Shen Zhou

Shen Zhou

Shen Zhou (November 21, 1427 - August 2, 1509) was a native of Changzhou (now Suzhou, Jiangsu Province). Ming Dynasty painting masters, calligraphers, writers, medical experts.

Shen Zhou was born in a wealthy family of scholarly painting. He studied poetry and prose under Chen Kuan when he was young, and studied painting under his uncle Shen Zhen, Liu Jue, Du Qiong and Zhao Tonglu when he was young. All his life, he lived at home, read books, wrote poems and paintings, visited Linquan and pursued spiritual freedom. He never was recruited by the imperial examination and lived in seclusion.

Shen Zhou is the founder of Wumen School of painting. He learned from the four schools of Yuan Dynasty, and went back to Dong Yuan and Juran. He was also involved in the Southern Song Dynasty and Zhejiang School of painting. He formed a unique personal style. He played a connecting role in the field of literati painting since yuan and Ming Dynasties. He was also known as the "four schools of Ming Dynasty" together with Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying. The works handed down from generation to generation include the painting of Lushan Mountain, the painting of Weiyuan elegant collection, the painting of imitating Huang Gongwang's residence in Fuchun mountain, the painting of Cangzhou interest, etc. His works include Shi Tian Ji, Shi Tian manuscript, Shi Tian Wen Chao, Shi Tian Yong Shi Bu Ji Lu, guest news and Xu Qian Jin Fang, but most of them are lost.

Life of the characters

Shen Zhou was born on November 21, 1427, the second year of Xuande. The Shen family named him Shen Zhou, with the word "Qi Nan", implying the meaning of the Duke of Zhou in the book of songs.

In 1433, in the eighth year of Xuande, Shen Zhou became a monk at the age of seven, and studied poetry and prose in Chen Kuan. Shen Zhou had been brilliant since he was a child. In a few years, his work was better than his teacher's, so Chen Kuan took the initiative to thank him

When Shen Zhou was eleven years old, he went to Nandu to study and wrote a hundred poems, which he presented to Cui Gong, the governor's servant. Cui Gong wrote a question to test Shen Zhou's copy of Fenghuang Tai Fu. Shen Zhou picked up the pen and wrote it immediately. Cui Gong sighed that Shen Zhou was very strange. When Shen Zhou grew up, he had no books to read. Writing articles imitates Zuo Si who wrote San Du Fu, writing poems imitates Bai Juyi, Su Shi and Lu You, and writing rules imitates Huang Tingjian. He is very good at painting, and critics think he is the first one in Ming Dynasty.

The prefect of the county recommended Shen Zhou as an official because of his excellent ability. Shen Zhou got the ninth divination of "Dun" according to Zhouyi, so he decided to live in seclusion and escape from the world. He lives in a place with beautiful water, bamboo, pavilions and houses. Pictures, books, incense burning cauldrons and wine glasses are arranged in full and crisscross. Celebrities from all over the world come to visit him and follow him, so that they have no free time. He was remarkable at that time for his extraordinary style and talent. It's very filial to serve your parents. After his father died, he was encouraged to become an official. He replied, "don't you know that my mother has to rely on me for her life? How can I get off his knees? " He has been tired of living in the city, outside the city to buy a temporary accommodation. If you have something to do, just go there. In his later years, he only worried that he was not deep enough to hide his trace. Governor Wang Shu and Peng Li treated him respectfully and politely, and wanted to keep him in his own government, but he refused because his mother was old.

A prefect of a county called for painters to paint the walls of his home. The villagers who were jealous of Shen Zhou reported his name, so Shen Zhou was arrested. Some people advised Shen Zhou to visit princes and nobles in order to seek forgiveness, but Shen Zhou said, "it's my duty to go to serve, but isn't it more humiliating to ask me to visit those princes and nobles?" He went home after finishing his service. Soon after, the prefect went to the palace to see the emperor. The Department in charge of selecting officials asked the prefect, "is Mr. Shen Zhou still well?" The prefect didn't know what to answer. He replied casually, "he's OK." After visiting the cabinet, Li Dongyang asked him, "does Mr. Shen Zhou have a letter?" The prefect was even more shocked, and casually replied, "there is a letter, but it hasn't been delivered yet." When the prefect came out, he called on Wu Kuan and asked him, "who is Mr. Shen Zhou?" Wu Kuan explained the appearance of Shen Zhou in detail. When the prefect inquired about the surrounding attendants, he realized that he was the man who painted the walls of his home. When he came back, he paid a visit to Shen Zhou's family in person, made two bows and attributed the fault to himself.

Because of his mother, Shen Zhou didn't want to travel far away all his life. His mother died at the age of ninety-nine, and Shen Zhou was nearly eighty. Three years later, he died in Zhengde four years later.

Main impact

Artistic achievements

Shen Zhou has played a connecting role in the field of literati painting since the yuan and Ming Dynasties. Huang Tingjian, a master of calligraphy, is particularly accomplished in painting. He also works in landscape, flowers and birds, and can draw figures. He has outstanding achievements in landscape, flowers and birds. In the painting method, Shen Zhou inherited the family education in his early years, and also studied with Du Qiong. Later, he gained many advantages and went to various schools in song and Yuan Dynasties, mainly inheriting the ink and wash system of Dong Yuan, Ju ran and the four schools in Yuan Dynasty, Huang Gongwang, Wang Meng and Wu Zhen. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Li, Liu, Ma and Xia Jinjian's brush and ink were used together to form a new style of thick brush and ink. Shen Zhou became a middle-aged leader of the painting circle. His technique was rigorous and beautiful. His pen was calm and steady, and his muscles and bones were hidden inside. In his later years, he was cheerful, bold and bold, and vigorous. Throughout Shen Zhouzhi's painting, he has comprehensive techniques and profound skills. He has his own creation on the basis of learning from the song and Yuan Dynasties, and has further developed the performance techniques of literati's ink landscape painting and flower and bird painting. He is known as the leader of Wumen painting school.

