Chapter Title: Pre-T’ang Interpretation and Criticism

Book Title: Early Chinese Texts on Painting

Book Author(s): Susan Bush and Hsio-yen Shih
Published by: Hong Kong University Press

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 1

Pre- T' ang Interpretation and Criticism

EARLY PAtKTtNG in China generally played the subsidiary role of or-

namenting objects for daily and ceremonial use or embellishing ar-
chitectural elements or carvings. Hence painting merely signified
decoration in the Lun-yii (Confucian Analects). 1 When T'ang vvriters
came to trace the origins of painting, they stressed its connection with
the symbolic imagery of the hexagrams of the I chinK (Book of Changes)
or the auspicious designs embroidered on imperial robes. There were
few references to painting as such in pre-Han writings. Among the
early philosophic texts, only the Taoist Chuang-tzu (4th-3rd centuries
B.c.) exhibited an interest in artistic creativity. The story about the
painter who did not stand on <:eremony is excerpted here, but there
were also tales about the technical skills involved in various c.rafts such
as \Vheel~rnaking, wood~carving, and butchering. 2 Artisans of this pe-
riod who had perfected their skills to the point oflosing consciousness
of themselves in the creative act were referred to by later critics such
as the Sung literati. A more pragmatic turn of mind is found in the
Legalist work, Han Fei-tzu (3rd century B.c.), where anecdotes about
painting occasionally illustrate certain points of argument. Thus the
decoration of a la<:<Juered tablet with inuedibly minute images is seen
as a waste of energy, since the object's use was the same as that of any
ordinary ceremonial tablet. The Han Fei-tzu text is the first to for-
mulate the problem of representation, and its suggestion that super-

I. For one interpretation sec Lin Yutang, The Chinese Theory of Art (New York:
Putnam, 1967), p. 21. For another version see James Legge, 11le Chinese Cla.f~ir..5 (Hong
Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1960), I, 157.
2. For one such story see Shio Sakanishi, The SpiriJ of the Brush (London: John
Murray, 1957), p. 18.

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 Pre-T'ang Interpretation and Criticism 19

natural beings were easier to render than dogs and horses was to
reverberate in the minds of later writers.
Representation and its significance were the main concerns of the
philosophers, essayists, and poets who commented on painting in the
Han. The art they described had evidently moved from the decorative
to the practical realm. Strategic maps, inventory paintings of retainers
in procession, illustrations of physical exercises, and diagrams of the
spirit world that would be encountered by the deceased, all inscribed
on silk, were tOund in second-century B.c. tombs excavated at Ch'ang-
sha in Hunan province. A few references to painting appear in the
contemporary collection of Taoist writings, Hu.ai-nan-tzu, compiled at
the court of Liu An (d. 122 B.c.). Besides these brief, and somewhat
contradictory, statements, there is a general passage in Book I on the
nature of perception and physical control that stresses the opposition
between an individual's spirit (shen), and his bodily form (hsing), con-
cluding: "if spirit is the guide, form follows and all is well." Spirit is
thus "the master of form," which was thought to be so important in
the characterization of different types of figures.
From pre-Han times on, mural paintings of mythological and his-
torical subjects are known to have de(~orated palaces, towers, and gates.
The didactic significance of these idealized portraits is generally in-
terpreted in a straightfon•..'ard Confucian fashion by '"Titers of the
Later Han Dynasty (A.D. 25-220) and the Three Kingdoms period
(220-280). In prose poems on the topic of palaces, lor example, such
murals are described in detail, and their desired effect on the viewer
is indicated. Thus moral paragons are said to be portrayed to serve
as models for future conduct, while villains are represented as warn-
ings to evildoers. Identification with these pictures is usually assumed
to be instinctive and hence instructive, as is most forciblv stated bv
Ts'ao C:hih (192-232), the Wei Kingdom poet and essayist. On th~
other hand, the skeptic Wang C:h'ung (27 -ca. I 00) had argued earlier
that moral inspiration could only be derived from the written word
and not from painted images. A concluding voice in the argument is
the balanced view of the critic Lu Chi (261-303), assessing the relative
value of both writing and painting in preserving past merit. This
debate foreshadows later comparisons of the two arts on purely aes-
thetic grounds.
Although the early comments on painting consist of anecdotes or
brief statements excerpted from the writings of literary figures with
no experience of the art itself, short essays attributed to particular
painters begin to appear in the so-called Six Dynasties period (3rd to
6th centuries). The earliest of them are versions recorded around 84 7

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20 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

in artists' biographies in the Li-tai ming-hua chi (Record of Famous

Painters of All the Dynasties) of Chang Yen-yuan, first known in Ming
editions. Textual corruptions or abbreviations are quite frequent, since
these essays were transmitted in manuscript form and evidently not
fully understood by copyists. Problems of interpretation are further
compounded by a lack of explanatory context and by the questions
raised by certain attributions. Despite a rather clouded aura, these
writings undoubtedly reflect some of the diverse artistic concerns of
Eastern Chin (317-420) and the Southern Dynasties (420-589).
Several of these texts are associated with the famous Eastern Chin
figure painter Ku K'ai-chih (ca. 345-ca. 406), in many ways the ideal
type of literate artist. As a representative of Chin culture, known in
his own time as a wit and labeled half-genius, half-fool, he was par-
ticularly appreciated by later scholar-critics. Contemporary anecdotes
stress his interest in capturing a sitter's personality. For example, he
might wait several years before dotting in eye pupils, since "the subtle
point where the spirit can be rendered and perfect likeness portrayed
lies just in these little spots." 3 Such stories are most relevant to the
first two essays attributed to Ku, which certain commentators now
prefer to combine under the single title of Lun-hua (Essay on Painting).
Apart from a general opening statement ranking different types of
painting, the first text or section consists primarily of critical assess-
ments of individual paintings by third- or fourth-century masters.
The second text, which is evidently mislabeled, deals mainly with the
techniques of copying as did Ku K'ai-chih's "Essay on Painting" ac-
cording to the Li-tai ming-hua chi entry. The concluding passage ap-
pears to be on figure painting in general, since it describes how to
create a sense of life through posture, gesture, and gaze. It contains
the term "to transmit spirit" (ch'uan shen), usually taken to describe
Ku's aim in portraiture.
More tenuously connected with Ku K'ai-chih is the earliest text
dealing with landscape painting, Hua Yiln-t'ai-shan chi (Record on
Painting the Cloud Terrace Mountain), which is, to judge from its
verb forms, a tentative description of a projected work. Ku is not
credited with this subject or known as a landscapist. However, he did
write a poetic appreciation of the scenery of Mount T'ien-t'ai and
presumably painted portraits of sages, recluses, or scholars sheltered
by trees or caves. Furthermore, the last character in his name suggests
a connection with the Taoist cult originally founded by Chang Tao-

3. Chen Shih-hsiang, Biography of Ku K•ai-chih, Chinese Dynastic Histories Trans-

lations No.2 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961), pp. 14-15.

