Admonitions of the Court Instructress to Palace Ladies by Gu Kaizh - Literature review Example

Gu Kaizhi and His Piece “Admonitions of the Court Instructress to Palace Ladies” Globalization has had an effect on more than simply the business world as we become more and more familiar with the works of great art from origins far from our own traditions, such as the masterpieces that were produced hundreds of years ago in ancient China. By studying some of these works, we can learn more about the people who produced them as well as the society in which they lived, the ideas that were important to them and the aesthetic ideals they held. Ancient Chinese artisans developed their own theories regarding art and technique very independent of Western traditions and prove very useful in understanding the ideas expressed in the artworks created. One artist who had a profound impact upon the development of traditional Chinese painting was a man named Gu Kaizhi who lived from 344-406 AD. Although it is believed none of his actual works have survived, copies made of his work as early as the eighth century as well as theories he developed have been preserved giving the modern day a glimpse into the genius and inventiveness of the man. What is known about Gu Kaizhi the man is sketchy at best. According to Barnhart et al (), the earliest known biography of him didn’t appear until at least 25 years after his death and evidence of the effect of the legend versus the reality of Gu is already abundantly apparent. The next biography wasn’t written for another 400 years, making it necessary for the author to rely to a great extent upon the legends and stories that were told about him rather than the known hard facts of his life. “His fame grew over the course of time; pre-Tang critics differed markedly in evaluating his painting, but all Tang writers praised him in the highest terms” (Barnhart et al, 1997: 47). What is known about him is that he was born in 344 AD the son of some sort of governmental official in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province (Gu Kaizhi, 2004). This places his childhood upon the Yangtze River Delta and exposed to a great variety of sights and sounds that would later inform his artwork. As the son of a governmental official, it is not surprising to discover that Gu also served the Chinese government as a young man, touring the provinces and further becoming exposed to many beautiful sights as well as becoming well-versed in the activities of other men (Gu Kaizhi, 2004). In addition to painting, Gu was also reputed to have been very talented in literature and writing, leaving behind several poems and a healthy reputation for being eccentric and taking a unique approach to his subjects. What is known of his life exists in the form of stories about his artistic achievements. For example, one story told about him occurred when he was a young man. When a new temple had been completed, it was still necessary for them to raise a great deal of funds to pay for its construction. “The wealthy people and officials donated only 100,000 yuan, but Gu Kaizhi, as soon as he stepped inside, wrote in the record book 1 million yuan. People around were aghast and thought he was joking” (Gu Kaizhi, 2004). However, the artist immediately began work on an image of the Buddha to decorate the temple wall. Although a crowd of people gathered eager to see the completed image, but Gu Kaizhi refused to finish the eyes of the work until everyone observing the artwork in progress agreed to return the following day and donate 100,000 yuan each (Gu Kaizhi, 2004). As part of the process of completing the eyes, the story is told of how the artist first cleansed himself thoroughly and purified himself with incense and prayer before he ever picked up his brush. From this point, he touched the painting with his brush, making two short strokes in the right position and the painting seemed to come to life. “His eyes shone with kindness inside the temple. The donators praised highly and generously took out their wallets. Soon several million yuan was collected” (Gu Kaizhi, 2004). This ceremony held before painting the eyes of an important or sacred figure is still practiced in Japan today. Gu is widely recognized as the founding father of Chinese figure painting. “Gu Kaizhi was said in his own time to have painted things ‘like no one has ever seen before’ and was critically renowned for his ability to ‘describe the spirit through the form’ (Chinese: yi xing xie shen) of his subjects, using a gossamerlike ink-outline technique” (McCausland, 2005). The eyes were only the start of this process. “Spirit, charm and life are all shown in the eyes” (Gu Kaizhi cited in McCausland, 2005). This idea is expressed in another story of Gu’s life of a time when he painted Ruan Ji and Ji Kang. In this painting of the two sages of the bamboo forest, Gu neglected to paint in the eyes of the figures. “When asked why, he replied humorously, ‘I could never paint their eyes, otherwise they would be able to speak” (McCausland, 2005). Gu’s attention to fine details that help to bring out the personality and important characteristics of his subjects can also be found in these stories about him. “Gu was once asked to paint Pei Kai’s portrait, a man with three, long, fine hairs on his face that had been ignored by other painters. Gu laid great emphasis on the three hairs, and Pei was very satisfied” (Gu Kaizhi, 2004). Another story illustrates this same point as it is told of how Gu placed one of his subjects within a setting full of mountains and rocks as a means of illustrating the man’s love of mountains and traveling. The characteristic elements of Kaizhi’s paintings became a particular life-like quality in his brush strokes and details that have been replicated in the scrolls that duplicate his work, such as in “Admonitions of the Court Instructress.” Within the figures of this painting, the ideas of the original story are captured in the brush strokes and lines that flow