The Role of Taoism in the Development of Images of Gardens and Parks in Chinese Art

Lu Sa Graduate student, Department of Art History and Pedagogy of Art, Herzen State Pedagogical University 191186, Russia, Saint Petersburg, nab. Sinks, 48, room 6, room 51 tkachenko.lnik@gmail.com Other publications by this author

 The art of painting and garden art in China went hand in hand, as the masters of pen and ink of the Celestial Empire turned with great pleasure to natural motifs, not only related to wildlife, but also what they saw and admired while staying in famous Chinese gardens.

The latter were created according to certain principles, conditioned by both religious and philosophical ideas. E.V. Golosova, a researcher from Russia, notes that "the Chinese classical aesthetics of the garden was more influenced by Taoism" ^{[1, p. 198]}, which is not surprising given the role of nature in the Taoist worldview. This fact influenced the fact that the skill of planning and growing plants in Chinese gardens received a special flourishing during the period when this philosophical and religious teaching became widespread in the territories of modern China.

Taoism asserts "the superiority of nature and higher consciousness (divine providence) over all that man has created" ^{[2, p. 330]}. Of course, this influenced the desire of people to have at their disposal corners of nature that could be calmly, unlike wild nature, to contemplate and, thereby, to improve. Moreover, often they themselves or invited artists captured such small gardens or large-scale species parks in order, first of all, to develop themselves, comprehending and, as it were, merging with the natural principle. Therefore, in such images, the authors paid special attention not only to how to correctly convey the true layout of the landscape created by man, but also to observe those artistic techniques that are most suitable for this.

In the Chinese Middle Ages, the basic principles of the embodiment of images of nature transformed by man were formed, which in many ways became the "face" of Chinese art. This fact determines the relevance of the appeal to the analysis of the peculiarities of interpretation and embodiment by pictorial means in the works of Chinese masters of those natural motifs that were associated with the teaching of the Tao. Zong Bing's book "Preface to Landscape Painting" is considered to be the earliest of their existing works devoted to the art of Chinese landscape. In it, the author defines the landscape as a source of natural ideas that echo the tao, and names the period when such a synthesis reached a significant heyday — this is the Jin Dynasty (III–V) ^[3]. It is known that during the reign of the Qing Dynasty, when the teaching of the Tao ceased to be as popular as before, landscape painting was going through hard times.

The subjects of this study should be considered the painting of medieval China, which vividly reflected the natural images associated with Taoism, and the object is the mechanism and specifics of their reflection in traditional Chinese painting of the same period. As the purpose of the publication, it is necessary to consider an artistic analysis of medieval landscapes depicting garden and park ensembles and elements formed under the influence of Taoist aesthetics in development during different periods, starting from the III century and ending with the period of decline in interest in landscape during the reign of the Qing Dynasty in the VXII century. Such an angle will enrich Russian art history and Oriental studies with new information about the formation and enrichment of the figurative series in the landscapes of the most famous medieval Chinese masters of pen and ink, as well as evaluate the originality of their visual interpretation of philosophical and aesthetic ideas.

It is worth noting that the study of medieval Chinese landscapes is a sufficiently developed field for Russian science. Currently, there are a number of studies that form a solid theoretical and methodological basis, namely the works of E.V. Zavadskaya ^[4] N.A. Vinogradova ^[5], V.L. Sychev ^[6] and others. The question of the relationship between man and nature in Chinese art is heard in the study of E.V. Novikova ^[7], I.S. Rodicheva ^[8] and other modern scientists. Modern Chinese art critics, who are published in Russian, also play an important role in this. Among the works of recent years, it should be mentioned "The image of gardens and parks in the works of Chinese artists" by Ma Xuefefn. In the article, the researcher focuses on contemporary art, especially oil painting, mentioning that the garden as a theme of the image began to appear especially often since the XV century ^[9]. Meanwhile, this topic still existed earlier, and in this previous period, the formation of the main artistic techniques took place.

