Chinese Paintings

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

A PICTURE BOOK

NEW YORK 1940 COPYRIGHT BY THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART FEBRUARY, 194O

HE history of Chinese painting can be traced for a good two thousand years, although the first dated examples Twhich we can be sure of were made near the beginning of the sixth century. Earlier paintings are known through documents, through the famous "Admonitions of the Instructress" (which some scholars still believe is truly of the Chin dynasty [265-420] but which most believe to be a T'ang copy), through painted tiles and innumerable vases. The beginnings were like most early painting, done in the mode of outline and flat tone, but whereas the West developed an elab orate chiaroscuro and perspective, the Chinese kept to the simpler form of expression. In their monochromes they suggested light and shade by varying the intensity of ink and spacing, and they used a system of "diagonal projection" which has somewhat the effect of true perspective. This is done not only by making the figures in the distance smaller, but by painting the whole picture as if the beholder were perched on an eminence and looking down. If men began painting to express things they could not say and even more than they could see, the Chinese have succeeded beyond the rest of us. Chinese painters studied and learned how different trees grew, observed the masses of rock formation, watched the movements of water, and recorded them by line. Once they were masters of these technicalities, they put in their trees and streams and mountains where they pleased, and even when the result was given a particular geographical name, they still took liberties which a photographer would find excessive. Thus Chinese paintings at their best have a freedom of imagination to which we are unaccustomed—a quality which is close to poetry and music. In their horizontal scrolls the Chinese invented a form of composition which seems to be unique. The scrolls are intended to be unrolled twenty inches or so at a time, and you may have a scroll of twenty feet or more which composes at any point and which, if viewed as a whole, also forms a composition. This excites the interest of the beholder in an active way, for often it seems as if one actually takes part in the picture, traveling with the little fig ures up and down mountain paths and across streams and rivers. Painted architectural decoration of the Shang dynasty (1766- 1122 B.C.) has been found recently at An Yang. The Han dy nasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) vases, with their hunting scenes, and the low reliefs of this period, which are so close to painting as to be a useful guide, show a style already possessed of a good deal of vigor and movement. The Buddhist wall paintings of the Six Dynasties (222-589) are somewhat stiff under the impact of for eign influences, but the small genre scenes retain all the earlier vitality. From the Six Dynasties on we have a clear record of Bud dhistic temple decoration in the cave temples at Tun Huang, as well as in the mass of paintings, both vertical and horizontal, which have come out of Tun Huang, and in the paintings from Central Asia now in the Volkerkunde Museum in Berlin. Aside from some of these, there are very few paintings which scholars agree are T'ang (618-906). But partly from documents describ ing them and partly from the many copies, we have a pretty clear idea of what T'ang painting was like. The major tenets were al ready clearly defined by the end of the T'ang dynasty. After that the painters grew a little more skillful and a little more suave until finally, in the Ming (1368-1644) and the succeeding Ch'ing (1644-1912) dynasty, they complicated their compositions and all too often descended to mere facility. In the style of the Five Dynasties (906-960) is the Boy with Goats (fig. 1). Although possibly of this period, the general opin ion is that it was painted not earlier than the late Sung dynasty (960-1280). Likewise in the style of the Five Dynasties is the charming picture of a lady in a garden (fig. 3), once attributed to Ch'ien Hsiian (1235-1290). It probably represents the famous T'ang concubine Yang Kuei-fei and is notable for the painting of the gauze pavilion in which the beauty reclines, herself clad in the scantiest of rosy draperies. One of the Ten Kings of Hell (fig. 2) is certainly Sung and is one of a series, five of which are owned by this Museum and four by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The painter's seal is distinguishable on each panel and reads: "Painted by the house hold of Chin Ch'u-shih, Carriage Bridge West, Ming Chou, in the great Sung dynasty." A Taoist religious scroll (see figs. 5, 6, 7) is dated 1157 and depicts a processional to heaven in honor of Li Chung, a local deity promoted for his aid in time of famine. Another Taoist painting, Merry Gatherings in the Magic Jar (see figs. 8, 9) is certainly the work of the Sung painter Kung K'ai (active 1260- 1280). The legend is that he who drinks from the magic cauldron is enabled to enter heaven and see the Immortals at play. The painting is in free-brush black and white, a brilliant performance in the handling of rocks and trees, with a suggestion of mystery, humor, and mild intoxication. The scroll from which our paint ing came was apparently cut into at least three parts, one of which is in the Du Bois S. Morris collection. A brief, majestic Autumn Landscape (fig. 4), bearing the sig nature of Wen Tung (died 1079), gives one insight into the finest type of Sung landscape. The Hundred Buffaloes (see figs. 10, 11), attributed to Chiang Ts'an (active 1200) and certainly of the Sung period, requires close attention if one is to follow the enchanting antics of the buffaloes and the little boys who herd them. The Palaces of Ch'in (see fig. 12), attributed to Chao Po-chii of the Sung dynasty, is in the tradition of T'ang academic paint ing. Somewhat worn, it still is a fine example of the style and an impressive display of architecture. One of the many versions of the legend concerning the contest between Hariti and Buddha over her favorite son Pindola is illus trated in the painting of which figure 13 is a detail. Here Buddha and his heavenly host look tranquilly on the futile contortions of the fiend and her horde of demons. Attributed to the Sung painter Chao Kung-yu, this painting is perhaps the finest interpretation of the subject. The Portrait of a Lady (fig. 14), inscribed with a short poem in honor of Kuan Yin, is a late Sung copy after the great Li Lung- mien (1040-1106). Lovely enough in itself, its great interest is as a reflection of the famous artist's work. The Five Rulers at the New Year's Reception (see fig. 15) is a Sung copy of a famous subject by Wu Tsung-yuan (active 1010). Dragons and Landscape (see fig. 17), by Ch'en Jung (active 1235), is a fragment of a nine-dragon composition, a longer sec tion of which is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Here rock chasms, plunging streams, and the writhing bodies of dragons ap pearing and disappearing in clouds of mist reveal Chinese imagi native painting at its best. To what a different category belong the simple subjects of the Horse and Willow Tree in Moonlight (fig. 16) and the Magpie on a Flowering Branch (fig. 20), the former traditionally as cribed to Chi-Chen (active xi century), the latter by an unknown artist probably of the Sung dynasty. Both have the portrait quality of early Chinese paintings of birds and animals. A Sung funerary portrait (fig. 18), traditionally ascribed (for no very good reason) to Chin Ch'u-shih, is a very fine example of great portraiture. Typical of Ming painting at its gay and flowery best is the series of Garden Scenes (see fig. 19) depicting the story of Lady Su Hui and Her Verse Puzzle. ALAN PRIEST. I. Boy with Goats. Style of the Five Dynasties (906-960). On silk. H. 20 in., w. 46^/2 in. 2. One of the Ten Kings of Hell. Inscribed: "Painted by the household of Chin Ch'u-shih, Carriage Bridge West, Ming Chou, in the great Sung dynasty." Late Sung dynasty (960-1280). On silk. H. 44 in., w. 18^ in. J. A Beauty, probably Yang Kuei-fei. Sung dynasty (960-1280). 0, « silk. H. 25^ in., w. 30 in. 4. Autumn Landscape (detail). Signed: Wen Tung (died 1079). Sung dynasty (960-1280). On silk. L. 101 in., h. 22 in. 5- Taoist scroll (detail). Dated 11 57. Sung dynasty (960-1280). Jn silk. L. 348 in., h. 19^/2 in. 6. Taoist scroll (detail). J. Taoist scroll (detail). 8. Merry Gatherings in the Magic Jar (detail). By Kung K'ai (active 1260-1280). Sung dynasty (960- 1280). On paper. L. 170 in., h. 11^4 in. 9. Merry Gatherings in the Magic Jar (detail). 10. The Hundred Buffaloes (detail). Attributed to Chiang Ts'an (active 1200). Sung dynasty (960-1280). l On paper. L. 87% in., h. \2 /2 in. II. The Hundred Buffaloes (detail). 12. The Palaces of Ch'in (detail). Attributed to Chao Po-chu (XII century). Sung dynasty (960-1280). On silk. L. 26934 in-3 h- 11^ in- I