seemingly without effort from one figure to another. The eye is kept in constant motion and the figures seem to move and bend of their own accord. Before the painting is examined in depth, however, it is helpful to know some of the history behind the images. The painting known as the “Admonitions of the Court Instructress” is actually a series of images painted the length of a hand scroll. It contains nine scenes that illustrated passages of an earlier written play by statesman Zhang Hua (232-300 AD). There were originally 12 images, but three have been lost to time. The play was intended as a satire speaking against the actions of the Empress Jia of the Western Jin dynasty. Empress Jia was the consort of the weak-minded Emperor Hui in 290 and quickly set about manipulating court politics to such an extent that she retained power for herself while eliminating her competition. “In the third lunar month of 291, a visit to the capital by the two princes [Empress Jia had brought into her scheme] provided the opportunity for a bloody coup d’etat. Yang Jun perished with several thousand of his supporters, while the empress dowager Yang [Hui’s mother] was deposed, confined and later starved to death” (Graff 44). When Sima Liang, the Prince of Ru’nan, stepped in to take control of the government, Empress Jia also had him removed by plotting with one of Hui’s younger brothers to kill both Liang and their other co-conspirator and then attempted to have him executed for murder. “Empress Jia dominated the Jin court for the next decade, but her rule was inherently unstable since it was based on a balancing of the imperial princes against one another rather than a real centralization of military power” (Graff 44). The protagonist of the play is the instructress to the court who has arrived to teach the ladies of the court proper behavior and activities. The scroll containing the paintings itself offers a great deal of contention as well. It dates back only to the eighth century, making it at least 400 years younger than the death of Gu and thus is not his original work. The scroll was once considered one of the treasures of the Manchu imperial collection of the Qing dynasty and was passed around among a variety of owners, several of whom left their stamp or seal upon the scroll itself, adding calligraphy or other elements that helped to date it and trace its movements. In 1903, it became the property of the British Museum who purchased it from an Indian Army cavalry officer after the Boxer Rebellion (McCausland, 2005). Based upon information provided by the British Museum (2008), the scroll retains other elements of technique and style that are characteristic of the fourth-century figure painting styles of Gu Kaizhi. “Similar pictorial motifs have been discovered in contemporary tombs. Experts describe Gu Kaizhi as having painted in this manner” (The Admonition Scroll, 2008). As has been mentioned, the scroll contains numerous images depicting the scenes of a play. There are no definitive breaks between one scene and the next, portraying the images in a continuous series that takes full advantage of the shifting perspective. This emphasis on the shifting perspective is a characteristic element of Chinese painting. “They want to break away from the restriction of time and space and include in their pictures both things which are far and things which are near. Also, the artists find that in life people view their surroundings from a mobile focal point” (Traditional Chinese Paintings, 2008). Gu Kaizhi takes this idea one step further by allowing the fluidity of perspective to be reflected in the fluidity of movement and line within his forms. As the characters interact with each other, the suppleness of the body can be understood to be taking place underneath the flowing folds of the fabric. Wispy suggestions of silk obis can be seen fluttering on the breeze behind the female characters. These fluid lines and shapes become echoed in the landscapes, making a dynamic scene that continues to pull the eye along. “The free flow of lines in painting came to represent the fluid emotions in people” (Gu Kaizhi, 2004). The natural settings in which he places his characters within the scroll reinforce the idea that the instructress was attempting to encourage the empress and her ladies to act in the proper role of a lady, taking up her natural position rather than the unnatural stance she had adopted in acting as a politician and ruler. Thus, several theories and approaches to painting that were characteristic of Gu Kaizhi can be traced through the images found in the scroll “Admonitions of the Court Instructress.” Scenery and line play an important role in conveying the meaning of the piece while special attention to facial expressions and eyes enable the characters to almost take on a life of their own. Shifting perspective further adds life to the images and movement to the entire piece, blending Gu’s background with his own ideas in allowing the form to give meaning to the object. Although the extant scroll is only a duplicate of the master’s work, there is sufficient detail of line and movement, attention to eyes and details to give a sense of the ideas and aesthetic techniques developed by Gu Kaizhi. References “The Admonition Scroll.” (2008). The British Museum [online]. Available April 18, 2008 from Barnhart, Richard M.; James Cahill, Yang Xin, Wu Hung, Nie Chongzheng, Lang Shaojun. (1997). Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting. Yale University Press. Graff, David Andrew. (2002). Medieval Chinese Warfare. New York: Routledge. “Gu Kaizhi – One of the Greatest Artists of Ancient China.” (2008). XA Business. Available April 18, 2008 from < http://www.xabusiness.com/china-resources/chinese-gu-kaizhi.htm> McCausland, Shane. (December 2005). “Nohonga meets Gu Kaizhi: A Japanese Copy of a Chinese Painting in the British Museum.” The Art Bulletin. “Traditional Chinese Paintings.” (2008). XA Business. Available April 18, 2008 from Read More