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 P1·e-T'ang lntopretatiun and Criticism 21

ling, the Heavenly Master who tested his disciples' fitness on the Cloud
Terrace Mountain of Six Dynasties' legend.
As for the painting itself, it is still a matter of scholarly debate
whether one, two, or three narrative scenes were to be illustrated.
Most significant for future trends is the fact that landscape elements
have a primary importance in the composition. Various aspects of the
scenery seem to have a symbolic import or echo dynamic descriptions
of landscape in contemporary poetry. Thus, the cinnabar-red cliffs
and the lone pine hint at the Taoist quest for immortality, while purple
boulders and watchtower peaks or pillars mark an ascending path
toward the palatial dwelling of the Immortals.' The scenery of tow-
ering peaks, precipitous cliff~s, and deep gullies emphasizes height
and depth in an exaggerated fashion, and its dynamic aspect is under-
lined by the coiled, dragon-like thrust of a vertical ridge. The term
shih (dynamic conftguration) is used here to describe such a "momen-
tum" or "effect."
More in the nature of aesthetic appreciations than guides for land-
scape composition are the texts recorded in entries on two Liu-Sung
Dynasty artists, Tsung Ping (375-413) and Wang Wei (415-443).
Both were members of scholarly families that had produced officials
or writers for generations, and both were noted for their love of
landscape and the Taoist pursuits of lute playing and wine drinking.
Their essays suggest that painted scenery infused with the feelings of
the viewer could serve as an effective substitute for nature. However,
they differ somewhat in the type of painting they describe, and their
outlooks stem from distinct philosophical contexts.
A typical mountain-climbing recluse who resolutely refused office,
Tsung Ping is best known as a lay member of the famous Buddhist
community on Mount Lu that was founded by Hui-yiian (334-416).
Significantly, the bulk of Tsung's writings consists of Buddhist polem-
ics. Thus, although his Hua shan-shui hsii (Introduction to Painting
Landscape) quotes from the Lun-yu (Anale<:ts) and mentions Taoist
practices such as breath control, the dominant frame of reference is
likely to have been drawn from Buddhism, more specifically the "land-
scape Buddhism" fostered on Mount Lu. In this light the insistent
mentions of sages and noble recluses take on a deeper meaning, since
they apparently indicate the Buddhas and bodhisattvas that had ma-
terialized in the past. In an ingenious attempt to assimilate Chinese
legend to a Buddhist world-view, it was inferred that these forerun-

4. For further commenLary, see Michael Sullivan, The Birth of I.andswpe Pninling in
China (Berkeley: Uni"~>ersity of CaliJOmia Pre~s. 1962), pp. 93-10 I.

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22 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

ners prefigured the Way of the historical Buddha when they were
"roaming in sublime freedom" during their ascent of sacred peaks.
Furthermore, it would seem that a replica of a landscape, like a Buddhist
icon, could serve as an aid to meditation and inner visualization if its
proportions were correct. The ultimate aim of landscape viewing would
thus be to stimulate and strengthen the human spirit by delighting
it. In Tsung's text, "spirit" (shen), or "deified human soul," was what
characterized the sages and what should be aroused in the viewer. It
was also thought to exist in all living beings, and was used in H ui-
yuan's contemporary interpretation to explain the doctrine of trans-
migration after death. In this intermingling of Taoist and Buddhist
concepts, landscape would seem to have been seen quite literally as a
"vale of soul-making."
The considerably younger Wang Wei, who served briefly as an
official before succumbing to illness, was rather less of a mountain
climber and more of a scholar than Tsung. The thought expressed
in his Hsu hua (Discussion of Painting) is N eo-Taoist in origin, deriving
from speculations on the I ching (Book of Changes). This essay was a
general defense of the status of painting and conceived in response
to a letter from the poet and calligrapher Yen Yen-chih (384-456),
who had linked painting and calligraphy and the symbolic hexagrams
of the I ching. 5 Since the text is evidently abbreviated, certain parts
are extremely difficult to understand, particularly the phrases con-
taining the terms "form," "soul," and "mind" (hsing, ling, and hsin).
Wang does insist that painting is more than defining physical forms
or mapping localities. He seems to assume that the artist could tran-
scend the limits of a subjective view in space and time, and with
calligraphic dots and lines create an effective image of the universe
itself, placing all things in their proper order as did the conceptual
symbols of the I ching. This is a painting's "achievement." Its reality
or "true feeling" would lie in the imaginative response of viewers as
they unrolled the scroll.
The interest in painting displayed by literary men of the Southern
Dynasties ultimately led to painting's being judged by the standards
applied to other art forms. Earlier, Wang I (267-322), a distant rel-
ative of Wang Wei, had had no doubts about the value of his own
achievements in calligraphy and painting. A cultivated awareness of
personal style in art began to be developed by such gentlemen-paint-
ers. Criticism of individual artists and their work is first known to

5. For Yen Yen-chih's definition in LT1'vfHC, Book l, see chapter 2 of this text at
"Origins of Painting."

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 Pre-T'ang Interpretation and Criticism 23

have appeared in two somewhat later texts that exist apart from the
Li-tai ming-hua chi and were also printed in Ming times. The first is
the (Ku)hua-f/in(-lu) (Classification of Painters) by Hsieh Ho (active
ca. 500-535?), and the second, the Hsi.i hua-p'in (Continuation of the
Classification of Painters) by Yao Tsui (535-602). Both were evidently
composed during the Liang Dynasty (502-556) and inspired by recent
works of literary criticism: Liu Hsieh's Wen-hsin tiao-lung (The Literary
Mind and the Carving of Dragons) and Chung Hung's Shih p'in (Clas-
sification of Poets).
The form of the painting texts consists of introductions followed
by brief entries on specific artists. In the case of the Hsieh Ho text,
a grading system is used to rate quality. Six classes are distinguished
in the extant version although the original number may have differed.
This work is most famous for the Six Laws (liu-ja), six canons or
principles of painting that are first. defined in its preface and contin-
ually referred to by later writers (see the discussion in the Introduc-
tion). Typical of Southern Dynasties taste is the practice of characterizing
a man's personality or achievements in pithy binomial terms such as
"spirit resonance" (ch'i-yun). Similar atmospheric terms, often begin-
ning with "spirit" (ch'i) or "wind" (jeng), appear in the entries on
individual masters, where they seem to refer to the artist's character
or the artist's style or the figures in his paintings, depending on the
specihc context.
From a rather disparaging entry by Yao Tsui, we know that Hsieh
Ho was a fashionable portrait painter, who must have been advanced
in years when he finished his text if this was alter 532 as is now
thought. His successor Yao evidently wrote around 550 or 551 when
he could have been no older than sixteen. His age may account for
the emotional tone of his defense of Ku K'ai-chih's standing and for
the dense literary allusions of the text, where style overshadows sub-
stance. He did not classify painters in grades, and thus was able to
place the Prince of Hsiang-tung, his father's patron and later the Liang
Emperor Yuan (r. 552-554), at the head of the list. The most effusive
praise in the entries is given to this imperial artist, \Vhile Chang Seng-
yu, the greatest mural painter of the previous generation, is treated
rather coolly. Relevant to such critical discrimination are contempo-
rary stories, related by Yen Chih-t'ui (531-after 591), of officials classed
with artisans because of their skill in painting. Later, Sung critics were
also to be influenced in their judgments by an artist's social status,
and to make distinctions between the gentleman-painter and the
professional.
In this chapter, excerpts from the Hsieh Ho and Yao Tsui texts

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24 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

arc modified versions of William Acker's translations, and the Yen

Chih-t'ui extract is based on Teng Ssu-yii's rendering. Other ex-
cerpted material has been translated by Hsio-yen Shih. The punc-
tuation and interpretations of the texts are generally those of no,.·o
commentators, Vii Chicn-hua and Nakamura Shigeo. The sequence
of topic headings in this chapter underlines a progression from sim-
pler to more developed attitudes toward painting.