13. Contest between Hariti and Buddha (detail). Attributed to Chao Kung-yu (XII century). Sung dynasty (960-1280). °n paper. L. 41% in., h. 10^4 in. 14- Portrait of a Lady. Style of Li Lung-mien (1040-1106). Probably late Sung dynasty (960- 1280). On silk. H. 31 in., w. 15 in. IBlBHB^HM ;;::•", g^HB

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'5- The Five Rulers at the New Year's Reception (detail). Copy after Wu Tsung-yuan (active IOIO). Sung dynasty (960-1280). ns!1L L. 195% in., h. 20^ in. /•«

16. Horse and Willow Tree in Moonlight. Attributed to Chi-Chen (XI century). Sung dynasty (960-1280). On silk. H. io}i in., w. 9 in. 17. Dragons and Landscape (detail). Attributed to Ch'en Jung (active 1235). Sung dynasty (960- l 1280). On paper. L. 75J4 in., h. ij /2 in. 18. Funerary Portrait of a Chinese Scholar. Attributed to Chin Ch'u-shih. Sung dynasty (960-1280). On paper. H. 35% in., w. 15 in. 19- Garden Scenes—Lady Su Hui and Her Verse Puzzle (detail). Ming dynasty (1368- 1644). On silk. L. 240 in., h. 11% in. 20. Magpie on a Flowering Branch. Probably Sung dynasty (960-1280)' On paper. H. 18J4 in., w. 14 i"' PICTURE BOOKS

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Price twenty-five cents each Others in preparation Printed in an edition of 1,500 copies, February, 1940

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