Nanzong paintings are essentially literati paintings, and the themes of Nanzong landscape paintings are often combined with seclusion and outdoor travel. In the Yuan Dynasty painter Wang Meng's "Residence in Qingbian", the Ming Dynasty Tang Bohu's "Riding a Donkey Returning to Thinking", the Qing Dynasty Bada Shanren's "Riding on a Stream", and even the contemporary painter Fang Jinlu's "Residence in Streams and Mountains" "", regardless of whether there are human figures in the picture, the thought of retreat has always been the eternal theme of Nanzong's landscape paintings.
(The secluded residence in the Xishan Mountains is a golden furnace)
Nanzong landscape painting emphasizes the use of brushes and inks, and pays attention to the use of brushes in calligraphy. It is a painting element that expresses existence and is symbolic. Features. "Exhibition of existence" is different from "expression of state", which refers to using the language of words to correspond to the existence of objects, rather than using many factors to express the specific state of objects. For example, the painting method of mountain rocks in Fang Jinlu's "Magnificent Pictures of River Gorges" reflects symbolic characteristics, which also coincides with the characteristics of calligraphy. In terms of the use of ink, Nanzong's landscape paintings emphasize the richness and contingency of ink color. The emphasis on pen and ink is one of the most prominent features of Nanzong's landscape paintings. It is the "professional sensitivity" formed by the literati group's long-term practice of writing and ink. Appreciation of literati landscape paintings focuses on the various changes formed by the interaction between ink, water, and paper, advocating uncontrolled contingency to demonstrate freehand effects.
(Magnificent Picture of Jiang Gorge, Fang Jinlu)
Nanzong’s landscape paintings focused on the form of ink and wash, with varying degrees of neglect of color, which is still the case today. It is not that literati painters reject color, but that they pay attention to getting rid of the shackles of appearance and expressing the spiritual essence. To some extent, they are influenced by the Buddhist concept of "color is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from color". Literati paintings do not pay attention to color, but simply appreciate the changes in brushwork and ink color, which reflects a kind of literati sensitivity and interest.
The literati’s cognition, concepts, consciousness, and aesthetics all together constitute the deep spiritual structure of Nanzong’s landscape painting. The concepts of these deep structures established the cultural tone of Nanzong’s landscape painting. The view of time and space and the view of movement and stillness in Nanzong's landscape paintings are unique. "One water in ten days, one stone in five days. The principles of creation are extremely quiet and profound" (Yun Shouping said). For example, in Fang Jinluo's "Boating on Streams and Mountains", he uses the present to experience the moment and eternity, blurring the boundaries between stillness and movement. As Guo Xi said in "Linquan Gaozhi": "Every distance and every difference is the so-called mountain walking step by step; every time I look at it and every difference is the so-called mountain shape, see it from all sides." This point of view presents the moving viewing process in a static picture. middle.
(Xishan Boating Picture Square Golden Furnace)
In the literati concept of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism interpenetrating each other, Confucianism "aims at Taoism, bases on virtue, relies on benevolence, and travels in The life proposition of "art" made literati find a gap in their worldly life philosophy to show their worldly attitude. Literati paintings were born out of this need. Taoist thought has profoundly influenced the literati painter's concept of viewing the world. The Taoist "wandering" away from the secular world has always been the realm of freedom that literati have been striving for. For example, "Sleepwalking in a Wonderful Land" expresses the spiritual experience of "wandering in the void" between mountains and rivers. This spirit of spiritual liberation and release corroborates the Taoist thoughts of "unity of nature and man" and "clear mind and contemplation of Tao".