Taoism is an ancient philosophical and religious teaching and part of the cultural space of China. Tao is a broad concept that includes a whole range of concepts and categories. It is based on the idea of self-knowledge, the idea of the eternal and infinite presence of the spirit in Heaven and Earth. A follower of the Tao teaching must find the fullness of his being through a kind of dissolution in the surrounding world. This is the most significant and characteristic part of Taoist aesthetics. Natural beauty is an aesthetic object, a condition for the development of nature and a requirement for its improvement, and after it, the person existing inside it. Hence the propensity of the representatives of the teaching to admire the beauty of mountains, forests and waters. Moreover, heaven and earth have become objects of the greatest worship in their ideas, having received a sacred status.

Influenced by the philosophical ideas of the Taoists, starting with the Sui and Tang dynasties, Chinese painting began to focus on the landscape. Before the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the genre developed along with the depiction of flowers and birds, as well as figurative painting. During this period, a coherent philosophical system was formed regarding the display of natural motifs, including those transformed by man ^[10]. It was especially widespread in the Northern and Southern Wei Dynasty, as well as from the end of Jin. Up to this point, when creating images, artists preferred ornaments, religious images and the issue of edification. Natural motifs only decorated the images, and were not independent. It was the Taoist vision of the world that formed a kind of fashion in the art world for landscape. The philosophical subtext he proposed enhanced the expressiveness of the paintings he created ^[11]. For example, in the book on the theory of Chinese painting "Ancient Paintings" by Qi Sehe, in addition to describing approaches to understanding painting and the technology of its execution, it was said about the "living spirit", which was a measure of the quality of work. Liveliness, from the author's point of view, should be created due to a special rhythmic organization of elements located in the void, as well as through linearity in form ^{[12, p. 32]}. In the works of the Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu (369 BC - 286 BC), the need to convey images of nature allegorically in the form of "analogies" and "figures" was asserted. Moreover, these objects should be immersed in the void associated with the idea of tao. The idea of "beauty in inaction" was also affirmed there, and "the beauty of heaven and earth" was perceived as "immortal and eternal". The philosopher believed that "man and heaven are one and the same, because man and nature are the same and connected to each other" ^{[12, p. 33]}.

The Chinese garden is the creation of "the ultimate harmony between the basis of the landscape created by nature and its man—made part" ^{[13, p. 198]}. In garden art, the principle of contrasts is affirmed, based on a combination of hard and soft, light and dark, objects and their surrounding emptiness, openness and closeness, simplicity and decorativeness, limitation and freedom, movement and static. The main contrast is heaven and earth, thanks to the collision and complement that exists everything between them. Chinese gardens necessarily take into account the images of two powerful elements, and concentrate around an empty space. In such a "void" there are objects that were created by the brush of Chinese artists. They, following the ideas of Taoism, framed the empty space of silk or paper, and at the expense of newly created forms expanded it in conditions of limitation.

The artist of the Eastern Jin dynasty Gu Kaizhi is better known for portrait and story painting. Meanwhile, he skillfully includes images of people in the natural environment, as well as various man-made environments, organically linking them. And not the least role in his works is played by the Taoist principles of the organization of gardens and parks. For example, Gu Kaizhi depicted his hero Xie Kun between the rocks, using the characteristic shapes of these natural objects. This helped him to emphasize the personality and mood of the character. Since the master was not familiar with the long—dead model, he most likely relied on a recorded statement regarding the evaluation of the beauties of Yuliang and Ta: "One hill, and the second is a valley, and that's enough." In this position, the influence of Taoist ideas associated with the love of natural beauty and attention to everything related to the stone and its combination with other elements is felt ^[14]. Just at that time, when creating Taoist monasteries, artificial grottos and caves intended for the celestials began to be created in the absence of natural ones. Secular gardens began to adopt the same tradition, which was also reflected in Gu Kaizhi's works, for example, in "Guo in the Water Pavilion" or "Visiting the Western Garden on the Night of Qing".

A late interpretation of the image of Gu Kaizhi is considered to be the work of the artist Zhao Mengfu, who lived already during the reign of the Southern Song Dynasty. He painted the image of Xie Kun surrounded by rocks, inside a grotto. The master, who is inclined to refer to the heritage of artists of the past, rather generically depicts rocky slopes with a large light mass, which create a protective cocoon around the hero. With neat soft lines, he emphasizes the irregularities of the surface. At the same time, the very emptiness that is characteristic of Taoist gardens is formed around the model, and the hero himself calmly contemplates the natural splendor. Pine crowns are solved with dark large spots with slightly blurred edges. They are "seated" by the master rhythmically in the form of three groups, and are written with elegantly curved trunks. Almost the entire lower half of the composition is occupied by water, in which shadows from the ground and trees are prescribed with small darkenings, and the milky sky is reflected. It is noteworthy that at that time the grotto or cave inside the garden acquired a function that emphasized the high status of the owner.