Problems of Representation
Han Fei (d. 233 B.c.)
There was a retainer painting for the King of Ch'i, whom the King
of Ch'i asked: "What is most difficult in painting?" He replied: "Dogs
and horses are most difficult." "What is easiest?" He replied: "Demons
and goblins are easiest. Since dogs and horses are things known by
man, visible before us the day through, they cannot be completely
simulated and thus are difficult. Demons and goblins are without
form, and not visible before us, hence they are easy.""
Han Fei-tzu, Book 1 I. Chung-kuo hwt-lun lei-pien (Chinese Painting cl·he-
ory by Categories, CKH LLP), p. 4.

Chang Heng (78-139)

For instance, artisan-painters dislike depicting dogs and horses, yet
like to execute demons and goblins. Truly, this is because substantial
entities are diflicult to form, while insubstantial counterfeits are inex-
haustible.
Memorial against superstition in augury, ffou-J-Ian shu (Later HanDy-
nastic History), Book 89, Chang's biography. CKHLLP, p. 9.

Ku K'ai-chih (ca. 345-ca. 406)

In painting, human figures are most difficult, then landscapes, then
dogs and horses. Towers and pavilions are fixed objects~ difficult to
complete but easy to render well, and not dependent on a marvelous
realization of the conveying of thought. If these are made with tech-
nical skill, they cannot lack quality.
Lun-hoo (Essay on Painting), cited in LTMHC, Book 5. CKHLLP, p. 347.

6. See the similar statement on artisan-painters' pref~rn:~d subjects in Huai-nan-tzu,

c.omp. Liu An, Book 13.

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 Pre-Tang Interpretation and Criticism 25

Optical Illusion
Han Fei (d. 233 B.c.)
There was a retainer who painted a tablet for the Lord of Chou,
completing it after three years. When the lord saw that it had the
same appearance as any lacquered tablet, he was very angry. The
tablet's painter said: "Build a wall of ten planks' height and cut out a
window of eight feet. Then, just when the sun is rising, place the
tablet on the window and look." The Lord of Chou did this and
perceived the tablet's appearance. It was entirely formed of dragons,
snakes, birds, beasts, and horse-drawn chariots, the forms of myriad
beings complete in every detail. The Lord of Chou was delighted.
This tablet's achievement certainly shows the difficulties of work in
small scale, yet its use is similar to that of any lacquered tablet without
ornament.
Han Fei-tzu, Book II. CKHLLP, p. 4.

Didactic Subject Matter

Wang Ch'ung (27-ca. 100)
People like to look at paintings because noble scholars are represented
in these pictures. How can the sight of these noble scholars' faces
equal a view of their words and actions? Placed on a bare wall their
formal appearances are preserved in detail, but people are not in-
spired by them because their words and actions are not visible. The
writings bequeathed by sages of the past shine forth as recorded on
bamboo and silk. Why [seek inspiration] in vain from the paintings
on walls?
Lun-heng, Book 13. CKHLLP, p. 8 (in part).

Wang Yen-shou (ca. 124-ca. 148)

Suddenly my vision is blurred by fluctuating images like the appari-
tions of spirits and demons. Here the universe is depicted with all its
classes and types of life, its variety of strange and unusual creatures,
and the spirits of the hills and seas. Their shapes are described and
entrusted to paint. Of the infinite variations of nature, each entity is
differentiated in form. In accord with appearance, likeness is imaged,
and expression is captured with painstaking care. Recorded from the

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26 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

remote past are the emergence of the universe from chaos and the
beginnings of antiquity: the Five Dragon Kings wing to wing, the Nine
Rulers, Fu-hsi with his scaly body, and Nii-wa with her snaky form.
Austere is that immense wilderness and simple are its shapes. Then
the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun are visible in all their brilliance.'
Accessories of rank accord with usage, and court costumes are now
defined. From the later period of the Hsia, Shang, and Chou dynasties
are shown the concubines who debauched their masters, loyal min-
isters and filial sons, noble scholars and virtuous women. No detail of
their wisdom or stupidity, successes or failures, is omitted from these
records. Their evil may serve to warn later generations while their
good may be an example to posterity.
"Lu Ling-kuang tien fu" (Prose Poem on the Palace of Spiritual Light
in the State of Lu); Wen-hsuan, Book 11. CKHLLP, p. lO (in part).

Ts'ao Chih ( 192-232)

Biographies [which comment on personalities] are written by men of
letters; portraits are done by men of ingenuity.
Quoted by Yao Tsui (535-602), Hsu hua-p'in (Continuation of the Clas-
sification of Painters, HHP), preface.

Of those who look at pictures, there is not one who, beholding the
Three Majesties and the Five Emperors, would not look up in rever-
ence; nor any that before a painting of the degenerate rulers of the
Three Decadences would not be moved to sadness. There is no one
who, seeing a picture of usurping ministers stealing a throne, would
not grind his teeth; nor any who, contemplating a fine scholar of high
principles, would not forget to eat. At the sight of loyal vassals dying
for their principles who would not harden his own resolve, and who
would not sigh at beholding banished ministers and persecuted sons?
Who would not avert his eyes from the spectacle of a licentious hus-
band or a jealous wife? And there is no one who, seeing a virtuous
consort or an obedient queen, would not praise and value them. From
this we may know that paintings are the means by which events are
preserved in a state in which they serve as models [for the virtuous]
and warnings [to the evil].

7. See Bernard Karlgren, "Legends and Cults in Ancient China," BMFEll., 18 (1946),
pp. 199-365, for analysis of the mythology of primeval culture heroes in China.

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 Pre-T'ang Interpretation and Criticism 27

Probably from a preface to a collection of eulogies on paintings; cited

in Li-tai ming-hua chi (Record of Famous Painters of All the Dynasties,
LTMHC), Book l. CKIILLP, p. 12.

Ho Yen (d. A.D. 249)

Having respect for the complete sincerity of the ancient rulers and
delight in the nonaction of [the legendary Emperor] Shun, [the Wei
Emperor Ming who reigned 227-240] ordered all the artisans to make
paintings and to clarify rdistinctions] by their display of the five colors.
They painted images from ancient times to serve as precepts, and the
various consorts took these as models and examples. Looking at the
face of the imperial concubine Yii-chi, they could arrive at an un-
derstanding of how to deal with deceitful ministers of the land. Seeing
the Empress Chiang remove her jeweled ornaments, they would awake
to that which had been respected in former ages. They would esteem
Chung-li Ch'un for her forthright admonitions and admire Fan of
Ch'u, who put her own interests last. They would commend the ex-
cuses of Lady Pan in declining to accompany the emperor in his sedan
chair and extol the selection of neighbors by the mother of Mencius.'
For those who wish to broaden their knowledge must first have heard
much. But when one has heard many things, confusion will multiply
and one may then be deceived about the truth. This condition can be
prevented by the selection of [worthy] people [as models]. Therefore
in seeking to establish virtue, one must first develop human sympathy.
Because they desired a propriety beyond reproach, [the consorts]
concentrated upon the people of old who had trod the Way. Does
not examining [these paintings] day and night compare with [reading
Confucius' sayings as did his disciple Tzu-chang from] the writings
on his sash?
"Ching-fu Lien fu" (Prose Poem on the Palace of Luminous Prosperity),
Wen-hsiian, Book 11. The palace was built at the command of the Three
Kingdoms \Vei Emperor Ming in A.D. 232.

Lu Chi (261-303)
For appreciating the fragrance and perfume of great deeds the setting
up of colors [that is, painting] may be compared to the writing of a

8. Stories about various exemplary women were collected and published by Liu
Hsiang (77-6 B.r:.) in t.he 1-ieh-nii. chuan (Biographies of Illustrious Women). Manv
have been translated by S. F. Balfour, "Fragments from a Gallery of Chinese Women,'"
T'im-l~w. 10 ( 1940), pp. 625-683.

