The Sui Wo Study Centre (瑞禾學社) locates in Tai Wai (大圍), which is administered by a Catholic institution called "Opus Dei" (主業會). The Sui Wo Study Centre gathers a group of "elite-minded" actual students and alumni from Tak Sun Secondary School (德信中學), KATSO members (天主教同學會成員) from CUHK or other local universities, Spanish and Filippino exchange students who study at the local universities, and Catholic youngsters who grew up from the parishes and secondary schools in Sha Tin or Tai Po District, to jointly practise a professional mode of apostolic lifestyle with a commitment to their favourite occupations in the secular world. On 8 and 22 February 2014, the Sui Wo Study Centre invited Vincent Lee Kwun-leung (李冠良) to conduct a Chinese art history lecture for the attendees, which corresponded with the festive atmosphere of Chinese New Year celebration. The Chinese art masters that Vincent Lee selected for his lecture were: (1) Li Sixun (李思訓) and Zhou Fang (周昉) from Tang Dynasty (2) Emperor Song Huizhong (宋徽宗) and Cui Bo (崔白) from Song Dynasty (3) Wang Meng (王蒙) from Yuan Dynasty (4) Gong Xian (龔賢) from Ming Dynasty (5) Shi Tao (石濤) from Qing Dynasty (6) Xu Beihong (徐悲鴻) from Republican Era (7) Zhang Daqian (張大千) from Communist Era One of the important highlights was that, Dr. Peter Herbert (B.A., P.G.C.E., Lic. en Fil. y Let., M. Ed., Ph.D.), Principal of Tak Sun Secondary School (德信中學), was one of the attendees to listen to Vincent Lee's in-depth aesthetic interpretations.

1. The Art of Chinese
Painting
Speaker: Vincent LEE Kwun-leung
Venue: Sui Wo Study Centre
Date: 8 & 22 Feb 2014

2. Two types of
Chinese paintings:
Gongbi ( 工筆 )
Fine-brush or
delineative painting
Yibi ( 意筆 )
Self-expressive (or
“xieyi” in Putonghua)
painting
Upper: “A Pair of Egrets” ( 雙鷺圖 ) by
Ju Chao ( 居巢 ) from Qing Dynasty
Lower: “Eagle” ( 鷹 ) by Gao Jianfu ( 高
劍父 ) from Republican Era

3. Basic theories

4. The “Six Rules” ( 六法 ) proclaimed by Xie He
( 謝赫 ) during the Southern and Northern Jin
Dynasty:
The vividness of spiritual essence (qi yun
sheng dong, 氣韻生動 )
The vibrancy of structural brushwork
(gu fa yong bi, 骨法用筆 )
The colour distribution according to
secular code (xui lei fu cai, 隨類賦彩 )

5. The “Six Rules” ( 六法 ) proclaimed by Xie He
( 謝赫 ) during the Southern and Northern Jin
Dynasty (continued):
The likeliness of forms (ying wu xie xing,
應物象形 )
The spatial distribution (jing ying wei
zhi, 經營位置 )
The persisting habit of imitation on styles
(chuan yi mu xie, 傳移模寫 ) by ancient
masters as a fulfilment of learning
process and inheritance

6. Gu Kaizhi ( 顧愷之 ) from
Eastern Jin Dynasty
To portray the “essence” of object with
reference to the observation of “form”
( 以形寫神 )

7. Tang Dynasty
• The spread of Buddhism
• The communication between Han Chinese
and the ethnical races from tributary states,
such as Korea, Turkic Khaganet and Tibet

8. Founder of “Greenish Monumental Landscape
Painting” ( 青綠山水 / 金碧山水 ):
Li Sixun ( 李思訓 )
The General of the “Left Royal Guard
Force” during the reign of Emperor Tang
Zhongzong ( 唐中宗 )

9. Li Sixun ( 李思訓 )
“The Pavilion from
the River with a
Yacht” ( 江帆樓閣
圖 )

10. Zhou Fang ( 周昉 )
“Court Lady Tuning the Lute” ( 簪花仕
女圖 )

11. Song Dynasty
• Strengthened the central rule by undermining
the provincial military influences
• The promotion of “Neo-Confucianism” ( 宋明
理學 , Song Ming Li Xue)

12. Emperor Song Huizhong ( 宋
徽宗 )
Re-formed the “Hanlin Academy of Court Painting” ( 翰林圖畫院 )
and published the “Xuanhe Painting Catologue” ( 宣和畫譜 )
“Xuanhe Style” ( 宣和體 ) or “The Style of Chrominance
Accumulation” ( 積色體 ) – Figures with Taoist features still existed in
the paintings, but most of the contents being emphasized were flowers
and birds.
“The Auspicious Cranes”
( 瑞鶴圖 )

