if Xu and Huang's n o r m s are maintained. 5 6 Conscious of attack by outsiders o n the absence of landscape, h e m a y h a v e overlooked the trends elsewhere which, as exemplified by Zhao Zhiqian, emphasized matters which h e considered unacceptable. Nor did h e realize, even before the publication of Yangzhou Huayuan Lu, that the Eccentrics w h o m h e deplored, w e r e very m u c h in vogue in t h e w h o l e of China, not just Yangzhou. 350 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor W a n g Yun's rubric, if he was indeed its original creator, did m a k e a strong impact. Its p o w e r has b e e n amazingly lasting, leaving an indelible impression, m u c h as w e attempt either to transform or even erase it. The resultant confusion is partly caused by his r e f r a i n m e n t f r o m revealing the full list and partly by the w r e n c h i n g transformation f r o m t h e negative to t h e positive. W h e n suddenly the concept of guai alters f r o m t h e unacceptably strange to t h e delightfully titillating, t h e tension b e t w e e n t h e desire to hold o n to the rubric a n d the need to fill it with n e w ideas or masters proves to be costly. That, indeed, was the crux of the problem. The consequence is that the earlier precision is lost a n d the later guideline has to be re-invented each time o n e tries to pay h o m a g e to it by filling the slots, a task that defies the best mind. W h a t follows are the vain attempts to search for a group cohesion a n d solidarity, attempts that could only leave o n e in t h e quagmire of hopeless e n t a n g l e m e n t a n d confusion. Notes Second references in the notes for each paper are generally given as short titles. Works frequently cited have been identified by the following abbreviations: EB Ju-hsi Chou and Claudia Brown, The Elegant Brush: Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor, 1735 - 1795 (Phoenix, 1985) YHFL Li Dou, Yangzhou Huafang Lu (Taipei, 1969 reprint) YHYL Wang Yun, Yangzhou Huayuan Lu, in Yangzhou Congke (Yangzhou, 1931) Figure, Fiction and Boda, 'The Development of t h e Figment in Eighteenth Century Ch'ien-lung Painting Academy,' pa- Chinese Painting per presented at the Words and Im- The author is grateful to The National Painting symposium, The Metropoli- ages: Chinese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Endowment for the Humanities for an tan Museum of Art, New York, 20-22 Independent Study and Research Grant May, 1985; also Kohara Hironobu, in 1982-83, and to The National Acad- 'Kenryu Kotei no Gagaku ni Tsuite' emy of Sciences Committee on Schol- ('On the Qianlong Emperor's Con- arly Exchange with the People's Repub- n o i s s e u r s h i p ' ) , Kokka, n o . 1079 lic of China for support of travel and (January 1985), pp. 9-25; no. 1081 research in China in Fall 1982, during (March 1985), pp. 35-43; no. 1082 which periods the research on which (April 1985), pp. 33-41; the essays by this study is based was carried out. Howard Rogers, She Ch'eng and Yang Xin on aspects of court painting in the Qianlong period for the pres- 1. See, for example, Osvald Siren, ent exhibition catalog, EB, pp. 303- Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and 357; and Wai-kam Ho, Sherman Lee, Principles (London and New York, Laurence Sickman and Marc Wilson 1956-58), V, 212-250, and especially eds. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting 235-236. (Cleveland, 1980), pp. xxxv-liv, in- 2. For a discussion of some related troductory essays by Lee and Wilson. issues, see Vicki Weinstein, Painting 4. Ho Ping-ti, T h e Salt Merchants of in Yang-chou, 1710-1765: Eccentricity or Yang-chou: A Study of Commercial the Literati Tradition? (doctoral disser- Capitalism in Eighteenth-Century tation: Cornell University, 1972). China,' Harvard Journal of Asiatic 3. Among many examples, see Yang Studies, XVII (1954), 130-168. 352 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor 5. See the papers presented at the per, 'Role and Representation in pioneering American Council of Later Chinese Portraiture,' College Art Learned Societies 1980 Workshop on Association of America, 73rd Annual Chinese Painting organized by Pro- Meeting, Abstracts for Art History fessor Chu-tsing Li, Artists and Pa- Sessions (Los Angeles, trons: Some Economic and Social Aspects 1985), p. 100. February of Chinese Painting, Nelson Gallery of 11. Kahn, Monarchy; also Arthur Art, Kansas City, November 20-30; Waley, Yuan Mei (London, 1956). note especially, in the present vol- 12. Kahn, Monarchy, p. 260. ume, Ginger Cheng-chi Hsu's paper, 13. For a translation of Yuan Mei's 'Zheng Xie's Price List: Painting as a inscription, see Cahill, 'A Rejected Source of Income in Yangzhou.' Portrait,' p. 32. 6. Andrew H. Plaks, Archetype and 14. Kahn, 'A Matter of Taste,' pp. Allegory in the Dream of the Red Cham- 280-302, for illustration of some of ber (Princeton, 1976). these roles. 7. Lucien Miller, Masks of Fiction in 15. Ho, Eight Dynasties ofChinese Paint- Dream of the Red Chamber: Myth, Mime- ing, no. 275, pp. 372-376; also the sis, and Persona (Tucson, 1975). entry in EB, pp. 133-138. 8. See also F. W. Mote,'The Intellec- 16. Ho, Eight Dynasties ofChinese Paint- tual Climate of Eighteenth-Century ing, p. 375. China: Glimpses of Beijing, Suzhou 17. Ho, Eight Dynasties of Chinese Paint- and Yangzhou in the Qianlong Pe- ing, p. 373. riod/ Phoebus 6, no. l (Tempe, 1988), 18. Ho, Eight Dynasties ofChinese Paint- pp. 17-55. ing, pp. 373, 375. 9. James Cahill, The Compelling Image: 19. Ellen Laing's study, Scholars and Nature and Style in Seventeenth Century Sages: A Study in Chinese Figure Paint- Chinese Painting (Cambridge, Mass., ing (doctoral dissertation: University 1982), pp. 110-115. of Michigan, 1967). 10. For discussion of the Qianlong 20. The Chinese text of the inscrip- portrait, see Nelson I. Wu, 'The Tol- tion is transcribed in Kao Mayching eration of Eccentrics,' Art News, LVI ed. Paintings by Yangzhou Artists of the (1957), 53; also Harold L. Kahn, Mon- Qing Dynasty from the Palace Museum archy in the Emperor's Eyes: Image and (Hong Kong, 1984), no. 57, p. 190. Reality in the Ch 'ien-lung Reign (Cam- 21. James Cahill, Chinese Painting bridge, Mass., 1971), pp. 184, 260; also Kahn's essay, 'A Matter of Taste: The (Geneva, i960), pp. 90, 98. 22. J a n Fontein and M o n e y L. M o n u m e n t a l and Exotic in the Hickman, Zen: Painting and Calligra- Qianlong Reign,' EB, p. 290. For the phy (Boston, 1970), pp. xxx-xxxi. portrait of Yuan Mei by Luo Ping, see 23. Fontein and Hickman, Zen:Paint- James Cahill, 'A Rejected Portrait of ing and Calligraphy, p. xxx. Lo P'ing: A Pictorial Footnote to 24. See the summary of recent schol- Waley's Yuan Mei,' Asia Major, n.s., arship in EB, pp. 211-213. VII, 32ff; and the abstract of my pa- 25. See Howard Rogers, Fukunaga Notes 353 Takehiko, Nakata Yujiro and Iriya Chinese Art (San Francisco, 1970), no. Yoshitaka, eds. Kin No [Jin Nong], 49, pp. 96-97; for a translation of Bunjinga Suihen, IX (Tokyo, 1976), Sound of Autumn, see Cyril Birch, ed. text fig. 10, p. 125 for Huang Shen's Anthology of Chinese Literature: From Beggars. Early Times to the Fourteenth Century 26. See Ju-hsi Chou's discussion in (New York, 1965), pp. 368-369. EB, pp. 12 -13; compare the attributed 34. Reproduced in Yiyuan Duoying, images reproduced in Yonezawa no. 8 (Shanghai, 1980), p. 3. Yoshiho, et al, ed. Hachidai Sanjin, 35. The painting is reproduced and Yoshu Hakkei ('Zhu Da and the Eight discussed in Yonezawa Yoshiho and Eccentrics of Yangzhou') in Suiboku Kawakita Michiaki, Chugoku Bijutsu Bijutsu Taikei, XI (Tokyo, 1978), figs. (Tokyo, 1965), III, fig. 84, p. 149; text 88-89; as well as in Rogers et al, Kin on p. 204. There is no firm identifica- No, pis. 50, 52, and 54. tion of the subject, other than as a 27. See the accounts of his stylistic figure after Daoji, with a notation of changes and career strategies in EB, the Chan Buddhist flavor of the ac- pp. 12-13, 212. companying poem. I have discussed 28. Reproduced in an album of plates the iconographic question in greater titled Huang Yingpiao Renwu Ce detail in an unpublished lecture, 'The (Shanghai, 1982), with an essay by I m a g e of S a k y a m u n i in Liu Gangji. I am grateful to Mr Chinese Painting,' presented at the Marshall Wu of the University of symposium, Light of Asia: Buddha Later Michigan Art Museum for bringing Sakyamuni in Asian Art at the Los to my attention some problems re- Angeles County Museum of Art, 13- garding the attribution of this work 15 April 1984. Some related images to Huang Shen, and for pointing out include a Japanese painting attrib- to me its relationships with an album uted to Soga Jasoku (d. 1473?), re- in the University of Michigan Art produced and discussed in Fontein Museum. and Hickman, Zen: Painting and Cal- 29. See the discussion of Tang Yin in ligraphy, no. 53, pp. 126-29, as well as James Cahill, Parting at the Shore: Chi- Yuan dynasty sculptured images in nese Painting of the Early and Middle Sherman Lee and Wai-kam Ho, Chi- Ming Dynasty, 1368 - 1580 (New York, nese Art under the Mongols: The Yuan 1978), pp. 194-195. Dynasty (1279 - 1368) (Cleveland, 30. For Cai's career, see EB, p. 139. 1968), nos. 18, 19 and 20. 31. For a transcription of the poem 36. See Helmut Brinker, 'Shussan and inscription, see Rogers et al, Kin Shaka in Sung and Yuan Painting,' No, Ars Orientalis, n o . 58. 32. Zhang Qiyun, et al., ed. Zhongwen IX (1973), p p . 21-39. 37. Luo Ping's Sleeping Monk, repro- Dacidian (Taipei, 1973), IX, 998. duced in Siren, Chinese Painting, VI, 33. For Hua Yan's painting, see the pi. 464; also a sleeping or meditating Osaka Exchange Exhibition: Paintings from Buddha by Jin Nong, reproduced in the Abe Collection and Other Masterpieces of Yiyuan Duoying, no. 24 (Shanghai, 354 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor 1984), pp. 22-3; see p. 24 of the same 48. See Kahn, Monarchy. issue for Jin Nong's dreaming figure, 49. Luo Ping, Woxin Lu, published in related to Luo Ping's Portrait of Jin Huaibin Zazu Congshu (1908). Nong's Noon Nap, the subject of a 50. See Miller, Masks of Fiction, and Plaks, forthcoming study by this writer. Archetype and Allegory, pp. 178-211. 38. Miller, Masks of Fiction, pp. 211, 218. 