HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jing Hao (, also known as Hongguzi) (c. 855–915) was a Chinese landscape painter and art theorist of the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...
in Northern China. As an artist, he is often cited along with his pupil,
Guan Tong Guan Tong () (c. 906-960) was a Chinese painter of the Northern Landscape style during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and early Song dynasty from the city of Chang'an.''中国绘画全集'', Vol 2, p. 6. He was a pupil of Jing Hao, a ...
, as one of the most critical figures in the development of the style of monumental
landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composi ...
which appeared near the end of the Five Dynasties period. Later this style would come to be known as the Northern Landscape style; it strongly influenced the tradition of
Northern Song Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...
painters. As a theorist, he is the person most responsible for codifying the theories underlying the work of later painters, and his treatises on painting and aesthetics continued to serve as textbooks for Northern Song artists more than a century after his death.


Life and career

Jing Hao began his artistic career during the later years of the
Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingd ...
. Initially he was influenced by the emphasis on monumental landscapes of Tang painters. Their goal to express the grandeur and harmony of nature was exemplified by the established masters such as Wang Wei. Following the collapse of the Tang, Northern China descended into a period of political chaos—the
Five Dynasties The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...
—in which five separate ruling lines established themselves and were destroyed by factional infighting in rapid succession. An aversion to the turmoil of his era led Jing Hao to retire to seclusion in the northern
Taihang Mountains The Taihang Mountains () are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over from north to south and has an average elevation of . The principal peak is ...
. Here he spent the greater portion of his life in the pursuit of artistic development. Taihang is an isolated region of dense cloud forests punctuated by jagged peaks. These unique geographical characteristics made the region particularly suited to Jing's developing interest in
ink wash Ink wash painting ( zh, t=水墨畫, s=水墨画, p=shuǐmòhuà; ja, 水墨画, translit=suiboku-ga or ja, 墨絵, translit=sumi-e; ko, 수묵화, translit=sumukhwa) is a type of Chinese ink brush painting which uses black ink, such as tha ...
techniques. Jing was one of the earliest Chinese artists to employ ink washes ('' yongmo'') to simulate depth and
atmospheric perspective Aerial perspective, or atmospheric perspective, refers to the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as viewed from a distance. As the distance between an object and a viewer increases, the contrast between the object and its b ...
. Building on the approach initially pioneered by Tang painters such as
Xiang Rong Xiang Rong (; 18019August 1856) was a Chinese military general and politician. He was born in Wuxi County, Chongqing, and was promoted from the rank of a foot soldier during the later years of the Qing dynasty (16361912). He was involved in early ...
, Jing wrote that the principal aim of the ''yongmo'' technique was to “distinguish higher and lower arts of objectswith a gradation in ink tones, and represent clearly shallowness and depth, making them appear natural as if they had not been done with a brush.” Of Xiang himself, Jing wrote that the earlier artist had “attained the secret of mysterious truth only through the use of ink wash”, but criticized Xiang for his lack of definition, lamenting that Xiang had “no bone in his brushwork”. Jing departed from such an approach by employing in his landscapes a mixture of atmospheric ink washes and bold brush strokes to accurately transcribe the
Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level ...
landscapes in which he worked. This technique, called '' cun fa'', would characterize all of his major works as well as those of other artists who would study his work in later years. In his writings, Jing described ''cun fa'' as a way of allowing the heart to follow after the brush. He wrote, “The image is to be seized without hesitation, so that the representation does not suffer. If the ink is too rich, it loses its expressive quality; if too weak in tone, it fails to achieve a proper vigour.” In other words, he sought to allow denser forms to take shape spontaneously out of the ink wash, like rocky crags jutting forth from misty basins. This embrace of spontaneity is readily apparent in his surviving works, such as ''Mount Lu''.


Noted works

Despite his influence on the course of Northern
Chinese painting Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as ''guó huà'' (), meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western style ...
, few works produced by Jing Hao have survived to the present day, and those that have are in poor condition. The piece most frequently held as a template of his style is ''Mount Lu'', an ink painting on silk scroll which gives a rather fantastical rendering of one of
Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north into ...
's natural landmarks. The work is a tight, vertical composition, employing Jing's newly developed ''cun fa'' technique to compress the landscape into layers of jutting rock-pillars between chasms of mist. The enclosed space of the composition enhances the monumental characteristics of the mountain, which fills some 90% of the scroll. Humans and buildings, though drawn with remarkable realism in a manner that contrasts sharply against the atmospheric landscape surrounding, are reduced to an almost unnoticeable scale, clustered at the foot of the mountain at the very bottom of the scroll, further conveying the intimidating grandeur of the natural world over the transient activities of man. Scholars have noted, however, that the mist in ''Mount Lu'' plays only a minimal role compared with that seen in some of Jing's other works, being employed much more conservatively than is common for the artist—a fact which has led to some speculation among art historians that this particular work may represent a “reminiscence” during a later period in the artist's life. Aside from ''Mount Lu'', only one other major surviving work bearing the signature of Jing Hao has survived into the present. ''Travellers in Snow-Covered Mountains'' was recovered during the excavation of a tomb, and is currently exhibited in the Nelson-Atkins Museum in
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
,
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to ...
. However, although archaeological evidence suggests that the painting does indeed date from the mid-10th century—a period overlapping Jing's productive years—some scholars have thrown its authorship into question. Despite the signature, a number of art historians, including Jonathan Hay of
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, t ...
's
Institute of Fine Arts The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) of New York University is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philos ...
, consider the painting too “primitive” to have been produced by an artist of Jing's reputation. Therefore, the attribution of this work to Jing Hao remains a subject of academic dispute.


