CAHILL: "The Imperial Painting Academy" (Possessing the Past)
173: (Southern Song Academy). The southern Song world is characterized as idealized and secure, like a huge garden. Animals are shown well-fed & groomed, most people are elegant and aristocratic. Nature is not presented as threatening or majestic as in northern works where it is stern and harsh. These have generally been explained as a longing for security from the harsh realities of the Northern border threats, and the move of the population into a more congenial physical landscape. Hangzhou was a huge extended park; at the time it was designated the capital the population was 200,000; by 1265 it was over 1,000,000. Probably the messiness of crowded urban life reinforced the desire for the theme of retreat into a bucolic natural setting.
174: Much of southern Song figure painting is palace ladies and children; gathering of scholar-gentlemen in a garden, life in the palace (banquets, seasonal observations). The paintings are highly mood evocative, with implicit narratives (of greater interest than any new realistic rendering techniques or expressive characterization or innovation in depiction as such. Figures are generally inseparable from their surroundings (great importance in this period).
Su Hanchen (1130s-1160s act.) was the best known of this specialization in all Chinese Ptg history. He was probably a native of Qiantang (Hangzhou environs) and active under Gaozong and Xiaozong. Also did religious ptgs (B&D wall murals). Children at Play & Winter Play (both unsigned, but = the highest level, equiv. to Su’s work) are both 6.5 feet tall, could be a pair or part of a series. Kids playing in a garden paintings = prob. generic kids rather than particulars. Peacock feather banner is the same as in drama that signals a general or leader of troops (imagining they’re riding? Kitten >> tiger?) As much care goes into depiction of the garden setting as into the participants. Pitted stone = ornamental, prob. brought from Lake Tai (n. of Hangzhou), a collector’s item by those times. Camelia, plum. HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS IS A WINTER SCENE? (bamboo has a few bare twigs, brown leaves; kids’ clothes?) but still = pretty sunny. Huge size, decorative and pleasant theme: prob. hung in the tall-ceilinged rooms of the palace, likely in the inner quarters. (public message paintings went into audience halls, where they were seen by officials – lots of moral exemplars from the the Han went in this location; paintings with political themes were presented to meritorious ministers on occasions of promotion and retirement – esp used were anecdotes from history and legendary figures, with elaborate figure combinations…)
177: Ministers and admonitions as a calculated risk: "Breaking the Balustrade" : Zhu Yun (low official, during the reign of Chengdi, 33-7 b.c.) was a whistle-blower of corrupt officials; he asked for the imperial sword to execute one, Zhang Yu the Marquis of Anchang, who happened to be the emperor’s confidant at the moment. Assumed possible loss of life in fulfilling his duties; Xin Qingji (a loyal & upright general) stepped in to save his life when the Emp. got mad. Song founder vowed not to take the lives of officials for remonstrating with him; all his successors followed suit.
178: *Anon. Night in the Han Palace? Lots of incident and info packed into a small fan painting. Probably represents the mid-autumn festival (moon viewing) particularly female because of the association of the moon with yin qualities. (8th mo., 15th day). Party in a hall of the palace- very colorful furniture, bronzes, vases on tables, branches of coral. WHY IS TERE A CURTAIN IN THE FOREGROUND? Procession with tall fans, musical instruments, boxes of moon cakes, other offerings, women walking through hole in rockery (artificial) upper story of the tower – site where the offering are made (possibly) and poems were composed to suit the occasion. In the left upper part of the painting you can see the cross braces, uprights and flags of a swing frame – swinging from tall swings was a favored pastime of Song women. "dragonfly ladies".
Lower class individuals were much less frequent in number and usually appeared for the sake of something other than their own. Poor people could be depicted as admonishments about conditions; bustling cityscapes could be a sign of good government. The Knickknack peddler genre has been suggested as a metaphor for the benevolence of the emperor, who goes around bestowing goodies among the populace. But this can also be seen as a tableau, and pieces demonstrating technical virtuosity, very detailed, polished, and observant. 3 of these by Li Song are signed and dated; this one (in PTP) also has "500 obj3ects" written on the tree trunk – part of the point of the "performance" of the painting. Li Song was local to Hangzhou, came into the imperial court under his adoptive father Li Zongxun; he served as painter in attendance for 3 emperors (1189-1264). His early training as a carpenter specializing in architectural draftsmanship led to his later specialty in "boundary painting" (ruler-aided). Peddler as a ‘walking 5 & dime". Models of eyes and teeth on his necklace indicate that he also offered dentistry and optometric services. A rainhat has a sign proclaiming him skilled at doctoring cows, horses, and children. Characterization = lively in peddler’s aggravation at having to restrain eager kids climbing the pack. Lower class status is indicated in the indecorous postures, tense facial expression, and rumpled clothing (drawn in nail-head & rat-tail lines).