39. Plaks, Archetype and Allegory, pp. 223. Yuan Jiang: Image Maker 40. For some of these images, see 1. Ho Ping-ti, T h e Salt Merchants of Yiyuan Duoying, no. 6 (Shanghai, Yang-chou: A Study of Commercial 1980), pp. 21, 27 and 35. Capitalism in Eighteenth Century 41. See James Han-hsi Soong, A Vis- China,' Harvard Journal ofAsian Stud- ual Experience in Nineteenth Century ies, XVII (1954), 130-168. See also F. China: Jen Po-nien (1840-1895) and the W. Mote, T h e Intellectual Climate in Shanghai School of Painting (doctoral Eighteenth-century China: Glimpses dissertation: Stanford University, of Beijing, Suzhou and Yangzhou in 1977), pp. 85-87. the Qianlong Period,' Phoebus 6, no. 42. See the translation of some of his 1. pp. 33-39. My thanks to Jonathan tales in Pu Songling, Selected Tales of Hay and Maxwell Hearn for many Liaozhai {B eij ing, 1981). interesting discussions about paint- 43. See the study by Chuang Shen, 'Lo ing in the Kangxi era. P'ing and the Kuei-ch 'u t 'u,' Bulletin of the 2. Zhang Geng, Guochao Huazheng Institute ofHistory and Philology, Academia Xulu (Huashi Congshu edition), III, Sinica, XLIV (1972), 403-433. 1347. An unrecorded hao Xiuquan 44. See the account of Luo Ping in EB, appears on a pair of square seals on a pp.201-202. landscape album dated guihai (1683). 45. For intellectual trends in the period, 3. Huaren Buyi, ca. 1790, reprinted in see Mote, The Intellectual Climate.' Qing Huazhuan Jiyi Sanzhong ('Biog- 46. See the often quoted statements raphies of Qing Dynasty Painters in of Zheng Xie on the artist's situation, Three Collections') (Beiping: Har- discussed in EB, pp. 168-9. vard-Yenching Supplement, 1934), 47. For The Scholars, see C. T. Hsia, The VIII. See also n. 6 below. Classic Chinese Novels (New York, 4. In his 1938 list of Chinese paintings 1968), pp. 203-244; see Kahn, 'A Mat- in Japan, Harada Bizan (Kinjiro) ter of Taste,' pp. 290-291 for scholastic records a painting signed and dated orthodoxy and disillusionment in the twenty-first year of the Qianlong the Qianlong reign. See also Wm. reign, corresponding to 1756. For- Theodore de Bary, Wang-tsit Chan merly in the Kinoshita collection in and Burton Watson eds. Sources of Tokyo, the present location of the Chinese Tradition (New York, 1960), unpublished painting is unknown. pp. 612-629 for eighteenth-century The authenticity of the work is intellectual trends. doubtful; if Yuan Jiang was painting Notes accomplished works in 1681, the 355 Paintings (New York, 1983), pp. 104- probability of his working in the 118. The undated landscape is in the 1750s, at an age of over ninety, is slim. Ahern collection in East Providence, James Cahill published a hanging Rhode Island. Howard Rogers points scroll, probably from a larger compo- out that Prince Yi was the director of sition, with a cyclical date of 1680/ the government office which super- 1740, and an album with cyclical vised court artists and 'outside the dates of 1683/1743. These two works Yangxin Dian' may have m e a n t stylistically fit better in the early pe- something closer to the court: the riod of Yuan's career; therefore they artisan-like task of decorating the have been assigned here to the 1680s. Yuan Ming Yuan, Yongzheng's fa- See James Cahill, 'Yuan Chiang and vorite palace. See Howard Rogers, His School,' Ars Orientalis, V (1963), Masterworks of Ming and Qing Painting 259-272, and VI (1966), 191-212. Fol- from the Forbidden City (Lansdale, PA, lowing the assumption that Yuan 1988), p. 187. Jiang did not begin painting until 7. The painting which stylistically 1693, Nie Chongzheng placed an al- dates to the early 1720s is in the bum with a cyclical date correspond- collection of Roy and Marilyn Papp. ing to 1683/1743 (which may be the See Heritage of the Brush (Phoenix, same as that listed by Cahill) and a 1989), no. 23. To Howard Rogers I am hanging scroll with a cyclical date of grateful for providing information. 1686/1746 to the later period. Here 8. Nie, Yuan Jiang yu Yuan Yao, pp. 3- they are dated to the 1680s. See Nie 4, citing Li Zhizhao, 'Jiehua de Chongzheng, Yuan Jiang yu Yuan Yao Fazhan he Jiehua Goutu de Yanjiu' (Shanghai, 1982) in t h e series ('Research on the development and Zhongguo Huajia Congshu. structure of boundary painting'), 5. According to Nie, Yuan Jiang yu Zhongguo Hua (Beijing, 1957). Qin Yuan Yao, p. 5, Guo Weiqu listed the Zhongwen says that most of the 100 painting in his Song Yuan Ming Qing paintings left China for foreign collec- Shuhuajia Nianbiao, p. 329. As far as I tions. See Qin Zhongwen, 'Qingdai know, the painting is unpublished. Chuqi Huihua de Fazhan' ('Develop- 6. The discovery of this seal and the ment of Painting in the Early Qing'), realistic quality of the river scene led Wenwu Cankao Ziliao, no.8(1958),p. Richard Barnhart to the hypothesis 56. Yuan school paintings with odd that the phrase 'outside the Yangxin measurements or shapes were prob- Dian' in Huaren Buyi may have ably originally created for lanterns or meant that Yuan served Prince Yi on architectural panels. his n o r t h e r n trips to inspect river 9. T r a n s l a t i o n b y J o n a t h a n conservancy in Zhili province. See 'Daoji's Late Work (1697 - 1707): A Richard M. Barnhart, Peach Blossom Thematic Map,' (doctoral disserta- Spring: Garden and Flowers in Chinese tion: Yale University, 1989), ch. 2, Hay, 356 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor 'Garden Mountains/ section 1. The Crawford, Jr. collection at the Metro- Chinese text is transcribed in Zheng politan Museum, is fanciful and Wei, 'Lun Shitao Shenghuo Xingjing structurally illogical. The large hang- Sixiang Dibian Yishu Chengjiu,' ('On ing scroll by Wang E, Gazing Afar from Shitao's life, intellectual develop- a Riverside Pavilion, in the Palace ment and artistic achievements'), Museum, Beijing, is a rare and beau- Wenwu, no. 12 (1962), p. 47. tiful example of complicated archi- 10. Mote, 'The Intellectual Climate,' tectural detail combined with a po- p. 35. Mote compares the enormous etic landscape. wealth of the merchants to that of 14. See Jonathan D. Spence, Ts'ao district magistrates w h o 'received Yin and the K'ang-hsi Emperor, Bond- salaries and supplementary emolu- servant and Master (New Haven and ment from the state in the range of London, 1966), for an historical per- 500 to 1200 taels per year' and to a spective; and Maxwell K. Hearn, laborer w h o 'could support his 'Document and Portrait: The South- household of five persons on about ern Tour Paintings of Kangxi and twelve taels per year.' Qianlong,' Phoebus 6, no. 1, pp. 91- 11. The twelve-panel Peach Blossom 131, for the visual documentation of Spring of 1719 is preceded by a hang- the tours. ing scroll with many of the same 15. Hearn, 'Document and Portrait,' elements dated 1718. The Hall ofGreen n. 32. Wilderness panoramic screen of 1720 16. For color reproductions of the is preceded by the hanging scroll of entire composition see Barnhart, 1719. (Please refer to appendix). Peach Blossom Spring, pp. 105-111. 12. The painting is published in 17. Oral comments by Professor Zhang Yuejun Xiansheng, Wang Xue- Mote at the Phoenix Art Museum ting Xiansheng, Luo Zhixi Furen, Juan- symposium, October 1985. See also zengShuhua TezhanMulu ('Illustrated Mote, 'The Intellectual Climate,' es- Catalogue of the Special Exhibition pecially pp. 33-37. of Painting and Calligraphy Donated 18. Some examples are Li Yin's Land- by Messrs. Zhang Yuejun, Wang scape with Travellers in the Palace Xueting, and Madame Luo Zhixi') Museum, Beijing, in Kao Mayching (Taipei, 1978), no. 4. ed. Paintings by Yangzhou Artists of the 13. Palaces do of course appear in Qing Dynasty from the Palace Museum Ming painting, but in small numbers (Hong Kong, 1984), no. 2; Yuan and generally in minor works. Life Jiang's Carts on a Winding Mountain inside the Palace of Emperor Ming Road of 1694; his hanging scrolls of Xuanzong, an anonymous narrative 1707, two of 1718, and an undated handscroll in the Palace Museum, hanging scroll in the Guangzhou Art Beijing, uses the architecture as a Museum; Yuan Yao's huge hanging setting for the figures. The architec- scroll of 1741 in the Museum fur ture in The Darning Palace, an early Ostasiatische Kunst, Koln, his Oxcarts Ming handscroll in the John M. in Landscape after Guo Xi of 1767 in a Notes 357 private collection, Osaka, a 1770 and color on silk is in the Palace hanging scroll Road to Shu, Distant Museum, Beijing. See Kao Mayching Clouds, Beijing Handicrafts Import- ed. Paintings by Yangzhou Artists, no. 2. Export Co., and his undated Trans- 28. This statement assumes that the port Carts after Guo Xi in the British influence flowed from the older to Museum. Yan Yi painted the theme the younger painter. It is also pos- (hanging scroll of 1716 in the Palace sible that Yuan Jiang, as the strong Museum, Beijing) as did Tan Song artistic force, influenced Li Yin, in (hanging scroll of 1748 in the Metro- which case Li Yin's long discussion of politan Museum of Art). painting style was a verbalization of 19. See Mote, T h e Intellectual Cli- what Yuan Jiang practiced. mate,' p. 34. 29. Many other stylistic relationships 20. For a review of the debates and are yet to be explored including imagery of Peach Blossom Spring see those with Yan Yi, Wang Yun and Susan E. Nelson, 'On Through to the Xiao Chen. I cannot consider here Beyond: The Peach Blossom Spring the obvious affinity between the as Paradise,' Archives of Asian Art, paintings of Yuan Jiang and the XXXIX (1986), 23-47. In Peach Blossom younger Yuan Yao. Whatever the Spring, Barnhart explores the theme familial relationship, the two had a as it relates to gardens, particularly working relationship so close that in reference to Yuan Jiang's large many of their paintings are easily 1719 painting. confused. In general, one can see in 21. See Mote, 'The Intellectual Cli- Yuan Yao's work a slightly more in- mate," particularly pp. 45ff, for a dis- tense use of color, less interest in cussion of the implications of schol- portraying vast distances, and a ars honoring Tao Qian in 1743. The more formulistic approach to famil- Zhang Feng album is in the Metro- iar subjects. politan Museum (1987.408.2). 30. Nie, Yuan Jiang yu Yuan Yao, p. 4. 22. See Rogers, Masterworks, no. 17. The others were Meng Shikai (who 23. Daphne Rosenzweig, Court Paint- earned a regional zhusheng degree) ers of the K'ang-hsi Period (doctoral and Zhu Peiqin, unidentified. dissertation: Columbia University, 31. The painting, now an eight-fold 1973), p. 38. screen in a Japanese collection, ends 24. Mote, 'The Intellectual Climate,' abruptly at both right and left edges, pp.28-31. and originally was probably a full 25. The painting, in ink and color on twelve-scroll composition. Yuan silk, is in the collection of Yabumoto Jiang painted another tall hanging Sogoro, Amagasaki, J a p a n . scroll of The Hall of Green Wilderness 26. The scroll, dated 1770, is in the known to me from a slide which is collection of the Metropolitan Mu- too fuzzy to allow a reading of the seum (1984.16) and is fully described date. Yuan Yao painted the theme at in Hearn, 'Document and Portrait.' least three times. 