A Spring Scenery in Loyang

Peony is a propitious symbol of wealth and prosperity in China long long time ago.Therefore in China,many places such as residences,restaurants and other business centres, paintings with the motif of peony would be hung as a mascot.

The most bright and colourful peonies are grown in the county Loyang, in Honan, China.The blossoming season of peonies is in the late spring;so the meaning of the inscription on the right is : A spring scenery in Loyang.

(dimention:28 inchesX18 inches)

Painting is a kind of two-dimensional works of art, thereby many artists facing the same problem of reproducing the all-aroundness of the visual conception directly in a single plane. We grapple with the problem of selecting the perceptually preferred aspects best suited to convey the visual concepts of the three-dimensional world. It is also related to the aesthetic senses which could develop and enrich gradually through the experiences of manipulating all means of two-dimensional expression, and to be built up to levels of higher sophistication. However it would take a long time by self-discovering.

In traditional Chinese Painting, there are some kinds of books dealing with the above mentioned problems. There are diverse topics for the beginners to learn the best ways of representing a certain kind of thing. These books are the elementary introduction of how to have the successful two-dimensional expression. There are both verbal definition and visual illustration to help us to render the basic visual forms and to organize these forms.

For example, in the chapter of flower, there are rules telling us the basic methods to have the all-around concept of the offshoots of the trunk as to avoid the unpleasant effect. The picture which I depicted above , only two branches crossed each other, and the third branch would not coincide the formed point of the branches. It is the basic norm to prevent the visual statement from being equivocal and ambiguous.

At the same time, however, traditional Chinese painting is not the fidelity to the outward appearance

 of things. The single plane is viewed as the locus of directed perceptual forces of attraction and repulsion. The peony in the painting exhibits a particular predominant direction; thus results a pull in that direction. The dark short branches on the right stabilize the pressing movement and the visual dynamics is established in balance.

The traditional works of aesthetic value are our mentors. In the past, all the valuable originals were in the hands of a few scholars and officials. During early Ch’ing dynasty (1644-1911) Mr. Wong Gai compiled the teaching notes of an art teacher of the former dynasty and enriched it. With the follow-up edition of later period, the complete volumed work really helped people a lot as how to represent the best aspect of nature, and how to render the interaction between the energetic life force and the tendency toward balance to reach a fuller conception of dynamics activating the human mind and reflected in the mind’s products.