These two pictures were collected by Wang Shecheng Art Treasures Museum in Hiroshima, Japan, and published together in Suzhou Printmaking Catalogue published by 1986 Wang Shecheng Art Treasures Museum.
In ancient China, genre painting characterized by various markets developed with the formation of commercial cities. The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan in Song Dynasty, followed by the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival by Chou Ying in Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, there appeared some artistic works depicting the prosperous life in Suzhou, among which Xu Yang's Flowers in a Prosperous Age and a number of magnificent and realistic Gusu prints played a connecting role.
Gusu printmaking, which flourished in Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, should be represented by Suzhou Jinchang map. However, for a long time, this masterpiece has been divided into two parts, which can't be seen at a glance, and its academic value and artistic value have not been paid more attention.
With the inspiration and help of Cheng Ying, Wang Zude and Li Ming, the contact restoration of Suzhou Jinchang map was carried out and a preliminary study was made. This paper briefly expounds the connection restoration and research of Suzhou Jinchang map, hoping to get your correction.
First, Suzhou Jinchang map was originally divided into two pictures.
"Suzhou Jinchang Map" was originally divided into two pieces, one of which was inscribed according to the painting and called "360-line map" (see back cover map 1). Another picture of the "Nagato" city gate according to the painting is called "Gusu Nagato Map" (see Figure 2 on the back cover). These two pictures were collected by Wang Shecheng Art Treasures Museum in Hiroshima, Japan, and published together in Suzhou Printmaking Catalogue published by 1986 Wang Shecheng Art Treasures Museum. In the book "Suzhou Taohuawu Woodblock New Year Pictures" published by 199 1 Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House and Hong Kong Guest Publishing House, these two paintings still use their old names respectively. In other albums and articles about Suzhou prints, most of them regard these two paintings as interrelated and independent.
Second, the problem and crux
When I was studying in the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, I was fortunate enough to listen to Professor Pang Xunqin's course "Decorative Paintings of China in Past Dynasties". Mr. Pang Xunqin has clearly pointed out in the book "Study on Decorative Paintings of China in Past Dynasties" published in 1982: "The picture of Nagato in Suzhou can be divided into two parts, which together form a complete composition. (1) "So why did these two paintings fail to connect into a complete picture for a long time? The crux of the problem is that the edges of the two paintings have been cut to varying degrees, so that the existing images of the two paintings cannot be combined into a complete picture.
The picture sizes of the two existing paintings are different. The picture size of line 360 is 1087 cm high and 556 cm wide. The size of Nagato diagram in Gusu is 1086 cm high and 560 cm wide. According to the comparative analysis of the connecting parts of the two pictures, the right side of the "360 Line Drawing" is cut off at least 2 cm, while the upper side of the "Gusu Nagato Drawing" is cut off more. If you want to connect two pictures into one picture, you must restore the cut part of the two pictures, especially the missing part of the connection between the two pictures, which is difficult to restore.
Third, the connection restoration of Suzhou Jinchang map
First, find out the coordinates that can be used as the basis for connecting the map of Nagato in Gusu with the map of Line 360. The coordinates from bottom to top are the roofs and skirting lines of shops sandwiched in the upper and lower rows of the street, the layers of water waves on the river, the stone embankment on the river, the urn in Nagato and the transverse wall of the inner city. The abscissa is the width of a shop front and the length of a diagonal boat. Through the vertical and horizontal coordinates, the range of the missing parts of the two pictures, the content and position of the pictures are determined, and the missing images at the joint and the upper and lower sides of the two pictures are recovered one by one.
After repair and two adjustments and revisions, the Suzhou Jinchang map and the 360-line map are connected into a close and complete composition (see Figure 3 on the cover).
