Michael Batterberry, Chinese & Oriental Art, McGraw-Hill, 1968.
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Chinese Bamboo Painting
| "... (After development of landscape painting techniques in Sung period, 960-1279, and during Mongol-formed Yuan dynasty, 1280-1368) artists became more and more preoccupied with the effects of individual brush strokes either alone or in carefully studied combinations. Painting and calligraphy drew together than ever before. This marriage of arts found its ultimte expression with the perfection of a specil branch of Chinese art - Bamboo Painting . In this art the bamboo became the favorite theme. |
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| (One of the first reasons why such a seemingly limited form of artistic expression was admired to the point of reverence) is their respect for the bamboo plant as a symbol for the confucian "superior man" who, like the plant, would bend with prevailing winds but not break. In other words, the ideal man adapted himself to life as demanded by society but did not permit his spirit or integrity to be snapped by it. Then, too, the written world, particularly in poetry, and the art of painting have always been held in higher esteem by the Chinese than even the finest in sculpture, ceramic design, or musical composition. This may seem illogical to Western ways of thinking, but the reason lies again in the high regard of the Chinese for personal expression and in their deep spiritual interest in nature. |
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Calligraphy, or the
art of handwriting, was orginally a development of a series of symbolic
figures known today as pictograms; these, fittingly enough, were basically
inspired by nature. Individual writing techniques, or the visual manner in
which these pictograms were drawn with brush and ink, were as deeply
appreciated by serious art lovers as were the traditional scrolls of
endless gorges, craggy peaks, nodding chrysanthemums, or darting sparrows.
Bamboo painting is closer to calligraphy than any other art form and is so extremely stylized that a special flexible,
pointed brush is used so that each leaf may spring to life with one deft stroke.
Writing appears prominently in bamboo paintings as poems, title and artist
signature..." Michael Batterberry, Chinese & Oriental Art, McGraw-Hill, 1968. |
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Three Winter Friends:
zhu : bamboo
mei : plum blossom
song : pine tree
"mo" is the black ink used for painting.
Some Related Links:
Encyclopedia.com article on Chinese Art
Introduction to Chinese Painting
Bamboo Painting
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Creating this page was made possible with the helps of my Chinese friend, Sandra. Thanx a lot !