One day in Oxford

The report of project 2

One day in Oxford

Wang Kaiwen: 1501467

Pre-session English, UCA

Tutor: Anna

Word count: 912

UCAPSEAD arrived in Oxford last week. We went to the 3 museums in Oxford: Ashmolean museum, Pitt River museum and Moma museum. However, Ashmolean museum is the first and the most impressed me in my mind. The main reason is that a Chinese traditional painting painted by Zhu Da reflected me a lot.

Fig. 1. Bird on a branch（October 1703）

The artist is named Zhu Da, also also called BADASHANREN by other people. The title of the painting is ' Bird on a branch'. And it was painted with Chinese ink and paper on an October day in 1703 (see fig.1.).

There is a bird in the center of the painting with a nestling. They are looking right in their eyes on the stone. There is a tree around them. All of the color is from Chinese ink and water. Zhu Da used the proportion of ink and water to paint, and it shows the strong love of family members.

This is a freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting about bird and plant. There are two different types of Chinese traditional paintings. One is Freehand brushwork, the other one is Claborate－style painting. The painting belongs the first one. Chinese paper also has two different types. The paper that we used in freehand brushwork is not brushed on a kind of special syrup. When water with ink meet with the paper, trances will be blooming, therefore, it can't be controlled easily. However, it is exactly the touch of birds. ZhuDa could paint different texture of things by a same writing brush accidently. That is the reason of magical of Chinese painting. Personally, I love the fishes painted by ZhuDa (see fig.2/3.)

Fig.2. Fish on Chinese Painting (April 1700)

Fig.3. Fish on Chinese Painting ( June 1703)

Each fish he painted has own personal characteristics. No one can use the same way to paint as ZhuDa in the world. That is the value of his paintings.

He was a descendant of the Ming Dynasty. The old glory of the family was down. He was helpless however his love of nature always there.

Before the age of 57 years old, most of ZhuDa ‘s artworks combined calligraphy and poems on paintings. General characteristics and tendency is through his paintings express his fogy thought, character, and integrity. He often filled of culture of Buddhism and historical allusions in poems. His works are difficult to understand for people at that time.

When social unrest life was difficult, some artistic categories such as literature, Chinese painting could be relatively prosperous development is because they rely less on material conditions, and just as dark display against heart. As at this time, speculative philosophy can also more developed, as given by the time to explore the prospects for a huge task, and different in immersed in the millennium in material years without to the pursuit of the spirit of speculative, relief (Li Zehou, 2000:292).The value of the total, as long as I believe that tings are causal, the history of research and exploration can be found that the existence and development of Chinese art still has its inherent logic.

Chinese painting and calligraphy are from the same root. Artworks are made of the widespread of shade changing and wet and dry of brush strokes. ZhuDa’s calligraphy are from Dong Qichang.

Fig.4. Calligraphy of ZhuDa (March 1703)

Most of his calligraphies are from verse. When ZhuDa was young, his calligraphy of many confounding and immature, juxtaposition and albums in various styles. He was still in a create of exploration. From around 1666, the influence of Dong Qichang shows more and more clearly in his artworks (Zhu Liangzhi , 2010:97).

His calligraphies influenced by Dong Qichang deeply. There is no doubt that learning Dong’s calligraphy had a great help in his work. Dong’s calligraphy was brutally popular, ZhuDa’s calligraphy provided a strong condition to Dong’s fans. The modified by ZhuDa was an important choice to him during his period.

From 1671 to 1678, ZhuDa truly grasped the essence of Dong. Therefore, he changed his style from HuangTingjian and MiFu. With the continuous learning and exploration, ZhuDa formed his own style (Zhi Wenbiao, 2013:29). He adjusted the space rhythm of a piece of work as contained a whole painting. Staying out of the internal structures of words in a large space. A the same time, he added frustration by accident. His calligraphy became an independent style in the past dynasties.

When I saw the painting at the Ashmolean museum, I was really excited. We rarely have the opportunity to see his works. In my opinion, through Chinese traditional paintings and calligraphy works, ZhuDa’s works are forward－looking in today. In the history of Chinese art, it was a long time that calligraphy influenced traditional paintings a lot, however, the composition of space is relatively independent of their respective holder.

It is a honored to be able to get the opportunity to visit the museums in Oxford with my peers and tutors in the university for creative arts. It is a influenced experience in my studying.