Zhejiang News, October 11th (Xie Panpan, Bao Siyu) Recently, under the guidance of the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, 14 state-owned museums jointly exhibited the “Danqiu Ink Traces – Taizhou Historical Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition”, which was held simultaneously on the first and fourth floors of the Taizhou Museum.
Taizhou is a place of outstanding people and a gathering place of literati and scholars throughout history. The Xianju ancient Yue rock paintings and the Lu Qiao Gonghe rock paintings confirm the embryonic origin of Chinese painting; The legend of Wang Xizhi’s “Eternal Characters and Eight Methods” is passed down in the Tiantai Huading area. Mi Fu and his son traveled to Taizhou and left behind masterpieces such as “Yunshan Grass Brush” and “Ye Jing Tie”. From ancient times to the present, wise masters, Sima Chengzhen, Zheng Qian, Ke Jiusi, Pu Hua, Zhang Yishan and other high-ranking monks and scholars throughout history have expressed their emotions and aspirations in the painting, passing down the cultural heritage of Taizhou and passing down a batch of calligraphy and painting treasures.
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Exhibition site. Yang Hui provided pictures
At present, there are more than 6000 calligraphy and painting collections in various museums in Taizhou City, ranging from Tang Dynasty scriptures, Northern Song Dynasty Buddhist scriptures and paintings, Yuan and Zhou Runzu cursive script, to new works of this century, such as works by famous artists such as Wang Bomin, Ding Liren, and Zhu Daoping.
The “Danqiu Ink Traces – Taizhou Historical Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition” gathers the cultural relics resources of the city’s museums and art galleries, showcasing a total of 162 calligraphy, painting, and stele works from the Sui Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It also gathers 18 second level cultural relics and 77 third level cultural relics, including famous artists such as Wu Changshuo, Lu Yuan, Liu Yong, and Huang Binhong. It offers a one-stop view of the calligraphy and painting works of Taizhou’s historical masters.
This exhibition is divided into two phases and four units, reproducing the historical context of Taizhou. The first exhibition will be held from September 28 to November 12, 2023, with the contents of “Tracing – The Origin of Taizhou Calligraphy and Painting” and “Duoying – Famous Works of Taizhou Calligraphy and Painting”; The second exhibition will be held from November 24th, 2023 to January 14th, 2024, with the contents of “Continuation – Taizhou Calligraphy and Painting Beads” and “Reproduction – Taizhou Elements of Chinese Masterpieces”.
This past summer vacation, museums across the country have experienced unprecedented crowds and enthusiasm, and even a ticket is hard to come by. Once there is an exhibition with good exhibits, it is always crowded with people. In recent years, museum exhibitions have become increasingly close to the cultural needs of the public.
This is Taizhou’s first attempt to showcase the collections of 14 state-owned museums together.
“In the history of Taizhou, there have been numerous figures and renowned artists, and the historical relics of calligraphy and painting are very rich and splendid, occupying a place in the history of Chinese calligraphy and painting. This is the first time that museums in the city have concentrated their collections of calligraphy and painting through joint exhibitions, revitalizing local resources and promoting inter museum cooperation. It is a common event for the cultural and museum circles in the city.” said Cai Wenfu, Director of the Taizhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports.
Taizhou is located in a corner of the sea, with unique natural geographical environment and cultural characteristics.
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi learned calligraphy from Mr. Baiyun in Tiantai, and later made great progress in his calligraphy skills. Xiang Rong, a Tang Dynasty painter on the rooftop, was skilled in painting mountains, rivers, and turquoise, and was one of the pioneers in freehand ink and wash landscape painting techniques. In his “Record of Brush Techniques,” Jing Hao, a master of landscape painting in the Five Dynasties period, praised him for his unique use of ink.
In order to enrich the exhibition, this grand exhibition also launched related cultural and creative activities such as postcards, folding fans, and eco-friendly bags.
The first unit of this exhibition, “Tracing,” uses inscriptions on bricks and inscriptions on tablets to trace its origins. In the exhibition of over 20 inscriptions on bricks from the Six Dynasties and rubbings on Tang, Song, and Yuan Dynasty steles, one can still feel the traces of ancient calligraphy and painting art in Taizhou, and glimpse the cultural endowment of Taizhou’s ancestors..The situation of being introduced to China and spreading to Middle earth over the past 100 years.
At present, the public can still see rubbings of stone carvings of Buddha statues carved along the Sui Pagoda line of Guoqing Temple. These Buddha statues were originally located on the inner wall of the second floor of the Sui Pagoda at the entrance of Guoqing Temple. A line carved Bodhisattva from over 1400 years ago, with a round and vigorous face, draped in armpits and hanging necklaces, adorned with a wide neckline and a gemstone in the center. The entire statue is delicately depicted, with refined techniques and a natural expression.
The second unit “Duoying” showcases over 100 exquisite calligraphy and painting works from the Ming Dynasty collected in various parts of Taizhou. Each author is a well-known celebrity, such as Lin Zexu, Zuo Zongtang, Wu Changshuo, Lu Yuan, Liu Yong, and others.
Lu Yuan, born in Suzhou, Jiangsu, with the courtesy name Jingzhi, was active in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and was skilled in mountains and rivers. Due to his superb painting skills, many of his works are kept in the Qing Palace. In Lu Yuan’s “Song Ge Gao Yin Tu Ji” painting, the towering pine trees stand tall in the sky, with pavilions facing the water and two scholars singing high inside. The mountains and rocks are mostly dyed with hooks and less textured. The pen is firm and the ink color is delicate and smooth, with the main coloring being green ochre.
Li Gonglin, a great painter of the Northern Song Dynasty, once had a masterpiece called “The Picture of Robbing Bowls”. This painting depicts the story of a Japanese mother who converted to Buddhism in the “Treasure Collection Sutra”. Later, Zhu Yu, a famous figure from the Yuan Dynasty, also copied this painting and named it “Jiebo Tu”. At this exhibition, we can see the “Jiebo Painting” copied by Zhu Dan of the Ming Dynasty. This painting is exquisitely crafted with a delicate brush, depicting characters and ghosts that are lifelike and full of vitality. The characters and ghosts themselves are light ochre colored, with a light blue background around them. The entire painting revolves around the ghosts unveiling bowls to rescue and rob the ghosts, with the left Buddha and the right Ghost Mother. The background is not depicted in the entire painting, and the scene is quite grand.
In the long river of Chinese history and culture, there is also the story of Taizhou. The third unit “Continuation” unit restores famous local masters and products in the history of Taizhou, such as Wang Fen from Huangyan and Qi Zhaonan from Tiantai. When visiting exhibitions, people can bring their curiosity to search for famous works from their hometown.
The final unit of this exhibition, “Reproduction,” showcases the elements of Taizhou in the works of famous artists. Examples such as Wang Xun’s “Boyuan Tie”, Zhan Ziqian’s “Spring Tour”, and Qian Weicheng’s “Auspicious Scenery of Taishan” are closely related to the people and scenery of Taizhou.