Xie He (active ca. 479 – 502 AD) (pronounced ‘share her‘) was a Chinese painter and art historian living in the Liu Song and Southern Qi dynasties (6th century AD).
He wrote his Classified Record of Ancient Painters (古画品录).
It it, he famously included six principles of painting (or the six points to consider when judging a painting).
He used them to rank 27 artists from the 3rd to the 5th century AD.
These principles had a long and lasting impact on Chinese art history.
The six principles
1. Breath-resonance-life-motion (气韵生动 [qìyùn shēngdòng])
This could perhaps also be translated as ‘spirit consonance’. It means the essential sense of spirit and life apparent in a painting.
It is an almost indescribable sensation that viewers inherently comprehend when looking at art.
Only true artists can successfully imbue it in their work.
Qí (气) (‘breath’, ‘spirit’ or even ‘life-force’) is a very important concept in Chinese philosophy. It has influenced art and art theory for centuries.
2. Bone method in brush use (骨法笔法 [gǔfǎ bǐfǎ])
This refers the structure and texture of an artist’s painting.
The same tool is used for writing and painting. In both arts, control and dexterity with the brush is highly valued.
Learning to distinguish subtle aspects of different masters’ painting styles helped one develop in this area.
3. Responding to things by representing their form (应物形象 [yìngwù xíngxiàng])
This could also be translated as reaction and correspondence to object.
This point is about resemblance objects had to reality.
Academy Painters (i.e., court painters for the imperial government) were often trained from a young age to excel at this.
However, literati artists and art critics began to focus more on capturing a sense of innate expression over direct representation.
This was especially true during the Song period (most famous for its landscape painting), when the literati heavily influenced art theory.
4. Suitability to type (随类赋彩 [suí lèi fùcǎi])
The colour, tone, and layers of a painting. This also covers areas such as the seasons and symbols depicted.
5. Division and planning (经营位置 [jīngyíng wèizhì]))
The general sense of space and the connectedness of different sections of a painting.
This includes placement of primary and secondary areas of focus by the artist.
6. Transmission by copying (传移模写 [chuányí mòxiě])
This refers to the practice of copying past masters in order to take on aspects of their style.
It was common for many early painters to learn their craft this way.
Are the six principles of Chinese painting essential?
No, the six principles are not essential for judging Chinese paintings.
They are simply Xiu He’s suggestion, and were not followed by all painters who came after him.
In fact, many painters who came after believed that art should be less formalised than Xie He prescribed here.
And the history and variety of Chinese painting is too complex to be contained with these principles.
Furthermore, the six principles have been interpreted differently many times over the years.
Jing Hao’s six principles
Several centuries after Xie He’s lifetime, the innovate landscape painter and art theorist Jing Hao (ca. 855 – ca. 930) listed his own six principles (or ‘six musts’ [六要]) of painting:
- Vital force (or life force) (气 [qì])
- Rhyme (or charm) (韵 [yùn])
- Thought (思 [sī])
- Views (or scenery) (景 [jǐng])
- Brush (笔 [bǐ])
- Ink (墨 [mò])
Jing’s principles implied an alternative to Xie He’s. In the centuries that followed, Jing’s principles would be adopted by many painters.
The clearest point of difference between Xie and Jing’s principles lies in ‘correspondence to object’/‘form-likeness’ (i.e., realistic depiction of what is being painted).
Jing conspicuously did not include this in his list. And many Chinese painters during his lifetime and later similarly stressed the unimportance of this point.