Page 141 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

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guardian of the correct ways. 20 I am eager to

establish laws and rules, and would not mind
borrowing, for I fear that if the generals go over
to Heita and the gentry leave to follow Xiao
Yan, then our talents will have all dispersed, and
how then could I run the country?"

In light of this historical background, it was almost
inevitable that the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi

should copy the southern style. Hence, the

following all reveal the fuller-figured style: the

Gushan caves in Handan, Hebei Province (i.e., the

North and South Xiangtangshan caves); the stone

carvings in the Shuiyu cave-temple; and the figures

on the steles unearthed in Xiangcheng and
Luoning counties in Henan Province in 1963,

which date from 559 (Northern Qi) and 565
(Northern Zhou) (cats. 157, 158); the carved stone
grotto statues of the Northern Qi unearthed in

1954 at the Huata Temple in Taiyuan, Shanxi Fig. 14. Mounted honor guard. Dated to $yo. Mural.
Province (cat. 156); and the earthen figures from Tomb of Lon Rui, Prince of Dong'an, Wangguo village,
Eastern Wei and Northern Qi tombs recently
Taiyuan, Slianxi Province.
unearthed in Henan, Hebei, and Shanxi. In 1975 a
group of figures within a square setting, made of the Yang school, which was so popular during the
Northern Qi. Zhang Yanyuan calls the period from
white marble and believed to date from the the Qi and Liang through the Chen and Zhou the
Period of Recent Antiquity, and he discusses the
Northern Zhou, was discovered in Caotan, a paintings of Recent Antiquity thus:

northern suburb of Xi'an in Shaanxi Province Those from Recent Antiquity who can

(cat. 159). These figures, most likely from a compare with those of Middle Antiquity are
Sengyou and Zihua. 25
multistoried stone pagoda, are also of the Northern
Just as Gu and Lu were contemporaries, practiced
Qi style. Because many white marble figures came
similar styles, were ranked as equals, and were
from Dingzhou, in Qi territory, there is speculation considered comparable in excellence to the best
painters of the preceding age, so Zhang and Yang
that these stone pagoda images may also have been were paired with each other and compared with

made in Qi territory. In 1987 a tomb discovered at their predecessors Gu and Lu. Volume 2 of the Lidai
Wanzhang in Ci county, Hebei Province, proved to minghuaji lists Yang Zihua among those painters in
central China during the Northern Qi period who
be the Wuning Mausoleum in which Gao Yang was
had learned from Gu, Lu, and Zhang Sengyou:
buried, and its date is believed to be 560 (Northern
Tian Sengliang.Yang Zihua, Yang Qidan, Zheng
Qi). In this tomb, as in the tomb of Lou Rui, Fashi, Dong Boren, Zhan Ziqian. Sun Shangzi,
Yan Lide, andYan Liben learned from Gu, Lu,
Prince of Dong'an, discovered in 1979 atWangguo and Sengyou. 26
village in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, and dated to

570, there are large murals depicting a cavalry

honor guard; in both murals the full-fleshed bodies

are particularly obvious (fig. 2I Both tomb

14).

murals are drawn with simple and forceful lines,

and show a vitality in keeping with the high social
standing of those buried there. 22 Quite a number of

commentators believe that they may have been

done by the Northern Qi court painter Yang

Zihua. 23 Yang Zihua was the most highly regarded

of the Qi painters, and the early Tang artist Yan

Liben praised his works thus:

As for painting people, the subtlest lines, the Of these, Tian Sengliang.Yang Zihua. Zheng Fashi,
Dong Boren. and Zhan Ziqian were famous during
utmost beauty in simplicity, having little enough
the Northern Qi and Zhou, 17 while Sun Shangzi
so that not a single thing can be omitted, yet and Yang Qidan were active during the Sui, and the
Yan brothers during the early rang. Sengyou, in the
just enough that nothing should be added phrase "learned from Gu. 1 u. and Sengyou,"

cmonly Zihua do this! 24 actually taught Tian, Yang, and the rest, whereas Gu

Although it is not certain that Yang did the murals and Lu were the originators o! the style they
in the tombs of Gao Yang and Lou Rui, it is studied. Hence, the Lidai minghuaji also cites earlier
probably safe to say that they were in the style of

ORIGINS AND TRENDS IN THE DEPICTION OF HUMAN FIGURES 139