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28 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

panegyric; for making things widely known nothing is greater than

speech, but for reserving the appearance [of those things] there is
nothing better than painting.

Cited in LTMHC, Book 1. CKHLLP, p. 13.

Definition, Animation, and Expression

Liu An (d. 122 B.c.)
If one paints [the legendary beauty] Hsi-shih's face so that it is beau-
tiful yet not pleasing, or defines [the famous warrior] Meng Pen's eyes
so that they are large yet not terrifying, [spirit,] the master of form
will be lacking.

Seeking that which is beyond the usual, a painter will take pains
with every hair but miss the total appearance.

Viewers of a dragon head painted in our time cannot tell what sort
of a beast it is. Its form must be entire to be recognized without doubt.

Huai-nan-tzu, excerpts from Books 16, 17, and 21. CKHLLP, p. 6.

Ku K'ai-chih (ca. 345-ca. 406)

THE SMALLER VERSION OF ILLUSTRIOUS WoMEN. 9 Their faces seem
to be grieving; [though] carved in detail to express their attitudes,
they do not fully attain the breath of life. Then, when noblemen were
inserted, their bodies and limbs were not naturally conceived, al-
though their clothing, ornaments and various other objects are most
unusual. The rendering of young women is especially beautiful. In
their robes, coiffures, and movements, each dot and stroke combined
to perfect their loveliness. Moveover, the forms of relative status and
rank are perceptible and easily understood. It would be difficult to
surpass [these aspects].
Fu-HSI AND SHEN-NUNG. Although they do not resemble the people
of today, they have exceptional bone [structure] and [effectively] com-
bine the Beautiful and the Good. Their spirits are associated with

9. Both Hsiln Hsii (ca. 218-ca. 289) and Wei Hsieh (active late 3rd-early 4th
century) painted this subject; see LTMHC, Book 5.

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 Pre-T'ang Interpretation and Criticism 29

primeval vastness, and the thought of Attaining the One'" is de-

monstrably there.
ILLUSTRious WARRIORS. 11 They are complete in bone [structure].
Yet [the hostage emissary] Master Lin Hsiang-ju is regrettably urgent
and intense, without the noble appearance of courage and virtue.
When seeking [models in] figures from the past, such should never
be seen. As for the King of Ch'in confronting the "Noble" Ching K'o
[the would-be assassin] from behind a large barrier, although paint-
ings of this kind are beautiful, they are not morally good.
THRF.F. H ORSES. 12 Their noble bone [structure] is divinely unusuaL
Their leaping gait looks as though they were treading upon empty
space. [This painting] has achieved excellence in the attitudes of horses.
Lnn-huu (Essay on Painting), excerpts evaluating individual works; cited
in LTMHC, Book 5. CKHLLP. pp. 347-348.

Hsieh Ho (active ca. 500-535?)

Ts'Ao Pu-HSING (3Ro CF:NTURY, PLACED IN THF. FIRST Class liN HsiEH's
TEXT]). Scarcely any of Pu-hsing's works are still preserved. There is
only a single dragon in the Secret Pavilion [of the imperial collection]
and that is all. Considering its noble character, how can one say that
his fame was built upon nothing?
WEI HSIEH (ACTIVE LATE 3RD-EARLY 4TH CENTURY, PLACED IN THF.
FIRST CLAss). With Hsieh the sketchiness of the ancient painters began
to be refined. He was almost equally excellent in all Six Elements [or
Laws]. Although one cannot say that he was perfect in the subtleties
of form, he did attain vigorous spirit to a high degree. He strode
beyond the crowd of other great tnen, a peerless master of the brush.
CHANG Mo AND HsiiN Hsii (cA. 218-cA. 289; BOTH PLAcED IN THE
FIRST CLASS). In noble manner and atmosphere they attained the
utmost in subtlety and partook of the divine. However, they only
captured the quintessential soul, abandoning the bone method. If one

10. "Attaining the One" alludes to a passage in the Tao-te ching: "Heaven attained
unity and became dear. Earth attained unity and hecame tranquil. The spirits aoained
unity and became animated" (j.J. L Duyvendak, trans. [London: John Murray, 1954],
p. 39). As culture heroes, these two sages would have had unusual shapes or features.
II. The C:hin Dynasty Emperor Ming (299-325) is recorded as having painted an
"Illustrious Warriors from the Shih rhi (Historical Records)"; see P'ei Hsiao-yiian, Chen-
kuan kung-ssu hua-lu.
12. Shih Tao-shih (active late 4th-early 5th century) painted this suqject: see LTIHHC,
B<X)k .11.

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30 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

stresses their manner of rendering objects, then one will not see this
pure essence [in their work]. But, if one considers them from [a point
of view] beyond the forms, only then will one be satisfied with their
richness. This may be called a delicate and subtle matter.
Ku CHDN-CHIH (5TH CENTURY, PLACED IN THE SECOND CLAss). In
soul resonance and nervous energy he did not come up to the former
sages, but in refinement and delicacy, painstakingness and detail, he
sometimes surpassed wise men of the past. He was the first to develop
the old and make the patterns for the new. Both in the laying on of
colors and the delineation of form, he was the originator of new ideas.
Ku K'AI-CHIH (cA. 345-cA. 406, PLACED IN THE THIRD CLASS). His
investigation of form was refined and subtle, and he never used his
brush haphazardly. But his brushwork did not come up to his ideas,
and his fame exceeds the reality.
MAo HUI-YUAN (D. CA. 490, PLACED IN THE THIRD CLASS). In paint-
ing style he was complete and sufficient, and there was nothing that
he tried that he did not accomplish perfectly. Now coming out and
now going in, he exhausted the possibilities of the extraordinary. Now
up and down, now back and forth, he let his brush run wild. His
strength and impetuosity have resonance and grace, and his tran-
scendent excellence was beyond all categories. In dexterity and deft-
ness he never failed to reach the very height of subtlety, but when it
was a question of making things look solid, then he was lumpish and
his mastery in this was not yet complete. As for divinities, demons,
and horses, he was confused about their physical structures and some-
what clumsy.
Wu CHIEN (5TH CENTURY, PLACED IN THE THIRD CLASS). His stylistic
methods were elegant and charming; his definition of composition
was able and ingenious. He commanded the praise of his own time,
and enjoyed renown at the capital, Lo-yang.
CHANG TsE (5TH CENTURY, PLACED IN THE Third CLAss). His ideas
and thoughts ran riot, and he had but to move his brush to be original.
His mind was his guide, and his views were his own; he was sparing
in his adaptations from others. His versatile ingenuity was inexhaus-
tible, like a circle's being without end, and in his scenes there is much
that strikes the eye.
CH'D TAO-MIN AND CHANG CHI-PO (LATER 5TH CENTURY, PLACED IN
THE FouRTH CLAss). Both were good at painting on temple walls,
and combined this with excellence in fan painting. In the proportions
of men and horses they never missed by so much as a hair, and their
skill in differentiating physical structures also penetrated to the divine.

