Brief introduction of eight Jinling families

Gong Xian, Fan Yin, Wu Hong, Zou Zhe, Xie Xun, Ye Xin, Gao Cen and Hu Yi were the eight famous people in Jinling in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Jinling was the main painting school in the early Qing Dynasty.

In fact, besides the Eight Schools, there were other painters in Jinling at that time, such as Chen Zhuo, Lu Riwei, wudan and Ying Daizhen. They are all influenced by Jinling painting style to some extent, or they are advocates themselves.

In the early Qing Dynasty, they were independent creative groups outside the Four Kings Orthodox School. Compared with the previous generation, they have made great breakthroughs in creative techniques and ideas, forming a brand-new style. Later generations called it "Jinling School". In order to distinguish them from the modern Jinling School represented by Fu Baoshi and Qian Songyan, we often call them the old Jinling School.

Who are the painters of the Eight Schools in Jinling?

First, Mo Yun's Infinite Fairy

Gong Xian, a native of Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, is the first of the "Eight Families in Jinling". Born in the 17th year of Wanli (A.D. 16 19), he died in the 28th year of Kangxi (A.D. 1689).

His early years coincided with frequent social unrest and difficulties in internal affairs and diplomacy in the Ming Dynasty. At this time, the people were miserable and their lives were ruined, so they drifted away in their early years and had no fixed place to live. Until his later years, when the society became stable, Gong Xian began to live in seclusion in Liang Qing, Nanjing, devoting himself to painting and selling paintings for a living.

Gong Xian is good at landscape painting. He studied under the philosophers of Song and Yuan Dynasties, and was able to get rid of the stereotype of the ancients, advocating sketching and traveling more. Therefore, his works are fresh and lively, changing the stale flavor since Dong Qichang, and the landscape returns to the true way of depicting beautiful mountains and rivers.

Most of his works are based on the local scenery in Nanjing or what he saw in his travels, and most of them describe the real scenery. In the postscript of "The Endless Map of the Western Hills" now in the Palace Museum in Beijing, it was said that "Fugui Mountain, which does not cover all the five mountains, has its own branches and the water is active". This paper fully expounds his artistic creation concept of "nature as a teacher".

His landscape techniques have made great breakthroughs on the basis of absorbing the strengths of the ancients, especially his mastery of ink color, which has reached a state of perfection. He used the change of ink color to show the difference between distance and light and shade, which fully reflected the natural expression of things.

His techniques mainly come from the "ink accumulation method" of Song people, and they are fully displayed. The first time it was paved with fine points, and the second time it was fine, complicated and not dull. Then the third rubbings are started, with fine points and short points as the main points, and then thick points and light points are covered when the work is not dry, and this is repeated as many as six or seven times (Chai Zhang diagram).

The drawing method of rock is to draw the outline first, then dry and then wet. After repeated, the shape of the rock is rich and colorful, the texture is delicate and the layers are rich. The painting method of the tree is also baked and dyed with ink layer by layer, making it lush, making the distance of the tree realistic, gloomy and with a sense of vastness.

His works are usually inky, and later generations generally refer to this kind of Gong Xian's works as "Black Gong". This kind of works is quite common in Gong Xian's works, which has been handed down from generation to generation, with a large market circulation and a large proportion.

Second, quiet Fan Yin.

In addition to Gong Xian, Fan Yin (16 16- 1694) is a famous Jiangning native, who is called Zigong or Qigong. He also pays attention to landscape creation, learning from Dong, Ju, Song and Yuan Dynasties, and also works as flowers and figures.

His landscape works generally have two styles, one is the narrow road with the meaning of green landscape, and the other is the simple way of ink landscape. His works are full of natural flavor. If Gong Xian's landscape can be endowed with natural charm, then Fan Yin's works are full of natural charm.

His works are relatively natural, and the Wind and Rain Map of Jianggan, which is now in Shanghai Museum, is a typical representative work. It depicts the beautiful scenery, floating river banks and poetic Lin Yuan of a group of water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. From the picture, it adopts a flat setting technique, extending from a cluster of trees at the lower left of the picture to the middle right of the picture, with houses, bridges and houses, which constitute the main image of the picture.

Further, the ridge bends to the upper left corner of the picture, which constitutes the main direction of the picture and is also where the qi pulse lies. In this way, a large blank is left in the middle, that is, the river is rippling with blue waves and boundless blue waves. As can be seen from the wave movement, the wind blows from left to right, and the tree under the painting also falls to the right under the action of the wind, making the picture look very dynamic.

The technology in Fan Yin is very different from that in Gong Xian. He has many fine lines and long lines, but he does not repeatedly pursue the level of dots and dyes. He relies more on lines and colors to make the picture more natural and realistic, which has a strong artistic impact.

Fan Yin's artistic attainments are second only to Gong Xian's among the Eight Masters, so his works handed down from ancient times are more than others. At present, it is also common in the market, among which there are many fine products.