Moral·Aesthetic·Realistic

In Xu Beihong’s creative career,he often used Confucian cultural allusions as the subject of his paintings.At the same time,his writing of Confucian cultural elements in painting inscriptions and calligraphy creation is even more innumerable.Examining Xu Beihong’s artistic thoughts and artistic creation activities,we will find that the expression of Xu Beihong’s artistic thoughts always contains the essence of Confucian culture,and his artistic creation activities deeply reflect the glory of Confucian culture.First of all,Confucius’ "benevolence" thinking includes the feeling of filial piety,the cultivation of virtue,and the sense of social responsibility to pay attention to reality.which inspired Xu Beihong’s "realism" choice and creation in the "moral dimension".It is embodied in: 1.Xu Beihong’s painting techniques were not only directly inherited from Xu Dazhang,but also his early artistic aesthetic concepts were consistent with Xu Dazhang’s;2.Xu Beihong’s "realism" choice had the cultural gene of Confucius’ "benevolence" thinking.3.Xu Beihong has shown a strong realistic concern and a deep sense of historical responsibility in the moral shaping of the image of Confucius as a "gentleman" and his series of political portrait paintings.Secondly,Mencius’ "awe-inspiring spirit" influenced Xu Beihong’s thinking on the "aesthetic dimension".In terms of artistic thought,Xu Beihong thought about the inner "moral reason" and the outer "perceptual life",emphasizing the highlighting of the "moral life" of the performance object,so as to integrate Mencius’ aesthetic requirements of "the unity of beauty and goodness" into himself In the aesthetic concept of art.The influence of Mencius thought on Xu Beihong’s creation lies in the following: the requirements of the unified beauty and the beauty of the "contextual elegance" constitute Xu Beihong’s "power of life" creation group portrait.In "Tian Heng Five Hundred Scholars",it is Mencius’ s heroic spirit and dignity of "giving righteousness" to Mencius;in "After Me" it is the transformation of Mencius’ s "people-oriented" thought,the suffering,perseverance,Hope and strength constitute a multi-theme resonance here;in Xu Beihong’s "The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain" and the creation of animal images represented by "Running Horse",it is the expression of the vitality and free life of "Aura of Haoran".Finally,Kang Youwei’s thought of "reformism" constitutes a kind of "realistic dimension" inspiration for Xu Beihong’s reform of Chinese painting.This is reflected in: 1.Kang Youwei’s "New Appraisal of Confucianism" inspired Xu Beihong’s "New Appraisal of the History of Painting".The latter,based on the reclassification and new appraisal of Chinese art history,proposed a new method of realism for improvement.The proposition of Chinese painting has injected new content into traditional Chinese painting.2.Under the influence of Kang Youwei’s aesthetic view,Xu Beihong began to think about the relationship between "tradition" and "modernity" in Chinese painting.This prompted him to boldly try the fusion of "modernity" and "tradition" in his artistic creation,which is embodied in his calligraphy and Chinese painting creation.