Picture scroll of Qiangu Qizhi Garden

[Qiangu Qiongzhi Garden Volume]

Qiongzhi Garden Volume, Ming Dynasty, Qiangu painting, paper edition, color setting, 29.8 cm vertically and 190.2 cm horizontally
Among the works of Wumen painters in the Ming Dynasty, many of them are titled with other people’s room names. Such works are called “other number pictures” by Zhang Chou. If extended, they should also include works on manors and courtyards. On the basis of depicting the authenticity of the artificial garden, they try to express the life ideal of the garden owners, reflect their living in the downtown area, but pursue the integrity and ambition of “making friends with the deep mountains and wild waters”. This kind of work has become a prominent artistic phenomenon represented by the Wumen School of Painting, and Qian Gu’s “The Painting of the Garden of Desire” is a very representative one of them
At the request of Zhang Fengyi, a friend of Qian Gu, this volume depicts the scenery of his hometown between spring and summer. At the beginning of the volume, there are three words of Wenzheng Ming’s title “Wenyu Pavilion”, and at the end of the volume, there is Wang Shizhen’s running script “The Garden of Wisdom”. The painter painted from the right garden door, with Yikuang Pavilion, Fengmu Hall and Shangyouzhai as the center, with a court in front and a garden behind, and gradually unfolded. The Caifang Path, Wenyu Hall, and Xiangxue Gallery in Wang Shizhen’s “Garden of Wisdom” are all available according to the pictures, and the exhibition pictures are recorded. It seems that the grand scene of the gathering of literati and the elegant talk meeting in the first place garden, which is “rising in the morning, rising in the evening, wind in the spring, and snow in the winter”, unfolds with the scroll. Although it is a real scene, it is not a simple representation. It pays more attention to the harmony and combination of the artificial landscape and the natural scenery of the lake and the mountains. It highlights the ancient Chinese gardening concept of “although it is made by man, it is made by nature”. It is a recreation to express the desire of the owner of the painting to live in seclusion by using the ancient Chinese wood, winter plum hedge, and white goose and purple mandarin. In fact, because the painter and the master of the painting share the same feelings, thoughts and interests, the artistic pursuit of heaven and earth and indifferent mind embodied in the picture is also the painter’s inner portrayal.