Fine Paintings of Chinese Dynasties. Landscape Volume 3: Treasures of the Ink Sea

Author: Qi Gong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: Throughout the long course of Chinese historical development, an exceptionally rich and splendid civilization has been created, with works of art featuring distinct national styles holding a remarkable position. Among these, painting stands out as the most significant. Chinese painting has a long history, unique forms, and has produced generations of masters and diverse schools. Each historical period has produced countless works, reflecting the social life and aesthetic tastes of that era, showcasing the intelligence and artistic talent of the painters. It is a valuable cultural heritage that undoubtedly holds significant historical and artistic value for building the spiritual civilization of the new era and serving as a reference for creating new art.
Many ancient Chinese paintings were created for palaces, temples, and walls. Due to the vicissitudes of history and the collapse of buildings, the majority of these works have not survived. Paintings on screens, scrolls, and fans, however, were more easily collected. Although many have been lost to wars and natural disasters over the centuries, the early works that have survived are like scattered fragments of jade, and good copies are extremely rare. Nevertheless, a considerable number of scroll paintings from the Song and Yuan dynasties have been preserved to this day.
These artistic treasures were once mostly kept in imperial and private collections, making them inaccessible to the general public. While they can now be appreciated in museums, the works are scattered across the world, making it difficult to appreciate them comprehensively. If some of these works are selected and published, providing visual materials for professionals and allowing art enthusiasts to understand the depth and breadth of Chinese painting, it would be a highly meaningful endeavor for the publishing industry. With the advancement of science and printing technology, the quality of illustrations has improved significantly, even becoming indistinguishable from the originals, which has created favorable conditions for this task.
As the country's cultural construction progresses, the publication of ancient paintings has increased. There are complete collections, selected works from specific periods, books organized by region or school, and even individual works printed as scrolls—each dazzling and beautiful in its own way. Recently, Shandong Fine Arts Publishing House has proposed publishing selected works in traditional painting genres, categorized by figures, landscapes, and flowers and birds. While not a completely novel idea, it is uncommon among existing published art books. The advantage of this approach is that it allows for both selective and comprehensive appreciation. It covers the main aspects of Chinese painting while also showcasing the development and achievements of different genres, catering to the interests and needs of diverse readers.
I hope this art book can be compiled with both rigor and flexibility, combining academic and reference value, scientific accuracy, and readability. It is widely known that the number of surviving ancient Chinese paintings is vast, making it impossible to achieve complete comprehensiveness. Therefore, the book should not simply be a collection of images but must select representative painters and works, clarify the development of painting, and explain its artistic characteristics.
Paintings are carriers of ideas, forms, and images, created in specific historical periods and closely related to the life circumstances, thoughts, temperament, cultivation, and aesthetic tastes of the painters. Brief introductions to these aspects would greatly benefit the readers. This is also what I expect.
Our cultural undertakings are advancing at a rapid pace, with academic research achieving new heights and continuous accomplishments. Editorial and publishing efforts should also progress accordingly. The current classified art series is merely a product of the present stage and needs to be continuously enriched and improved. In the future, if key works from ancient traditional painting can be specially introduced, highlighting their exquisite details, with dedicated pages for inscriptions, seals, and stamps, and with in-depth research on the works' era, authors, and transmission, it would be even more valuable for research.
Of course, it is unrealistic to impose these higher requirements on this genre of classified art books at this stage. We can only hope for progress in the future.