Five Dynasties and Northern Song Dynasty Painting Collection

Author: Liu Zheng, Ma Zhongyuan, Wu Lizhi (English translation by Ding Shufang, Wang Zhengyu)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-12-01
Features: Today, a thousand years have passed since the Five Dynasties period, and the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty also occurred nine hundred years ago. Through long historical changes, the works of painters from that time that have survived to the present are as rare as phoenix feathers and dragon scales. During the Jingkang Incident at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, many famous paintings were destroyed. A large number of masterpieces from the Five Dynasties and Northern Song periods listed in Ming and Qing dynasty records have also been lost. Today, the works preserved domestically and internationally are less than one ten-thousandth of what existed at that time, making them even more exceptionally precious. To promote the outstanding heritage of this period, Tianjin People's Fine Arts Publishing House has compiled this anthology, including as many important landscape paintings from the Five Dynasties and Northern Song periods as possible. Each work is briefly described in terms of its style and provenance, allowing one to see the full development of landscape painting during that era. Although some works may still be subject to debate in terms of identification, the understanding of ancient paintings is always deepened through continuous research. These works embody the talent and wisdom of the artists of that time, making them a valuable treasure of human culture. We should take immense pride in the great achievements of the Chinese nation's tradition. We should also fully recognize its magnificent artistic value and glorious accomplishments through appreciation, research, and learning from it, inheriting the fine traditions of national art with passion, and creating even more beautiful landscapes of the new era.