The artistic achievements of modern calligrapher, painter and seal engraver Jin Cheng (1878-1926) can be called the "five masterpieces" of poetry, calligraphy, painting, seal carving and theory, but he devoted a lot of energy to social activities such as museum construction and calligraphy and painting associations, which easily overshadowed his artistic achievements. His flower and bird paintings have both the exquisiteness of the traditional Song Dynasty paintings and the characteristics of Ming Dynasty Lin Liang and Lu Ji, which are representative of the ancient and the new, and the extraordinary and elegant.
Modern calligraphy, painting and seal engraving artist Jin Cheng (1878-1926)
Jin Cheng's artistic achievements can be described as "five wonders" in poetry, calligraphy, painting, seal carving and theory, but he put a lot of energy into museum construction and social activities such as calligraphy and painting associations, which easily overshadowed his artistic achievements. When talking about Jin Cheng, his contribution to traditional calligraphy and painting is a topic that cannot be avoided. His art has a moderate and peaceful Confucian elegance, and is inclusive in style. He imitated many ancient works and had profound skills, but he did not stick to the ancients. He believed that "familiarity with established rules will lead to wisdom and ingenuity." He also attached importance to sketching and creation. His flower and bird works have both the meticulousness of the Song Dynasty painting tradition and the characteristics of Lin Liang and Lu Ji of the Ming Dynasty, which are a representative of learning from the past and creating something new, elegant and extraordinary.
1. Who will pass on the standards?
In the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1878 AD), Jincheng was born into a silk merchant family in Nanxun Town, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province. In addition to doing business, Jincheng's father also collected some calligraphy and paintings. At the same time, because he often dealt with foreigners, he also had a strong interest in Western culture. When he was young, Jincheng grew up in an environment where Chinese and Western cultures coexisted. He recited the Four Books and Five Classics incessantly to the sound of Western self-ringing clocks, and also copied many ancient Chinese paintings under the convenient collection conditions at home. However, his family did not hire a special teacher to teach him painting. In his own words, "I have been engaged in painting for nearly thirty years, but I have no master." To some extent, this also laid the foundation for his later characteristics of learning from many masters and not sticking to a particular school.
During Jincheng's adolescence, the Qing government was facing internal and external troubles and was in decline. As the imperial examination system was criticized by the reformists, in 1900, Jincheng, who had studied the classics for ten years, only took the boy's exam and went to England to study English and law. Perhaps it was the pragmatic concept of the merchant family that pointed out the professional direction for Jincheng to gain a foothold in society. Jincheng worked hard to complete his studies, and his choice of law also laid the groundwork for his further activities in the political and cultural circles after returning to China. It must be said that Jincheng was a hardworking and talented person. He quickly made a name for himself in China with his solid legal expertise. After returning to China in 1905, he went from being a lawyer in the Shanghai International Settlement to an assistant editor at the Legal System Museum and a judge in the Criminal Department of the Supreme Court. In 1907, he was transferred to the Beijing Cao and his career was smooth.
During his time studying in the UK and returning to China to serve as an official, Jin Cheng devoted a lot of his spare time and energy to the study of ancient Chinese calligraphy and painting. During his stay in Europe, he also inspected the construction of foreign art galleries and museums. The foreign experience broadened Jin Cheng's horizons and laid an important foundation for his museology. At the end of the 19th century, with the invasion of Western powers and the influx of Western culture, a national quintessence trend of maintaining Chinese traditional culture and resisting Western modernization began to surge among Chinese intellectuals, and developed into a powerful national quintessence movement in the early 20th century. At this time, Jin Cheng had frequent contacts with Liang Qichao and others, and his advocacy of maintaining traditional painting in painting gradually matured. Thanks to the social and cultural environment of the spread of Western learning to the East, Western learning talents like Jin Cheng were very popular in China. He served successively in the Department of Commerce of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, the co-director of the Engineering Department of the Court, and the consultant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. With this convenience, Jin Cheng "was able to view the collections of various residences and improve his painting studies." Relying on his official career and expanding his social circle, he made friends with many people in the calligraphy and painting circles and participated in the initiation of the Shanghai Yuyuan Calligraphy and Painting Charity Association in Shanghai, which aims to promote traditional art. At the same time, he also entered the art circle in Beijing. During this period, he successively interacted with Xu Shichang, Zhu Qiqun, Chen Baochen, Zhang Jian, Qi Shoumin, Zhou Zhaoxiang, Chen Shizeng, Yao Hua, Tang Dingzhi, Chen Banding and others.
