For centuries painting has been the most appreciated and the most critiqued of all the art forms. The most famous paintings come from those periods in Europe known as the Renaissance period and the Baroque period. Works from those eras have been analyzed and studied and torn apart for academic purposes until there is nothing left to discover from them. I myself choose to study them for their aesthetic properties. Being somewhat artistic myself, I have a great admiration for these works and the skilled artisans who created them. Just as important as the Renaissance or the Baroque periods and too often underrated, in my opinion, is the epoch in which the Chinese ruled the world of art. More specifically, the art of the traditional Chinese ink and brush painting, and even more specifically, the art of the literati, which has been around for at least 2000 years. Spanning from the late first century A.C.E. until the beginning of the twentieth century, the literati style has remained unchanged. The key reasons for this strict adherence to style were academic, political, and religious in nature.
What is a literati painting? A literati painting refers to the style of Chinese painting that is regarded as scholarly and philosophical in nature. A literati painting is a combination of three different forms of art, the art of poetry, the art of calligraphy, and of course, the art of painting.
Poetry was used in a painting to convey an idea about the subject of the work or the artist’s frame of mind. A poem written on a painting might describe physical elements of the painting or it might communicate the artist’s emotional state during the work. For example, if a
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friend were departing on a long journey the scholar might compose a painting for that friend to convey to him feelings of sadness. This would have been more appropriate and much more appreciated than a simple oratorical salutation. No matter how elegant the poetry however, if the writing wasn’t beautiful and flowing then the whole painting might as well be used as a doormat. In fact, even the painting itself wasn’t considered as important as the craftsmanship of the calligraphy (Lee 254).
Chinese writing began in the Shang Dynasty (1700-1100 B.C.E.) with the belief that although people could not physically speak to their gods, they could communicate with them through writing (Finlay 28). The first writings were carved into bone and etched into metal. As more user-friendly materials became available, such as bamboo and paper, a writer was able to express himself with a more artistic creativity. Calligraphy, or brush writing, took the student years to perfect and like brush painting, required the artist to meditate beforehand to purify the mind and steady the hand (Ketchum 112).
The actual layout, or composition, of a painting is not dependant on style or perspective, which many people who are more accustomed to western art do not understand. The Chinese were just as concerned with the underlying facts of a form, or the inner philosophical truths (Finlay 33). Simply put, capturing the philosophical essence of the subject was just as much a priority as accuracy of form and likeness. As poet-official Su Shi (1037-1101 A.C.E.) put it, “if
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anyone discusses painting in terms of formal likeness, his understanding is close to that of a child” (Thorp 264). As Lee stated in his book, A History of Far Eastern Art, “The Chinese will judge a painting solely on the basis of the character of the brushwork, whereas the Westerner begins with the qualities of composition, color, and texture, which are relatively unimportant to the Chinese” (254). The arrangement of subject matter also followed an additional doctrine, the doctrine of fengshui, or “wind and water” (Thorp 243). The philosophy of fengshui states that the path of the earth’s energy flows can influence the physical world in either positive or negative ways.
The most important writing regarding calligraphy and painting were the Six Canons of Painting, written by master painter Hsieh Ho (500 – 535 A.C.E.) during the Six Dynasties period (265-589 A.C.E.). These principles were well studied by any Chinese person who aspired to greatness through their art. The Six Canons in order of importance are:
1. Animation through spirit consonance
2. Structural method in use of the brush
3. Fidelity to the object in portraying forms
4. Conformity to kind in applying colors
5. Proper planning in the placing of elements
6. Transmission of the experience of the past in making copies
Still revered today as a bible of traditional Chinese painting, Hsieh Ho’s writings were adopted by all the major schools of the literati across China.
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Preparation for a painting was extensive. The artist would prepare himself before each session with such things as meditation and prayer. The discipline and concentration required for the preparation was no less than the discipline and concentration required for a master of the martial arts right before a challenge (Shi 96). The goal of this preparation was mastery of breath, conscious control of movements, and the creation of positive energy from the mind to the hand. This would enable the painting to have ch’i yun, or the spirit of life (Lee 254). This level of mental concentration would not only allow the artist to apply perfect brush strokes, but also strengthen and maintain the health of the mind and the soul (Shi 99). This was especially important while practicing the art of calligraphy. In fact, practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine even consider the art of calligraphy therapeutic with the ability to remedy many ailments. This is known as the practice of calligraphotherapy (Shi 100). These traditions live on today, although the Chinese art of the contemporary world has taken on a modern style bearing no resemblance to the literati styles.
