Song Dynasty Landscape and Pavilion Album

Author: Li Cheng
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not available
Features: The Song Dynasty Landscape and Pavilion Album depicts the grand tradition of Chinese painting, where Song Dynasty landscapes hold the highest position in the history of painting. Generally speaking, Northern Song landscapes, represented by the Northern School of painting led by Jing and Guan, and Southern Song landscapes, represented by the Southern Jiangnan School led by Dong and Ju, primarily present panoramic views from a distance to capture their grandeur. In contrast, Southern Song landscapes, represented by Liu, Li, Ma, and Xia, often focus on close-up views to depict the essence of edge and corner scenes. This is reflected in the format of the works: panoramic landscapes typically use large scrolls, while edge and corner landscapes often employ small pieces or square formats. Most small landscape paintings depict a corner of a mountain or half of a body of water. The most typical painters in this regard are Ma Yuan, known as "Ma of the Half Mountain," and Xia Gui, known as "Xia of the Half River." The two almost led the basic trends of Southern Song landscape painting, embedding rich poetic pursuits in their concise yet delicate representations. Of course, panoramic scenes were also depicted, but their scenery was not dense or profound, remaining simple in form, merely conveying a general impression, which was similar to close-up details. Another type of local depiction focused not on landscapes and trees but on pavilions, towers, and pavilions, often with meticulous attention to detail, striving for perfection in craftsmanship, which was different from the general close-up details of edge and corner scenes. Whether local or panoramic, whether concise or dense, the pursuit of realistic details was always a common goal of small landscape paintings. In terms of specific (formal expression), most small landscape paintings often use bold ink strokes with large axe (pi) cracks, which, though rough and unrestrained, finely capture the rugged texture of local rocks and the hazy, realistic quality of panoramic mountain ranges. For the dense type, even in the finest details, there was no compromise. At first glance, the former style seems closer to freehand brushwork that does not seek to imitate form, while the latter style appears more meticulous and precise. However, upon closer reflection, the former is still rooted in rigorous realistic techniques, which can be called "intentional brushwork with meticulous execution," while the latter has a very relaxed and expressive quality, which can be called "meticulous brushwork with intentional expression." Form follows content, and subjective expression does not deviate from objective reality. This should offer us many insights for today's creative work.