In 1910, Jin Cheng was sent by the Qing government to attend a meeting in the United States. When he returned to China, he planned a trip around the world. This was his second trip around the world. He wrote his travel experiences into "Travels in Eighteen Countries". The comparative analysis of Chinese and Western art in the book shows Jin Cheng's unique and wonderful insights, which fully reflects his profound humanistic and artistic cultivation. As the saying goes, "Reading ten thousand books is like traveling ten thousand miles." The experience of traveling around the world twice broadened Jin Cheng's vision and mind, and also deepened his recognition and persistence in Chinese calligraphy and painting. Later, Yuan Shikai's government invited a large number of Qing officials. Jin Cheng, who had expertise but was not focused on politics, was recommended as the assistant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Beiyang Government and was elected as a member of the House of Representatives. In 1913, after Zhu Qiqun became the Minister of the Interior, Jin Cheng suggested that the art and cultural relics of the Qing Emperor's Rehe Palace and the Fengtian (Shenyang) Palace be moved to Beijing, and an antique exhibition hall be established to open to the public. This proposal was supported by Zhu Qiqun. In December of that year, the Beiyang government accepted the suggestion and ordered the Ministry of the Interior to be responsible for the establishment. The Ministry of the Interior appointed Jin Cheng to supervise the construction. In February 1914, the Antiquities Exhibition Hall was established, which was also the beginning of the modern Chinese National Museum.
In 1920, Jin Cheng founded the "Chinese Painting Research Society", which successfully brought together traditional painters in Beijing at that time. Jin Cheng also taught and taught students in person, and cultivated countless talents. His disciples all achieved success in the development of painting art. From 1921 to 1926, Jin Cheng actively promoted the artistic exchange between Chinese and Japanese painters, and held four "Sino-Japanese Joint Painting Exhibitions", which were very popular and established his position as a leader in the northern painting world in the early Republic of China. Jin Cheng's outstanding contributions in the fields of museology, Chinese calligraphy and painting research, and Sino-Japanese painting exchanges have written a glorious page in the history of modern Chinese art.
Jincheng, Frosty Sky, Color on Paper, 25.5cm in height and 54cm in width, Collection of Beijing Art Academy
II. Appreciation of Flower and Bird Paintings in the Museum
Jin Cheng, who claimed that he had little experience in flowers and birds, was once called "close to Nantian and far from Beiyuan" by his contemporary Wu Youzhang, which shows how hard he worked in learning from Yun Shouping, a master of Qing Dynasty flower and bird painting. Yun Shouping was famous for his boneless flowers, and his brushwork was free and elegant. He was not satisfied with the shape, and he paid attention to the charm and interest of literati painting. Jin Cheng's "Frosty Sky Congyan" collected by Beijing Painting Academy is his representative work based on Yun Nantian. Although it is difficult for us to find the original work that Jin Cheng intended to copy Yun Shouping, we can still compare and analyze it in combination with Yun's consistent style and the existing flower and bird paintings. In addition to painting, Yun Shouping was also good at poetry and calligraphy. His poems were praised as "the best among the Six Immortals of Piliang". He once wrote a poem about chrysanthemums: "The ink pond is scattered and stained with autumn light, and the three classics of Tao's old house are already abandoned. Who said that cold flowers are easy to wither, and the beauties here have never known frost." Jincheng, who was also good at poetry and prose, titled his poem "Blossoms in Frosty Days". I wonder if it was a tribute to Yun Nantian.
