Xu Xi

Xu Xi

He was born in Jinling, Jiangxi Province in the Five Dynasties. He was born in a famous family in the south of the Yangtze River. He was born in the Guangqi period of emperor Xizong of Tang Dynasty. Later, he returned to Song Dynasty with empress Li in the last year of Kaibao (975 A.D.), and soon died of illness. Guo Ruoxu called him "Jiangnan official" when he was not an official in his life. Shen Kuo said that he was "Jiangnan cloth clothes". He is forthright and broad-minded, lofty minded, good at painting flowers, bamboo trees, cicadas, butterflies, grass and insects.

Character experience

Jinling (now Nanjing) people, say Zhongling (now Jiangxi Jinxian) people. The year of birth and death is unknown, but it can be known that he died before the Song Dynasty destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty. He was born in a famous family in the south of the Yangtze River and refused to become an official. Good at painting flowers and bamboo, birds and fish, fruits and vegetables, grass and insects. He often strolled around the fields and gardens. Most of the scenery he saw were wild bamboos, waterfowls, fish, garden vegetables and seedlings. Every time you encounter a scene, you must observe it carefully. Therefore, the description of things is full of vivid interest. In terms of painting method, he reversed the halo and light coloring popular since the Tang Dynasty, and created a new way of expression, that is, first to write the flower branches and leaves in ink, then to paint. He said in his book "Cui Wei Tang Ji" that "at the time of writing, he did not use Fu's color to be faint and delicate.". At that time, Xu Xuan recorded that Xu Xi's paintings were "ink as the standard, miscellaneous colors as the auxiliary, and the trace and color did not reflect each other" (picture information). Critic Wang Jinyu believes that Xu Xi of the Southern Tang Dynasty created the Meticulous Brushwork without bone.

Shen Kuo of the Song Dynasty described Xu Xi's paintings as "based on ink and brush, just a little bit of red powder, with a different look and vivid meaning" (Mengxi pen tan). Xu Xi's painting of cranes and bamboos is described in the painting of deyuzhai in Song Dynasty. It is said that his painting of bamboos "the roots, stems and leaves are all painted with thick ink and thick brush, and the rows of them are lined with green dots, while the tips are like clouds.". Mi Fu also said that when he painted flowers and fruits, he sometimes used chengxintang paper, while when he used silk, the pattern was "slightly thicker than cloth". This kind of subject matter and painting method show his feelings and aesthetic taste as a scholar in the south of the Yangtze River, which is different from the "Huang family's wealth" which is wonderful in painting and light in color, and forms another unique style, which is called "Xu Xi Ye Yi" by the people of Song Dynasty. However, it is recorded in the records of picture seeing and hearing that Xu Xi's painting of "Pu Dian Hua" and "Zhuang Tang Hua" for the court of the Southern Tang Dynasty shows that "the painting of Cong Yan Dieshi on Shuang Kuan's painting, together with medicinal plants, mixed with birds, bees and cicadas" is intended to be dignified in position, parallel to rectification, and most of them are not natural in business. This kind of decorative painting also constitutes another style of Xu Xi's painting.

Posterity of painters

Xu Chongju, Xu chongsi and Xu chongxun are all good at painting. Xu chongsi once participated in the collective creation of the painting of enjoying snow on the new year's day of the middle Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and was responsible for the painting of birds and fish along the pond. After entering the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the fact that "the wealth of the Huang family" became the standard of flower and bird painting in the imperial court of the Northern Song Dynasty, Xu chongsi followed Huang's style and created a kind of boneless painting method without using ink and drawing in color. Xu chongsi's paintings in Xuanhe palace of Northern Song Dynasty are different from yeyi's painting style.

Figure painting style

He painted flowers with a heavy brush. As long as he applied a little Dan powder, his backbone was outstanding, and his business was on the paper. At that time, it was called "Jiangnan flowers and birds, starting from the Xu family". "Writing is a treasure, writing is a model.". His works have the style of "fresh and free" because of "meaning beyond the ancients". It can be said that "the spirit of spirit and spirit is the last of all time.". There was a painting of pomegranate, in which more than 100 fruits were painted on a tree. It was magnificent and bold. It got rid of the soft, greasy and beautiful style in the painting academy at that time. He created "light color of water and ink" with simple and simple techniques. Guo Ruoxu pointed out that Xu Xi had different interests because of his different environmental status from Huang. He also said that he "owns many things in the river and lake, such as Dinghua wild bamboo, waterfowl Yuanyu, today's handed down Fu Yan, Lu Qi, Pu Zao, shrimp fish, Cong Yan, broken branches, garden vegetable and medicinal seedlings..." There are 259 paintings recorded in Xuanhe Huapu. Such as "snow pond wild Heron map" and so on. He is a common people, quiet and indifferent, and devoted to painting. He is good at painting flowers, wild bamboo, waterbirds, fish and insects, fruits and vegetables. He often visited the mountains, forests and gardens to examine the situation of animals and plants. His flower and bird paintings are two major schools in the Five Dynasties with different styles. His paintings of flowers, trees and birds are light in shape and bone. The original "ink drop" method is to use thick brush and thick ink to write branches and leaves calyx pistils, and slightly apply miscellaneous colors, so that the color does not hinder the ink and does not cover the handwriting. A method of drawing with a fine brush and filling in color halo dyeing. However, at that time, Huang Xun had a dominant position in the academy and criticized Xu Xi for not being able to enter the Academy. It was not until later that Xu became famous. Mi Fu said: "Huang's paintings are easy to copy, but Xu Xi's paintings can't be copied." very much. There are 249 pieces of Xu's works in Xuanhe Huapu and deyuzhai's paintings in Hezhu, but there are few authentic works handed down. In addition, the painting of snow bamboo, which is similar to Xu Xi's, is now in the Shanghai Museum.