Shen Zhou's paintings made two great contributions to the traditional landscape painting: first, they integrated the south into the north and carried forward the tradition of literati painting. For example, Shen Zhou's rough brushwork of mountains and waters, with his brushwork integrating the strength and hardness of the Zhejiang School, adding the strength and potential of guarding people to the gullies, integrating the vast and profound of the Southern Song Dynasty with the magnificent and clean of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the emotion expressed by Shen Zhou's brushwork also changed from quiet and cool to broad and peaceful. Second, the combination of poetry, calligraphy and painting. Huang Tingjian, a calligrapher of Shen Zhou, has a strong and unusual style, which is very similar to his vigorous landscape paintings. He also applied the techniques of calligraphy to painting. At the same time, Shen Zhou was also a poet. When he was old, he was "frustrated and old". He combined this poetic style with painting style to make his paintings more poetic and picturesque.

style of art

overview

Shen Zhou's landscape painting art inherited Wang Meng's painting style, which was one of the four schools in Yuan Dynasty, and concurrently operated the style of courtyard style in Southern Song Dynasty. After forming a style of rigorous composition, neat brushwork and meticulous layout, Shen Zhou mainly adopted Wuzhen's painting style, and concurrently operated Ni Zan's and Huang Gongwang's painting style, forming the characteristics of concise composition, dignified brushwork, thick and boundless brushwork, and cursory. From the perspective of painting style, it can be roughly divided into three stages: the early stage of laying the foundation, the middle stage of formation and development, and the late stage of thick brush and ink, old lines and profound artistic conception.

Shen Zhou has played a connecting role in the field of literati painting since the yuan and Ming Dynasties. Huang Tingjian, a master of calligraphy, is particularly accomplished in painting. He also works in landscape, flowers and birds, and can draw figures. He has outstanding achievements in landscape, flowers and birds. Shen Zhou's painting skills are comprehensive and simple. On the basis of imitating the song and Yuan Dynasties, he has his own creation. He has developed the performance techniques of literati's freehand landscape painting and flower and bird painting, and has become the leader of Wumen painting school. Some of his landscape paintings depict mountains and rivers and show the three distant scenes of traditional landscape paintings. Most of the works describe the southern landscape and garden scenery, showing the leisure interest of literati life at that time.

In the painting method, Shen Zhou inherited the family education in his early years, and also studied with Du Qiong. Later, he won many superiors and went to various schools in the song and Yuan Dynasties. In his early years, Shen Zhou made many small paintings. After 40 years old, he began to make large ones. In his middle age, his painting method was rigorous and delicate. He used his pen calmly and energetically. In his later years, his pen was simple, bold and powerful. Shen Zhou's painting skills are comprehensive, and he has his own creation on the basis of learning from his predecessors.

early stage

Shen Zhou was born in an art family, which is a rare advantage for others. At the age of seven, he received enlightenment education under Chen Kuan's guidance. At the age of fifteen, he formally studied painting under Liu Jue's guidance. At the age of 37 (1463), Shen Zhou thought that he had stepped out of the stage of painting practice. According to textual research, before 1461, there were few paintings that Shen Zhou introduced into the society, and there was no record of his drawing friends to see off guests. But around 1463, that is, in the late Tianshun Dynasty, Shen Zhou's paintings were given to others or appeared in social activities.

metaphase

Forty to fifty years old is the key period for the formation and development of Shen Zhou's landscape painting style. Shen Zhou's landscape painting method at this stage mainly adopted Wang Meng, one of the four schools in Yuan Dynasty, and studied Dong Yuan and Juran, forming a detailed style. At the same time, it was not limited to the influence of family learning and Wang Meng's or Song Dynasty's painting style, but also the painting styles of Wuzhen, Huang Gongwang and Ni Zan. The styles of his paintings have changed from complex to simple, from fine to coarse, and expanded to a large extent. On the other hand, most of the paintings are based on the idyllic scenery in the south of the Yangtze River, with the painter's unique feelings integrated into the pen, showing the vast and heavy landscape situation. The works have shown the trend of transforming from "thin Shen" to "coarse Shen".

The artistic style transformation period of Shen Zhou's landscape painting is between 50 and 60 years old, which is the shaping period of Shen Zhou's "rough Shen" style. At this stage, on the one hand, he continued to learn from the four schools of Yuan Dynasty, on the other hand, he tried to innovate the techniques. In the exploration and practice, he successfully performed the painting techniques of Wang Meng, Dong Yuan, Ju ran, Huang Gongwang, Mi Fu, Ni Zan, Wu Zhen, etc. In the middle and late period of Shen Zhou, the artistic style of landscape painting mainly adopted Wuzhen, and made a new breakthrough in inheritance and deduction. At the same time, he successfully integrated Huang Tingjian's calligraphy into the expression of landscape painting language, making his painting form a "rough and deep" personal appearance.

advanced

The late stage of Shen Zhou's landscape painting art was after 60 years old. During this period, Shen Zhou's paintings combined Wu Zhen's changeable way of brush and ink, Wang Meng's fine and thick style of painting, and Huang Gongwang's brush

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