This painting, "Frosty Sky with Beautiful Flowers", is not a painting of chrysanthemums, but a portrait of canna and hibiscus. Nevertheless, the homophony of "yan" and "yan" and the gorgeous colors of the painting make people feel that the title is quite appropriate, which shows Jincheng's ingenuity in the conception of poetry and painting. The hibiscus in Jincheng's painting is quite gorgeous, with a strong contrast of red and green. In reality, although hibiscus also has such a strong contrast of red and green, this contrasting color is rarely used in general Chinese flower and bird paintings, for fear of losing the elegance of flower and bird paintings. Painters usually like to paint hibiscus with red flowers, stems and leaves, and add red to indigo or ink to form a light and elegant dark red to add to the atmosphere of literati painting. Yun Shouping's hibiscus in the works also adopts this color method. Jincheng's use of color is quite bold and spiciness of the modern Shanghai School. Another highlight of the color in this work is the cluster of yellow and red flowers of Canna. Compared with the exaggerated color of the red-flowered hibiscus, the flowers of this Canna seem much more low-key. The most common color of Canna is fiery red, and the color of red with yellow is relatively rare. Jincheng chose this, obviously to contrast with the red and green of the red-flowered hibiscus on the left to widen the gap, and arranged the primary and secondary positions of the two flowers in color. Jincheng is very particular about composition. He once said in a lecture: "There are four procedures to pay attention to in painting: (1) principle, (2) layout, (3) brushwork, and (4) coloring. If you can do your best to pay attention to these four, you have already thought halfway through this."
Looking at the whole painting of "Frosty Sky with Flowers", although the two main flowers are brightly colored, the painting does not feel vulgar. He used light ink to paint the large leaves of canna, further weakening the fiery nature of the flowers and adding a touch of literati elegance. The boneless painting of the flowers and the swaying leaves in the painting show the essence of Nantian's flowers and birds, and the combination of light ink and color shows Jincheng's ingenuity, which is very intriguing when you look closely. Jincheng has a seal that says, "Love of antiquity is in my bones." He himself has made a deep study of ancient methods, and has been given the impression of being "good at copying" because of his profound ability to imitate ancient methods. However, he learns from the ancients but does not stick to them. As he said, "It is said that learning to paint requires constant change. If you do not learn from the ancients, you are not qualified to talk about painting. If you stick to the ancients' methods and follow them step by step, you are not qualified to talk about painting. Only those who can maintain constant change can be masters." The title of this work, "Frosty Sky Congyan", is written in fluent and vigorous seal script, which complements the swaying posture of the wild geese and the strong leaves of the canna. The signature "Imitating the colors of Nantian Caoyi, Wuxing Jincheng" is in a chic running script, which shows the profound skills and diverse styles of Jincheng's calligraphy.
The seals of Frosty Sky Congyan are two: the negative square seal "Jincheng Seal" and the positive square seal "Wuxing". Jincheng's seal carving has a place in the history of seal carving in the Republic of China. Zhang Jian, an industrialist and poet in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, once praised: "Jinshengqing is a wonderful talent, and he has a natural talent for seal carving. He distinguishes the body and tends to be straight, and his strokes are slow and swift. He looks at the ancients and does not allow vulgar sentiments to take advantage of him. He carves five stones for me and shows me what he has tasted. Han Bai and Yuan Zhu, each of them is outstanding. He gallops to a smooth path and returns to his fate with peace of mind. He is not a wise man in gambling. Ding Zhong should be motivated. Ji Liu and Long Hong are full of vigor." He advocated the Han method in seal carving and learned from Zhao Zhiqian, which was quite innovative. His seal carving skills can also be seen from his calligraphy skills and the vigorous and varied brushwork in his paintings.
Another work by Jincheng, Bamboo, Rocks and Chicks, collected by the Beijing Painting Academy, is also a colored bird and flower painting. Bamboo, rocks and chicks are a common combination in bird and flower paintings. In similar bird and flower works by Jincheng, there are also combinations of bamboo, rocks and small birds, and black bamboo and roosters. This work is 170.5 cm long and 39.5 cm wide. The vertical length is quite difficult to lay out. The painter used nearly half of the lower half of the picture to depict three stacked and shaded stones. On the middle stone, a chick with mottled colors, long tail hanging down, looking back and standing sideways, is located. Two thick green bamboos stand upright on the high stones behind, stretching the picture together with the chick's long tail hanging down to the ground, adapting to the size of the long screen. In the shade of bamboo and rocks, a few strokes of thorns and fruits are added. The red strokes add a touch of color vitality to the whole painting, and also add a natural interest in addition to bamboo, rocks and chicks. The two green bamboos intentionally break out of the picture, reflecting Jincheng's unique experience in composition and layout: "When painting, you can't paint the whole thing. For example, Huang Zijiu's Fuchun Mountain Dwelling, although it is magnificent, can only depict one side of it, and the rest of it cannot be painted! Even if a stone has three sides, there is always one side that cannot be painted, let alone a vertical scroll, how can you paint the whole thing? Flowers cannot be painted in their entirety. In short, no matter what kind of painting, you should choose the most exciting part as the main body, so that you can concentrate on it, let the reader wander in the mind, naturally infer the whole thing, and be fascinating, and then you can be called a good painter."
