Song Dynasty Paintings · Buddhist and Daoist

Author: Duan Bin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: 12-inch full-color print, 78 pages, featuring two Song Dynasty Buddhist and Taoist painting works, including Liu Songnian's "Rakan Scroll," Zhou Jichang's "Five Hundred Rakan Scroll," Liang Kai's "Eight Great Monks Scroll," Zhang Shengwen's "Dali Kingdom Buddhist Portraits Scroll," Wu Zongyuan's "Yuan Dynasty Imperial Guard Scroll," Lu Xinzhong's "Ten Cloud Rakan Scroll," etc. The Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, although part of the same feudal regime in terms of geographical continuity, had distinct cultural metaphors in the history of painting. From the Five Dynasties to the Northern Song, landscape painting techniques and categories became fully mature, with a succession of master painters and evolving styles, reaching unprecedented heights. Figure painting continued to improve on the achievements of the Tang Dynasty. Flower-and-bird painting, as an independent genre, rapidly matured in the Song Dynasty, especially with the rise of the Hanlin Painting Academy, which led to the decline of classical realistic styles in Chinese painting history. Additionally, in terms of technical and formal expressions, Southern Song painting adapted to the times, no longer being obsessed with the perfect visual enjoyment brought by realistic styles, but instead shifting toward poetic moods and the expression of literati's personal emotions, laying the necessary technical foundation for the subsequent development of literati painting. This is the difference in painting history demonstrated by the two Song Dynasties. The historical transformation of Song Dynasty painting led to the gradual decline of classical realism in Chinese painting around the 11th century. The literati painting, centered on the aesthetic interests of intellectuals, has dominated the history of painting ever since.