The materials used in the literati were the brush, the ink, the ink stone, and whatever medium the artist had chosen. There were only a few different styles of brushes for painting, the Hsieh chao pi, or crab claw brush, the Hua jan pi, a brush for painting flowers, and the Lan yu chu pi, or brush for painting orchids and bamboo. Two different brushes were used for calligraphy work, the T’u hao pi, or rabbit’s hair brush, and the Hu ying pi, or sheep’s hair brush (Art 2004).
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There is some uncertainty of the origins of the brush but many believe the brush may have been in use as early as the Shang Dynasty (1700-1100 B.C.E.) and perhaps even earlier. This belief comes from the fact that a painting done on silk was discovered in 1954 which dates from the fourth century B.C.E. (Finlay 31). The ink, both black and colored, was derived from various common organic sources and usually in a cake form. The ink stone was simply the surface the ink cake was ground on and used to draw the ink from.
The painting surfaces of the literati would vary depending on the application of the painting, or, its purpose. If a scroll was commissioned, for example, the preferred material would most likely be silk as it would be flexible and lightweight for carrying. The most common material used was paper which was derived from a variety of sources such as bamboo, linen, hemp, and of course, wood.
Why did the literati style of painting last for so long? It is amazing that one could compare two paintings by two artists who lived 1000 years apart and still have difficulty identifying whom painted which. When we examine all of the social factors of China’s history, the fact that the style of literati was unchanged for hundreds of years isn’t really all that remarkable. The literati style was a derivative of Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist influences, all
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of which are philosophical in nature. This was a main contributor to its lasting endurance since Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism have remained popular for the last 2000 years. Literati were less of an art form and more of a philosophy. A Chinese painting wasn’t created for the purpose of stimulating the visual senses. Chinese paintings had purpose and utility, whether it was to communicate thoughts and ideas to others, or expanding one’s own spiritual awareness. Why should it change? Would we as a western society elect to change the bible because we think it is outdated?
Literati was popular also, as there were many schools of learning devoted to the painting style. The students of these schools spent much of the time copying the works of great masters in order to learn from them. As Lee wrote, “The making of copies was the discipline by which the painter, through the study of the brush of his predecessors, learned control of his own. Such copying was not done to deceive, but as a way of study, of allowing one’s brush to retrace the inspired movements of the hands and the arms of great masters” (255).
Several reasons have been identified as to why traditional Chinese painting remained the same for almost 2000 years. Sadly, when the Manchurian dynasty came to an end and the Communist party took over, the traditional Chinese way of the literati all but perished. China itself had rejected the literati as “feudal trash”(Zhaohui 49). It is beyond comprehension that the art form that was so beloved and had led so many to seek higher philosophical truths for 2000 years was forgotten virtually overnight.
China rode into the industrial revolution on a wave of cultural awareness. An awareness that proclaimed scholars and writers were no longer as important as factory workers, iron workers, and miners. It is regretful that there are not many surviving pieces that date back to any earlier than the end of the Ming Dynasty in the mid 17th century. Unfortunately, the materials used were too frail and most literati pieces have deteriorated so much they have become unrecognizable.
Nowadays, Chinese art has modernized along with the rest of China. Experimental ink painting has replaced the style of the literati. This new contemporary art form includes urban ink painting, modern calligraphy, and abstract ink painting (Zhaohui).No longer do artists consider the literati China’s national art form and most are quick to dismiss it as unrefined and not contemporary enough for today’s world.
Hopefully, there are some practitioners of the lost art who still practice as the old masters did. Perhaps one day there might even be a revival of traditional Chinese ink painting. The art of the literati produced some of the most beautiful and elegant imagery in the entire history of the world. There will never again be anything like it.
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