Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

More than ten candles flickered in the room, and a large sheet of Jingxian paper was spread out by a servant.

Jingxian paper is Xuan paper, Xuan from Xuanzhou.

Zhao Kai was still drinking slowly, and from time to time he put food into his mouth. He gradually became drunk, and his eyes became erratic, but he held the chopsticks very steadily, and could accurately pick up the small pieces of meat on the plate.

"Dong Dong Dong..."

There was a knock on the door.

Zhao Kai shouted sternly: "Get out!"

The brothel servant who was helping to mix the ink was frightened by the sound and his hands trembled.

Outside the door, Kaifeng's famous prostitute Xie Yunyun was standing side by side with a young man.

The man's name was Zhang Fang, the nephew of the late cabinet minister Zhang Shuye. His father was Zhang Shuchun, Zhang Shuye's younger brother, who was shot and killed by an arrow in the anti-Jin war in history.

In this time and space, Zhang Shuchun naturally did not shoot an arrow in the anti-Jin war, and died of illness while serving as the Zhejiang Education Commissioner.

He has an uncle who is a cabinet minister and a father who is a superintendent of education. Although these two elders have passed away, Zhang Fang is still very noble.

At least in Kaifeng Prefecture, most people have to give face to Zhang Wulang!

He heard that Zhao Kai was painting, so he immediately brought a famous prostitute over, but he was scolded to get out before he even entered the room.

Zhang Fang was furious and rolled up his sleeves to kick the door open.

The famous prostitute Xie Yunyun hurriedly pulled him back and whispered: "Wulang is the descendant of a famous official. Don't bother with a madman. Even if you beat him up, it will only add to the jokes. If he accidentally hurts Wulang, I'm afraid it will spread throughout Kaifeng Prefecture within a few months."

Zhang Fang heard this and stepped back on the ground with his raised right foot.

Yes, there is no point in bothering with a madman. Whether you win or lose, you will make a fool of yourself.

This Zhao Kai is like a pile of dog shit on the street. Once you touch him, you will stink all over. You must never provoke him casually.

It's useless to use your connections to put Zhao Kai in jail.

Zhao Kai had been imprisoned several times for his drunken nonsense. Because of his special status, the jailer did not dare to abuse him too much, so he only made a few sarcastic remarks and had to obediently send him prison food.

Xie Yunyun said again: "This man's reputation is getting bigger and bigger, why doesn't Wu Lang wait patiently? Wait until he finishes the painting and then buy it with a large sum of money. After this matter is spread, Wu Lang will surely get the reputation of being modest. The better his painting is, the more famous Wu Lang will be."

Zhang Fang nodded and smiled: "Xie Niang is right, I will wait outside the door, and move the wine and food here."

I don't know how long it took, Zhao Kai drank a whole jar of rice wine, and he urinated in the corner of the room in the middle of the drunkenness.

The servant did not dare to persuade him, so he could only stand there and wait, and did not pass the chamber pot in his hand.

"Bang!"

A stool fell to the ground, and I don't know if Zhao Kai knocked it over or kicked it over on purpose.

There were several brushes of different sizes, and Zhao Kai picked one up at random.

The servant said, "The ink is a little dry, little one..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Kai had pushed him away, then bit the brush with his mouth, freeing his hands to mix the ink himself.

The servant was almost knocked down by the push, and quietly stepped aside, concentrating on observing every move - he was secretly learning Zhao Kai's painting skills!

After mixing the ink, Zhao Kai stood still, inexplicably distracted again.

After a long time, Zhao Kai turned around and looked around.

The servant asked hurriedly, "What are you looking for, sir?"

Zhao Kai turned a deaf ear to the servant, as if the servant was a ball of air. He first looked around, then walked around the room drunkenly, and finally found a rag from somewhere.

The rag was dipped in ink, pressed on the paper, and soon left several large clumps of ink.

Splashing ink painting has existed since the Tang Dynasty.

But it has never been mainstream, and even the techniques of the founder of splashing ink have been lost.

From the Five Dynasties to the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the realist school gradually unified the painting world and reached its artistic peak during the reign of Emperor Huizong. The composition must be rigorous, meticulous, and the pursuit of resemblance and charm is extreme.

If the painting is out of line, it is not in accordance with the law, and there is no master!

There are also freehand schools, but they are not accepted by the elegant hall.

For example, Wen Tong, Su Shi, Mi Fu and others like to paint some small freehand paintings. This kind of painting is called "ink play", also called "literati ink play", which is a pastime outside of work and after dinner.

The major change in the style of the painting world in the Song Dynasty was after the migration of the elite to the south and the destruction of the country.

And this time and space lacks such an opportunity.

The prosperity and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty in recent years has led to the continued abnormal development of the realist school. Grand, magnificent, gorgeous, colorful, exquisite, law, master... are the ultimate pursuits of painters, and the rest are all heretical and trivial techniques.

The imperial painters of the Hanlin Academy of Painting were even more focused on wealth and prosperity all day long.

The servant took a half step forward silently, and saw that the ink stain in the upper right corner of the drawing paper was filled by Zhao Kai, and soon it looked like a mountain.

The specific technique is called "big axe splitting texture", which was invented by Li Tang, the imperial painter during the Huizong period.

In the new Ming Dynasty, Li Tang served as the dean of the Hanlin Academy of Painting and studied gold and stone with Li Qingzhao. He was not abducted by the Jin Kingdom, nor did he break through in poverty, but died of illness in leisure and wealth.

Li Tang invented the "big axe splitting texture", but he still belonged to the realist school, and was the leader of the realist school.

