Gaozong Image Study

Images of Qing Gaozong,one of the most representative king painting systems in the history of ancient Chinese royal painting,refer to a series of paintings of Qing Gaozong.According to recorded document,the emergence of king image in figural representation came into being from the Zhou Dynasty at the latest.Currently seen ancient king paintings are mainly the remains of folk memorial temples and tombs of the Han Dynasty,represented by the Wuliang Temple.King painting,which contains the Tan consciousness and sense of prerogative that mirror era's politics,serves as a monument eulogizing merits and virtues,a symbol of rights and status under that temporal social background,which thus lead to the birth of the basic model-king painting of court dress.Three basic features are observed in this kind of king painting.First, unattached space for figural existence,static picture centered on the character;Second,the prettifying and mythicizing of the king's appearance;moreover,vivid and delicate portray of the court dress.Besides the court dress type,three other types,remonstrating,on-the-spot recording and going on the spree,are classified in general.The prosperity of depicting images of Qing Gaozong depends not only on such factors as social politics,people's concept and cultural awareness,and Qing Gaozong himself,but also largely on the economic development of that time.Three major kinds of figure molding are included,king of an empire,reincarnation of Manjushri and a hermit,which share the following features.First,wide and plump forehead;Second,slim eyebrows beyond the coverage of the eyes; Third,square nose with bridge just in the middle,straight and bulge;Fourth,chubby and flap ears, up to the eyebrows and down to the nasal tip;Fifth,slim fingers,with the joints cannot seen;Sixth, well-proportioned and erect figure.These features show that the artists had fused the logic and philosophy of anthroposcopy into the image figuring of Qing Gaozong besides faithfully tracing out his typical features.Moreover,the painting processes were under rigid controlling and severe supervision.On one hand,painters had to conform to the restrained rules of royal painting precisely;on the other,Qing Gaozong himself paid close attention to the painting,he chose the picture content,painting skills to use and even the painting staff.The artistic molding of Qing Gaozong is incomparably varied and complicated in style. However,certain common features and painting rules are observed.First,full-face paintings and three-quarter-face lateral paintings are the most common.Second,varied painting patterns compared with previous dull style,from style of straightening one's clothes and sitting properly only to sitting cross-legged,one-leg crouched,two-legs overlapped,or standing against stone, baluster,table,etc.Third,full-scale portray,same postures,different in clothes or age.Such a diverse image molding successfully sketched Qing Gaozong's appearance and living condition at different stages of life.Cautiously dress and props choosing and siting,all centered on the depicting of the main figure,aimed to extrude Qing Gaozong's grandeur and outstanding.While carrying on traditional king painting skills,artists also made innovations by applying the scientific spirit of Western painting into traditional Chinese royal painting in the creation of images of Qing Gaozong.Although traces of angularity and discord were obvious in this merging,it definitely showed era's characteristics and trend of painting.Thanks to the king's intervening,images of Qing Gaozong,which are more intuitive,are not only important in knowing and understanding Qing Gaozong and royal art of the time,but also pave a way to study the Qing Dynasty's national powder and social relations.Qing Gaozong advocated "educating the people with morals" through written propaganda and paintings which showed his figural enchantment in dealing with national affairs.Paintings depicting ceremonies of hunting,offering and receiving captives,and hunting in the Mulan enclosure every autumn mirror Li's importance in becoming into the lubricant in maintaining social tradition,safeguarding social order,preserving state system,protecting country's unity,connecting the central authorities and the local,the Han people and minorities,royal power and common people.Such elaborate choices aimed to prominent the ideas and concepts of the Manchu ruling class.Emblems available in images,which stand for Qing Gaozong's supreme powder,form an integrated system full of implied and symbolic meaning,and show his ideas about status and ideal symbolizing.Images of Qing Gaozong,which are more vivid and intuitive,make up for the disadvantages of document recording in describing details and microcosmic aspects of the political and cultural states of the time,thus become into a method of history recording besides words.However,as a type of artificially cultural constructions,the picture reality,presented as visual reality,differs from reality of the real experience world.Visual reality,which comes from art history,is not mirages or illusions,but reflects Qing Gaozong's aesthetic taste and his irresistible intervention in painting,is helpful in conjecturing and discerning Qing Gaozong's character and mental act,in analyzing,interpreting and penetrating his reign concept and interrelated acts,thus paves a way to a correct,full-scale evaluation of Qing Gaozong.As a huge,complicated,complete painting system,images of Qing Gaozong embody certain rational,meaningful choosing,designing and conceiving.Not only in style designing,pattern choosing and painting skills,but also in content choosing,painting conception and scale of making,images of Qing Gaozong stand for the uppermost achievement of the official artistic development of the time,thus,great attention should be paid to its influences.