Zhang Ling’s Immortal Attraction Scroll

[Zhang Ling’s Painting of Immortals]

The Painting of Immortals, Ming Dynasty, Zhang Ling’s painting, paper, ink, 29.8 cm vertically and 111.5 cm horizontally
The ink type “Zhang Lingtu” is stamped with “Zhang Lingyin”. This picture, also known as “The Painting of Immortals in the Dynasty”, is a masterpiece that expresses feelings with scenery. At the bridge head with the bright moon in the sky, a beautiful woman stood quietly with her eyebrows lowered. The author subtly suggests the chilliness of the evening wind by painting a woman’s sash rising slightly and the reeds swaying on the shore. Through the treatment of large area of blank space on the composition, the lonely and bleak atmosphere of the picture is set off. In this bleak scene, the woman could not help feeling sad and sighing, and this sad mood is also a reflection of the author’s own frustration. The painting method of the woman in the picture follows the “line drawing” technique since the Song and Yuan dynasties. The author uses ink to sketch the faces and clothing patterns of the characters. The lines are powerful and round, full of expressive force and priorities, and many other changes show the author’s exquisite attainments in line modeling. In addition, the author also skillfully applied the ink dyeing method according to the different objects painted. The head of the characters was dyed with thick ink, the reeds and hibiscus leaves were dyed with deep ink, and the clothing decorative belt was dyed with light ink. The ink rhymes of different depths undoubtedly played a role in expanding the level and spatial sense of the picture. This picture is not only the representative work of Zhang Ling, but also the masterpiece of the figure painting in the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Chou of the Ming Dynasty wrote in the Qing River Calligraphy and Painting Boat: “There is Tang Ziwei’s chant on the back of Zhang Mengjin’s The Painting of Immortals.” But at present, there is no chant on this picture by Tang Yin. Obviously, after Zhang Chou saw it, good people in later generations cut Tang Yin’s chant off and used it for other purposes, thus reducing the color of the original combination of calligraphy and painting, and losing important evidence of the brush and ink exchanges between Zhang Ling and Tang Yin. In Tang Yin’s “Supplement to the Six Ru Jushi”, it was found that he wrote a chant for this picture, which is called “The Song of Calling Immortals”: “The tulip steps shake the silver finger, and the bright moon hangs over the dragon. The autumn river touches the trees and the reeds and frosts, so how can you cover the empty bed at night. The yellow and yellow lights in the smoke shake the river at dusk, and the delicate dew at the end of the moon float. When the evening is good, where can this place be admired.” Obviously, Tang Yin’s poetry and Zhang Ling’s painting are completely consistent. Zhang Chou of the Ming Dynasty wrote “The Painting Boat on the Qinghe River”, and Bian Yongyu of the Qing Dynasty wrote “The Collection of Paintings and Calligraphy in Shigutang”.