Linquan Gaoshi

Author: Shanghai Shuhua Publishing House
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: In the history of Chinese figure painting, depicting the "high and secluded" scholars has been a highly significant motif. Chinese intellectuals have been involved in painting creation since ancient times, and painters have always valued the cultural refinement of their works. As a result, portraying the "high and secluded" scholars has long been a central theme in Chinese figure painting. The origins of such paintings can be traced back to the Wei and Jin periods. The Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties were one of the darkest periods in Chinese political history, yet they marked an era of flourishing individual consciousness and humanistic awareness, as well as a great liberation of human nature. During this time, frequent social upheavals and regime changes severely shook the values of achievement and contribution that had dominated the scholar-official class since the Han Dynasty. When the ideal of "reaching success to benefit the world" became an unattainable illusion, "retreating into self-improvement in adversity" naturally became the sole life goal of the scholar-officials. Zong Baihua once analyzed this: "The Wei and Jin people's naturalism and individualism in life and personality broke free from the constraints of Confucian rituals and laws of the Han Dynasty. Most intellectuals tended to appreciate the beauty of personality and individual values directly, beyond the perspective of rituals and laws." This new spirit marked the awakening and independence of ancient Chinese humanistic consciousness in cultural history and was known as the "Wei and Jin Style."
As representatives of the "Wei and Jin Style," the famous Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove stand out. When Ji Kang faced execution, his lament—"The music of Guangling will never be played again"—though poignant, displayed an extraordinary composure and elegance. His demeanor was so captivating that it could rival the romantic charm of Socrates, who reminded his disciples to return the rooster he still owed his friend before his execution. Who could be charmed by such elegance other than the thousands of scholars of the Eastern Jin Dynasty?
After the scholar-officials, who followed the model of the "Wei and Jin Style," engaged in painting creation, they greatly enhanced the cultural depth of the art, transforming a skill once belonging to craftsmen into a path of self-cultivation and refinement, equal in importance to the "Six Arts." This led to a transformation in the purpose, subject matter, and techniques of Chinese painting. In terms of figure painting, the images of emperors, generals, and heroic women, which had been themes in ritualistic paintings, were largely replaced by the images of historical or contemporary "high and secluded" scholars. Historical records show that the renowned Eastern Jin figure painter Gu Kaizhi painted many such scholars, such as "Ancient Virtuous Rong Qiji and the Master," "Portraits of Renowned Scholars," and "Xie An's Portrait."
As for themes like the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove," though their original works are no longer visible after centuries, artifacts such as the Eastern Jin tomb brick carvings of "The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and Rong Qiji" in Xishanzi Bridge, Nanjing, from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the Southern Dynasties brick murals of the same theme unearthed in Zhenjiang, reveal that the portrayal of "high and secluded" figures had become one of the symbols of a painter's individuality in Chinese painting since the Eastern Jin Dynasty. This theme was often used by painters in later turbulent times to express their spiritual aspirations and principles, with famous works like Sun Wei's "High Seclusion" and Li Tang's "Gathering White Mulberry" serving as typical examples.
In the history of Chinese figure painting, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the theme of "high and secluded" scholars was often regarded as an unspoken rule for judging whether a work possessed a noble and transcendent spirit. Since figure painting matured earlier and was constrained by the "pictographic" tradition, its techniques were less likely to develop in the direction of unrestrained brushwork, as seen in landscape and flower-and-bird painting. Even masterpieces like Liang Kaituo's freehand brushwork, though brilliant, were often rejected by orthodox scholar-officials due to their tendency towardness. Unable to pursue the goal of "casual and unrestrained brushwork" like landscape and flower-and-bird painters, even ordinary figure painters began to rely on the images of "high and secluded" scholars in their works to convey a sense of transcendent elegance. In some paintings depicting contemporary figures, painters often portrayed the protagonists as ancient "high and secluded" scholars, such as Wang Yi's Yuan Dynasty portrait "Portrait of Yang Zhu Xi," a masterpiece that truly captured not only the form but also the spirit of its subject (as described by Tao Zongyi).