What are the types of ornaments that we often see on porcelain?Beautiful flowers, smart birds, or a reclusive master, or a naughty and playful baby?
Regardless of the type, most of the porcelain ornaments seen in daily life are pleasing to the eye and relaxing pastime. However, there is one type of picture that is an exception, which depicts the swords and swords on the battlefield and the fierce battles between soldiers, creating a tense and serious atmosphere.
That's it".Knife Horse Man"Ornamentation.
Qing Kangxi colorful knife horse figure straight neck bottle|Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.
It is recorded in the Qing Dynasty ceramic work "Tao Ya": ".Chenghua and Wanli Wucai are all Xi fighters who paint dramas, foreign merchants so-called sword and horse people, cow ghosts and snake gods, and similar to the Song Dynasty painting method, all of them have a reason and can be true.
It is mentioned here that the sword and horse people have been decorated since the Chenghua period, and the stories depicted in the pictures are often well-founded. But strangely, the sword horse man ornament untilLate Ming and early Qing DynastyIt's really popular, why is that?Moreover, what is the specific subject matter of the content depicted in the picture?
Let's answer them one by one
An era of constant warfare
The artistic fashion of porcelain is not only related to the porcelain itself, but is often determined by the social background of the time.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, there was social turmoil and years of war. At the beginning of the 17th century, the rise of Manchuria and the Dingge period of the Central Plains, not to mention, even until the prosperous era of Kangqian, there was no shortage of Kangxi's western expedition to Geerdan, Qianlong's pacification of the size and Zhuo's wars.
In such a social context, it is not surprising that the ornamentation of the sword and horse people will become popular. Moreover, it was not only China, but the West was also in the midst of an era of capitalist expansion and change. European merchants would have loved porcelain when they saw the exotic images of war
Qing Kangxi blue and white knife horse man figure flower goose|Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.
However, in order to increase awareness, the character ornaments on porcelain are often drawn with classic stories based on **. And when it comes to the most well-known war theme, it is none other than ".Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin" and "Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties" and other scripts.
Ming Chongyu blue and white Three Kingdoms story picture Bafang bottle.
2013 Sotheby's London 6250 pounds.
Qing Dynasty 18th century colorful three countries character story plate "Ming Chenghua year" imitation.
2015 Sotheby's Hong Kong 100,000 Hong Kong dollars.
When it comes to "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it is really known to everyone. Wait, it's a little strange - "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was obviously written inLate Yuan and early Ming DynastyThe hand of Luo Guanzhong, but it was not popular on porcelain paintings until two hundred years later, why is this?
** Boom with drama
As we all know, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is not Luo Guanzhong's original, but he sorted out and improved it on the basis of the folk scripts of the past dynasties. However, it has gone through a long process from its birth to gradually replacing other similar works of the Three Kingdoms, until it was widely accepted by the public at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
The widespread popularity of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is mainly due to the late Ming and early Qing dynastiesPrinting industrywithBookstore industryThe rapid development of .
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, movable type printing was widely promoted, and the improvement of efficiency promoted the spread of popular printing. The progress of the commodity economy has allowed booksellers to seize the opportunity to increase sales by inviting celebrities to write prefaces and illustrations.
Ming Jiajing blue and white borrowed the east wind picture bowl|Collection of the Shanghai Museum.
However, in ancient societies with low literacy rates, only a few people could read the paper "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" after all. Ordinary people who are illiterate mainly passDrama and commentaryto read the story.
At that time, several major dramas led by Hui Opera had begun to take shape, and they selected themes from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"**, so that ordinary people all over the country could enjoy the happiness brought by the Three Kingdoms Opera.
Qing Kangxi blue and white landscape figure mallet bottle|Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.
The picture is taken from the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in the "Tongquetai Competition" - Cao Cao held a banquet in Tongquetai to celebrate, watch the military attache test the bow and arrow, and if he can shoot the arrow stack, the red heart will be given a brocade robe.
Of course, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is not only loved by the people, but also by the ruling class such as the emperor's relatives and relatives.
For example, Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty was very obsessed with the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", in order to make the Manchu generals and nobles who did not understand Chinese learn Xi and learn from the military strategies in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he also specially asked people to translate the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" into Manchu for Manchu generals and nobles to study in depth.
There is even a legend that Huang Taiji is borrowed from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".Jiang Gan stole booksThe plot made Emperor Chongzhen kill Yuan Chonghuan by mistake, thus destroying the Great Wall.
Ming Chongzhen blue and white figure pattern jar|Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.
The picture is from the section "Giving Treasure and Saying Lu Bu" in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Li Su took the red rabbit horse and gold, silver and jewelry to persuade Lu Bu to betray Ding Yuan and take refuge in Dong Zhuo.
However, the performance of ** and drama is still not intuitive enough, and if you want to transplant it to the porcelain picture, you must have an image for reference. And this is due to the development of woodcut prints in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The ** period of woodblock prints
There are different opinions on the origin of Chinese printmaking art, but if we talk about the ** era, it is naturally the Ming and Qing dynasties. During this period, many excellent carvers appeared, and due to the system of father-son, master-apprentice, and master-apprentice transmission, a school with a personal style was formed. EspeciallyHuizhou printsElegant and exquisite, it has become the largest genre with its white drawing technique.
c. 1640 Blue and white story of the Three Kingdoms.
2012 Sotheby's London £91,250.
The picture is from "Guan Yunchang went to the meeting with a single knife".
On the other hand, in order to increase sales, booksellers are extremely particular about illustrations. They often hire famous painters to sketch the classic characters of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" according to the characters in the Three Kingdoms opera, and then ask printmakers to carve them carefully.
It is precisely for this reason that when the potters draw the porcelain figures of the Three Kingdoms, the most suitable reference is the printmaking image with high artistic achievement and all the rage.
Shangbo-Qing Kangxi colorful Liu Bei recruits relatives in the vase|Collection of the Shanghai Museum.
Then we will find that the swordsmen and horses related to the theme of the Three Kingdoms on the ceramics have a strongDramatic styleIt can be said that it is the perfect embodiment of the image accumulated by the folk for many years.
Taking the engraving in the 12th year of the "Criticism of the Three Kingdoms" in the 12th year of the Zang Yongzheng of the Institute of Oriental Culture of the University of Tokyo, we can compare the figures of the Three Kingdoms on the porcelain.
For example, the handsome and beautiful white-faced student Lu Bu.
Qing Qianlong Pastel Three Kingdoms Story Snuff Bottle "Qianlong Year" model.
2015 Sotheby's Hong Kong 162,500 Hong Kong dollars.
The picture is from "Fengyi Pavilion Dong Zhuo plays Diao Chan".
and Cao Cao, who is seriously detached from historical facts and wears the official uniform and hat of the Song Dynasty.
Qing Kangxi colorful "empty city plan", "Cao Cao Tongguan meets Ma Chao" figure phoenix tail zun.
2002 Christie's Hong Kong 418,250 Hong Kong dollars.
From **, opera to printmaking, the story of the Three Kingdoms has been presented differently in words, sounds, and planes. The swords, horses, and people on the ceramics are borrowed from other art forms on the basis of a more vivid and lively three-dimensional expression, allowing us to return to the era of the Three Kingdoms with magnificent waves and heroes.
the end —
Reference: Research on the Spread and Influence of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the Ming and Qing Dynasties" by Huang Jin.
The influence of Ming and Qing Dynasty prints on the Kangxi five-color porcelain "sword and horse man" schema" Wang Xinrong.
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