Similarity In Spirit Between Similar But Not Completely Similar

Chinese traditional figure paintings in different dynasties from silk painting "Riding On Horse To Heaven Picture" in Warring States Period to Zhao Mengfu’s "Red LuoHan Picture" in Yuan Dynasty,all have embodied the special feature of modeling language:similar but not completely similar is really similar. Especially the character modeling in Hongshou Chen’s works, which are full of ancient artistic conception,freakish frighting and uncanny mystery, is the most representative modeling language. It is also the best object for the researchers who study Chinese character modeling.The shinning points of Chen’s figure paintings are mainly reflected in prints and scroll paintings with schema and modeling language of very strong personality.With a whole view of the history of painting at home and abroad, for any artist there are reasons that leads to the formation of schema and modeling language. The reasons include life experiences, academic training, learning from predecessors and even the influences by other contemporary artists. The subject matter of Chen’s figure paintings are mainly stories of ancient people, dramas or fiction illustrations. This is due to his understanding of the literature, as well as his mastery on character modeling, which makes his works reach a new height after Jin and Tang Dynasties.Besides the part of introduction and conclusion, the full text of this paper is divided into five chapters. The first chapter focuses on the life experiences and artistic achievements of Chen, a master at that time. The second chapter places emphasis on the relationship between the Song Dynasty’s and Chen’s figure paintings’schema and modeling language. The third chapter mainly involves the impacts of Tang Dynasty’s figure paintings’schema and modeling language of Chen’s figure paintings which are created in his middle age. The fourth chapter goes to the inheritance relationship of the figure painting schema and modeling language of paintings in Wei-jin period and paintings of Chen. The fifth chapter focuses on the impacts of Yuan Dynasty’s figure paintings schema and modeling language on Chen’s. The readers can not only listen to the language of narrative, but also can feel the visual pleasure brought by art.