Huang Gongwang (1269 – 1354 AD) has long been considered one of the Four Great Masters of Yuan Dynasty painting.
He was a painter, poet, and writer.
His landscape style changed the course of Chinese landscape painting for centuries to come.
And his most famous painting, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (ca. 1347 – 50), has the most interesting afterlife of a painting in Chinese history.
It involves fire, forgery, an embarrassed emperor, and a secret move during civil war.
Contents
Biography
Early life: Adoptee and prodigy
Huang Gongwang (黄公望) was born – and spent the first decade of his life as – Lu Jian (陆坚).
He was born in Changshu (in today’s Jiangsu Province), near Suzhou, during the final years of the Southern Song period (1127 – 1279).
A decade later, the Mongols established the Yuan dynasty (1271 – 1368) across the whole of China. By this time, both of his parents had passed away.
He was adopted by a man named Huang, who was from Wenzhou (in today’s Zhejiang Province). It was here that Lu Jian became Huang Gongwang.
The elder Huang had his adopted son educated. It soon became clear that he was a talented scholar and painter.
Brief official career
Huang worked as a private secretary before gaining an official position as a legal clerk in the Zhexi Surveillance Office in Suzhou.
In 1314, an official named Chang Lü investigated tax collection irregularities in the Chang-nan region (i.e., the area immediately south of the Yangtze River), which included Suzhou.
Huang was imprisoned soon after. The specific details of his case aren’t known, but he was released, and retired or fired from official service thereafter.
Later life: Daoist diviner and artist
No longer an official, Huang began dressing in Daoist robes and working as a diviner (a spiritual adviser/fortune teller).
He was said to have had a kind of glowing, healthy look and was described by a contemporary as
天资孤高，少有大志
[Having a] natural temperament solitary and lofty temperament [and having] little worldly ambitions.
-Yang Weizhen (1296 – 1370)
He was a keen scholar, poet, philosopher, and art theorist (see below for his Secrets of Landscape Painting essay).
He lived in Songjiang (today a part of Shanghai) for a while before ending up back in Suzhou (where he had been an official).
Here, he founded the Hall of Three Doctrines. His focus here was on the ‘Three Teachings’ sect, which focused on a mixing imperial China’s three main doctrines (/religions – defining them can be tricky…):
- Confucianism
- Daoism
- Chan Buddhism (a distinctly Chinese version of the Indian religion).
It also focused on a philosophical concept called xing-ming (性命), which can be translated as ‘inborn-destiny’.
Huang gradually gained more followers of his philosophy. And his reputation as artist grew, too.
At some point, he appears to have met the Yuan dynasty’s most famous artist, Zhao Mengfu (1354 – 1322). And he wrote an inscription for Ni Zan’s (1301 – 1374) painting in 1348.
He moved to the Shaoji Spring (筲箕泉) near Hangzhou’s famous West Lake and then the Fuchun mountains area southwest of Hangzhou.
By the time of his death, he was renowned as a great man who knew the way (dao) well.
Later writers even noted that after his death, rumours spread that he still wandered the mountains, playing the flute.
Huang as artist
Only five of Huang’s paintings survive today.
This is likely in large part to the collecting mania that thrived throughout the centuries after his lifetime.
(As the below story on the afterlife of Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountain will show).
His was clearly recognised as a great painter during in his life. And afterwards, his innovations changed landscape paintings for centuries.
River and Hills Before Rain (ca. 1330s)
River and Hills Before Rain (溪山雨意图) is a surviving handscroll that shows strong signs of influence by Zhao Mengfu’s Village by the Water (1302).
Huang wrote an inscription for it in 1344. In it, he said that the painting was done spontaneously and
Before I could even finish it, it had been taken away by an art lover.
It even contains a colophon with an oddly backhanded compliment from his friend and younger contemporary painter, Ni Zan (1301 – 1371):
Old Huang Gongwang, could never hope to achieve the artistic heights of Gao Kegong [1243 – 1310] and Zhao Mengu. But he was way ahead of painters of today. This is one of his best realised works.