27. The undated hanging scroll in ink 32. There are other shared motifs 358 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor such as stands of pines growing out of 12. See Lin, The Wisdom, p. 1081. rocky soil and a waterfall tumbling 13. Liang Zhangju (1775 - 1849), Guitian from distant mountains, but these Suoji (preface dated 1845), in Liangshi figure in many of Yuan Jiang's gar- Biji (Shanghai, 1918), juan 7, pp. 4a- den landscape paintings. I have not b. The p h e n o m e n o n was so popular seen the 1719 hanging scroll in the that there were some maxims about Palace Museum, Beijing, which may such guests under the gate, in which have been the model for the large the qualification of a guest was de- screen of the following year. scribed by counting from one to ten, in a rather ironic yet realistic manner. As quoted by Liang: 'good callig- Zheng Xie's Price List: raphy of the first rate, talent of the Painting as a Source second rate, drinking capacity of of I n c o m e in Yangzhou three jin (unit of measurement), 1. Zheng Xie, Zheng Banqiao Ji (Hong clothes to cope with the four seasons, Kong, 1979), p. 195. five moves of wei game, six sets of 2. Zheng Banqiao Ji, p. 237. kunqu repertory, seven character 3. Cheng Zhengkui, Qingxi Yigao poems, eight pieces of majiang (mah {1809), juan 26, pp. 9b-10a. jong), n i n t h - g r a d e title and ten 4. Zhao Yi, Gaiyu Congkao (preface points of agreeable temperament.' dated 1791), in Zhao Oubei Quanji, The maxim was elaborated later and juan 31, pp. 19b-23b. became even more descriptive: 'Cal- 5. Arthur Waley, Yuan Mei (London, ligraphy of first rate without mistake, 1956), p. 108. talent of second rate without deliber- 6. Du Weiyun, Zhao YiZhuan (Taipei, ately showing off, drinking capacity 1983), p. 261. of three jin without vomiting, four 7. See Saeki Tomi, ' S h i t a f u to seasons' clothing without going in Junpitsu,' in Uchida Gimpu Hakase and out of the pawnshop, playing Shoju Kinan Toyoshi Ronshii (Tokyo, five moves of wei chess with no re- 1978), pp. 200, 215. gret, being able to sing six sets of 8. YHFL, pp. 748ff. kunqu without hesitation, compos- 9. Fang Shishu, Tianyongan Biji, p. 17 ing seven-character playful poems in Yang Jialuo ed. Yishu Congbian without delay, playing eight games (Taipei, 1962), XXVI. 10. Victoria Contag, Ch 'ing Masters of the Seventeenth Century (Rutland, 1970), p. 13. 11. Zheng Banqiao Ji, p. 25; translated of majiang without checking, obtaining t h e n i n t h g r a d e of title b u t n o t intending to take office, ten points of agreeable character without a trace of vulgarity.' by Lin Yutang, 'Family Letters of a 14. Zheng Banqiao Ji, p. 202. This is a Chinese Poet (Cheng Pan-ch'iao)'in modified translation by Karl-Heinz The Wisdom of India and China (New Pohl. See his'Cheng Pan-ch'iao, 1693 York, 1942), p. 1081. - 176 5: Poet, Painter and Calligrapher' Notes 359 (doctoral dissertation: University of uted 36,370,963 taels to the govern- Toronto, 1982), p. 56. ment between 1738 and 1804, not 15. Zheng Banqiao Ji, p. 209. counting the 4,670,000 taels spent on 16. Lin, The Wisdom, p. 1081. the Qianlong emperor's southern 17. Zheng Banqiao Ji, p. 98. tours and numerous smaller contri- 18. Jin Nong, Dongxin Huazhu Tiji butions to salt officials. See his The (Meishu Congshu edition), p. 68. Ladder of Success in Imperial China 19. Jin, Dongxin Huazhu Tiji, p. 68. (New York, 1964), p. 82. 20. Although Jin Nong and Zheng 28. YHFL, pp. 168-169. Xie share the same ideology, there 29. A c o m m e n t a t o r are subtle differences between their Yangzhou merchants' enthusiasm attitudes toward painting. For Jin, for antique collecting: 'The prices of painting is no more decent than an- the paintings or calligraphy were not tique dealing. However, in Zheng's a problem, as long as they were opinion, to involve oneself in the signed and inscribed by known per- described vulgar business of antique dealing sons; the authenticity of the antiques was not advisable. Believing that was not a problem either, as long as antique dealing would erode one's they were high in price and showed intellectual nature, Zheng once tried the damage of time.' See Huang to talk Jin out of it in a personal letter Junzai, Jinhu Langmo, juan 1, pp. 10a- to him. Compared to other profes- b, in his Jinhu Qimo (1873). For an sions that many literati turned to for example of conspicuous spending on income, such as fortune-telling, literary gatherings, see Li Dou, Aitang medicine and geomancy, painting Chulu, in Ren Na, ed. Xin Chuyuan was considered high in the hierar- (Shanghai, 1940), I, 26. chy, equal to poetry and calligraphy. 30. Niu Yingzhi, Yuchuang Xiaoyi Lu, See Zheng Banqiao Ji, pp. 206-207. quoted in Gu Linwen, ed. Yangzhou 21. Zheng Banqiao Ji, p. 197. Bajia Shiliao (Shanghai, 1962), p. 47. 22. See Chang Chung-li, The Income of 31. Jin's Dongxin Huazhu Tiji was re- the Chinese Gentry (Seattle, 1962), p. 16. portedly published by Jiang Chun. 23. Zheng Banqiao Ji, p. 98. See Jin's own preface dated 1750. See 24. Zheng Banqiao Ji, p. 222. Gu, Yangzhou Bajia Shiliao, p. 61. 25. YHFL, p. 291. 32. Xu Ke, ed. QingpaiLeichao (Shang- 26. YHFL, pp. 344-345. hai, 1917), juan 49, pp. 108-109. 27. Lianghuai Yanfa Zhi (1870 edition), 33. This is a recorded painting dedi- juan 42. In this account about the salt cated to Jiang C h u n . See Zheng merchants of the Lianghuai district, one Banqiao Ji, pp. 161-163. full juan is devoted to records of merchants' contributions toward government projects, military expenses and local welfare. According to Ho Ping-ti, theLiang-huai salt merchants contrib- Jin Nong: The Eccentric Painter w i t h a Wintry Heart 1. To embellish his paintings, Jin 360 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Nong often inscribed elegant, ex- s t r o n g i m p r e s s i o n on this sensi- pressive inscriptions. Whether the tive t e e n a g e r , for fifty years later inscriptions are in the form of poetry he remembered the experience. or prose, the contents are usually as 3. Jin Nong made two trips to the humorous as they are profound, re- North. On his first trip, he visited freshingly readable, fashioned in a Beijing and recorded t h e m a n y lyrical mode, replete with subtle paintings he saw. For example, he ideas and surging feelings. No won- saw a handscroll depicting Buddhist der that, in 1750, under the persua- purgatory. He recorded it in his sion and support of his patron- Dongxin Xiansheng friend, Jiang Chun (1727-93), Jin Congshu edition), p. 224: Suibi (Meishu Nong collected about fifty superb in- 'The handscroll, Scenes from Hell, was scriptions he had composed for his painted by Du Fenglian (active six- bamboo paintings. He published teenth century?). It is very close in them under the tile of Dongxin Xian- style to Mr Xiao Gungbo's scroll, sheng Huazhu Tiji ('Jin Nong's In- Punishing the Evil-doers, but this scriptions on Bamboo Paintings') handscroll reveals a new dimension (Meishu Congshu edition). It became to ghost paintings. It does not follow his first compilation of inscriptions; the traditional way of illustrating more were to follow. See Ibid, pp. 61- punishments such as blade-forests 84. Jiang Chun was a member of the and deep-frying pots. It is most influential and wealthy Jiang family charming indeed. In the third year of in Yangzhou. Yongzheng (1725), I visited the capi- 2. On his early exposure to art, Jin tal and saw [Du's] painting in Acade- Nong has this to say: mician Mr A Yunju's home. I was 'When I was only thirteen or four- told that Mr A acquired it from the teen years old (1699 - 1700), my fa- grandson of Premier Liang (Liang ther brought me to the Changming Qingbiao). At the end of the painting, Temple (in Hangzhou) during the there was indeed the latter's collect- Lantern Festival (the first full moon ing seal...' or the fifteenth day of the first lunar Jin Nong liked it and described it as month). There we saw the painted ke'ai, or 'charming.' It is well known portraits of the sixteen luohan attrib- that Jin Nong and his student, Luo uted to Guanxiu (832 - 912). In the Ping (1733-99) were both famous for paintings, these monks all had high t h e i r ghost paintings. T h e y o f t e n de- nose bridges, full faces, long ear lobes picted ghosts as odd-looking ordi- and large eyes with heavy eyebrows.' nary people instead of showing puni- See Dongxin Huafo Tiji ('Master tive scenes in hell. Both artists went Dongxin's Inscriptions on Buddhist against the current practice. Perhaps Paintings') (Meishu Congshu edition), the inspiration for their ghost paint- p. 103. ings can be traced back to Jin Nong's This early exposure to paintings of interpretation of this very scroll seen arhats or luohan must have left a so long ago in Beijing. Notes The second trip to Beijing was occa- 361 e. Dongxin Zahua Tiji, pp. 177-178: sioned by the Boxue Hongci examina- 'Years ago, at the home of the Minis- tion of 1736, though inexplicably, ter of Crime, Mr Zhang in the capital, after reaching there, Jin Nong de- I saw a pine painting [by the wild clined to take the examination. With monk Zeren (active late thirteenth plenty of leisure on his hands, he was century) of the Song dynasty]...' free to explore the city. He visited f. Dongxin Huamei Tiji, p. 96: 'At the several private collectors and en- Vice-minister Wang's house in the joyed seeing numerous paintings. capital I saw the painting entitled A For example: Horse with a Red Saddle Cloth by Wei a. Dongxin Xiansheng Huazhu Tiji, p. Yan (ca. late seventh century).' 