The restored Suzhou Jinchang map, with a height of 1090 cm and a width of 1 100 cm, should be very close to the original connection size of the first two uncut paintings, and it is a huge square woodcut of color prints. The content of the picture is mainly the bustling Nanhao market outside Qianmen, accounting for about a quarter of the picture, and the description of the market is specific and detailed. The gate of Nagato is located in the middle and upper part of the picture, accounting for only one twelfth of the picture, and the scenery description of the tower is relatively simple. However, the description of Suzhou's city appearance in Nagato is very brief, only an understatement. Mr. Pang Xunqin described the layout characteristics of this painting as follows: "In this" Suzhou Nagato Map ",the description of characters is not outstanding, with 360 lines, which are not fully displayed, but Suzhou City is an empty city. (2) So the theme of this painting is neither Suzhou Nagato nor "360 lines". From the picture layout, the theme is to show all kinds of markets of land and water terminals in Jinchang District, Suzhou. Therefore, the name of this painting can't be extended to the names of the original two paintings, namely "The Picture of Nagato in Gusu" and "The Picture of 360 Lines", but it can be called "The Picture of Jinchang in Suzhou", and the theme of this painting is also reflected in the poem.
4. Textual research on Suzhou Jinchang map poems
There is an inscription of "360 lines" in the official script on the upper right (originally on the right) of this painting. At the top left of the painting (originally the left picture), there are running script poems, the time of painting poems and the author's fasting number. There have been different versions of this poem before, but the identification of some words in the poem is different. To this end, I made a proofreading, and now I retranslate the poem of this painting as follows:
Thousands of businessmen gathered in Jinchang, and the elevators came from all directions.
Dongyu village flew to the first place, and there were many beehives.
Embroidered pavilions and Zhu dynasties are mixed, and Liushi in the flower shed holds a song.
Gao Qi's paintings come and go frequently, and there are many transactions.
It is the same as Huanying in Bianjing and Wuzhong in Song Dynasty.
Jincheng is often solid and blocked by the people, and things are blessed, and Kangsong is peaceful.
Jiayin autumn and July
The owner of Bao Huixuan also has the right.
The first sentence of the poem points out the theme of this painting: "Thousands of businessmen gather in Jinchang". Jinchang area is the most prosperous commercial market in Suzhou, so this restored and complete painting should be called Suzhou Jinchang Map.
5. The comparison between the scenery of Changmen in Suzhou Jinchang map and other paintings in Qing Dynasty.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Nagato was the most prosperous area in Suzhou. In the poem "Nagato is Things", painter Tang Yin described the grand occasion of Changmen Store in the late Ming Dynasty: "Wuzhong is a paradise on earth, and Nagato is a good man. Cui Sleeve is 3,000 yuan upstairs and downstairs, and millions of dollars are in the west and east. Even in Wugeng, He Jia never said anything, and the words from four distant places are always different. If a painter wants to paint, he must paint hard. " In the Yuan Dynasty, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was expanded, and the Grand Canal flowed through the western part of Suzhou, which contributed to the rise of Changmen and became the most important of the six gates in Suzhou at that time. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng called the King of Wu and added a Moon City to the gate of Suzhou (see "Tongzhi Rebuilding Suzhou Local Records", Volume 4). Moon City is Weng City. In the first year of Kangxi, Suzhou City Gate was overhauled. Volume 4 of Tongzhi Rebuilding Suzhou Mansion records: "In the first year of Kangxi, Governor Han rebuilt the city wall and expanded the female wall. ..... Gate 6, dysprosium, Lou, Qi, Chang and Pan have their own water and land gates, but there is no water gate. Each door has a building, and a military arsenal of the official hall is built. " However, the largest urn was built in Changmenhuan Building, with two other gates and three cities in Nagato.
I have seen four paintings with a gate. The first one is the Squeezing Map of Xiaoguanzhou painted by Shangtong Yuan, a native of Suzhou in the late Ming Dynasty (Figure 4). This painting depicts a ship entering and leaving Nagato Watergate. The description of Nagato Tower is relatively simple. The shape of "Moon City" is not clear, but it is a suspension bridge outside Nagato. There are no buildings on the suspension bridge, and there are stones on both sides of the bridge. This painting highlights the waterway transportation in Nagato, but does not describe commercial activities.