– Ni Zan
The scroll unfolds (right to left) in at an orderly and almost structured pace.
The wide range of Huang’s brushstrokes are subtly demonstrated, with trees of different sizes and angles (as opposed to direct repetitions of the same form).
Across the blank waterway, mists rings the midway points of the mountains, just as he comments in his Secrets of Landscape Painting (see below):
You can put buildings on the slopes of mountains. You can put small boats in waters. This creates the spirit of life. Use clouds to encircle mountains’ waists. This brings forth the power of their heights.
– Huang Gongwang, Secrets of Landscape Painting
The Stone Cliff at the Pond of Heaven (1341)
Huang painted The Stone Cliff at the Pond of Heaven (天池石壁图) aged 72.
The famous scholar of Chinese art James Cahill (1926 – 2014) wrote of it:
It represents a real place, located on Mount Hua in Soochow [Suzhou]. […] Whatever reference the painting may contain to the true topography of the Pond of Heaven and its environs, it is essentially an intricate construction of simple forms within the boundaries of its frame, more abstract than anything before seen in Chinese painting.
Cahill, James Francis, Hills Beyond a River: Chinese Painting of the Yüan Dynasty, 1279 – 1368 (New York: John Weatherhill, Inc, 1976), p. 90 (my emphasis)
Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (ca. 1347)
Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (富春山居图) is generally considered to be Huang’s magnum opus.
It is a large painting – 639.9cm (252 inches) in width on a handscroll.
He inscribed it with a note telling of its difficulty – it took 3 to 4 years to paint (mostly in the mountains). He noted having added and cut bits of paper to it, too.
When it was finished, he gave it to a scholar friend who used the nickname ‘Worthless’. Giving oneself a self-deprecating nickname was then a common practice for Chinese scholars, Huang called himself ‘Great Fool’.
According to Huang, worthless – who has not since been identified by art historians – was anxious that Huang finish the painting and not give it away to someone else.
At first glance, the painting looks like many other pingdan (plain – but not in a negative sense) landscapes of the time and place (the Jiangnan area, south of the river Yangzte).
But art critics have long praised its styles sense of improvisation.
Most traditional Chinese landscapes, which follow a sense of a single, clear vision. But in Dwelling, Huang has created a sense of improvised interconnected landscape features.
As viewers open the scroll, detailed and varied scenes appear and vanish.
The afterlife of Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains
The man only known as ‘Worthless’ received Dwelling as soon as Huang finished it – complete with Huang’s inscription (an important part of a authenticating a painting).
Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644)
The painting next shows up the following century (and dynasty) in the collection of the painter Shen Zhou (1427 – 1509).
It next appears about a century later in the collection of the great painter Dong Qichuang (1555 – 1636).
In between, many artists – including Shen and Dong – make copies of the work.
And its reputation as an important and great painting continued to grow. Several art collectors bought and sold it.
Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911)
In the 17th century, an Orthodox School of painters appeared. They focused on painting landscapes in the style of the Song and Yuan dynasty. They revered Huang above all other painters.
Around the same time, a collector named Wu Hongyu acquired it.
He loved the painting and wanted it burned after he died, allegedly so that he could have it with him in the afterlife.
This instruction was carried out, and the painting was thrown in the stove when he died in 1650.
Fortunately, his nephew arrived and saved it, though its opening section was burnt.
The burned section was cut off and separated from the original painting. Now, the painting was made up of two separate sections:
- The main part, known as The Master Wuyong Scroll (Wuyong is the Chinese for Huang’s friends nickname, Worthless)
- The smaller, cut-off section, The Remaining Mountain Picture (we’ll mention this again at the end of this section).
The Master Wuyong Scroll section found its way into the hands of several prominent high officials and collectors, including the scholar and calligrapher Wang Hongxu (1645 – 1723).