65: 'In the ninth lunar month of the Especially see Dongxin Xiansheng first year of Qianlong (1736), I saw in Suibi. This short text of only fourteen the capital a horizontal bamboo pages was finished in 1738 and is painting by Su Shi (1036 - 1101).' especially useful w h e n one wishes to b. Dongxin Xiansheng Suibi, pp. 223- check the many books and paintings 224: 'In the twelfth lunar month of which Jin Nong had seen before that the first year of Qianlong, I saw a year. It was published at a much later landscape handscroll by Fan Kuan date in the nineteenth century. Ac- (active early eleventh century) en- cording to Wei Xizeng's postscript titled Thatched Studio at the Solitude dated 1878, the original manuscript Mountain in the h o m e of Zhang that he used to reprint the present Donglai, the Minister of the Conser- version was hand-written by Jin vancy Bureau.' Nong himself. It is possible that the c. Dongxin Zahua ('Master book was actually intended to be a Dongxin's Inscriptions on Paintings calligraphic scroll or a set of album of Miscellaneous Subjects') (Meishu leaves. Tiji Congshu edition), p. 190: 'In the first It is rather puzzling that the many year of Qianlong, at the house of Mr paintings he recorded seem to belong Zhang, the Minister of the Conser- to a category unfamiliar to us. Few of vancy Bureau, I saw a painting de- the artists and paintings are recorded picting grapes by Wen Riguan (active in any other texts dealing with early late thirteenth century).' Chinese painting. Judging from Jin d. Dongxin Huamei Tiji ('Master Nong's busy social and cultural ac- Dongxin's Inscriptions o n Plum tivities, he must have encountered Blossom Paintings') (Meishu Congshu far more old paintings than those edition), p. 89: 'In the first year of acknowledged in his books. A pri- Qianlong...I visited the home of Mr mary example which he failed to Zhang, the Minister of Crime, with a note is the fabulous Five Oxen scroll. friend, Xu Liangzhi, who was a han- In 1739 J i n N o n g r e t u r n e d lin. We viewed a small hanging scroll Hangzhou briefly to attend the Moon of plum blossoms by Zhao Mengfu.' Festival. On the full-moon night he to and his friend, Yao Shiyu (1695 - 362 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor 1749) were invited to the home of a no. 173. The second set from the collector, Wang Xueshan. In his Beijing Palace Museum has been re- Qiushi Studio they viewed together produced as an individual piece in one of the most famous animal color, under the wrongly assigned handscrolls in China, the Five Oxen, title, Album of Portraits and Landscapes attributed to the Tang dynasty painter, by Jin Nong (Beijing, 1983). Han Huang (723-77). Seven years later 4. In the past, there have been sev- in 1746, once again in Wang's studio but eral theories concerning the time. this time accompanied by an artist- For example, in checking through monk, Ming-zhong, Jin Nong saw the writings by three biographers, one scroll for a second time. Nevertheless, finds that Zhang Geng (1685 - 1760), he never mentioned this painting in a contemporary and friend of Jin his writings. Nong, must have initiated a theory A second example involves t h e that he started to paint after fifty painting, Gathering Water Chestnuts, years of age: '...After the age of fifty, by Shen Zhou (1427 - 1509), the great he started to paint. Even at the very master of the Ming dynasty. Shen beginning, his work was in a graceful style...' See Guochao Zhou's painting, one of a set of nine ancient album leaves, has two versions. The Huazheng Lu (Huashi Congshu edi- first set with only six leaves formerly tion), juan 2, p. 111. From his word- belonged to the Hayashi collection, ing, nian wushi yu ('after the age of Hara, Japan. It has been published in fifty'), it is clear that Zhang Geng did Richard Edwards, The Field of Stones not pin down the exact date. It was (Washington, DC, 1962), pi. 13B. The then copied almost word for word in second version, which is more cred- later compilations such as Jiang ible, belongs to a private collection in Baoling's (1781 - 1840) Molin Jinhua Hong Kong. Although its composi- and Qin Zuyong's (1825-84) Tongyin tion, with thick green dots function- Lunhua, with one major discrepancy. ing as water chestnut foliage, and its It was Jiang first, and Qin later, who expressive forms clearly form the interpolated Zhang Geng's passage to basis for Jin Nong's own version, he mean 'at the age of 50/ See Gu never mentioned it in any of his Linwen, writings. Jin Nong's painting also has (Shanghai, 1962), pp. 29-30. Also see Yangzhou Bajia Shiliao two versions. They belong to two Qian Du, Songhu Huazhui (Yuyuan s e p a r a t e sets of a l b u m leaves depict- Cottgke edition), juan 1, p. 15b, in ing figures and landscapes. The one which the author mentions that he at the Shanghai Museum has been had known the elderly Jin Nong as a published in Chang Wan-li and Hu family friend and that he learned that Jen-mou eds. Yangzhou Bajia Shuhua the latter had started to paint when Ji (The Selected Paintings and Cal- he was 40 sui. ligraphy of the Eight Eccentrics of 5. At that time, Jin Nong probably Yangchow') (HongKong, 1969), VIII, was mainly interested in poetry and Notes 363 calligraphy. By 1723 he may have years, when he usually boasted of his made playful attempts at a few paint- own works. ings, perhaps to while away a lazy 6. One is the Plum Blossoms, a set of afternoon. One of the poems written four hanging scrolls in the collection during this period, published in his of Wango H. C. Weng, New Hamp- Dongxin Xiansheng Xiling shire. The other is a landscape album WubuyiYizhu (Hangzhou, \S7\),juan of twelve leaves in Museum Rietberg, 1, p. 12a, states: Zurich. Both appear in Suzuki Kei 'I wrote (painted) bamboo and orchid. and others, Comprehensive Illustrated Scattered and pliant, the branches Catalog of Chinese Paintings (Tokyo, Ji (in were formed in black ink. 1982-1983), I, A13-015 and II, E7-060 One blossom against one stalk, and also partially in EB, no. 60. Both They are without charm, but plenty were purportedly painted in 1736, of pure bitterness. w h e n he was in Beijing. After careful I cast aside the painting and sighed: examination, it appears that neither Such a work, in no way, can match is convincing enough to fit into Jin those done by professional hands. Nong's life and creative progress. If one must divide the gift paintings Both are well-organized with com- into good and bad categories, plicated compositions and assured Then I must emphasize the value of brushwork, signs of a trained back- the wonderful inscriptions I wrote, ground. In short, they are far too With my private seal at the end, advanced for the beginning stage of And after that, in ancient clerical Jin Nong's work. In addition, check- script, my name was signed. ing through the dates of his recorded Please consider my painting as only half and extant paintings, there is a big of a scroll to decorate an empty studio. gap between 1737 and 1745 (ages 51 Its color and fragrance fill the whole to 59) with not a single work. Assum- cave on a cliff. ing that he had already mastered his Sit down comfortably and watch the painting skill in 1736, he would have painting all day long. continued to paint and sell his paint- Close your door and chant alone by ings as a way to ease his financial yourself. pressures. With his extravagant habits, Also, take out your jade qin and pre- Jin Nong was always in need of money. pare some tea. 7. Huazhu Tiji, preface, p. 61. Suddenly, the raindrops were falling 8. Huazhu Tiji, pp. 80-81. against the rays of the setting sun.' 9. Huafo Tiji, p. 98. In its preface, Jin The apologetic tone proves that he Nong wrote: felt t h a t h e w a s n o t able to r e a c h t h e ' W h e n I first started to p a i n t b a m b o o , level of those professionals and was I used real bamboo as my teacher. not fit to serve as a model for novices. Then I began to depict the wild plum This is completely different from the blossoms growing by the bank of the way he regarded his paintings in later river... After that, I engaged in paint- 364 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor ing the strapping stallions imported 'For two successive years, I was from Tongguli (in Chinese Turkistan). caught in my off-and-on sickness. I Then I switched my subject again and could not do anything but paint bam- began to paint Buddhist figures...' boo. However, w h e n I started to From this passage, the chronological paint, I did not follow any particular sequence of the major subjects Jin teacher. I sought inspiration directly Nong chose for his painting is quite from the dense bamboo stalks and clear. See his Huamei Tiji, Huama Tiji, tender n e w shoots. I could paint Dongxin Zixiezhen Tiji, Dongxin Zahua unrestrainedly with ink from expen- Tiji and its sequel, Dongxin Zahua Tiji sive ink-sticks made by Li Chao'er... Buyi (Meishu Congshu editions). My two friends (Gao Xiang and 10. Huazhu Tiji, p. 65: 'In the year of Wang Shishen) admired my work. dingmao (1747), I moved from my They praised my interpretation of home by the river to the south corner bamboo in my painting. I neither inside of the city. There I planted paid attention to any early masters, numerous bamboo plants. Almost nor confined myself to traditional day and night, I depicted these stalks realism. My technique has surpassed as if I were painting their portraits. all the conventional rules and doc- My brush has perhaps already con- trines.' sumed fifty pecks of ink...' Also, 12. Huazhu Tiji, preface, p. 61. Zahua Tiji, p. 171: 13. The names of the ten early bam- '...In the wuchen year of Qianlong boo painters and their considerable (1748), I moved from my home by impact are disclosed in the following the river to a studio located at the entries in Huazhu Tiji: corner inside of the [Hangzhou] city. Shen Zhenji (1400 - after 1482), p. 63. There was plenty of empty land Xu Lti (active during the Shunxi pe- around my studio. So I sent my ser- riod, 1174-89), p. 64. vants to clear the weeds. I then Su Shi (1036 - 1101), p. 65. bought several h u n d r e d bamboo Wen Tong (1018-79), p. 66. roots from the monk at the Dragon Ke Jiusi (1290 - 1343), p. 66. Well Temple and planted them on Zhang Li (Tang dynasty), p. 67. the cleared lot. Each root cost me Wu Zhen (1280 - 1354), p. 72. thirty coins. I began to paint bamboo Zhang Xuan (active 713-41), p. 76. and used the bamboo as my teacher.' Cheng Tang (active eleventh cen- 11. Zahua Tiji, p. 171. An inscription tury), p. 80. apppears on a bamboo painting dedi- Li Yu (937-78), p. 82. cated to his student, Xiang Jun. The 14. When Jin Nong compared Song painting n o w belongs to the Sichuan painter Xu Lii with Ming painters Provincial Museum, Chengdu. It is like Xia Chang (1388 - 1470), Wen Duoying Zhengming (1470 - 1559) and Yao (Shanghai, July, 1980), no. 9, pi. 25: Shou (1423-95), he said it was like reproduced in Yiyuan Notes 365 contrasting a dignified phoenix with sia. In the old days in China, the only a flock of wild pheasants. See Jin cure was bed rest. Lying in bed all the Nong, Huazhu Tiji, p. 64. time, Jin Nong suffered from bore- 15. Huazhu Tiji, p. 80. dom and depression. Later he wrote: 16. For example, a bamboo painting 'In the year bingshen (1716), I was sick in 'double-contour' technique is with pi at home by the river bank. dated 1760, when Jin Nong was 74 During one cold night, I laid awake sui. It has gigantic stalks and large and leaves, to which he also added red thoughts. By dawn, I decided to ink. The inscription on this painting adopt Dongxin ('Wintry Heart') as has been translated by Chu-tsing Li my style name. This term was bor- was filled with random in his article, 'Bamboo Painting of rowed from a verse found in the Tang Chin Nung,' Archives of Asian Art, poet Cui Guofu's poem which said: "I XXVII (1973-1974), 65. Another ex- held my wintry heart in desolate ample is a small album leaf dated loneliness.'" 