Chinese ancient painting gained its
all-around development in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The unity of the country
in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, especially during the 100 years of the mid-Tang
Dynasty, brought along stable politics, strong national strength, prosperous
economy, harmonious ethnic relationship as well as active international culture
exchanges. This period is of far-reaching significance in the history of Chinese
painting. Famous painters emerged in large numbers, over 200 of which were
recorded. Influenced by cultures from the Western Regions and other foreign
countries, their techniques and topics became more and more abundant. Portrait
painters put more emphasis on real life and people's temperament; landscape
painting was divided into two schools -- green-and-blue painting (qinglu
hua) and wash painting (shuimo hua), and styles in South China and
North China were different; many new techniques, such as meticulous painting
(gongbi hua), ink and wash of light color, Mogu (a way of painting by
using color directly without first making sketches), had been introduced into
the flower-and-bird painting; religious painting was even more bright and
colorful. In a word, the artistic achievements of the Tang Dynasty surpassed all
previous dynasties. Painting of the Tang Dynasty affected other oriental
countries and was a peak of
Chinese painting
history.
Figures in paintings by Wu Daozi were of
unique style. Unlike his predecessor Gu Kaizhi, whose stroke lines were slender
and forceful but lacked variety, Wu's strokes were full of rhythm, expressing
the internal world of the characters. He was adept to catch the moment of
people's emotion and movement, emphasizing on the creation of the figure's
overall image. His murals of beautiful woman were the most splendid. He formed
his own style, which later influenced Japan, Korea and other
countries.
Chang'an (today's Xi'an City in Shaanxi Province), the capital of the Tang Dynasty,
was teemed with talented painters. Brothers Yan Lide and Yan Liben, Yuchi
Bazhina and his son Yuchi Yiseng from the Western Regions in the early Tang
Dynasty, Zhang Xuan, Zhou Fang in the mid-Tang period and Lu Lengjia, Sun Wei in
the late Tang period were the representatives. Ladies with Head-pinned
Flowers by Zhou Fang depicted the leisurely and carefree life of court
ladies in the Tang Dynasty -- the five ladies wearing magnificent clothes with a
maid, strolling in the flower garden. The clothes and hairstyle of the five
ladies are similar. Some are playing with little dogs; some are staring at
flowers. It is an authentic depiction of leisurely, lonely and peaceful life in
court. The background is very simple as the artistic conception of the painting
is mostly reflected through the expressions of female figures. Another
successful painter in the Tang Dynasty was Han Huang, who was adept to paint
cattle and sheep. His representative works were Wenyuan Tu, Migration
of Farmers, and Rural Lifestyle. Five Cattle was his
handed-down work. He used free and rough lines to draw five lively bulls, with
clear gradation of ink colors.
As an important component of portrait
painting, murals in the Tang Dynasty were of high artistic level. Image of
figures changed its rough pattern to exquisite, refined and vivid. Men in
pictures were grace while women were plump and attractive. The statues of
Bodhisattva were dignified, quiet and gentle. All this reveal that paintings in
the Sui and Tang dynasties were closely related to real life, and people's care
for feelings had surpassed their belief of Buddhist Heaven. With enthusiasm to
real life, extraordinary creativity, and excellent painting skills, numerous
splendid pictures were produced.