13. Emperor Song
Huizhong ( 宋徽宗 )
Left:
“Hibiscuses
with a
Splendid Hen”
( 芙蓉錦雞
圖 )
Right: “An
Appreciation
on the Music
from Wooden
Qin” ( 聽琴
圖 )

14. Cui Bo ( 崔白 )
“Magpies and
Hare” ( 雙喜圖 )

15. Yuan Dynasty
• The governance of Mongolians
• The emergence of “literati painting”

16. Wang Meng
( 王蒙 )
The grandson of Zhao
Mengfu ( 趙孟頫 ) who
encountered miseries
both in Yuan and Early
Ming Dynasty
“The Grotto Inside The Forest of Ju
District”
( 具區林屋圖 )

17. Ming Dynasty
• Revived the conservative classics through a criticism on
Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi’s “Neo-Confucianism”,
as well as a criticism on Lu Jiuyun and Wang Yangming’s
“heart-originated” philosophy ( 心學 ) from Song Dynasty
• The promotion of “Pragmatic Studies on Universal and
Eternal Scriptures” (Jing Shi Zhi Yong Zhi Xue, 經世致用
之學 )

18. Gong Xian ( 龔賢 )
“rationally patterned” ink
accumulations (ji mo, 積墨 )
Persistence on the academic
ideal of “Donglin Party” and
“Fu Society” ( 復社 ),
despite of the change of
regime from Ming to Qing
“The Book Cottage Inside A Pine Forest”
( 松林書屋圖 )

19. Qing Dynasty
• Manchurian rule – assimilated with Han
Civilization by intensifying the institution of
Civic Examinations and the promotion of
Confucianist-Buddhist-Taoist thoughts

20. Shi Tao
( 石濤 )
The leisure of ink expression should keep abreast with the
trend.
Transcended from the concreteness of landscapes.
Discovered the mysterious hills for rough sketches
Regularities (fa, 法 ) defined by artist himself
Left: “Eight Victorious Hills from Huangshan Mountainous Range” ( 黃
山八勝圖之一 )
Right: “Self Portrait of Shi Tao” ( 石濤自畫像 )

21. Republican Era
• Abolition of Civic Examination
• Introduction of university and academy system for
the training of fine artists
• May Fourth Movement – aesthetic reformation

22. Xu Beihong ( 徐悲鴻 )
Sheltered by Cai Yuanpei to teach fine arts at Peking
University and reform the Chinese painting
methodology with an adoption of European oil-
painting elements
“Where there’s a will, there’s the way” ( 愚公移山 )

23. Xu Beihong ( 徐
悲鴻 )
Left: “The Portraiture of
Ranbindranath Tagore”
Right: “Galloping Horse”

24. Communist Era
• Needed the reconstruction of Chinese cultural
heritages after Cultural Revolution, with
Leninist school of artistic thought as a guiding
code for fine-art academies to train up artists

25. Zhang Daqian ( 張大千 )
Splashed-coloured Landscape

26. Any Catholic influences
to Chinese paintings?
• Giuseppe Castiglione, an Italian missionary
who was appointed by Emperor Kangxi,
Emperor Yongzheng and Emperor Qianlong
during the Early Qing period

27. Giuseppe
Castiglione
During the reign of
Yongzheng, he
helped the Qing
Court to design the
art and decorative
facilities of “Western
House” for the
expansion of Old
Summer Palace
“The Qianlong Emperor in
Ceremonial Armour on
Horseback”
( 乾隆大閱圖 )

28. Giuseppe
Castiglione
Helped Emperor
Qianlong and his 11
princesses to create a
painting with all of
their portraitures,
called “Spiritual
Description on
Peaceful Rule” ( 心寫
治平 )
“The Eight Horses”
( 八駿圖 )

29. Conclusion: To preserve the traditional “literati-based”
aesthetic values despite of exploring creative innovations
Adopted from Zhou Jiyin’s publication called “The Theories of Chinese Paintings”
( 周積寅編著之《中國畫論》 )
(1) 機巧 (ji qiao): Planning skills from one’s mind
(2) 意冥 (yi ming): A hidden integration between sentiments
and artistic conceptions
(3) 玄化 (xuan hua): Transformation of the Nature and
creatures
(4) 靈府 (ling fu): Spirituality from our hearts
(5) 衝漠 (chong mo): Tranqulity and a pursuit of voidness
(6) 妙理 (miao li): Profound virtues
(7) 凝神 (ying shen): Concentration of our spirits on art
leisures
(8) 遐想 (xia xiang): Fanciful daydreaming
(9) 妙悟 (miao wu): Intelligence in sensing and
comprehending the virtues

30. THANK
YOU
Q & A session