The overall color tone of "Bamboo, Rock and Chick" is selected from the colors of flowers and birds in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and slightly light ink is added to blend. The bamboo is double-drawn and colored, the bamboo trunk is upright, the bamboo leaves are slender, and each stroke is clear, strong and smooth. The calligraphy skills can be seen here. The layout of the stones is staggered, and the light ink is simply used to draw the shape. A few strokes of moss are added, and the light ink, indigo, and blank space are used to distinguish the light and dark sides, which is elegant and rigorous. The painting method of the chick is both meticulous and freehand, with precise modeling, elegant colors, and feathers without losing the charm of freehand brushwork. Jincheng painted this painting in 1917. The academic community regards this period as the middle period of Jincheng's artistic style. During this period, he actively worked in his official career and invested a lot of energy in the construction of the Antiquities Exhibition Hall. His works are mostly copied, and there are also creations. This is his heyday of copying ancient works. This "Bamboo, Rock and Chick" not only pursues the meticulousness of the Song Dynasty painting tradition, but also absorbs the characteristics of Lin Liang and Lu Ji in the Ming Dynasty.
3. Familiarity with established rules leads to natural wisdom
Throughout Jin Cheng's artistic career, the various art categories he excelled in, such as poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal carving, all showed a relatively consistent style, that is, a moderate and peaceful Confucian elegance, and a style that is inclusive. Wang Yiting once summarized his characteristics in eight words: "melting the new and the old, and not following the old ways." Looking at Jin Cheng's ancient works, we can see that his learning objects are extremely wide, covering famous artists from the Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. His thinking about the ancient and modern ways is by no means as simple as blindly imitating the ancients. He once said in his theory of painting: "If you are familiar with the established rules, you will be smart and skillful. You can achieve the shape without violating the rules, and you can express your thoughts by fully following the rules. According to the category, you can see the shape and spirit, and the lively scene is also enough to show its realism. Their skills must be cultivated. Therefore, when scholars paint, they should not be self-disciplined without a teacher, nor should they stick to the old ways. The ancients gave us rules, but whether the ingenuity is effective or not depends on ourselves. No matter the ancients are gone, even if they are reborn, how can they make the students' ingenuity and skill reach the best beauty? Is it true? The so-called cleverness is nothing but the use of the established examples of the ancients, changing them, making them magical, constructing rules, using the brush and ink, thick or thin, vertical or horizontal, appearing and disappearing, exploring the changes of nature, and the ingenuity of the mind. Following the old rules of the ancients, adding one's own new ideas, not daring to be proud of creation, nor willing to stick to the old, valuing the real, not pursuing the empty, magical and unpredictable, with a method, its source comes from itself. Because of the deep exploration of the ancient methods, the long learning of the teacher, the cleverness is inspired by the inspiration without expecting it. "
Jincheng's artistic qualities are closely related to the family environment and the background of the times in which he grew up: the family atmosphere of communication between China and the West laid the foundation for his inclusive character traits. He was familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics in his childhood and was immersed in the Confucian doctrine of the Mean. More importantly, his family education, collection and the unique conditions of viewing ancient original works through his official career in the future made him deeply infatuated with traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting, and also brought him rational thinking after being familiar with the established rules of his ancestors, rather than blindly overthrowing and criticizing traditional culture due to changes in the political environment. He moved forward in an environment where the crisis of traditional culture is getting worse with a rare calm and rational attitude, and he also hopes to pass on this to the younger generation: "In the past few years, I have taught students how to paint, and I have not advocated profound theories. Because profound theories are easy to involve empty talk. Even in terms of spirit and charm, the predecessors often said that it is beyond the emotion of brush and ink. Painting is just brush and ink, and it is no wonder that it is difficult for people to understand it. When I teach people, I only teach in a simple way. Simple theories are easy to lead people into the door, and it is not difficult to enter the hall and enter the room. The learner is like a blind man, and the teacher is like a fortune teller. If you guide them properly and walk calmly, after a period of time, they will be familiar with the way, and they can practice without appearance."