In the 1730s, a Korean salt merchant and art collector named An Qi (ca. 1683 – after 1745) acquired it.
The emperor Qianlong (r. 1735 – 1796) was the next owner.
However, initially he had unknowingly acquired a brilliant copy of the original.
Clearly proud of owning such a masterpiece, he began obsessively writing inscriptions all over it. This obviously damaged the finely balanced aesthetic of the original.
In 1746, however, the real version of the painting was entered into his collection. He must have now known – and felt embarrassed about – his mistake.
Fortunately, it appears that this embarrassment caused him to leave the original painting alone.
Republican Era (1911 – 1949)
Between 1912 and 1924, the (now abdicated) final emperor Puyi (1906 – 1967) was allowed to stay living in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
He secretly gave nearly 1,285 painting and calligraphy scrolls and 68 album leafs to his brothers Pujie and Pujia.
Fortunately, Dwelling wasn’t one of them, but another of Huang’s paintings (Mountains and Rivers Without End) was.
Puyi was expelled from the Forbidden City in 1924. In 1925, the Palace Museum in Beijing was founded there. It housed works from the previously private royal collections.
When Japan invaded China in 1933, the museum’s art works (including paintings, calligraphy, bronzes, vases, and more) were packed in 19,000 creates.
This was to protect them from bombings, lootings, or any other potential destruction.
The museum’s director, Han Lih-wu (1903 – 1991) oversaw the complex logistics. Trucks, trains and steamboats were all used.
The crates were first transported to Shanghai. However, this was heavily bombed by the Japanese.
So, they were transported to Nanjing. 16,735 of the 19,000 crates were then sent on further west to Sichuan and Guizhou.
The Japanese left China in September 1945. In August 1945, the second part of the Chinese Civil War (1945 – 49) began.
Near the end of the war, the Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek decided to transport 4,486 crates of the most important art to Taiwan. This included the main part of the Dwelling in the Fuchan Mountains.
This ended up in the National Palace Museum in Taiwan (originally a re-creation of the Palace Museum in Beijing).
Post 1949
Meanwhile, the separate The Remaining Mountain section had ended up with the collector Wufan around this time. It was then acquired by the Zhejiang Provincial Museum in Hangzhou.
The two paintings were reunited for the first time in centuries in 2011 when the Zhejiang Provincial Museum loaned the painting to the Palace Museum.
And in 2013, the Hong Kong action film Switch featured a plot around recovering Dwelling from thieves who sell it on the black market.
Secrets of Landscape Painting
Although it is known as an essay, Secrets of Landscape Painting《写山水诀》is more a series of collected notes.
It’s not known exactly when Huang wrote it, but it was likely later in life and not intended as a comprehensive single essay. It could have been written for his son’s benefit.
Unlike many other famous treatises on landscape painting (for example, Guo Xi’s The Great Message on Forest and Streams (1110 AD)), this is a practical not a theoretical treatise.
In other words, it gives artists tips on techniques and best practices for painting landscapes. It does not get into the more abstract notions of inner development, values, etc., that much art theory of the period favoured.
It was first published in 1366, in Zhuogeng Lu by Tao Dengyi. Later on, a different, shorter version was edited by Ming dynasty painter and calligrapher Wang Fu (1362 – 1416) in Shuhua Chuanyi (but not published until 1815).
The text and (original and incomplete translation)
1.近代作画。多宗董源李成二家。笔法树石。各不相似。学者当尽心焉。
Recent paintings have followed the schools of Dong Yuan and Li Cheng, in which the brushwork, trees, and rocks are different. Students should pay endless attention to this [difference].
2.树要四面倶有干与枝。盖取其圆润。
Comprehensively painted trees possess trunks and branches.
3.树要有身分、画家谓之纽子。要折搭得中。树身各要有发生。
4.树要偃仰稀密相间。有叶树枝软。面后皆有仰枝。
5.画石之法。先从淡墨起。可改可救。渐用浓墨者为上。
Painting stone method. First, lighten [dilute] the ink. You can alter and correct as you go. Gradually use darker ink over this.