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 Pre-Tang Interpretation and Criticism 31

Lw T'IEN (LATER 5TH CENTURY, PLACED IN THE FIFTH CLAss). His

attention to detail was unremitting and dose, and his style of painting
slight and delicate, but his brushwork was confused and weak, and
his delineation of form simple and abbreviated. Among the subjects
in which he excelled, the best were his women. But, because of his
excessive delicacy and detail, contrary to what he wished, he failed
in his likenesses all the more. However, if one examines them with
care, one finds that he renders their manner and attitudes very
well.
THE CHIN EMPEROR MI:I\'G (299-325, PLACED IN THE FIFTH
CLASS). Although he was careless as to form and coloring, he was
quite successful in capturing the spirit vitality. His brushwork is of
surpassing quality and also of an unusual appearance.
TsuNG PING (375-443, PLACED IN THE SIXTH CLASS). Although
Ping had some understanding of the Six Elements [or Laws], he was,
after all, without the corresponding skills. Yet, whenever one sucks a
brush and commands plain silk, there cannot fail to be losses and
gains. His works are not absolute standards of quality, but his ideas
are good enough to learn from and imitate.

(Ku)hua-p'in(-lu) (Classification of Painters, KHPL), excerpts evaluating

individual artists. CKHLLP, pp. 356-357, 360-366.

Yao Tsui (535-602)

HSIEH Ho (ACTIVE CA. 500-535?). In painting people's portraits
he did not have to sit opposite them. All he needed was one glance,
and he would go to work and wield his brush. His dots and sweeps
were polished and refined, and his attention was fixed on close like-
nesses. The expression of their eyes and the least hair, all was without
a single slip or omission. Their festive robes and cosmetics changed
according to the times, and he made straight eyebrows or curved
forehead locks to suit the latest fashion. Such refinement in the dif-
ferentiation of physical structure mainly began with Ho. As a result,
he caused vulgar folk who pursue profit all to resemble [the ugly
women] who imitated [the famous beauty Hsi-shih's] frown. In what
concerns spirit resonance and essential soul, he did not fathom the
meaning of vitality. The path of his brush was tenuous and weak,
which ill accords with a feeling of vigor and classic elegance. Still,
since the Chung-hsing reign [A.D. 501] no one has equaled him in
portraying people.

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32 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

CHANG SENG-YU [6TH CEKTURY]. He excelled in making pictures

for pagodas and temples and strode beyond the multitude of artisans.
In court robes or country clothes, he never overlooked what was
ancient or modern. In strange forms and odd appearances, or various
locales whether foreign or Chinese, he truly entered into their sub-
tleties ... Yet his sages and wise men when narrowly examined are a
little lacking in spiritual energy. But, how can one ask for perfection
in one man? Although he appeared late he comes a close second to
the best of his predecessors.
HHP, excerpts evaluating individual artists. CKHLLP, pp. 370, 372.

Training
Wang I (276-322)
My older brother's son Wang Hsi-chih [309-ca. 365] is young but
precocious and must eventually exalt our house. He is just beginning
his sixteenth year and, besides his regular studies, whenever callig-
raphy and painting pass before his eyes he is able (to reproduce them).
He came to seek my techniques in calligraphy and painting, and I
painted Confucius and his Ten Disciples to encourage him. Alas, if
Hsi-chih is not stimulated!
The painting is from my hand, as is the calligraphy. Though I am
unworthy of serving as a model in other things, my calligraphy and
painting can certainly be studied. In studying calligraphy, I would
have you [Hsi-chih] realize that you can go far by amassing knowledge.
In studying painting you should begin to travel on your personal path
through learning the relationship of pupil to master. I will, moreover,
assist you in both of these.
Colophon on a painting of "Confucius and His Ten Disciples"; cited in
LTMHC, Book 5. CKHLLP, p. 14 (phrase omitted).

Technique
Ku K'ai-chih (ca. 345-ca. 406)
All those who are about to make copies should first seek these essen-
tials, after which they may proceed to their business.
Whenever I create any paintings, the plain silk scrolls must all
extend to two feet three inches. Plain silks with warped threads cannot

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 Pre-Tang Interpretation and Criticism 33

be used, since after some time they will again become straight and
the proper appearance [of forms] will be lost. When a copy is made
on silk from silk, one should be placed over the other exactly, taking
care as to their natural straightness, and then pressed down without
disturbing their alignment.
When the brush moves forward while the eyes are looking in ad-
vance, then the new painting will come closer toward one. [Hence]
one should habitually fix one's gaze near the brush. Then, since there
is only an intervening layer of paper or silk, by which the version to
be copied is separated from one, if a single copying (stroke] is mis-
taken, successive errors will be very few. One should cause the new
brush strokes to cover the original but prevent their turning inward.
To guard against this inward [tendency], it is best to make the brush
pointed if an object is light, and to put pressure on strokes if it is
heavy. Each [use of the brush] completes the thought. For instance
in painting mountains, if strokes are pointed, then the thought is
active and will detract from an effect of firmness. In using the brush,
one may have an excessive smoothness, then there will be no substance
to projecting angles. Or one may have too many curves and hooks,
which will add angularity to what is smooth. The damage in not
combining [these qualities] is as hard to describe as the expert wheel-
wright's [untransmittable] skill.
In drawing heads, rather go slowly and be without substance than
go fast and lose [likeness to the original]. In all the various images,
since each has its own difference in brushwork, one must cause the
new to supplement the original. If length, texture, depth, breadth,
and the detail of dotting in an eye-pupil should have one small fault
in their placement, proportion, or tone, the spirit vitality will accord-
ingly change completely.
One should use ink and color of light tone for bamboos, trees, and
the earth, but pine and bamboo leaves should be rich in tone. In
general, sizing and coloring should not reach the upper and lower
[edges of the] silk. If yellow [discoloration] fills the silk on a fine
painting, one should then simply leave the [copy's] sides clear. At each
of the two borders of a scroll, for example, this should be for not
quite three-tenths [of an inch].
Human figures have greater or lesser height. Once their distance
has been set in accordance with their scrutinization of an object, one
must not alter their spacing or misplace them higher or lower. No
living person salutes with his hands or gazes with his eyes if there is
nothing before him. To describe the spirit through form but omit its
actual object is perverse as a means of trapping life and deficient as

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34 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

an effort to transmit spirit. To lack such actual objects [of attention]

is a great failing. To have an object but lack accuracy is a lesser failing.
One should not ignore this. The clarity or ambiguity of a single image
is not equivalent to penetrating to the spirit through [its] apprehension
of an object.
Lun-hua (Essay on Painting); cited in LTMHC, Book 5, under the title
Wei Chin sheng-liu hua tsan (Eulogies on Paintings oflby Notables of the
Wei and Chin Dynasties)."

The mountain has a main face, hence its back is shadowed. I would
cause auspicious douds in the west to flow to the east. For the colors
of sky and water on a clear day, I generally use only azure pigment,
finishing the white silk above and below as if in bright sunlight. In
the mountain that stretches out to the west, I will distinctly define the
relative distances, starting from the eastern base.
Shifting to not quite the midpoint, I will make five or six purple
boulders like firm clouds which, buttressing a ridge, mount it and
ascend. I will cause the [ridge's] momentum (shih) to writhe and coil
and, like a dragon, embrace a peak to ascend vertically. Below it, I
will make piled-up ridges and cause them to appear to ascend in a
congealed mass.
There will be another peak, which is of rock. It towers up, con-
fronting its eastern neighbors. The western side of this peak will
connect with a westward-oriented, cinnabar-red cliff, below which will
be placed a steep mountain gorge. In painting the red cliff near the
top of the gorge, one should make its fiery pinnacle exalted and lofty
to depict an effect of dangerous steepness.
The Heavenly Master [Chang Tao-ling of the Later Han Dynasty]
sits on this peak and is partially shaded, together with the rock upon
which he sits. Appropriately, in the gorge, a peach tree grows sideways
from amidst the rocks. I will paint the Heavenly Master with emaciated
form but far-reaching spirit vitality. Leaning over the gorge, he points
to the peach while turning his head to talk to the disciples. Among
these are two who approach the edge, their bodies all atremble, per-
spiring, and pale. I will render Wang Ch'ang sitting deep in thought,
answering the question, and Chao Sheng lively in spirit and alert in
attention while leaning to gaze at the peach tree.
Then, I will repeat Wang and Chao hastening [to leap after the
Heavenly Master into the gorge]. One is concealed by the slanting