Forthright temperament

He is forthright, broad-minded and lofty. He is good at painting water birds, insects, fish, vegetables and fruits in the rivers and lakes. He often travels in gardens to observe animals and plants. The birds are light in shape and bone. The painting of flowers and trees, changing the previous fine brush hook, fill color halo dye method, instead of using thick brush thick ink, grass and grass to write branches and leaves calyx pistil, slightly mixed color, color does not hinder the ink, does not cover the handwriting, known as "falling ink flower". At that time, it was called "Jiangnan flowers and birds, starting from the Xu family".

Character evaluation

Xu Xi's paintings were highly valued in the Southern Tang Dynasty and appreciated by Li Yu. In the Song Dynasty, he also enjoyed a high reputation. When he saw the pomegranate painted by Xu Xi, Taizong thought that "I only know the beauty of flowers and fruits, but the rest are not enough.". Both Huang and Huang represent the new level of flower and bird painting in the Five Dynasties, which has an important historical position. However, people in the Song Dynasty commented that Huang is not good for God, Zhao Changmiao is not good for God, and both of them are good for God. Xu Xi's works no longer exist. Now it is said that Xu Xi's "snow bamboo", "jade hall wealth" and "young pigeon medicine seedling" are not authentic works. We can only appreciate their style and painting method. "The painting of Yutang's wealth" depicts magnolia, Begonia and peony with various stamens and a pheasant at the bottom. The title is "Jinling XuXi", and the seal is half printed, which is indistinguishable.

Later generations called it "Huang Xu" together with Huang Xun in the later Shu Dynasty, and commented that "Huang family is rich and noble, Xu Xi is wild and elegant". It is the representative of two major schools of flower and bird painting in the Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty. There are many kinds of plants, such as wild bamboo in Tinghua, deep fish in waterfowl, wild goose in today's world, egret, Puzao, shrimp and fish, Cong Yan, Zhezhi, garden vegetable and medicinal seedlings

Representative paintings

The painting of jade Hall

The painting of Yutang's wealth is 112.5cm in length and 38.3cm in width

Peony is often called the rich flower. It is the king of flowers. Since the Tang Dynasty, peony has become a popular flower and often written by painters. Peony and Pulsatilla (bird name) painted together, called "Yutang Fugui". In Figure 1, peony, Cymbidium, Begonia and Rhododendron are all over the whole picture, and finally the ground is lined with stone green. The branches and leaves, flowers and birds, are outlined with ink, then colored, and a wild bird is painted under the lake and stone. This kind of painting method, which is full of paper and does not leave space, is obviously influenced by Buddhist art. After the Five Dynasties, flower and bird painting prevailed. Xu Xi and Huang Xun, one in the Southern Tang Dynasty and the other in the later Shu Dynasty, were both the ancestors of flower and bird painting. The flower and bird paintings of Huang's school are colorful and gorgeous;

Xu Xi used "ink light color" to give people a sense of elegance. Huang Xun and Xu Xi's style is very different, so there is a saying that "Huang family is rich, Xu Xi is wild and elegant". It's true that Xu Xi is a noble wild artist, who specializes in animals and plants, but rarely in landscapes. Guo Ruoxu's "picture seeing and hearing annals" says that he is "full of flowers, wild bamboos, waterfowls and fish in the lake." It mainly focuses on sketching, which has a great influence on later generations. Xu Xi had never been an official and devoted his whole life to painting. According to the records of pictures, Xu Xi's painting style is that he painted a bunch of colorful stones on the Shuanghe plain, and then produced some medicine seedlings, mixed with birds, bees and cicadas. It is a tool for Li Zhu's palace to hang. It's called "flower shop" and "flower shop" the next day. It's intended to be dignified in position, parallel to the whole group, and not take business as it is This may be a kind of decorative picture hanging on the wall. The year of Xu Xi's birth and death is unknown. It is only known that the Southern Tang Dynasty was at the end of Kaibao period (975 A.D.), and he died of illness not long after empress Li came to the Song Dynasty.

Snow bamboo painting

"Snow bamboo" seems to be the best way to reflect its "ink" style, but it's a pity that you can't see the whole picture without adding color. Fig. 2, 151.1 cm in length and 99.2 cm in width, printed in silk and ink, Shanghai Museum. Mr. Xie zhiliu once wrote an article to introduce this picture. He explained "ink drop" like this: "the so-called" ink drop "refers to drawing the positive and negative concave convex of branches, leaves, pistils and calyx with ink brush, and then adding some colors to some parts slightly." In other words, the shape and spirit of a painting are all settled by ink and ink, and coloring is only an auxiliary. This reflects Xu Xi's bold innovation in writing.

From the view of snow bamboo, the picture depicts dead wood, bamboo and stone after snow. Below is the size of several square Xiushi, not heavy outline but with ink halo dye structure, leaving white to show snow. In the middle behind the stone are three thick bamboos, tall and strong, with strong twigs and leaves. There are several bamboo poles bent or broken by snow, thick or thin, broken or bent, and several bamboo poles interspersed with each other, showing a variety of postures and full of interest. On the left side, there is a section of dead trees, branches are broken, or leaves are hooked, or white, reflecting the bleak snow. In the depiction, Goucun and Yunran, thick and thin pen, thick and light ink, ink dyeing and blank, are also cautious realistic works. Compared with the prevailing "fine goucai" painting style in the Northern Song Dynasty, it is more straightforward and out of the ordinary, but also more realistic

Chinese PinYin : Xu Xi