Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou

The book introduces the history of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou， 15 painters’ lives and masterpieces， their important place in art history， and their influence on the generations to come. It thoroughly analyzes the unusual areas of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou from an aesthetic perspective and is a primer for the public to familiarize with and appreciate the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou and their calligraphy and painting works.

Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou

Liu Fangming

Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing Ltd.

June 2020

35.00 (CNY)

Liu Fangming

Liu Fangming was born in 1958， with the courtesy name Xuanfu and pseudonym “Yiyuansanren (Idle Man in Yiyuan)”. He is vice president of the Calligraphy and Painting Academy of Jiangsu Overseas Chinese， a state first-class Artist， president of Yangzhou Eight Eccentric Research Institution， visiting professor at Southeast University and Yangzhou University， a distinguished painter of the Calligraphy and Painting Academy of Shanghai and Calligraphy and Painting Academy of Nanjing， and visiting scholar of “Landscape Painting Language Research” of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

With the courtesy name Jinren， the pseudonyms Chaolin， Xidong Waishi (an ancient official title)， and Wanchun Laoren (Late Spring Old Man)， Wang Shishen (1686-- 1759) lived in Yangzhou. He was poor but moral. His only hobby was drinking tea， and he was adept at drawing plants， especially plum trees. When drawing plum trees， he painted lush branches with steady brush strokes without showing off techniques. Sometimes， he also liked to paint sparse branches. Whether lush or sparse branches， his paintings are so vivid， as if the air is filled with the fragrance of plants， and the beauty of nature is exquisitely reflected in his paintings. At 54， he was blind in the left eye， but he created the painting and calligraphy work Better Work Than Before. Blind at 67， he wrote in a wild scribble titled “Xin Guan” (to see with the heart)， which emphasized that he remained clear in mind even after losing his vision. Extant works include Chaolin Poetry Anthology.

His work Faint Fragrance was drawn in 1736 (during the reign of Emperor Qianlong) when Wang Shishen was 51 years old， right in the prime of his artistic creativity. The inscriptions read， “The small yard is planted with one or two rows of plum blossoms/I picture the scene where the pale shadows of the flowers fall on my clothes/When the frost melts into the snow， the moonlight will reflect the plum blossoms becoming more and more white/With the east wind blowing day by day， the fragrance of the flowers will become richer day by day — Wang Shishen， on the fourth day after the Beginning of Autumn (one of the 24 solar terms)， 1736. Wang Shishen and Fuxi herewith enclose their personal seals.” In the upper left corner of the painting， the inscriptions were written in seal script， reading “Faint Fragrance”. Wang Shishen used his seal at the beginning of the painting， following the tradition of the ancients. Faint Fragrance is a typical work of the style of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou， with integrated poetry， calligraphy， painting， and seals， and each to its best. With two plum blossoms， two kinds of calligraphy， a Qijue poem， a four-character title， square seal， the composition is extremely simple and delicate， contributing to a masterpiece.

When Wang Shishen painted the work Faint Fragrance， he was living in the Xiao Ling Long Hill Pavilion， which belonged to his fellow rich Confucian businessmen Ma Yueguan and Ma Yuelu. His life was relatively comfortable. He had lived there for years， and the Ma brothers， who loved calligraphy， painting， and poetry， regarded Wang as a bosom friend. Nonetheless， Wang， with the temperament of an intellect， had high self-esteem， which could be revealed in many poems in his Chaolin Poetry Anthology， indicating that he was not willing to live under another’s roof for a long time. Based on such feelings， it can be assumed that the broken branches of the plum trees in Faint Fragrance are a direct expression of his temperament. In the painting， several plum blossoms in black ink are included from the top right， and thin branches are interlaced. A short branch is like a sword， straight across the treetops. Plums in full blossom bring a faint fragrance and make people refreshed. In this painting， the plum tree stretches freely as the painter painted the branches with wet ink， the mosses with dark ink， and the blossoms with a fine brush. He circled flowers with light ink to show the full plum， which carries a unique charm and makes people feel the aesthetic of the thin， solitary， and proud plum trees. Wang Shishen excelled at seal and clerical script and running script， among which official script and seal script respectively were learned from the “Huashan Temple Tablet Inscription” and the “Tablet Inscription About Prophecies from the Heaven”. This script is neat， beautiful， and elegant， but the running script is ancient and thick. As the saying goes， “A person’s calligraphy reflects a person’s character”. Wang Shishen’s charisma was also reflected in his calligraphy， “thin， hard， and lacking flexibility”. In Faint Fragrance， calligraphy in the two parts also embodies the overall style. The three lines of the running script are a Qijue poem composed by himself， so the characters’ features change with his feelings， showing the spirit of his academic style. The seal script of four characters， “Kong Li Shu Xiang (Faint Fragrance)”， in the writing style of the “Tablet Inscription from the Heaven”， is thin and ancient. The seal characters here not only echo the running character of “Hua (flower)” of “Bing Hua (frost flower)”， but also highlight the artistic conception of the painting， reflecting Wang Shishen’s unique ideas on layout. Plus， the use of the square seal brings the painting closer to perfection. Jin Nong once commented on Wang Shishen， “There are millions of flowers in the world， while plum blossoms represent the cold fragrance. When in bloom， they defy the freezing cold.”