The second work is "Suzhou Jinchang Map", a restored and synthesized Gusu print, which depicts the shape of Nagato in detail in a realistic way, and adopts a bird's-eye style different from previous Chinese paintings, so that the shape and scenery of the inner city of Nagato can be seen at a glance. On the map, Nagato Block is divided into two cities: land and water. The dungeon has two moon cities, and * * * has four underground gates. There is a brick watchtower on the front landing door, which blends with the brick wall. There is a vertical "Nagato" doorway on the vault door, and young trees grow in the gap of the city wall. The underground gate and the inner urn gate facing the outer city are the inner gates of Nagato, and the two-story tower is guarded by soldiers, which shows that the building is the "Guanting Arsenal" recorded in Suzhou government records. On the site between the inner and outer floors of the urn, shops and houses are distributed along the city wall. On the south side of the inner and outer floors of the urn, there are connected vault doors. On the inner side of the outer urn door, a covered carriage is slowly ascending from west to east along the wide and inclined horse path. On the walkway on the wall of the North City, there are horses moving freely. Nagato is a water city in the north, and there is a vault gate at the east and west ends.
Nagato Lucheng Gate faces the suspension bridge. Suspension bridge, formerly known as suspension bridge, spans the outer city river and is the most important bridge in and out of Suzhou Xicheng. Founded in the Yuan Dynasty, it was rebuilt in the third year of Qing Emperor Kangxi (1664). The slope foundation on both sides of the suspension bridge was changed from stone to brick. The bridge is flat-topped, and there are a row of simple flat-topped shops on both sides of the road at the top of the bridge, and the simple booths are supported by benches.
The west of Nagato Suspension Bridge in Jinchangtu, Suzhou is the crossroads leading to Nanhao Street and Shantang Street, and it was the bustling commercial zone in Suzhou at that time. On the picture, "goods are piled up like mountains, pedestrians are constantly flowing, and signs are listed." The recognizable logo and commodity name of the store on the screen are: Baoyuan. Money exchange, East XX seafood, Tianbaozhai XX buttons, North and South grocery store, XXX box store, Guang Chuan medicine store, ginseng store, when Chu Jinyu jewelry store (above the north end of Nanhao Street). Tea room, Huasuyun white cigarette bag, Huizhou umbrella, spring Taiyuan, XX blue button, cat food, XX bamboo pigment line, Datong Pucheng X cigarette XX, Sanxian chicken noodle, Gu Erfang, Su Jing non-staple food. Chen Xiuwen, wineries, grocery stores, umbrellas, Deshun, Jinmao, dyehouses are really blue and red, sauce X, leather goods, and Taihe Hang (on the east bank of the Outer City River). In the market outside Nagato, there are various figures painted, including vendors carrying goods, traveling vendors and porters, riding officials crowded around, smokers in robes, porters carrying clay pots, vendors selling fresh fruits and food, monks, violinists, children squatting and playing, and women watching the scenery on the terrace. On the Little Square outside Nagato, there is also a woman walking a tightrope with a horizontal bar, and there are onlookers under the tightrope. Described the market in Jinchang area.
The picture only briefly describes the city appearance of Nagato. In addition to Xizhongshi Street in the east, the North Temple Tower in the far northeast is specially displayed, and the name of Yunlin Temple in the southwest of Xizhong is marked, which is an ancient temple built in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the early years of the Republic of China, it was merged into "Wenshan Chaoyin Temple". There are four flagpoles in the north of the city, which should be the big teaching ground at that time.
Many ships crossed the suspension bridge from the outer city river and sailed into the canal. There was a big boat in the river outside the city, which was taken away by officials. A man was standing in front of the boat, banging a gong with a wooden stick and shouting to let the boat in front make way. This "Suzhou Jinchang Map" shows the spectacular scene of merchants from all directions gathering in Jinchang with a panoramic view.
