A scroll of Zhao Fu’s mountains and rivers

[Zhao Fu’s Ten Thousand Miles of the River and Mountains]

The Ten Thousand Miles of the River and Mountains “volume, written by Zhao Fu in the Southern Song Dynasty, paper edition, ink, 45.1 cm vertically and 992.5 cm horizontally
Rivers and mountains are common themes in painting, which appeared as early as the Tang Dynasty. It is reported that Li Sixun spent three months painting a scene of three hundred miles of the Jialing River on the wall. Later, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered Wu Daozi to paint the same theme in the Datong Hall, which can be completed in one day. Compared with the two, each has its own merits. Wang Ximeng, a young painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, created the volume of “A Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers” in the form of green landscapes (the Palace Museum). Zhao Fu’s “The Painting of the Mountains and Rivers” is a unique and innovative composition of this kind of works
The picture is unfolded, covered by clouds and fog, and the mountains are continuous. A few feet later, the winding river bank is seen. Three or two travelers walk slowly along the road, and the boats are only waiting for passengers at the ferry at the foot of the mountain. Then there was the “waves crashing on the shore, rolling up thousands of piles of snow”, and then the solitary ridge rose, the road turned around, the cottage village house, and travel. Finally, the picture ends with the boundless sea. The water and the sky are one color and magnificent. There are postscript poems of Qian Weishan, Zhang Ning, Lu Shusheng and others in the Ming Dynasty on the tail
From the painting techniques in the picture, it is not difficult to see that Zhao Fu was a teacher of Li Tang, a painter of the Song Dynasty, and he was also widely erudite and unique. The mountain stone is strong with a pen. First, it is cracked with light ink, and then the local outline is carefully drawn with thick and heavy ink. The intensity of the ink color complements each other. The depiction of water accounts for a large proportion of the picture, which is also the success of this picture. The waves are mainly drawn in light ink, which is reused to dye deep, so as to show the momentum of shock waves penetrating the sky. It can be described as “unprecedented” and can be called the masterpiece of Southern Song painting
Records of Qianshan Hall Calligraphy and Painting by Wen Jia of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Weiyu’s Anthology of Coral Net Painting, Volume II and II, Bian Yongyu of the Qing Dynasty’s Collection of Calligraphy and Painting in Shigu Hall, Volume II, and Shiqu Treasure Collection, Volume III and II.