When Zhao Kai was a prince, he followed Li Tang to learn painting skills. His use of "big axe splitting texture" at this moment is completely different from that of his teacher Li Tang. He is more wanton and unrestrained, completely disregarding the rules and not paying attention to details.

All these things run counter to the current painting world.

In addition to the specific painting method, Zhao Kai also left a large area of ​​blank space in the upper left part of the drawing paper, and only drew a tiny falling black sun as embellishment in the huge blank space.

The sound of cockcrow came, and Zhao Kai wrote the word "Gen Yue" and signed his name.

He took off the seal from his waist, threw it on the painting table and said, "Cover it."

After saying that, he ignored it, swept away the cups and bowls on the dinner table with his arms, and lay down on the table, soundly sleeping.

The cups and bowls fell and shattered on the ground.

The door was suddenly pushed open, and Zhang Fang asked: "Is the painting finished?"

The boy was putting down the seals and replied: "The painting is finished."

Zhang Fang said: "Take another twenty candles and light them. Most of these candles are burned out."

The room became bright again, accompanied by Zhao Kai's quiet snoring.

Zhang Fang and Xie Yunyun watched the large freehand painting carefully, their eyes full of shock.

The composition center of the entire painting should be Fan Tower, but the focus is Gen Yue in the upper right corner.

Genyue looks surprisingly tall and steep. An artificial hill in Kaifeng City actually gives the impression of a majestic Mount Huashan. The shape and proportions are not like Genyue, but you can recognize it at a glance.

The palaces and chambers in Kaifeng City have completely become the backdrop for Gen Yue.

There are no obvious lines in those buildings. There is a mass of ink in the east and a mass of ink in the west. You can vaguely see where is the palace, where is the fan tower, where is the bell tower, where is the bridge...

Desolate, cold, and even a bit ghostly!

This is not the prosperous and prosperous Kaifeng City, but more like another time and space, a ghost in the world after the Jingkang disaster.

Especially the black sunset between the large blank spaces, as if it was emitting endless black light and enveloped the entire Kaifeng.

Zhang Fang muttered: "Why do I feel my vest is getting cold when I look at it? Is this painting of Kaifeng City?"

Xie Yunyun pointed at the sleeping Zhao Kai: "Maybe it's Kaifeng in his eyes."

Zhang Fang said: "This painting must be bought, but it cannot be kept privately, let alone among the people. It should be presented to the government to decide whether to destroy it."

After sitting there until the ink was completely dry, Zhang Fang took out two hundred guan of treasure money, handed it to Xie Yunyun and said, "This is the painting money. I will give it to him when he sobers up. I took this painting away and sent it to Luoyang Mian Sheng" ”

Xie Yunyun bowed and saluted: "Wu Lang, walk slowly."

…

A few days later.

When Ju Ming saw this painting "Gen Yue", he sighed with emotion: "This man is already heartbroken."

Zhang Fang said: "Your Majesty, Zhao Kai often said some disrespectful and crazy things when he was drunk, and was arrested and imprisoned by the Kaifeng Mansion several times. Now he paints the prosperous and peaceful Kaifeng in such a ghostly way, it must be Cursing the Ming Dynasty with resentment!"

Ju Ming said: "There is no need to make a fuss. Can't our Ming Dynasty tolerate a lost soul? As long as he does not commit crimes, there is no need to punish him. How much did you spend on the paintings?"

"Two hundred strings." Zhang Fang replied.

Ju Ming said: "Go and collect the three hundred guan. I will treat this painting as if I have bought it and send it to the Hanlin Academy of Painting to open the eyes of the painters."

Zhang Fang didn't come to complain, nor did he come to make money. He just wanted to meet the emperor and let the emperor remember who he was.

Since the emperor said it didn't matter, Zhang Fang stopped speaking ill and happily took the money and left the palace.

The next day, Hanlin Painting Academy.

A large group of royal painters surrounded "Gen Yue" and marveled at it.

They don't care about the ghosts and ghosts, they only study the techniques used by Zhao Kai.

Ma Bi (Ma Yuan's great-grandfather) pointed to the buildings in Kaifeng and said: "This person's painting method is becoming more and more deviant, but the combination of splash ink and dry brush is so wonderful. In the original words of the Supreme Emperor, it is the sense of space and A sense of hierarchy. I can’t do it anyway, I’m afraid I’ll have to practice for another ten years.”

Zhang Zeduan shook his head repeatedly: "I will never learn it in my life. There are two different ways."

Zhang Zeduan belongs to the orthodox realism school and is good at meticulous painting, while also integrating some freehand techniques.

Zhao Kai's style was a freehand style that became mature and popular in the Ming Dynasty. This style also existed in the Tang, Song and Five Dynasties, but no school was formed and no great painters emerged.

In fact, Zhao Kai's painting is not mature yet and is in the exploratory stage of continuing the past and forging ahead into the future, but it is enough to bring a huge impact to the Hanlin painters.

At a time when realism is the absolute mainstream, suddenly he came up with a freehand painting, and painted the city of Kaifeng into a ghost. It really couldn't have been done without some mental illness!

The realist school pays attention to rules and inheritance. If this painting were created by normal people, they would probably be suppressed collectively.

But who wants to argue with a mentally ill person?

They just found it interesting and studied "Gen Yue" over and over again. Gradually, some people brought pens and paper and began to imitate it.

Even Zhang Zeduan is studying imitation, trying to figure out how Zhao Kai painted it.

The freehand painting school is estimated to have emerged hundreds of years in advance.

The mental patient Zhao Kai is still sleeping on the streets of Kaifeng, waiting for the money to run out before he can paint another painting.