The third picture of Changmen is found in a section of the long scroll "The Prosperous Age Picture of Gusu" drawn by Xu Yang in the 16th year of Qianlong (175 1) (formerly known as "The Prosperous Age Breeding Picture") (Figure 5). The tower in the picture is very rough, only revealing a heavy urn. The watchtower on the urn is no longer brick, nor is it connected with the city wall, but is built in the battlements at the head of the city. The shops on both sides of the road at the top of the suspension bridge have become formal, and they have become rows of tile houses, which are already covered bridges with long corridors. The traffic on the suspension bridge has increased, which makes it very crowded.
The fourth picture of Nagato is an illustration (Figure 6) in Huqiu Zhi compiled in the thirty-second year of Qianlong (1767), which was found at the beginning of the woodcut of Jinchangmen Mountain Pond to Huqiu. The Changmen in the picture is incomplete, and Liancheng Building is just a corner. Although the painting is very simple, it shows that there are two kinds of Wengcheng in Nagato, which are roughly the same as the Jinchang map in Gusu, and it also shows that the Wengcheng in Nagato described in the Fan Hua map in Gusu is relatively omitted.
Judging from these four works with Nagato pictures, Nagato in Suzhou Jinchang picture is the most authentic. The shape of the railing on the upper floor of Liancheng, the young trees growing in the cracks of the wall bricks, the iron gate decorated with milk squares for the water gate, and the steps from the walkway on the wall to the tower are all described in detail, which makes people feel authentic and closest to the time.
Sixth, the time textual research of Suzhou Jinchang map.
When was the Suzhou Jinchang map drawn? Its main basis is the inscription on the map of "Jiayin" year ink book. Most scholars believe that this is the Jiayin year of Yongzheng, which is the twelfth year of Yongzheng (1734). However, there are also different views. Mr. Pang Xunqin holds that the Jiayin year inscribed on this painting belongs to the Qianlong period, which is 59 years (1794) in the book "A Study of Decorative Paintings in China". The main reason is that it was impossible for Gusu prints to copy European copperplate prints at that time, and it was thought that the opportunity to copy copperplate prints occurred in the thirty years of Qianlong (1765). At that time, four drafts of "Qianlong Journey to the West" were sent to French woodcut, 16200 yuan. "So, there is such a problem. If the woodcut had imitated the copper plate of western banknotes 30 years ago, there would be no need to spend 16200 silver to send four paintings to France for carving. (4) "Before Mr. Pang wrote this book, the information about the introduction of western paintings in the early Qing Dynasty was rarely published and translated, so it is reasonable for Mr. Pang to hold this view.
In the past ten years, new materials about the artistic exchange between China and the West in the early Qing Dynasty have been published continuously, and there are also many related research works. It is reported that Emperor Kangxi has obtained European copperplate prints. Beurdeley, a Frenchman, wrote "Foreign Painters of the Qing Palace", which recorded that "1663, Father Bai Jin came across the ocean at the behest of Emperor Kangxi to present a gift to Louis XIV of France ... and the Manchu interpretation of the Book of Changes. In order to thank Kangxi, the French king gave his father Bai the luxury copperplate collection. ⑤ In the fifty-second year of Kangxi (17 13), the Italian missionary Ma Guoxian carved "Thirty-six Scenes of chengde mountain resort" drawn by a court painter in China into a copperplate ⑤.
What needs to be pointed out in particular is the influence of Jiao Bingzhen, a court painter in Kangxi period, who studied western painting. In the thirty-fifth year of Kangxi (1696), forty-six maps of farming and weaving were drawn. Hu Jing's "Painting Record of imperial academy" praised Jiao Bingjun for adopting western painting methods: "Being good at painting shadows, … even shining with the sky, steaming into clouds, and being extremely poor, can be scattered in inches." Jiao Bingzhen's farming and weaving drawings have shown the perspective consciousness of being far small and near large, and also used the knife arrangement method commonly used in copperplate prints. Kangxi personally made a preface to farming and weaving, wrote poems for each painting, and gave them to princes and ministers, so that they would not forget that farming and weaving are the foundation of food and clothing. It was also given to overseas envoys and officials, which also had a far-reaching impact on the people. At that time, Suzhou was one of the central producing areas of textile industry. In the thirteenth year of Kangxi, Suzhou set up the weaving department. At that time, Suzhou was also the place where woodcut printing flourished. Therefore, it is no accident that the ploughing and weaving map was given to Suzhou engraver Zhu Gui for carving, which must have a great influence on Suzhou sculpture art.