1761 at the Liaoning Provincial Mu- See Dongxin Xiansheng Ji, preface, pp. 5- seum which shows a double-lined 6. Cui Guofu was a well known mid- bamboo with three stalks and two eighth century poet. His poem reads: clusters of leaves. In this piece Jin 'I held my wintry heart in desolate Nong first used washes in light loneliness. brownish orange color to form the Cutting brocade in only a thin cotton stalks and leaves. He then applied robe, I shivered in the cold. thin outlines in dark brown while the So late in the night, the wick of my washes were still wet. This painting dim oil lamp had been lifted numer- has been reproduced in the exhibi- ous times. tion catalog, Chinese Paintings of the Icy frost now covers my chilly scissors.' Ming and Qing Dynasties, 14th-20th Cen- Such verse belongs to the type of turies (Victoria, Australia, 1981), no. poetry called ziyege, 'midnight songs.' 80, leaf l. Derived form old ballads in ancient 17. In the Sichuan Provincial Mu- China, it narrates the daily lives of seum. See n. 11 above. common people and expresses the 18. See Suzuki Kei, Comprehensive sadness and bitterness of life. See Illustrated Catalog, I, Al 3-003; also EB, Quan Tangshi (Taipei, 1967), II, 662. no. 61. 21. Published in the catalog, The Eight 19. Another leaf with similar compo- Masters of Yangzhou (Tokyo, 1986), sition, although less impressive, can no. 33. be found in the album of Landscape and 22. See Edwards, The Field of Stones, Figures. See Jin Nong Shanshui Renwu pi. 13B. Another, more credible ver- (Beijing, 1983). sion is in a private collection in Hong 20. In 1716, when he was 30, Jin Kong. See n. 3 above. Nong was stricken with pi, or dyspep- 23. Reproduced under the title of Jin 366 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Nong ShanshuiRenwu. See n. 19 above. musing over a poem and searching 24. See Lanqian Shanguan Shuhua for the right word. To prepare tea for (Tokyo, 1978), II, no. 87. his master, a boy servant stoops be- 25. Yurin Taikan (Kyoto, 1929), V sides two large urns, fanning the fire (Chinese Painting), pi. 32. under a small stove. The boy gazes at 26. Howard Rogers and Sherman E. his master. The painting is naive and Lee, Masterworks of Ming and Qing simple, but the depiction is clever Painting from the Forbidden and faithful. For reproduction, see City (Lansdale, PA, 1988), cat. no. 64. BaimeiJi (Shanghai, 1929), I, no. 6. 27. See Huamei Tiji, pp. 86-87. The The second type can be represented t h i r t y - t w o inscriptions recorded by several examples. An album leaf there represent the bulk of his works shows blooming plum inside the gate in this category. As usual, the inscrip- of a wooden or bamboo stockade, tion m u s t h a v e b e e n faded petals scattered on the ground. arranged chronologically. Therefore, the date See Chang and Hu, Yangzhou Bajia of the fifth inscription, 'the first lunar Shuhua Ji, VIII, no. 175. In another month in 1756/ can be considered close hanging scroll, Jin Nong painted a in time to his first attempts. It reads: white-plastered wall in the middle 'In t h e early spring (first lunar month), the bingzi year (1756) of the Qianlong period, the Monk Louzunzhe from the Jingneng Monastery in the Emei Mountains (in Sichuan) sent me a letter by the messenger, Adun. I composed a poem for the Abbot a m o n t h ago without sending it to him. When I painted this long scroll of plum blossoms for him, after the style of Jiuli Shanren, I copied that poem on my painting...' ground; indigo colored tiles and bricks for reinforcing purposes have been painted along the top and bottom. Inside the wall, the upper section of a flowering plum tree is visible, and one spray hangs over the wall. See Yiyuan Duoying, no.8 (Shanghai, March 1980), reproduction on the back of the title page. 31. Zixiezhen Tiji, p. 90. 32. Huamei Tiji, p. 91. 3 3. This handscroll is in the collection of the late P. T. Huo, Hong Kong. It is 28. Wang Shishen became blind in reproduced in color in Chang and 1752 and Gao Xiang died in 1754. Hu, Yangzhou Bajia Shuhua Ji, V, no. 29. This painting belongs to the To- 136. Also see Suzuki, Comprehensive kyo National Museum. It has been Illustrated Catalog, II, S9-003. published in Bunjinga Suihen, IX (To- 34. Huamei Tiji, p. 91. kyo, 1976), no. 15. For the inscrip- 35. Huama Tiji, p. 97. tion, see Huamei Tiji, p. 90. 36. Huama Tiji, p. 93. In 1750 Jin Nong 30. The first type is represented by saw A Tibetan Horse attributed to Hu the short handscroll, Composing Verses Huai (active t e n t h century). Jin under the Plum Trees. It shows a poet Nong also mentioned the rubbings of with a red hood. Pacing amidst the the famous Zhaoling Liujun ('The Six plum trees, it appears that the poet is Steeds in Zhaoling,' those reliefs in Notes 367 the mausoleum of Emperor Taizong stole his painting and sold it to the of the Tang dynasty). He also saw a owner of a wine shop in the inner handscroll of horses in color attrib- city. I n o w pick up my brush and try uted to Zhao Mengfu. Earlier, in to recall that painting from memory. 1736, in the home of Wang Shu (1668 I imitate the strokes on the head and - 1743) in Beijing, Jin Nong saw a tail of the horse in that piece. Every horse painting entitled Hongji Fubei year I tried to cleanse off my sins on ('A Horse with a Red Saddle'), attrib- the third day of the third lunar uted to Wei Yan (active first half of month, I feel I am standing in the the eighth century). light of the setting sun watching [my 37. For the Dayuan Ma, see Yiyuan youth which is like] a beautiful Yizhen (Hong Kong, 1967), V, no. 34. woman on a fragrant cart disappear- The inscription can be f o u n d in ing into the distance.' Huama Tiji, p. 95: 38. See the dictionary, Cihai (Shang- 'When I paint horses after Tang ex- hai, 1958), p. 1510. amples, I always chose those depict- 39. For Bada's works, see Bunjinga ing Ferghana horses. I apply power- Suihen, VIII (Tokyo, 1976), pis. 28, 31, ful strokes and the results are unique 61, 74, 96, 98, and 111. among horse paintings. [One is able 40. This painting is in the collection to visualize] the grooms with ragged of the Palace Museum, Beijing. It is robes and snow and ice on their published beards, shivering in the cold, howl- ed .Paintings by Yangzhou Artists of the ing wind. By opening the scroll, one Qing Dynasty from the Palace Museum can imagine oneself being in Chinese (Hong Kong, 1984), no. 57. in Kao Mayching Turkistan in ancient times. After I 41. See Gu, Yangzhou Bajia Shiliao, finish my painting, I inscribe a few pp. 27-28 and p. 26, citing Yuan Mei, lines on it for those who love horses.' Xiaocang Shanfang Shiji and Zheng For the Hualiu Tu, see Osvald Siren, Xie's Banqiao Shichao respectively. Chinese Painting, V, pi. 454A, where it 42. There are two versions of this was given t h e title, 'A Saddled painting. The original is in China and Horse.' Jin Nong's inscription is also has been published in Xu Bangda's included in his Huama Tiji, p. 96: Zhongguo Huihuashi Tulu (Shanghai, 'Using a worn brush, Wei Yan (of the 1984), II, no. 570. The second version, Tang dynasty) cleverly painted a por- a copy, can be found in Lanqian trait of Hualiu (the famous stallion Shanguan Shuhua, II, no. 89. belonging to King Mu of the Zhou 43. Yiyuan Duoying (Shanghai, Octo- d y n a s t y ) . In t h e first y e a r of ber 1982), no. 18, p. 40. It is in the Qianlong, I saw this painting, depict- collection of t h e Z h e j i a n g Provincial ing a horse with a red blanket on its Museum. back, at Vice Minister Wang's home 44. This painting belongs to a set of in the capital. I inscribed a poem on two portraits done in the same year, the left side of the painting. After Mr the other being the portrait of Ding Wang had passed away, a servant Jing by Luo Ping. Based on a colophon 368 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor written on the latter's side, these two by Famous Artists of the Jin, Tang, were executed in 1763 w h e n Jin Five-Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming Nong was 75 sui. and Qing Periods'), pi. 334. 45. See Huafo Tiji, p. 102. 48. Bo tree, Ficus religiosa, is a linden 46. The early Buddhist painters may tree. In B u d d h i s m , it is called have painted figures with individual bodhidruma, the wisdom tree under characteristics. However, they were which Sakyamuni attained his en- still based on descriptions recorded lightenment. in Buddhist cannons. For example, 49. Jin Nong ends the passage by Guanxiu (832 - 912) created his fa- signing himself as the 'Monk of Rice mous sixteen arhat figures, each with and Gruel.' dramatic features and exaggerated 50. The inscriptions on this painting expressions. However, he stressed are reproduced in Jiaoyubu Dierci the deified natures of these sixteen Quanguo Meishu Zhanlan Hui Quanji, arhats, so they are not like the real II, pi. 334. people of flesh and blood depicted in 51. See 'Kin ISshin no Geijutsu' (The Jin Nong's Buddhist paintings. The Art of Jin Dongxin') in Aoki Masaru original set of the Sixteen Arhats by Zenshu (Tokyo, 1983), VI, 3ff, pi.4. Guanxiu was destroyed a long time 52. Before the eighteenth century, ago. The best known version is pre- Chinese artists generally inscribed served in the Imperial Household their paintings in the empty spaces of Museum in Tokyo. See Suzuki Kei, a composition. This could be distract- Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog, III, ing, with the calligraphy and paint- JM5-020. ing clashing against each other. Jin 47. Zhang Geng, from Jiaxing, Zhe- Nong, on the other hand, often wove jiang, was a famous scholar of the his calligraphy into the painting, cre- Qianlong period. His book, Guochao ating thereby an integrated composi- Huazheng Lu, 3 juan, with a sequel of tion. His calligraphy and painting 2 juan, was published in 1739. It con- combine well, for both are heavy and tains approximately 465 painters of powerful. the early and middle Qing period. 