The scroll of Luo Pin’s remonstrance

[Luo Pin’s Lock and remonstrate Picture Volume]

Lock and remonstrate Picture Volume, Qing Dynasty, Luo Pin’s drawing, paper book, ink pen, vertical 32 cm, horizontal 208 cm
The signature of this regular script: “Imitate Yan Liben’s remonstrance picture and send it to Xiao Shengxiang for collection. Yangzhou Luopin.” Seal “Luopin” with the seal of Bai Wenfang and “Tunfu” with the seal of Zhu Wenfang. There are also five aspects of this painting, such as “Qingyu Thatched Cottage”, “Banding Examination and Approval”. The tail paper contains a text about the story of Chen Yuanda’s remonstrance in the Book of Jin written by Xie Lan in the year of Daoguang Jiashen (the fourth year of Daoguang, 1824), as well as the textual research on the “remonstrance map” written by Zhang Weiping in the year of Daoguang’s ugliness (the ninth year of Daoguang, 1829)
The most successful part of this painting is the meticulous portrayal of the character’s expression: Chen Yuanda was seen holding the wat in both hands, holding the tree tightly, shouting the words of remonstrance, and his loyal and dutiful anxiety was revealed; The two bodyguards pulled Chen’s belt and jacket and pulled them out. Although their beards were flying and their eyes were wide open, they could not do anything about it; Liu Cong, who was dressed in casual clothes, frowned at each other and looked fierce. He held his left hand tightly on his knee. He was obviously very excited, and his lingering anger appeared on the paper; The empress Liu, who stood together, was upset when she saw the cause of the incident. She sent the maid to send a secret message to the king to alleviate the urgent situation
The rendering of the tense atmosphere and the depiction of the figure’s shape and spirit in the picture attract the attention of the audience, showing the artist’s unique and exquisite conception. From the perspective of painting method, the figure’s face is painted with fine brush, the hair and beard are fine, the face is slightly painted with light ink to show the ups and downs, the lines of clothing are sketched, and the twists and turns have their own rules, which are clumsy and unsophisticated. The audience can feel the superb ability of Luo Pin to skillfully control the pen and ink
Compared with the “Lock and remonstrate Picture” painted by Yan Liben of the Tang Dynasty, which is now in the collection of the Flier Art Museum in the United States, the position and action of the characters have not changed much. Luo’s work only omits the rockery and bushes on the side of the queen, and adds several bodyguards on the right side of Chen Yuanda. In addition, Luo Pin also changed the form of expression originally written in the way of color design into line drawing, adding a little elegance to the painting.