Painting Manual of Freehand Ancient Costume Figures · Child Chapter: Child Chapter

Author: Li Xueming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Children were once called xiaorren, xiaowa, xiaolangjun, haotong, xiaoyizi'er, and other names in ancient times. Paintings depicting children were also known as "infant play scenes" in ancient times. Such thematic works first appeared in jade pendants and carvings from the Warring States period. Han Dynasty's brick and stone reliefs, as well as the painted lacquer plates of the Three Kingdoms period, also featured images of children. From the Tang Dynasty onwards, painting gradually focused on depicting social realities, expanding its themes, and more works featuring children emerged. The painter Xie Zhan once painted "Children Playing with Geese," Zhou Fang painted "Children at Play," and the Records of Famous Paintings of Past Generations also mentioned Zhang Xuan as "fond of painting women and children." By the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, many renowned painters excelled in depicting children, with both court and folk artists creating numerous paintings that portrayed children's lives. In the folk classification of painting genres, there is a saying: "One (landscape), two (children), three (mountains), four (flowers), five (animals), six (gods and Buddha)." It can be imagined that by the Song Dynasty, there were even specialized painters dedicated to children's themes, comparable to "figurative, landscape, flowers and birds," demonstrating people's fondness for children's paintings. Prominent painters of the time, such as Li Gonglin, Li Tang, Liu Songnian, Su Hanchen, Li Hao, Yan Ciping, Ma Yuan, and others, all left behind or were recorded as having works featuring children. In Northern Song Bianliang, there was a Du surname painter who specialized in children, known as "Du Haier." Su Hanchen, a court painter from Bianliang Kaifeng, was recorded as having nearly seventy child-themed paintings. The Records of Famous Paintings of Past Generations described his infant play scenes as "renowned for their vitality, lifelike in form, and so engaging that they seemed to speak and laugh with the viewer—truly divine." It also said, "Hanchen's portrayal of infants deeply captured their appearance while fully expressing their spirit." This shows the exquisite skill of his works. Su Hanchen's paintings of children covered a wide range of themes, including hide-and-seek, picking mulberries, playing with lanterns, playing with birds, herding cattle, and others. The children depicted by the author were often reflections of his own childhood, captivating the viewer. Painting these images of children was like taking the author back to his childhood, revisiting old dreams, dispelling restless thoughts, cleansing the mind of dust, and soothing the body's weariness.