53. In this inscription, he says in part: See Yu Shaosong's Shuhua Shulu Jieti '...People should not judge my works (Taipei, 1968), I Juan 1, pp. 16a- 17a, only by the achievement of my brush- for an appraisal of this text. The paint- work. They must stare at my paintings ing is reproduced in Jiaoyubu Dierci for a long time, as if they were enj oying Quanguo Meishu Zhanlan Hui Quanji the stone sculptures at the Longmen ('Second National Exhibition of Chi- site. People should try to appreciate nese Art under the Auspices of the the simple, honest and ancient spirit Ministry of Education') (Nanjing, in my work, which will last for 1938; Shanghai, 1943), II, Jin Tang hundreds and thousands of years.' Wudai Song Yuan Ming Qing Mingjia 54. This painting is recorded under Shuhuaji ('Painting and Calligraphy the jian mu section of Gugong Shuhua Notes Lu (Taipei, 1965), juan 8, p. 60. It is A n Overview listed as Songren Hua Damo ('Damo by of Li Jian's Painting 369 a Song Artist'). 55. His works tend to encompass 1. For Li Jian's biography, see Su people and objects encountered in Wenzhuo (So Man-jock), Li Jian his daily life. In that sense, it is not Xiansheng Nianpu ('The Chronologi- unlike the origination of some of his cal Biography of Li Jian') (Hong poems; they share that sense of inti- Kong, 1973), particularly p. 8; and the macy and immediacy. This is the case nianpu in Zhou Xifu ed. Li Jian w h e n he travelled to the Niangzi Shixuan (Guangdong, 1983), pp. 293- Guan, a famous gate of the Great 307. Also see Wang Zhaoyong, Ling- Wall guarding a dangerous moun- nan Hua Zhenglue (Hong Kong, 1961), tain path. Nearby he fell from the juan 5, pp. 1-12; and EB, p. 280. back of his horse onto the rugged 2. The content of the inscription is path. Fortunately he was not hurt. published in The Art Gallery, Chi- He carved a seal to commemorate nese University of Hong Kong, this accident which bears the verse: Guangdong Shuhua Lu ('Catalog of 'Executed after Falling from My Guangdong Paintings and Calligra- Horse at the Niangzi Gate.' He also phy') (Hong Kong, 1981), no. 178; not named himself as 'A Person Falling illustrated. off the Horse's Back at the Niangzi 3. See Su Wenzhuo, Li Jian, p. 114; Gate.' See Jin Nong, Dongxin Xuji, p. also see Pan Zhengwei, Tingfan Lou 8, 'Three Poems on My Portrait of Shuhua Ji ('Catalog of Paintings and Forty-three Sui/ The impression of Calligraphy from the Tingfan Lou this seal can be found on the first Collection') in Deng Shi and Huang page of calligraphy he did in 1730 in Binhong eds. Meishu Congshu (Taipei, Qufu, Shandong, a set of album 1963), XXXVII, 665. leaves entitled Anecdotes of Famous 4. Su Wenzhuo, Li Jian, p. 87. Sages of the Six Dynasties Period. It was 5. See Li Yuchun, 'Li Erqiao Zaonian published in Shina Bokuseki Taikei ('A Burning "Jian": Yiji "Luofu Shan Collection of Works of Chinese Youji" S h u h u a Ce' ('Li Erqiao's Calligraphy') (Tokyo, 1984), V, 98-115. Name Was not Jian in His Early During the fall of the same year, Years. Some Notes on the Painting while riding on a Taihang Mountain and Calligraphy Album of Travels in trail during his trip south, Jin Nong the Luofu Mountains') in Guangdong composed a poem using his riding Sheng Wenshi Yanjiu Yuan, Lingnan crop as a subject. Dongxin Ji,juan 3, p. Wenwu (1984), III, 153-154. 17. He t h e n incised it o n t h e crop as 6. Landscape in the Style ofShitao, dated decoration. Jin Nong often used the 1781. Unpublished fan in the collec- simplest and most immediate of his tion of P.T. Huo, Hong Kong. experiences as creative inspiration. 7. From the Bei Shan Tang collection, Hong Kong. Published in The Art 370 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Gallery, The Chinese University of 12. Painted on his birthday in the Hong Kong, Landscape Paintings by fifth month; in the Bei Shan Tang Kwangtung Masters during the Ming and collection, Hong Kong. Published in Ch'ingPeriods (Hong Kong, 1973), no. Su Wenzhuo, Li Jian, p. 90; and 41; also Su Wenzhuo, Li Jian, p. 44. Landscape Paintings by Kwangtung 8. Just how important Dong Yuan Masters, no. 44. was to Li Jian can be seen in his 13. Painted in the seventh month of inscription on an album entitled An- that year. cient Temple and Precarious Peak in the 14. From the collection of The Art collection of the Guangzhou Art Gallery, Chinese University of Hong Gallery, also from 1781: Kong. 'Dong Yuan was proficient in doing Painting by Kwangtung Masters, no. 45; Published in Landscape long cun (texture strokes) like great Guangdong Shuhua Lu, no. 180; and lassos. It is a distinctive and marvel- EB, no. 88. ous technique. My contemporaries 15. From the collection of The Art consider it too ordinary and would Gallery, Chinese University of Hong not follow such a practice; they go Kong. Published in Su Wenzhuo, Li astray in imitating Wu Wei [of the Jian, p. 95; and Landscape Paintings by Zhe school]. They do not realize that, Kwangtung Masters, no. 46. This en- in doing so, they have lost their grasp ables us to date a series of undated of the essence of real landscape.' paintings: two pairs of album leaves, This album is to be published in the with one pair after the styles of Ni forthcoming catalog of the exhibi- Zan and Dong Yuan in Chongyizhai tion, Guangdong Painting of the Ming collection, and the other pair after and Qing Periods, held at The Art Guo Xi and Ni Zan in P. T. Huo's Gallery, Chinese University of Hong collection, together with a hanging Kong from 18 December 1982 to 16 scroll purporting to be in the style of January 1983; entry no. 59. Dong Yuan and Juran, in Harold 9. From the collection of P. T. Huo, Wong's collection. In the last paint- Hong Kong. Published in Landscape ing, feathery trees predominate. Paintings by Kwangtung Masters, no. 16. Xie Lansheng, Changxingxing Zhai 42; City Museum and Art Gallery Shuhua Tiba (Macau, n.d.), p. 52. (Hong K o n g M u s e u m of Art), 17. Su Wenzhuo, Li Jian, pp. 74-75. Kwangtung Painting (Hong Kong, 1973), no. 57; also see Su Wenzhuo, 18. This painting has been published in S u W e n z h u o , Li Jian, p p . 125-126 a n d Li Jian, pp. 37-38. Landscape Painting by Kwangtung Masters, 10. From the Bei Shan Tang collec- no. 47. Although undated, the artist tion, Hong Kong. Published in Su imitated Daoji to the point that he Wenzhuo, Li Jian, p. 85. signed his precursor's name and put 11. Landscape after Shitao, dated 1789. down his seal. Based on its style, the Unpublished fan in the collection of painting seems to date before 1790. P.T. Huo, Hong Kong. 19. From t h e collection of t h e Notes G u a n g d o n g Provincial M u s e u m . 371 plished calligrapher, he was also a Published in Guangdong Sheng Bowu- collector and the author of Xinqiu guan Canghua Xuanji Xiaoxia Ji. See Wang, Lingnan Hua, ('Selected Paintings from the Guangdong Pro- juan 7, pp. 1-3. vincial Museum') in Yiyuan Duoying, 31. Xie Lansheng was a native of no. 14 (October 1981), p. 31, left. Nanhai, Guangdong. See Wang, 20. From the collection of Kong Lingnan Hua, juan 6, pp. 1-12. Chung, Hong Kong. Unpublished. 32. See Guangdong 21. From the Bei Shan Tang collec- no. 180. Shuhua Lu, tion, Hong Kong. Unpublished. 33. Guangdong Shuhua Lu, no. 180. 22. From the collection of Low 34. Guangdong Shuhua Lu, no. 180. Chuck Tiew, Hong Kong. Published 35. Tsang K a - b o , in Landscape Paintings by Kwangtung Wuwei Shoucangjia Cangpin zhi 'Guangdong Masters, no. 48; and Chinese Painting Laiyuan' ('Sources for the Collec- and Calligraphy in the Xubai Studio tions of Five Guangdong Collec- (Tokyo, 1983), p. 90. tors'), Centre of Asian Studies, Uni- 23. Collection of Tangshi Cangyan versity of Hong Kong, Journal of Ori- Lou. Published in Su Wenzhuo, Li ental Studies, XII, nos. 1-2 (Hong Jian, pp. 135-136. Kong, 1974), pp. 71-100. 24. This group of meticulous and 36. Pan, Ting fan Lou, pp. 24-25. detailed gongbi landscapes includes: 37. In 1777, w h e n he was thirty-one Four landscape album leaves, The sui, Li Jian wrote to his father to Art Gallery, Chinese University of complain about a Mr Hu w h o had Hong Kong, published in Landscape asked him to paint a portrait for ten Paintings by Kwangtung Masters, no. 39; yuan and refused to pay after it was and Guangdong Shuhua Lu, no. 181. done. See Su Wenzhuo, Li Jian, p. 17. Rustic Temple Across the River; collection of There is abundant evidence to show that Li Jian was an accomplished P. T. Huo, Hong Kong, unpublished. Blue-and-Green Landscape after Zhao Boju, portrait painter and his livelihood depended largely on this skill. collection of P. T. Huo, Hong Kong. 25. Collection of P.T. Huo, Hong Kong, 38. Published in Kwangtung Painting, previously unpublished. no. 58; and EB, no. 89. 26. Xie, ChangxingxingZhai, pp. 79-80. 39. From the Chongyizhai collection. 27. Su Wenzhuo, Li Jian, p. 46. Published in Hong Kong Museum of 28. See also Guangdong Shuhua Lu, Art, Anthology of Chinese Art: Min Chiu no. 180. Society Silver Jubilee Exhibition (Hong 29. Huang Danshu was a native of Kong, 1985), no. 87. Shunde, Guangdong and a close 40. Pan, Ting fan Lou, pp. 465-468. friend of Li Jian. See Wang, Lingnan 41. Pan, Tingfan Lou, pp. 468-471. Hua, juan 4, pp. 13-15. 30. Wu Rongguang was a native of Nanhai, Guangdong. An accom- 372 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Eighteenth-Century Between 1969 and 1971, the com- Foundations in plete set of all t h r e e parts was Modern Chinese Painting printed, with indexes, by the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The 1. This often quoted statement of Bidian Zhulin has a similar history. Zheng Xie originally appeared in Ye 10. See, for example, Ho Ping-ti, The Tingguan, Oubo Yuhua, juan 6, but Salt Merchant of Yangzhou: A Study of Linwen, Commercial Capitalism in Eighteenth- Yangzhou Bajia Shiliao (Shanghai, century China,' in Harvard Journal of 1962), p. 118. Asiatic Studies, XVII (1954), 130-168. On 2. See EB, nos. 54 and 55. art, the major source is YHFL. can be f o u n d in Gu 3. See EB, nos. 1 and 2. 11. Many of the famous literary gath- 4. For a fascinating discussion of the erings and lavish parties in Yangzhou life of Emperor Kangxi, see Jonathan were recorded in YHFL. D. Spence, Emperor of China: Self-por- 12. Most of the information concern- trait of K'ang-hsi (New York, 1974). ing the history of Shanghai during Many descendants of both of these the nineteenth century came from two Wangs became painters. This Liu H u i w u , Shanghai Jindai tradition (Shanghai, 1985), I, especially the lasted well into the Qianlong period. Shi first five chapters. 5. For discussion of these two painters, 13. This, according to Xu Beihong, the see Chu-tsing Li, A Thousand Peaks and modern painter who collected a large Myriad Ravines: Chinese Painting in the number of Ren Bonian's paintings, was Charles A. Drenowatz Collection (Ascona, what Ren did when he first went to 1974), I, 160-161 and 166-169. Shanghai in order to try to make a living. 