Research On The Buddhist Figure Painting In Southern Song Dynasty

Since Buddhism spread to China during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhist art has developed into a grand school of art in Chinese history. As Buddhism prospered, Buddhist figure painting also emerged and gradually matured. From the Wei-Jin-Nan-Bei dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, Buddhist figure painting co-developed with local painting, learned from each other and gradually formed a unique school of art with Chinese characteristics, which is best represented by four great masters Cao, Zhang, Wu, Zhou, known as the "Four Model Styles". In the Song Dynasties, especially the Southern Song Dynasty, Buddhist figure painting entered into a new era. The artists began to give more life and artistic conception to the figures they painted, endeavored to break through restrictions and embrace naturalness in creations, and thus ushering in the freehand brushwork for Buddhist figure painting. The formation of this school of art had three reasons:one was the impact and influence by the thoughts of Buddhist Chan Zong; the second was the aesthetic inclination for secularization; the third was the innovations in artistic concepts. As shown in the art works, the themes of the paintings became more close to daily life, expressed more wishes and desires of the worldly people, and in expression tended to be more pantoscopic and more free in brushwork. The artists merge Chan into painting, and embodied boundless meaning to the freeness in brush touches. As time went by realistic painting and freehand painting gradually came into shape. During the Song Dynasties the popularity of freehand calligraphy also gave much impact upon the painters, who brought such freehand into their paint works, pursued after the integration of painting and calligraphic handwriting and even took it as a priority to merge calligraphy, Chan and painting into the works. Thus was the historic background for the development of the Buddhist figure painting in the Southern Song Dynasty. And the freehand style of the Southern Song Dynasty Buddhist figure painting also exercised great influences over all paintings in the following ages. The Southern Song Dynasty Buddhist figure painting did not generate a fixed pattern for expression. It emphasized on the experience and expression of Chan doctrines. Their art works give the audience the desire and power to break away from the restrains of ideologism and to create a new style with characteristics of our own times.