6.石无十歩眞。石看三面。用方圆之法。须方多圆少。
7.董源坡脚下多有碎石。乃画建康山势。董石谓之麻皮皴。坡脚先向笔画边皴起。然后用淡墨破其深凹处。着色不离乎此。石着色要重。
8.董源小山石。谓之矾头。山中有云气。此皆金陵山景。皴法要渗软。下有沙地。用淡墨扫。屈曲为之。再用淡墨破。
Dong Yuan [d. ca 962 AD] small mountain rocks are called ‘alum rocks’. [His] mountains’ had cloud mist amongst them. This is all a part of the Jinling [Nanjing] mountains scenes. Below is desert ground. Use diluted ink and a sweeping brush. Waving winding movements. Then use link ink to break it up.
9.山论三远。从下相连不断。谓之平远。从近隔开相对。谓之阔远。从山外远景。谓之高远。
Discussions of mountain [paintings] have three distances. From below in a continuous unbroken manner is ‘level distance’. From near through aligned divisions and openings, it is called ’removed distance’. From far beyond/over the mountain, it is called ‘high distance’.
10.山水中用笔法。谓之筋骨相连。有笔有墨之分。用描处糊突其笔。谓之有墨。水笔不动描法。谓之有笔。此画家紧要处。山石树木皆用此。
Using brush method in landscape painting is called ‘continuity of sinew and bone.’ It is distinguished between having ink and having brush. To blur over brushwork in places where there is drawing is called having ink. When the water brush [used for applying washes] doesn’t intrude on the drawing, this is called ‘having brush’. These are very important matters for painters. They apply to mountains, rocks, trees and wood.
11.大概树要填空。 （去声）小树大树。一偃一仰。向背浓淡。各不可相犯。繁处间疏处。须要得中。若画得纯熟。自然笔法出现。
Generally, trees should fill empty space. Small and big trees. Facing forwards or backwards. Using deep or light tones. Not encroaching on each other. Dense spaces alternate with sparse ones. You must achieve a balance. You painting will reach a point of maturity with this. [Then] naturally, your brushwork will emerge.
12.画石之妙。用藤黄水浸入墨笔。自然润色。不可用多。多则要滞笔。间用螺靑入墨亦妙。呉妆容易入眼。便墨士气。
13.皮袋中置描笔在内。或于好景处。见树有怪异。便当模写记之。分外有发生之意。登楼望空阔处气韵。看云采。即是山头景物。李成郭熙。皆用此法。郭熙画石如云。
古人云。天开园画者是也。
Carry around a leather bag with a brush for sketching inside it. If you [come across] great scenery, and meet an unusual tree, you can conveniently record it there. You can ascend to the top of a tall building, look out at the vast sky and its spirit resonance. Look at clouds – they look like mountain tops. Li Cheng [919 – 967 AD] and Guo Xi [ca. 1001 – ca. 1090] both used this method. Guo Xi painted rocks like clouds. The ancients spoke of ‘heaven opening on a garden paintings’ – this is what they meant.
14.山水中惟水口最难画。
In landscapes, water gaps are the hardest thing to paint.
15.远水无痕。远人无目。
Faraway waters leave no trace. Faraway people can’t be seen.
16.水出高源。自上而下。切不可断脉。要取活流之源。
Water comes from springs on high and naturally makes its way down. You should not cut of its arteries. You should show the source of its movements.
17.山头要折搭转换。山脉皆顺。此活法也。众峰如相揖逊。万树相从。如大军领卒。森然有不可犯之色。此写眞山之形也。
Mountain tops twist, dip, turn and and interchange. Their ridges all follow the same path. This is how they are animated. Their peaks seem to respectfully bow to one another. Tens of thousands of trees are like troops led by a great general – as if unstoppable. Capturing this is capturing mountains true forms.