6. A good example of this kind of This was how he met Ren Xiong, who painting can be found in EB, no. 9. came from the same district in Zhejiang 7. For the works of Castiglione, see but was not directly related to him and EB, pp. 21-38. who was already a well-established 8. For samples of Castiglione's paint- painter in Shanghai. ing, see EB, nos. 4 and 6. 14. For some discussion of Dai Xi, see 9. The first part of Shiqu Baoji was Chu-tsing Li, A Thousand Peaks and commissioned by Emperor Qianlong Myriad Ravines, I, 252-262. in 1744 and completed in 1745; the 15. For basic m a t e r i a l s on t h e second part was commissioned by Y a n g z h o u painters, see Gu L i n w e n , the same emperor in 1791 and com- Yangzhou Bajia Shiliao. pleted in 1792; and the third part was 16. For Wang Shishen's rendition of commissioned by Emperor Jiaqing plum blossoms, see EB, no. 50, leaf G and completed in 1816. The first fac- and no. 51, leaf D. For Jin Nong's simile reprint of Part I was done in version, see EB, no. 62. 1918, and the second part in 1948. 17. See EB, nos. 54 and 55. Notes 373 18. Examples of their works can be 1. This gave rise to the title of Victoria seen in EB, nos. 52 and 58. Contag's book, Die Beiden Steine 19. See EB, nos. 68-70. (Braunsweig, 1950). 20. See EB, no. 64 and a version of his 2. See Wu Weiye, Meicun Jiacang Gao Guiqu Tu, reproduced in Suzuki Kei (Siku Congkan edition), juan 11, p. 64. et al, Comprehensive Illustrated Catalog This idea of Nine Friends inspired of Chinese Paintings (Tokyo, 1982), II, Zhu Wenzhen to formulate his own 86-91, S 9-003. Ten Wise Painters. See Jiang Baolin, 21. See EB, no. 74. MolinJinhua (Taipei, 1975), pp. 37-38. 22. See EB, nos. 36 and 37, as com- 3. An early suggestion that the no- pared to no. 34. menclature can be found in Zhang 23. See no. 178 in Lin Shuzhong and Geng's Guochao Huazheng Lu is totally Zhou Jiyin, Zhongguo Lidai Huihua without base. See the text in the Tulu (Tianjin, 1981). Huashi Congshu edition. Also see the 24. See Luo Ping's Portrait of Ding article by Huyan Yepa, 'Yangzhou Jing, Baguai Huafeng' ('The Painting Style in Yiyuan Duoying, no. 18 (Shanghai, 1982), p. 41. of 25. See EB, no. 55. Yangzhou'), in Yilin Conglu (Hong the Eight Eccentrics of 26. For some discussion on the painting Kong, 1975), II, 314, where the sug- development in Guangdong, see two gestion was made. exhibition catalogs: The Art Gallery, 4. See YHYL,juan 2, p. 14b. For Wang Yun's other writings, see Yanshan Chinese University of Hong Kong, Landscape Paintings by Kwangtung Masters Conggao, 2 Vols., in Ch'u Wan-li and during the Ming and Ch 'ing Periods, with Liu Chao-yu eds. A Collection of Unintroductory essay by Chu-tsing Li (Hong published Manuscripts in the Ming and Kong, 1973); and City Museum and Art Ch'ing Dynasties (Taipei, 1976). Also Gallery, Kwangtung Painting, with intro- see n.52 below. ductory essays by Chuang Shen and 5. For a convenient reference, see the Lawrence C. S. Tam (Hong Kong, 1973). chart prepared by Bian Xiaoxuan in 27. See EB, no. 88, especially Leaf A. Yangzhou Baguai Huaji Also, see Christina Chu, 'An Over- 1985), p. 3. view of Li Jian's Painting' in this issue. (Jiangsu, 6. (Taipei reprint, 1981), p. 229. The earliest preface to this text is dated in Epilog: Rubric and Art History the year of 1875 (p. 2). However, Li's own preface is dated 1894 (p. 12) and, The author is grateful to the Interdisci- in the liyan section, he mentioned plinary MA Program in the Humanities, that the compilation began from 1865 Arizona State University, for providing and ended in 1895, with many addi- release time from teaching in spring, tions and revisions in between (p. 1989, during which the present article 26). We know for certain that its was conceived and written. publication took place either in or 374 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor after 1897; see the liyan and the post- 10. YHYL, juan 2, pp. 14b-15a. script (p. 363). 11. For e x a m p l e , Gu L i n w e n ' s 7. A more precise definition of guai Yangzhou Bajia Shiliao (Shanghai, will be attempted below. Advocates 1962) and Chang Wan-li and Hu Jen- of the Eight Eccentrics differ among mou, comps. The Selected Painting and themselves regarding its meaning. A Calligraphy of the Eight Eccentrics of breadth of content is inherent, void- Yangchow (Hong Kong, 1969). In the ing the necessity of differentiating 70s and 80s, Tsuruta Takeyoshi of guai from such overlapping terms as Japan and Yang Xin in China seemed kuang ('crazy'), yi ('untrammelled'), to favor the historicity of Li's list. See ye ('uncouth' or 'uninhibited'), ci Howard Rogers et al, eds. Kin No in ('foolish'), etc. For ease of discussion, Bunjinga Suihen, IX (Tokyo, 1976); also we will use guai as an umbrella term Yang Xin's Yangzhou Baguai, pp. 3-4. covering a wide spectrum of behav- 12. See Z h e n g Qi a n d ior and artistic pattern that border on Shucheng's summary in '"Yangzhou Huang the strange and the unusual. Baguai" Yanjiu Shuping'('A Sum- 8. For a convenient reference to Lin mary of Scholarship on "The Eight Xia's Ode to the Eight Eccentrics of Eccentrics of Yangzhou'"), Duoyun, Yangzhou, see Bian Xiaoxuan ed. no. 13 (April 1987), pp. 100-105. Zheng Banqiao Quanji (Shandong, 13. See the afore-mentioned chart in 1985), pp. 641 -42. LinXia (active dur- Bian Xiaoxuan's preface to Yangzhou ing the Guangxu period, was a con- Baguai Huaji, p. 3. temporary and a close friend of Wang 14. See Bian Xiaoxuan, 'Preface' to Yun; he wrote the preface to the Yangzhou Baguai Huaji, p. 3. Bian's latter's Bu Yihe Ming Kao (dated the inclusion of artists listed by Huang ninth year of Guangxu, 1883). How- Binhong and Chen Hengke of the ever, his laudation of the Eight late nineteenth and early twentieth Eccentrics is in diametrical opposi- century is anomalous in historical tion to Wang's denigration of them. studies unless their views reflect ear- For a biographical account of Lin Xia, lier sources. see Zhang Minke, Hansong Ge Tanyi 15. We shall not ignore Li Mian, who Suolu (Shanghai, 1936), juan 3, p. 9b. was Wang Yun's choice. See above. 9. See, for example, Chen Dayu, 16. For Gao Fenghan, see EBr pp.106- '"Yangzhou Baguai" de Yishu Fengge' 107. Also see his nianpu in Li Jitao, (The Art of The Eight Eccentrics of Gao Fenghan (Shanghai, 1963), pp. Yangzhou'), Yishu Zongheng, no. 1 9ff, specifically pp. 19-24. For a recent (February 1982), p. 105; and Yangzhou argument in favor of Gao Fenghan's Baguai Huaji which includes Hua Yan. inclusion, But also see Yang Xin, in Yangzhou Yangzhou Bajia Cong hua (Shanghai, see Qin Lingyun, Baguai (Beijing, 1981), p. 4; he opposes 1985), p. 2, where he makes allusion Hua Yan's inclusion on ground of style regarding Gao's affinity of style and and life pattern. life pattern to the Eight Eccentrics. Notes 375 17. See EB, pp. 226. achievements of one or two individu- 18. For a reproduction, see Sotheby's als, for example Huang Shen's adop- auction catalog, Fine Chinese Paint- tion of themes taken from lives of ings, New York, 3 June 1985, lot 69. ordinary people or Jin Nong's and 19. These two, Min Zhen and Luo Luo Ping's unusual portraits, and not Ping, m i g h t c o n c e i v a b l y have to the group as a whole. In another crossed paths in the capital; but it is vein, while they laud the Eccentrics highly doubtful whether they ever for b e i n g met in Yangzhou. Between 1779 and inscriptions regarding the contempo- expressive in their 1799, Luo Ping was fully active in rary ills of the time, these same critics Beijing and only returned toward the seldom mention that the pictorial end of his life. See Chen Jinling, Luo elements rarely betray the same Liangfeng (Shanghai, 1981), espe- intensity or purposefulness. cially the nianpu, pp. 32ff. Others, such as Zhuang Bohe, in 20. See the preface by Bian Xiaoxuan 'Yangzhou Baguai di Chuangzao to Yangzhou Baguai Yanjiu Ziliao Cong- Jingshen' (The Creative Spirit of the shu (Jiangsu, 1985), pp. 3ff. Some of Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou'), Yishujia, the typical generalizations about the no.8 (1976), p.8, speak of their art of Eight Eccentrics are originality disillusionment with reality or with and empirical approach. Some, not official career. Yang Xin in Yangzhou all, of them do display originality and Baguai, pp. 4-6, also comments on their empiricism, but only some of the shared fate: the majority were born into time. Others are dubious on both poor families of the intelligentsia; they grounds. I have the suspicion that, had classical educations, and whereas particularly with they were talented, they endured empricism in art, scholars in modern hardship and poverty. Some resigned times tend to take the artists' or crit- after having offended their superiors. ics' spoken words for granted, and The intriguing aspect of this character- seldom examine the works in ques- ization is that while truthful to some tion. This is the case of Zheng Xie. extent, they are never fully applicable to in dealing W h e n Zheng Xie commented on every Eccentric. Each generalization is bamboo, his words indicate that he followed by exceptions that defy the rule. observed the bamboo in various at- 21. See Zheng Qi and Huang Shu- mospheric and timely conditions. cheng, '"Yangzhou Baguai" Yanjiu However, it should also be observed Shuping,' p. 102. that his later bamboo frequently bor- 22. See Zhou Jiyin, 'Qingdai Yangzhou der on formulae painting. Jin Nong's Huapai' ('The Yangzhou School of style of painting prunus does n o t ex- Painting d u r i n g t h e Qing Period'), actly break away from the known Jiangsu Huakanf no. 6 (1979), pp. 32-34; tradition. When praising the sponta- and Xi Feng's article in Yishu Zongheng, neity of the eccentrics, critic-histori- no. 1 (February 1982), pp. 94-103, ans have invariably pointed to the 'Qingdai Yangzhou Huapai Shishu' 376 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor ('An Inquiry into the Yangzhou 27. See quotation below. The preva- School of Painting during the Qing lent assumption that it was the ortho- Dynasty'). Also see the exhibition dox painters that rejected and denied held in 1984 at The Art Gallery, the art of the eccentrics is only par- Chinese University of Hong Kong, tially true. Orthodox painters may entitled Painting by Yangzhou Artists of indeed take pride in their being in the the Qing Dynasty from the Palace Mu- mainstream. Some, for instance, seum. This exhibition and its catalog Shen Zongqian, may even attack the (Hong Kong, 1984) exemplify the so-called heterodox; but even he no trend to broaden the inquiry to the longer attributed inherent evil to the whole of Yangzhou artistic currents. Northern school, as his predecessors 23. See Professor Ho Ping-ti's article, had