Another important work to learn western painting was produced in the early years of Yongzheng. Xirao Nian, a former right assistant minister of the Ministry of Industry, benefited from several interviews with Italian missionary painter Lang Shining. In the seventh year of Yongzheng (1729), the monograph "The Essence of Vision" was published for the first time. After this book was printed, it should be very popular, so the second edition was printed in the 13th year of Yongzheng (1735). Suzhou was an important economic and cultural exchange center in Qing Dynasty. From the Kangxi period, Suzhou accepted the western painting style and engraving skills. It is very reasonable to accept the western perspective and imitate the style of copper engraving in Yongzheng period.
From the architectural changes in Nagato reflected in Suzhou Jinchang Map and Gusu Shengshi Map, we can also see when these two maps were made. There is no building on the east bank of the outer city river on the map of Jinchang, Suzhou, and the roadside hatchback on the top of the suspension bridge is a flat-ceilinged commercial booth. On the east bank of Nagato Outer City River in the bustling Gusutu, a two-story shop with a tile roof was built. The hatchback next to the top road of the suspension bridge has become a lined shop with neat storefronts. Long pole chandeliers were erected on both sides of the bridge. These places have more buildings and facilities than Suzhou Jinchang map, so the prosperous map of Suzhou was made later. The Golden Rooster Map of Gusu was written in the 16th year of Qianlong (175 1), but the Jiayin year of Suzhou Golden Rooster Map can only be pushed up from the 16th year of Qianlong, which should be the Jiayin year of Yongzheng, that is, the 12th year of Yongzheng (1734), and it is impossible to reach the 50th year of Qianlong (1734).
Seven. The Significance of Restoration and Integration of Suzhou Jinchang Map
1. The original two woodcut prints "360 Lines" and "Gusu Nagato Map" were repaired and spliced to form a super-large engraving of Suzhou Jinchang Map with complete composition, with a height of 1090cm and a width of 1 100cm.
2. Because the original two pictures were separated, the image of Nagato Guancheng was actually divided into two parts, and the joint of the two pictures was cut off, so we have to look around to associate the whole picture of Nagato Guancheng. The restored Jinchang map of Suzhou shows us a complete map of Nagato City, which is the most authentic and concrete picture we have ever seen in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and provides more accurate and precious image data of Nagato City in the Qing Dynasty.
3. "Suzhou Jinchang Map" is drawn by focus perspective method, with light and dark shadows. It is the earliest large-scale folk woodcut in China that imitates the style of western copperplate prints.
4. "Suzhou Jinchang Map" is an important genre painting in Qing Dynasty, with magnificent scene, complex composition, rich content and realistic style. It is also called a masterpiece reflecting the face of Suzhou in Qing Dynasty together with "Gusu Fanhuatu".
5. The sales target of Suzhou Jinchang map should be mainly domestic and foreign merchants who come to Suzhou for trade, and play the role of an image city business card, which is also the reason why a large number of Suzhou prints such as Suzhou Jinchang map have been preserved overseas. This enables us to break through the concept of pattern limited to Taohuawu woodblock New Year pictures and make a new understanding and evaluation of the cultural and historical value of Gusu prints.
Precautions:
(1) (2) (3) Pang Xunqin's Study on Decorative Paintings in China in Past Dynasties, page 1 17, Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 1982.
④ Xu Bangda: History of China Painting, Volume II, Painting 4 12, Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 1984.
⑤ (French) Beurdeley: Foreign Painters in Qing Dynasty, page 8, Shandong Pictorial Publishing House, 2002.
⑥ Mo Xiaoye: "Missionaries and 17, 18 century Western painting spread", p. 196, China Academy of Fine Arts Press, 2002.
(Zhang Pengchuan, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of Suzhou University Art College)