13. See Bibliography B for a discussion of this confusion of titles.

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 Pre-Tang Interpretation and Criticism 35

cliff of the west wall, with only his skirts visible. Another is completely
in view within the void, and I would make him tranquil and indif-
ferent.14
In painting figures, they must be seven-tenths [of their full heights]
when seated. The colors of their garments should be distinctively
subtle. This is correct, since when mountains are high, the people are
far away.
On the east side of the middle section, a steep cliff of cinnabar
shale, partially shaded, should be made to tower in lofty darkness,
with a lone pine planted on it. It is placed opposite the cliff near the
Heavenly Master to form a gorge. The gorge should be extremely
narrow. I would like this closeness to cause [all space] between the
two walls to be remote and pure, which must help to establish it as
the dwelling place of the divinities.
I would make a purple rock stand erect at the top of the next peak,
and thereby form the buttressing element of a lefthand watchtower.
The steep cliff, lofty and dark, is linked on the west with the Cloud
Terrace so as to indicate a road. The lefthand watchtower peak has
a precipice for its base, and below this is a void. I will combine several
boulders in a layered effect to support the precipice so that together
with it they face the eastern gorge. To the west, a rocky torrent
appears. However, as it adapts to its steep confines, I will cause it to
flow down through the ridge as an underground stream that emerges
after awhile to the east. It descends down the gorge as a stony
brook that sinks into a deep pool. The reason for its falling now to
the west and now to the east is that I wish to make the painting seem
naturaL
The northern and western faces of the Cloud Terrace should be
depicted as one in a ridge that winds around them. At the top I will
make two pillar-like boulders to stand for the left and righthand
watchtowers. On one rock I will place a solitary wandering phoenix.
It should be in a dancing pose with ornamental and detailed plumage,
raising its tail and spreading its wings to gaze into the steep gorge.
The red flanking rocks of the last section should be made dispersed
and agitated like rending lightning. These face the wall next to the

14. The story is of the last of seven tests given by the Taoist adept Chang Tao-ling
to discover a worthy heir to his knowledge. Chao Sheng hurled himself into a chasm
to reach the peach tree for whose fruit the master promised the Tao. Subsequently,
both Chao Sheng and Wang Ch'ang followed their master in leaping into the chasm
and, upon landing, were the only two of his numerous disciples to receive his instruction.
See the Shen-hsien chuan (Tales of Immortals), attributed to Ko Hung (A.D. 4th century),
Book 4.

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36 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

phoenix, on the west of the Cloud Terrace, to form a gorge. There

is a clear stream at the bottom of the gorge. At the outer face of
the farther cliff wall, I will make a white tiger flattened on a rock to
drink the water. After this, I will create a descending effect and
finish.
In general, although the painting of a mountain in three sections
is long in extension, it should be made compact, or else it will not be
suitable. As for the types of birds and beasts that can be used when
appropriate, one should dedde on their poses and then use them. In
creating the gorges below, objects and scenes are all inverted (as re-
flections in the water). Pure vapor girdles the mountain's lower part
for at least one third (of its height) or more, so that it clearly defines
two levels.
Hua Yiln-t'ai-shan chi (Record on Painting the Cloud Terrace Mountain);
cited in L1M/JC, Book 5. CKHLLP, pp. 581-582.

The Significance of Landscape

Tsung Ping (375-443)
Sages, possessing the Tao, respond to things. The virtuous, purifying
their thoughts, savor images. As for landscape, it has physical exist-
ence, yet tends toward the spiritual. Therefore, such recluses as the
Yellow Emperor, Yao, Confucius, Kuang-ch'eng, Ta-k'uei, Hsii Yu,
and the brothers Po-i and Schu-ch'i from Ku-chu insisted upon roam-
in!?; in the mountains K'ung-t'ung, Chii-tz'u, Miao-ku, Chi, Shou, T'ai-
and Meng. 15 These have also been praised as the pleasures of the
humane and wise. Now, sages follow the Tao throu!?;h their spirits,
and the virtuous comprehend this. Landscapes display the beauty of
the Tao through their forms, and humane men delight in this. Are
these not similar?
When I was deeply attached to the Lu and Heng mountains, and
roamed with abandon the peaks of Ching and Wu,'" I did not realize
that old age was approaching. Ashamed of being unable to concentrate

15. Mountains arc often associated with sages or immortals in Chinese mythology.
See Karlgren, "Legends and Cults in Ancient China," for various traditions about heroes
and rulers in prehistory, especially P- 279 for the hermit Kuang-ch'eng and the sage
Ta-k'uei. Hsi.i Yu, and the brothers Po-i and Shu-ch'i, are all noted by Ssu-ma Ch'ien
(145-ca. 74 B.c.) in Shih-chi (Historical Records), Book 61, as recluses who disdained
worldly power.
16. All famous scenic areas in the Kiangsi, Hunan, Hupei, and Szechwan regions.

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 Pre-T'ang Interpretation and Criticism 37

my vital breath and attune my body, I am afraid of limping among

those [who climb Mount Lu's] Stone GateY Therefore, I paint images
and spread colors, constructing cloudy peaks.
If truths that were abandoned before the period of middle antiquity
may still be sought by the imagination a thousand years later, and if
meaning that is subtler than the images of speech can be grasped by
the mind in books and writings, what then of where one's body has
strolled and one's eyes rested repeatedly when it is described form
for form and color for color?
However, the K'un-lun mountains are immense and the eyes' pupils
small. If the former come within inches of the viewer, their total form
will not be seen. If they are at a distance of several miles, then they
can be encompassed by inch-small pupils. Truly, the farther off they
are, the smaller they will appear. Now, if one spreads thin silk to
capture the distant scene, the form of K'un-lun's Lang peak 18 can be
encompassed in a square inch. A vertical stroke of three inches will
equal a height of thousands of feet, and a horizontal stretch of several
feet will form a distance of a hundred miles. That is why those who
look at paintings are only troubled by awkwardness in the likeness
and do not consider that diminution detracts from verisimilitude. This
is a natural condition. In this way, the lofty elegance of the Sung and
Hua mountains as well as the soul of deep valleys can all be included
in one picture.
If response by the eye and accord by the mind [to nature] is con-
sidered a universal law, when similitude is skillfully achieved, eyes will
also respond completely and the mind be entirely in accord. This
response and accord will affect the spirit and, as the spirit soars, the
truth will be attained. Even though one should again futilely seek out
remote cliffs, what more could be added? Furthermore, the spirit,
which is essentially limitless, resides in forms and stimulates all kinds

17. Members of the monk Hui-yuan's religious community are known to have
climbed this peak and to have celebrated it in poetry. See Susan Bush, ''Tsung Ping's
Essay on Painting Landscape and the 'Landscape Buddhism' of Mount Lu," in Theories
of the Arts in China, ed. Susan Bush and Christian .\.furck {Princeton: Princeton Uni-
versity Press, 1983), pp. 144-152. This particular phrase can also be understood and
translated as "I am distressed at being unable to concentrate my vital breath and to
attune my body, thus falling into being like him at the Stone Gate." This alludes to a
passage in the Lun-yil {Analects), Book 14; Legge, Chinese Classics, I, 290, in which a
gatekeeper at the mountain pass of the Stone Gate comments on the futility of Con-
fucius's actions, without attempting any positive action by himself.
18. The central peak of this semimythologized range to China's west is known for
its height and for immortals thought to dwell there; cf. David Hawkes, Ch'u tz'u: The
Songs of the South (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959), pp. 29, 136.