During social changes, the upsurge of new and old critical thoughts is inevitable. Regarding the trend of abandoning the old and seeking the new in the art world at that time, Jin Cheng had a very brilliant view in "Lectures on Painting": "Everything in the world can be discussed as new and old, but there is no discussion of new and old in the field of painting. Since the Tang Dynasty, there have been famous artists in every generation in my country. The reason why each celebrity became a celebrity is that he never despised the paintings of his predecessors as old paintings, but also strictly followed the ways of the ancients and promoted the ideas of the ancients. He knew that there is no new without the old, and the new comes from the old. If you transform the old, it will be new even if it is old, and stick to the new, it will be old even if it is new. Once you have the idea of new and old in your mind, you will have no rules when you write. Review the old to know the new, preach the famous teachings of the saints, do not make mistakes or forget them, follow the old chapters, and the poetic meaning can be I know! In short, if a painter wants to be new, he can only be new in his ideas. The new ideas are not in the brush and ink, but in the realm. With the natural scene and true realm, borrow (borrow) the brushwork of the ancients, pick up the brush and write it, and the spirit and charm will be revealed when it is expressed. When the spirit and charm are revealed, the art will naturally reach a high level. In this way, the quality of character depends on the idea. If the idea is achieved, it will be lively and magical, with reason and spirit, and stand out from the crowd. The expression of its interest is the inspiration of personality. Therefore, those who discuss paintings must first know where the ideas are, and those who view paintings must also explore the ultimate meaning of the ideas. "It can be seen that in Jincheng's eyes, the key to the new and old issues is not whether the brush and ink are broken through, but whether the new ideas of the painting realm are pursued. In this regard, he attaches importance to the basic training of sketching and advocates learning from nature. He said: "Poetry and painting are consistent, all from the appreciation of real scenes, not just writing casually as creation." He also emphasized the importance of cultural and artistic cultivation in other aspects besides painting. Regarding this point, he also demonstrated its importance from the perspective of painting history: "In the Ming Dynasty, there were countless painters who were good at painting. The most popular ones were Wang Mengduan, Shen Shiduan, Wen Zhengming, Tang Bohu, Dong Qichang, Lu Baoshan, Xu Wenchang, Li Liufang and so on. These few painters were all famous at the time, and if we examine their attainments, they were actually just casual writers. It was not their paintings alone that were worthy of being passed down, but their writing skills that were enough to complement and make their works more colorful. Every time they painted a piece, they would always use the handwriting of an expert and inscribe it with wonderful poems. Since their writing was the best of the time, their paintings became famous as a result. Although this became a trend among many painters, it was Su Dongpo, Mi Yuanzhang, Zhao Mengfu and Ni Yunlin from the Song and Yuan Dynasties who started it." Jincheng concluded that one of the reasons why so many great painters emerged in the Ming Dynasty was that the tradition of literati poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal carving from the Song and Yuan Dynasties was well carried forward.
With a broad vision and profound classical cultural cultivation, Jincheng has opened up a feasible path to explore the thousands of years of Chinese traditional culture, including the Southern School and the Northern School, scholar-official painting and painter-painter painting, meticulous brushwork and freehand brushwork... Jincheng re-examines history with a profound historical perspective. Whether it is the unique "Frosty Sky Congyan" (imitating Yun Nantian) or the "Bamboo, Rock and Chicks" that re-matches traditional flowers and birds, Jincheng has opened up a path between the court painting and literati painting since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, which is innovative and not amazing, but stable enough. In the modern painting world where traditional culture was once broken, this exploration is extremely precious. It is not only the freehand brushwork that can present a free and easy state, but the combination of meticulous brushwork and freehand brushwork can also show the extraordinary elegance. "I cherish the fact that I have been with few people for many years, and I prefer to let the blessing of my eyes be given to the living." Jincheng's early death made his artistic career too short. Otherwise, along this moderate and peaceful rational exploration path, the modern Chinese painting world would surely have a new glory.
Jincheng, Bamboo, Rocks and Chicks, ink and color on paper, 170.5 cm in height and 39.5 cm in width, collected by Beijing Art Academy in 1917
(The author is an assistant researcher at the National and Folk Literature and Art Development Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. This article is based on the book "The Gate of the Great Craftsman" published by the Beijing Academy of Painting)