18.山坡中可以置屋舎。水中可置小艇。从此有生气。山腰用云气。见得山势高不可测。You can put buildings on the slopes of mountains. You can put small boats in waters. This creates the spirit of life. Use clouds to encircle mountains’ waists. This brings forth the power of their heights.
19.画石之法。最要形象不悪。石有三面。或在上。在左侧。皆可为面。临笔之际。殆要取用。
Method of painting rocks. What’s most important is that their shape not be ugly. Rocks have three surfaces – the top and right and left sides. All are surfaces. When you pick up the brush, you must decide which you will depict.
20.山下有水潭谓之瀬。画此甚存生意。四邉用树簇之。
21.画一窠一石。当逸墨撇脱。有士人家风。才多便入画工之流矣。
Paint each burrow and each rock. Give free-reign to the ink and strip away the inessential. This is the scholary style. If you add to much detail, you have entered the artisan painter’s field.
22.或画山水一幅。先立题目。然后着笔。若无题目。便不成画。更要记春夏秋冬景色。春则万物发生。夏则树木繁冗。秋则万象粛杀。冬则烟云黯淡。天色模糊。能画此者为上矣。
When painting a landscape. First, establish the theme – then start painting. If there’s no theme, your painting won’t be complete. Next, record whether it’s a spring, summer, autumn or winter scene. In spring, all things give off life. In summer, trees are flourish and intricate. In autumn, all things are sombre and desolate. In winter, mists and cloud and faint and the sky is blurred. Being able to paint this makes one a superior artist.
23.李成画坡脚。须要数层。取其湿厚。米元章论李光丞有后代儿孙昌盛。果出为官者最多。画亦有风水存焉。
24.松树不见根。喩君子在野。雑树喩小人峥嵘之意。
25.夏山欲雨。要带水笔。山上有石。小块堆其上。谓之矾头。用水笔晕开。加淡螺靑。又是一般秀润。画不过意思而已。
26.冬景借地为雪。要薄粉晕山头。
27.山水之法。在乎临机应变。先记皴法。不杂布置。远近相映。大概与写字一般。以熟为妙。纸上难画。绢上矾了好着笔。好用颜色。易入眼。先命题目。此谓之上品。古人作画。胸次寛阔。布景自然合古人意趣。画法尽矣。
Landscape technique. Change your technique according to the occasion. First, decide on the texture and stoke method you will use. Don’t make the composition disorderly. The background and foreground should reflect one another. It is basically the same as writing characters – brilliance comes with familiarity. Painting on paper is hard. If you add alum to the surface of silk, it’s better for brushstrokes and using colour. It enters the eyes better. First decide your theme. When ancient masters painted, vast scenes burst forth from their bosoms, according to their natural interests. This is the ideal for all painters.
28.好绢用水喷湿。石上槌眼匾。然后上帧子。矾法春秋胶矾停。夏日胶多矾少。冬天矾多胶少。
29.着色螺靑拂石上。藤黄入墨。画树甚色润好看。
30.作画只是箇理字最紧要。呉融诗云。良工善得丹靑理。
In painting, just one work is the essential: li (理) [principle, natural order]. The poet Wu Rong [850 – 903 AD] wrote: ‘the good painting can capture the cinnabar-and-blue’s [style of painting] li.
31.作画用墨最难。但先用淡墨积。至可观处。然后用焦墨浓墨。分出畦径远近。故在生纸上有许多滋润处。李成惜墨如金是也。
Using ink is the most difficult part of painting. First you should let diluted ink lightly accumulate. Scenes begin to look right. Then concentrate it more heavily with roasted ink. This sets apart fields and pathways, background and foreground. Using raw paper will create instances where ink is too dense. [This is why] Li Cheng is said to have used ink as sparingly as if it were gold.
32.作画大要。去邪甜俗頼四箇字。
Four important requirements of painting. Expel these four words: heterodoxy, sweetness, vulgarity, and dependency.