done. Others felt no strong an- 'The Salt Merchants of Yang-chou: A tipathy one way or the other. Nor is Study of Commerical Capitalism in the assumption always true that the Eighteenth Century China,' Harvard eccentrics rebelled against the ortho- Journal of Asian Studies, XVII (1954), doxy of the Southern school. During pp. 130-168. Also see Professor the Qianlong era, a number of them Frederick Mote's essay, 'The Intellec- worked side by side, with a degree of tual Climate in Eighteenth-century tolerance that was far more liberal China: Glimpses of Beijing, Suzhou and liberating than the prejudicial and Yangzhou in the Qianlong Pe- criticism of modern critics. This is best riod, 'Phoebus6, no. l,pp. 17-55, espe- attested in Zhu Wenzhen's formula- cially pp. 33ff. Other writings of tion of Ten Wise Painters (see Molin relevance include: Zuo Buqing, Jinhua, pp. 37-38); Zhu, a student of 'Qingdai Yanshang di Shengshui Zheng Xie, not only decided not to Shulue' ('On the Rise and Fall of the include his teacher, but also was will- Salt Merchants'), Gugong Bowuyuan ing to place Gao Xiang and Gao Yuankan, no. 1 (1986), pp. 49-58; and Fenghan by the side of such orthodox Chen Chuanxi, 'Lun Yangzhou Yan- artists as Li Shizhuo a n d Dong shang he Yangzhou Huapai ji Qita' Bangda. For Shen Zongqian's attack ('On the Salt Merchants of Yangzhou on the rival schools, see his Jiezhou and the Yangzhou School of Paint- Xuehua Bian, in Yu Anlan ed. Hualun ing'), JiuzhouXuekanr no. 5 (Septem- Congkan, I, 325; for his disparagement ber 1987), pp. 33-58. of Huang Shen, see p. 380. For his toler- 2 4 . F o r a c r i t i q u e of t h e t e x t , s e e W u ance of the Northern school, see p. 326. Bijiang, Shuhua Shulu Jieti Bu Jia- 28. YHYL, juan 2, p. 8b. For Yan's work, see bian, in Huayuan Biji (Taipei, 1971), Paintings by Yangzhou Artists,nos. 12-15. pp. 392-394. See also Ding Fubao and 29. See YHYL, juan 2, pp. 5a-b. Zhou Yunqing, Sibu Zonglu Yishu 30. YHYL, juan 2, pp.l5a-b. Another Bian (Shanghai, 1957), I, 20. teacher of Wang Yun, Master Li 25. YHYL, juan 2, p. 14b. Xinmen, appears only once in the 26. YHYL, juan 2, p. 15a. text, juan 2, p. 30a. Notes 377 31. YHYL, juan 2, pp. 6a-b. Yu Jianhua, in his article, 'Yangzhou 32. It may be useful to remark that Baguai di Chengxian Qihou' ('Tradi- the Eight Eccentrics, whoever they tion and Creativity in the Art of the are, do not follow a coherent style or Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou'), notes submit to a set of themes or subjects. the connection, but does not elabo- The first half of Wang Yun's exposi- rate. Also see Zhou Jiyin et al, Jiangsu tion should suggest that. Also, the Lidai Hua Jia (Jiangsu, 1985) for Yu quotation from Wang Yun makes it Chan's resuscitation in modern times. clear that they are eight individuals, In part, this revival is 'ideological' in and not a group. nature, based on his linkage with the 33. See YHYL, liyan, p. la. Taiping Rebellion. For Yu Chan's paint- 34. See YHYL, preface, p. la. That is, ing, see pis. 168 and 169 in Zhongguo with the exception of Luo Ping, about Meishu Quanji, XI (Shanghai, 1988), w h o m Wang Yun appeared to have which do not appear to be as bombastic some lingering memories. This is be- as Wang Yun seemed to suggest. cause a local elder, Li Zhixiong, was 39. YHYL, juan 2, pp. 12b-13b. befriended by Luo. See YHYL, juan 2, 40. It is important to note Wang p. 9b. Also, see n.52 below. Yun's 'rear-view' perspective. By this 35. YHYL, juan 2, pp. 13b-14b. Wang time, the Qianlong artists were gone, Yun (Qingci) was a student of Wang and their art was not observed in Hui, and is not related to the author process. Their paintings became fixed of the text. entities, with a concurrent muting of 36. Wang Yun's (Qingci) biography time and sequence. The earlier at- appears in YHYL, juan 1, pp. 6a-b; tempts to evolve a distinctive personal Guan Xining's in pp. 13a-14a; and style often were lost in the accumula- Fang Shishu in pp. 9b-1Ob. tion of later works. Then there were 37. See no. 50 in The Image of the Mind the inevitable overlays of fakes and (Princeton, 1984), where Guan Xining forgeries, which trailed the rising (Kuan Hsi-ning) cooperated with Wang fame; they helped to further solidify Shishen and Wu Kan on a painting of the 'image' of those later works, but Butterflies, dated 1741. Wang Yun at the same time, to dilute the quali- (Qingci) resembles Yuan Jiang and tative level. For example, the vast Yuan Yao in terms of pictorial concepts; m a j o r i t y of Zheng Xie's works, his polished surface is several notches whether genuine or attributed, are away from the mainstream. Fang dated later than 1754 and reflect a Shishu, on the other hand, is often simplified a p p r o a c h to b a m b o o lauded for having the potential to reach painting. A cluster of bamboo plants, the level set by the Wangs but for his n o m o r e t h a n t w o or t h r e e , untimely death. See Zhang Geng, slashes of bamboo leaves, complete and Guochao Huazheng Xulu (Huashi Congshu the picture. When full compositions edition), juan 2, p. 101. of pre-1754 are shown, for example, 38. YHYL, juan 2, pp. 12b-13b. Only the Tokyo Ink Bamboo Screen, and 378 Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperor Princeton's Misty Bamboo on Distant that, nearing his sixties, his art en- Mountains, the result could be star- tered into a simpler phase after hav- tling, and sow, as it did, unwarranted ing gone through a prior stage in suspicion. which fuller and more elaborate 41. See for instance Yang Shiqing, in compositions were the norm. Was he YHYL, juan 4, pp. 8b-9a. To Wang rationalizing for having dashed off a Yun, however, Yang overcame his casual painting here or a n o t h e r shortcomings by a scholarly tem- there? The reality of patronage how- perament, which included an enthu- ever operates on different levels. As siasm for rubbings of ancient stele Ginger Hsu demonstrated in her ar- and vassels and manifested skill in ticle, there were short-term patrons poetry. Yang was thought to belong just as there were long-term ones. to an untrammelled class and to be For those who walked in the door, without vulgarity. demanded a painting, never to ap- 42. A modern critic of Wang Yun, pear again, a Yangzhou artist could Chen Chuanxi, has responded that have dashed off a few strokes and this is precisely why the eccentrics charged, regardless of the quality in- are eccentrics. See his 'Lun Yangzhou volved, according to size. For long- Yanshang he Yangzhou Huapai Ji term patrons, those in whose house Qita.' What Wang Yun considered to the artist may be lodged, or those be undesirable, he has taken as a sign who substantially improve his life of growing modernity. This pertains style, such casual products may be to quick execution, which is seen as dubious at best. In fact they could act the result of nascent capitalism, when as a detriment, causing the patrons to the artist is both the producer and the lose interest and dispense with the retailer. And the dayou poems that ac- artist's services. company the works not only reflect the 43. The tendency today is to laud the same consideration in economy, but wenren hua affiliation of the eccentrics. also are a prelude to the vernacular 44. This also runs contrary to recent literature that was to come. efforts to interpret the Eight Eccen- Chen was right in a number of ways, trics as having broadened the wenren except that the first half of it strikes a ideal in painting. For an example, see note of economic determinism at the Shi Lan, '"Yangzhou Baguai" kuoda expense of quality. It is true that liao " W e n r e n h u a " di B i a o x i a n among the so-called Eight Eccentrics' Lingyu' ('The Eight Eccentrics and works, lapses of quality exist. The so- the Broadening of the Expressive called fanpiao ('meal ticket') syn- Range of Scholar-painting'), Wenwu, drome is all too common, especially no. 5 (1983), pp. 84-87. with well-known artists approaching 45. See Xu S h e n n o n g , old age. That could have caused crit- "Yangzhou Baguai" di Tihua Yishu' 'Shitan ics like Wang Yun to deplore such ('A Probe into the Art of Inscription shabby practices. Zheng Xie admitted by the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou'), Notes 379 Yishu Zongheng, no. 1 (February 1982), Ping, see YHYL, juan 2, p. 7b, under pp. 117-126; ChenDayu, "'Yangzhou the entry of Jiao Chun and p. 9b, under Baguai" di Yishu Fengge' ('The Style that of Li Zhixiong. In both instances, his and Approach of the Eight Eccentrics attitude conveys a deep sense of respect, of Yangzhou'), Ibid, pp. 104-116; Xi addressing Luo either as jun ('gentle- Feng, 'Tan Yangzhou Baguai de man') or xiansheng ('master'). Shihua Jihe' ('On the Relationship 53. For Wang Su, see YHYL, juan 2, between Poetry and Painting in the pp.6b-7b. art of t h e Eight E c c e n t r i c s of 54. See YHYL, juan 4, pp. 17a-18a. While Yangzhou'), Meishu Yanjiu, no. 2 praising Lianxi's art, including his or- (1983), pp. 64-66; a n d Shi Lan, chid painting, Wang Yun considered ' " Y a n g z h o u Baguai K u o d a liao him less than ideal. His criticism focuses "Wenren Hua" de Biaoxian Lingyu.' on Lianxi's dependence on painting 46. YHYLJuan 2, pp. 14b-15a. for income. The latter thus was forced 47. YHYL, juan 2, pp. 3lb-32a, under by circumstance to 'depart from ancient the entry of Yuan Xianzhong. methods in favor of current trends, 48. YHYLJuan 2, p. 35b, entry under thus incurring criticism from those Xu Zhenjia. with discerning eyes.' 49. Zheng Banqiao Quanji, p. 218. 55. See Chen Hengke's Wenrenhua 50. See Zheng Banqiao Quanji, p.217. zhi Jiazhi ('Scholar Painting and Its 51. Wang Yun's attitude toward Values'), included in Yu Anlan ed. Huang Shen shows a degree of am- Hualun Congkan (Beijing, 1962), II, bivalence. His entry on the Fujian pp. 692-97. master is largely derived from YHFL 56. One could only assume that the and Molin Jinhua (pp. 23-24), but also paintings of his teacher, Wu Xizhai, differs slightly. Regarding the poetic must in some way conform to the achievement, he adds the line, 'mas- rules of Xu and Huang. ter Lei Cuiting also said that his poems evoke a realm that is otherworldly, a realm where the sheer precipice and cliff reign and where the mist and cloud gather.' The effort he made in incorporating this laudation of Huang Shen's poetry underscores an appreciative attitude, much as he refused to acknowledge Huang's pictorial achievement. See YHYLr juan 3, pp. 6b-7a. 52. For Wang Yun's admiration for Jin Nong, see his Shi'eryan Zhai Suilu, in Biji Xiaoshuo Daguan, Pt. 4, Vol. 9, p. 5948. 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