Ma Yuan steps on the map axis

[Axis of Ma Yuan’s Stepping Song Map]

Axis of the Stepping Song Map, painted by Ma Yuan in the Southern Song Dynasty, silk, colored, 192.5 cm vertically and 111 cm horizontally
“Stepping song” is a very old custom in the countryside of southern China. The villagers worked hard for a year and finally received a bumper harvest. So all the men, women and children in the village, singing and dancing to the beat, celebrate the harvest and thank the gift of nature, just as happy and lively as the Spring Festival
On the surface, the “Stepping Song” is like a landscape painting that represents the natural landscape, but it is actually a folk painting that depicts human life. The author Ma Yuan arranged a few point figures in the picture, which fully displayed the theme of the painting. The painter did not describe the whole picture of the grand occasion of the countryside, but chose several very representative images of the villagers: a middle-aged villager, because he was happy to drink a few more bowls of wine, stumbled, staggered, drunk, but the wine gourd did not forget, still well carried on his shoulder; An old man with white beard also drank a lot of wine. One hand was on crutches, the other hand was raised high, both feet were off the ground, and he was dancing and excited. Their behavior has been out of line with their age, so it seems particularly funny. After describing these adults, the author Ma Yuan felt that it was not enough to express the happy and indulgent atmosphere. He specially arranged two young children, male and female, in the lower left corner of the painting. They turned around and stared at their elders with astonished eyes. How could the parents’ pride and dignity be lost? The older girl also covered her mouth with her hand and laughed secretly. These two groups of scenery figures echo and set off each other, pushing the happy mood of “Tage” to the extreme. But when you look at the picture, the author only drew six people, but he can render the atmosphere so fully. From these six villagers, we can feel the singing, the beat of stepping on the ground and the happy laughter from the whole village. The artist Ma Yuan’s artistic expression of “taking one as ten” and “seeing the big from the small” is really superb
Several characters occupy a small position in the picture, but they are the most noticeable. The characters are straight and vigorous, and the characters are lively and interesting, all of which show the extraordinary skills of Ma Yuan
Ma Yuan’s method of painting mountains and rocks is also very characteristic. He uses the side edge of the brush to scan flat to show the steep mountain and the texture of hard rocks. The rocks are like a huge axe. This method of using the brush is called “axe chopping and chapping”, which can also be seen from the “Treading Song” axis. Ma Yuan also has innovation in the composition of the painting. He likes to focus the rocks in the picture on one corner to form a virtual and real contrast, so he has the name of “horse corner”. Of course, this feature is not very obvious in this work. Ma Yuan also has his own habit of drawing trees. He often draws the branches of trees downward and diagonally, so some people summarized it into four words “dragging branches and horses away”
There is a five-character quatrain on the top of Ma Yuan’s “Stepping on the Song”, which is an expanded copy of Wang Anshi’s poem by Emperor Ning Zongzhao of the Southern Song Dynasty. The poem reads: “Suyu Qingjidian, Chaoyang Lidi City, people are happy to work in good years, and walk on the ridge.” This is the expectation of the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty for a peaceful and prosperous era. Ma Yuan, the painter of the painting academy who worships the court, painted on this poem.