''Bifa Ji''

Although admired as an artist during his own time and beyond, Jing Hao achieved his greatest fame as a theoretician, and it was during his seclusion in the Taihang that Jing Hao produced what is perhaps his most lasting contribution to
Chinese arts Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based in or draws on Chinese ...
, a treatise on painting humbly titled '' Bifa Ji'' (“Notes on Brushwork”), which would provide the theoretical basis of the
Northern Song Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...
school for more than a century to come. In ''Bifa Ji'', which is written as a narrative, Jing Hao's theories on art are presented in a fictional conversation he has with an old man he meets on a road while wandering in the mountains. The old man, a sage, gives the artist a lecture, in which he describes five underlying essentials of painting: the first is ''spirit'', the second ''rhythm'', the third ''thought'', the fourth ''scenery'', the fifth ''brush'', and finally the sixth, ''ink''. Art historians have pointed out that these are almost certainly intended as a counterargument to the “six principles” of the famous pre- Tang theoretician Xie He, which emphasized the technical basics of painting—brush strokes and the application of color. Jing Hao provides a more logical and analytical approach, by first establishing abstract concepts such as thought and rhythm and then proceeding, from those, to practical application. After describing each of the six essentials in turn, the sage then takes a further step which will lay the foundation for the
Northern Song Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...
school, by creating a distinction between ''hua'' (“likeness”, conveying the outward appearance of a thing) and ''shi'' (“substance”, conveying the inherent nature of a thing). He insists that the type of brushstroke used in a painting must correspond to the inner nature of the object being depicted—for example, rocks must be painted with broad, hard brush strokes, flowers with delicate, thin brush strokes, etc. In ''Bifa Ji'', Jing argues that an artist must strive to find a delicate balance between communicating the physical resemblance of an object, and conveying the emotional character it possesses—or, in the words of historian Michael Sullivan, an artist must strive for harmony between ''form'' and ''spirit''. The search for such a balance between the real and the abstract would form the basis of
Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based in or draws on Chinese c ...
criticism for centuries to come.


Influence on later artists

Jing Hao's theories on art provided the foundation for much of what was to come during the later
Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
. Most obvious is his influence on his pupil,
Guan Tong Guan Tong () (c. 906-960) was a Chinese painter of the Northern Landscape style during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and early Song dynasty from the city of Chang'an.''中国绘画全集'', Vol 2, p. 6. He was a pupil of Jing Hao, a ...
, who spent many years studying with Jing in the mountains of
Shanxi Province Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level ...
, and who later expanded upon his theories of ''hua'' and ''shi'' by extending the concepts not only to landscapes, but to seasons, animals and people as well. In the early 17th century, noted
Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...
art historian
Dong Qichang Dong Qichang (; courtesy name Xuanzai (玄宰); 1555–1636), was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, politician, and art theorist of the later period of the Ming dynasty. Life as a scholar and calligrapher Dong Qichang was a native of Hua Ting (l ...
classified Jing Hao and Guan Tong as the two founders of the Northern Landscape style, juxtaposed against the two founders of the southern school, Dong Yuan and Juran, who developed their theories at the same time."Jing Hao and Guan Tong"
Indeed, the two pairs were close enough that they are often referred to simply as “Jing-Guan” and “Dong-Ju” respectively. But Jing's fame was also apparent in his own era, as his work continued to be studied by Song artists such as Fan Kuan—who, like Jing, retreated into solitude and spent the last years of his life in the
Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level ...
mountains in order to be closer to nature.


See also

* Fan Kuan * Li Cheng *
Xiang Rong Xiang Rong (; 18019August 1856) was a Chinese military general and politician. He was born in Wuxi County, Chongqing, and was promoted from the rank of a foot soldier during the later years of the Qing dynasty (16361912). He was involved in early ...
* Xie He *
Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based in or draws on Chinese c ...
*
History of Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by overseas Chinese, Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based in or d ...
* Tang Dynasty painting * List of Chinese painters


Notes


References

*Barnhardt, Richard M.; Xin, Yang; Congzheng, Nie; Chaill, James; Shaojun, Lang; Wu, Hung (2002). ''Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting''. Yale University Press. , (Paperback). *Hay, Jonathan (2008). ''Travellers in Snow-Covered Mountains: A Reassessment''. Orientations Magazine. Volume 39, Number 8. November/December 2008. Hong Kong. * Sullivan, Michael (1999). ''The Arts of China''. University of California Press. (Paperback). *Watson, William (2003). ''The Arts of China 900-1620''. Yale University Press. , (Paperback). {{DEFAULTSORT:Jing Hao 850s births 915 deaths 9th-century Chinese painters 10th-century Chinese painters Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms landscape painters Later Liang (Five Dynasties) painters Later Liang (Five Dynasties) people born during Tang People from North China Tang dynasty landscape painters Year of birth uncertain