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38 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

of life, and truth enters into reflections and traces. One who can truly
describe things skillfully will also truly achieve this.
Thus, I live at leisure, regulating my vital breath, brandishing the
wine-cup and sounding the lute. Unrolling paintings in solitude, I sit
pondering the ends of the earth. Without resisting the multitude of
natural promptings, alone I respond to uninhabited wildernesses where
grottoed peaks tower on high and cloudy forests mass in depth. The
sages and virtuous men who have shone forth throughout the ages
had a myriad charms [of nature] fused into their spirits and thoughts.
What then should I do? I rejoice in my spirit, and that is all. What
could be placed above that which rejoices the spirit?
Huashan-shuihsii (Introduction to Painting Landscape); cited inLTMHC,
Book 6. CKHLLP, pp. 583-584.

Wang Wei (415-443)

I was honored by a letter from the Imperial Household Grandee Yen
Yen-chih [384-456], which says that drawing pictures should not stop
with mere exercise of artistry, since the final product ought to cor-
respond to the images of the I eking [Book of Changes]. However,
those who occupy themselves with the seal and clerical scripts natu-
rally place skill in calligraphy higher. I should like both to discrim-
inate between calligraphy and painting and to examine how they are
similar.
Now those who speak of painting ultimately focus on nothing but
appearances and positioning. Still, when the ancients made paintings,
it was not in order to plan the boundaries of cities or differentiate
the locale of provinces, to make mountains and plateaus or delineate
watercourses. What is founded in form is fused with soul, and what
activates movement is the mind. If the soul cannot be seen, then that
wherein it lodges will not move. If eyesight is limited, then what is
seen will not be complete.
Thus, with one reed brush I simulate the form of the Great Void;
with differentiated shapes I paint the perceptions of the inch-wide
pupils. Crookedly I render the heights of Mount Sung; speedily I
create Mount Fang-chang. With tortuous lines I mark Mount T'ai-
hua; with curving dots I show its magnificent nose. 19 Their brows,
19. The "Great Void" has, of course, a metaphysical significance in Taoism, but it
could also simply indicate the sky in sixth-century poetry. Mounts Sung and T'ai-hua
are two of the Five Sacred Peaks, but Fang-chang may refer to either one of the three
legendary isles of the immortals or in its literal sense of "ten yards square" to the hut
of a Buddhist monastic, or hy extension to that of the famous Buddhist layman Vi-
malakirti.

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 Pre-Tang Interpretation and Criticism 39

foreheads, chins, and jaws are as if in a peaceful smile. Their lonely

cliffs, luxuriant and flourishing, seem to spit forth clouds. Through
horizontal changes and vertical transformations, movement is pro-
duced. With angled front and squared back, [forms] are brought out.
After this, palaces and towers, boats and carriages, each object is
assembled according to its kind; dogs and horses, birds and fish, each
entity is differentiated according to its shape. This is the achievement
of painting.
At the sight of the autumn douds, my spirit soars on high. Before
the spring winds, my thoughts expand in fluidity. Though one should
have the music of bell and chimes, or a treasure of ceremonial jades,
how could they compare to this? I unroll a painting and exam-
ine its inscription. It represents strange mountains and seas, ver-
dant forests tossed by wind, white waters leaping and foaming. Ah,
how could this have been accomplished easily. It must have
come about through divine inspiration. This is the true feeling of
painting.
Hsil hua (Discussion of Painting); cited in LTMHC, Book 6. CKHLLP,
p. 584 (the first two characters in the last line are reversed).

Criteria for Appreciation and Criticism

Ku K'ai-chih (ca. 345-ca. 406)
Beauty of form, exactness in calculation of scale, discrimination of yin
and yang (the polarities of creative forces], and refinement of brush-
work, all these are valued by the world. When [a painter has] divine
principles within the mind, and hands in accord with eyes, a profound
appreciation [of his work] will not then depend on verbal interpre-
tations. If this were not so, one would truly be cut off from under-
standing of another's mind. One should not be deluded by a mass of
critical writings. Those who depend on biased views to simulate un-
derstanding must also value thorough knowledge. Although I am
unqualified to examine such points, these thoughts have covered more
than half the ground.
Lun-hua (Essay on Painting); cited in LTMHC, Book 5.

Hsieh Ho (active ca. 500-535?)

Now by classification of painters is meant the relative superiority and
inferiority of all painters. As for painters, there is not one who does
not illustrate some exhortation or warning, or show the rise and fall

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40 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

[in man's affairs]. The solitudes and silences of a thousand years may
he seen as in a mirror by merely opening a scroll.
Even though painting has its Six Elements [or Laws], few are able
to combine them thoroughly, and from ancient times until now each
painter has excelled in one particular branch. What are these Six
Elements? First, Spirit Resonance which means vitality; second, Bone
Method which is [a way of] using the brush; third, Correspondence
to the Object which means the depicting of forms; fourth, Suitability
to Type which has to do with the laying on of colors; fifth, Division
and Planning, that is, placing and arrangement; and sixth, Trans-
mission by Copying, that is to say the copying of models.
Only Lu Tan-wei [5th century] and Wei Hsieh [active late 3rd-
early 4th century] were thoroughly proficient in all of these.
But, while works of art may be skillful or clumsy, aesthetics knows
no ancient and modern. Respectfully relying upon remote and recent
[sources] and following their classifications, I have edited and com-
pleted the preface and citations. Hence what is presented is not too
far-ranging. As for the origins [of painting], it is merely reported that
it proceeded from gods and immortals, but none was witness to such.
KHPL, preface. Compare Acker, tr., I, 3-5, and CKHLLP, p. 355.

Yao Tsui (535-602)

Now, the wonder of painting is so great that words can never wholly
fathom it. For, though in essence it never departs from the concepts
of antiquity, in its outward marks it changes according to present
circumstances.
[Painters] can store myriad phenomena in their breasts and relate
the events of a thousand years' span with a tiny brush. For truly all
the immortals and spirits were represented on the nine-storied towers,
and many wise men and sages were depicted on the lofty walls of the
four-gated sacrificial halls [in the Chou Dynasty]. 20 In the Cloud Ter-
race [of the Southern Palace in the Later Han Dynasty] paintings
inspired emotions of reverence and awe; and even in the palace's
private apartments they could bring about the leave-taking [of Chinese
brides selected from their portraits by nomadic chieftains] to be mar-

20. For a discussion of ling-t'ai (towers} and ming-t'ang (halls) in the Chou Dynasty
(1027-256 B.c.), see Laurence Sickman and Alexander Soper, The A1·t and Architecture
of China (Baltimore: Penguin, 1956}, pp. 367-371, 374, 378-379.

