This is my 381st
Chinese Xieyi Painting and
my 699th painting since 2003, the 91st assignment in Chinese National Academy of Arts.
I learned to paint this painting from Mr. Ren Bonian (1840―1896) - one of the greatest artists in Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912) for 7 days, near 90 hours.
In traditional Chinese paintings or pattern, we usual call the painting or the pattern with 5 kinds of birds -- phoenix ( 凤凰 - fènghuáng ), red-crowned crane(丹顶鹤 - dān dǐng hè）, mandarin duck( 鸳鸯 - yuānyāng ), Citrine Wagtail( ?? jílí) , yellow warbler (黄莺 - huáng yīng) 五伦图 WǔLún Tú.
WǔLún means the five cardinal relationships between the ruler and subject,father and son, husband and wife, between brothers and between friends in feodal China.
Phoenixes ( 凤凰 - fènghuáng ): symbolize the relationship between ruler and officials.
Red-crowned cranes (丹顶鹤 - dān dǐng hè）: Symbolize the relationship between father and child.
But usually, Red-crowned cranes symbolize the luck, honor, respect, long live, therefore, some Deputy to the People's Congress suggested to make it as Chinese National bird.
Citrine Wagtails ( ?? jílí) : Symbolize the relationship between brothers.
Yellow warblers (黄莺 - huáng yīng) : Symbolize the relationship between friends.
Mandarin Duck( 鸳鸯 - yuānyāng ): Symbolize the relationship between wife and husband.
In feudal China, according to the theory of Mencius (372 B. C - 289B.C.) who was the second sage in the Confucian school, the relationship among people should:
君臣有义 ? Jun chen you yi : Between the ruler and the officials should have morality and justice, officials should be loyalty to their rulers, the ruler should care for his/her officials.
父子有亲-- fu zi you qin : Parents and children should be close and kind.
夫妇有别 ? fu qi you bie : between husband and wife, should have something distinguish, everyone does its owe duties for the same family.
长幼有序 ? Zhang you you xu : Between brothers, younger should follow elder and the elder should look after the younger.
朋友有信 -- Among friends, should have good faith and follow the credit standing.
If everyone does his/her best among these relationships, then, whole of the world will be peaceful and harmonious.
I painted this painting just wanted to express this kind of idea as one of my works to take part in the graduated exhibition.
So, when I painted it, I was very carefully and hoped to express the rich culture connotation inside. Even though I was so tired after working for a long time, I was so happy in my heart when I completed it.
I am thinking, when I have time, I will try to paint it once more since I do not satisfy many places on it yet.
How do you think of this painting, do you enjoy it?
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, welcome to write to shirley@ebridge.cn or shirleyz004@yahoo.com ,you can also publish your opinions on Message Board . :-)
--Shirley ZhangMay 28, 2012