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 Pre-T'an[J; Interpretation and Criticism 41

ried in distant countries. 21 But all such things of remote memory are
hard to trace thoroughly. And in what is extant, the subjects are often
lost in obscurity. Of course, unless one has deep perception and wide
experience, how can one distinguish the fine from the coarse, and
cast off snares and traps to arrive finally at the truth?
Still, there are opportune and inopportune times in human affairs,
and man experiences prosperity and dedine. Sometimes he is highly
honored in his boyhood; sometimes fame comes to him in the prime
of life. For truly that which precedes and that which follows are formed
each according to the other, and the superior and inferior are opposed
yet mixed [in all work].
As for the excellence of someone like Ku K'ai-chih, he commands
the highest place in the records of the past, standing lofty and alone.
In all time he had no equal. He had a sort of supernatural brilliance,
which ordinary intelligence could never hope to realize. It was as
though he upheld the sun and the moon. How should the insignificant
learning [of others] be able even to glimpse him. Hsiin Hsii, Wei
Hsieh, Ts'ao Pu-hsing, and Chang Mo [all of the 3rd or early 4th
century] were as nothing compared to him, and no man has ever been
seen ,.,.,ho could meet him on equal terms. That Hsieh Ho records of
him "his fame exceeds the reality" is quite depressing enough, but
that he should have placed Ku in a low class is something that I can
bear with even less equanimity. This was simply because Hsieh's otvn
emotional attitude was unstable, and had nothing to do with the merits
or defects of the paintings themselves ... I fear that the principles of
classification have come to an end, are swept away and lost forever.
Yet I have some hope that, by lifting one corner, I may be as one
with the three profitable friends [of the upright, true unto death, and
those who have heard much] ...
If one studies the Ho shu [Interpretations of Divination Hexagrams]
at length, then [one will find that] pictures existed before writing. To
use the words of the Lien-shan lBook of Divination], "speech is ren-
dered visible by means of visible forms.'' 22 Nowadays everyone admires

21. Between A.D. 58 and 76, idealized portraits of twenty-eiglu famous generals
and four officials were painted on the walls of the Cloud Terrace to do them honor
and to remind posterity of such models. Fan Yeh (d. A.D. 44!'1), H(m-Han 5hu (Later
Han Dynastic History), Book 22, hiogr<tphy of Ma Wu (d. A.D. 61). For one le('!;end of
a Chinese bride selected on the basis of a portrait see the LTMJ/C, Book 4, Acker
translation, II: I, pp. 5-6.
22. For the connection between script and divination, see the LTMHC, Book I,
Acker translation, I, R5-99.

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42 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

these bird-tracks [of script] white despising yonder [symbols in the]

dragon-patterns [of the hexagrams]. But the mutual interchange of
growth and decay has its natural cause. Therefore, [the legendary
artisan] Ch'ui cut off his fingers, for skillful artifice should not be
practiced. 23 •••
The men that I include [in this book] are all people not mentioned
by Hsieh Ho. Still, if this composition consists of only two scrolls, in
them men whose tao seemed to have something worthy of note have
been brought together into one group. While ancient and modern
critical works on calligraphy must select calligraphers according to
their relative merits, those who understand painting are not many,
hence I have tried to be exhaustive. As the number of these men is
so small, I have not tried to make any fine distinctions whatever. The
relative excellence of each painter may be inferred from the tenor of
my remarks.

HHP, preface with some passages omitted. CKHLLP, pp. 368-369.

Social Status and Creative Activity

Chuang-tzu
When the First Lord of Sung wished to have pictures painted, a
multitude of his scribes arrived together. They received his commands
respectfully, then stood in attendance. Of those licking brushes and
mixing ink, at least half were outside [the ranks of painters]. One
scribe arrived later, casually and without hurry. He received the
commands respectfully, but did not stand in attendance, retiring
immediately. The noble ordered someone to see what he was doing.
Behold, he had loosened his robes and was sitting with his legs
outspread, half-naked. The lord then said: "He will do. He is a real
painter."

Chuang-tzu (late 4th-early 3rd century B.c.), Book 21. CKHLLP, p. 3.

23. Ch'ui is twice referred to in the Shu ching (Book of Historical Documents),
sections "Yu shu" and "Ku ming," Legge, The Chinese Classics, Ill, 45, 555, as minister
of works for the legendary emperor Shun and as a maker of bamboo arrows. Chuang-
tzu (late 4th-early 3rd century B.C.), Book 10, "Ch'ii ch'ieh," James Legge, tr., The
Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Taoism, The Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 39 (Oxford:
Clarendon, 1891 ), Pt. 1, p. 286, contains the caution against art as destructive of natural
experience.

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 Pre-Tang Interpretation and Criticism 43

Hsieh Ho (active ca. 500-535?)

Ku Chiin-chih [5th century] once built a tower of several stories, which
he used as his atelier. When wind and rain blustered and lowered,
he would on no account take up his brush. But, on days when the
skies were favorable and the air crisp, only then would he color his
brush-tip. He would climb up into his tower and remove the ladder,
so that his wife and children seldom saw him.
KHPL. CKHLLP, p. 358.

Yao Tsui (535-602)

The Prince of Hsiang-tung [later the Liang Dynasty Emperor Yuan
who reigned 552-554] was by nature a superior man and famous in
his generation. Early taking advantage of an inborn wisdom, he pen-
etrated in his studies beyond the nature of things, and his mind was
schooled by all creation. He was such that not even the most virtuous
could hope to equal. Yet painting has Six Elements [or Laws] which
even true immortals would find difficult.
The Prince reached the utmost in divine subtlety in his imaging of
people. He had a brilliant mind and a facile hand, never having to
correct strokes or remedy errors. This was all done in his hours of
leisure from hearing cases and administrative work, or in time left
over from his literary discussions and various other artistic pursuits.
Whenever he came across a suitable object, he would take up his brush
and, in a short time, produce something startling beyond words
... Although his output of pictures was very limited, his fame was
heard beyond his own country. Neither repeated discussion nor mute
acceptance can serve to praise him.
Chang Seng-yu [6th century] excelled in making pictures for pa-
godas and temples, and strode beyond the multitude of arti-
sans ... Making the day last into the night, he never wearied or grew
bored. Whether in the company of others or by himself, his hand
never left the brush. For the space of several dozen years, he simply
never gave himself a moment's rest ...
HHP. CKHLLP, pp. 369, 372.

Yen Chih-t'ui (531-after 591)

To find amusement in looking at the art objects of all times is partic-
ularly valuable and enjoyable. But, if one's official position is not high

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44 Early Chinese Texts on Painting

enough, one is frequently ordered to paint for the government or for

private friends, and that is disgusting service. Ku Shih-tuan of Wu-
chi.in started his career as an attendant secretary of the princedom of
Hsiang-tung, and later on became an administrator of a criminal court
in the prefecture of Chen-nan. He had one son named T'ing, an
imperial secretary of the Western Court. Both the father and son were
skillful calligraphers and lute-players, and were especially marvelous
in painting. Whenever they were ordered [to paint] by the Emperor
Yi.ian [reigned 552-554], they felt humiliated and harbored resent-
ment.
Liu Yi.ieh of P'eng-ch'eng, son of To, with an official career from
a secretaryship in the headquarters of a swift cavalry division to mag-
istrate of P'ing-shih, was a very brilliant scholar with unsurpassed
ability in painting. Later on, he followed the Prince ofWu-ling to Shu
[Szechwan], where he suffered a defeat at Hsia-lao. Then [Yi.ieh] was
compelled to paint the walls of the Chih-chiang temple for Protective
General Lu, and to live together with other craftsmen. If these three
scholars had been ignorant of painting, simply engaging themselves
in their original professions, would they have met with such humili-
ations?
Yen-shihchia-hsun (Family Instructions forthe Yen Clan), Book 7. CKH LLP,
p. 15.

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