Figure 1. Wu Daozi. The scroll "Eighty-seven immortals". Fragment. VIII . Xu Beihong Memorial Collection (China). Source: http://www.leadip.com/p/68054.htmlThe famous representative of the Tang "literary painting", who practiced Taoism, Daozi (XVIII century) also has images associated with the image of gardens.

So, in the scroll "Eighty-seven Immortals", the author depicts a long procession of figures that sometimes connect, then separate in the form of groups, and voids form between them. The heroes walk along a long bridge, which resembles those that can be found in Chinese gardens. Its fences serve as a link for the entire composition (Fig. 1). This is not surprising, since this motif is associated with the idea of the sacred path to the tao. Between the links of the fence, the author places graceful curls of waves, as well as buds of aquatic plants. Thin wavy lines above the heads of the participants of the action depict clouds floating across the sky. The figures themselves resemble oblong leaves in shape and are decorated with flowers, which, apparently, emphasizes the proximity to the natural origin.

Figure 2. Wang Wei. The fresco "Wangchuan Tu". Fragment. VIII . Seattle Art Museum (USA). Source: https://baike .baidu.com/pic/%E8%BE%8B%E5%B7%9D%E5%9B%BE/818215/1/a71ea8d3fd1f413420dec5d42d1f95cad0c85eab?fr=lemma&ct=single#aid=1&pic=a71ea8d3fd1f413420dec5d42d1f95cad0c85eabIn Taoism, the idea of "hermitage" is widespread.

In painting, this implies depicting a person away from the clutter of the world and closer to nature. Among the paintings in which the theme of solitude within the garden is manifested, one of the most famous is "Wangchuan Tu" by Wang Wei, an artist of the Tang Dynasty. It was performed in the last years of the master's life, when he lived in seclusion in Wangchuan. Outside the villa depicted by him, clouds float in the sky, a slowly flowing river is visible. Oblong boats are visible between the waves (Fig. 2). It is noteworthy that the image of the palace complex as a place of human residence is isolated from the wild nature, but not isolated, but, on the contrary, open to the currents of the energy of the world. Therefore, the gardens laid out inside are similar to the landscape around. The angle is chosen in such a way that it seems that the walls serve as a decorative frame of the space inside filled with trees. The same approach to depicting the garden as a fragment of the natural and natural, which a person only temporarily enclosed in the frames of his buildings, can be found in later works, for example, "On the Riverbank", "Gao Shi" and "Xiao Yizhuan Lanting" ^[15].

Figure 3. Su Hanchen. Children playing. An early copy. Around 1167. The State Museum of the East (Moscow). Source: Sychev V.L. Classical painting of China. Collection catalog. – Moscow : State Museum of the East, 2014. – p. 123.Su Hanchen, who worked later in the XI–XII centuries, also turned to the garden motif in his landscapes.

In his work "Playing Children", illuminated figures of boys are shown on a light background, dark areas are depicted above and below: pine needles and broad leaves of a low plant (Fig. 3). To balance the lower and upper parts, dark leaves with delicate pink buds are depicted behind the shrub. The same flowers are placed in an elegant vase in the foreground. They gently indicate the inclusion of human efforts in the creation of the depicted corner of nature, which is again conditionally separated by a low fence from the world around, which is practically not drawn.

On the scroll, created already at the turn of the XV–XVI centuries, Qiu Ying also encloses the main place of action with a wall and looks at the pavilions and gardens between them from above, being on a hill (Fig. 4). Moreover, the way he depicts wildlife and landscape motifs within the space of human life is similar. On the sandy background of the earth, the master has massive and gnarled tree trunks with caps of green foliage. They alternate with a variety of human buildings. This rhythm is united by the motif of the road along which the characters walk along the canvas. The nature outside the walls has the same rhythmic organization and color scheme.

Figure 4. Qiu Ying. A palindrome woven on silk. An early copy. XV–XVI centuries. Fragment. The State Museum of the East (Moscow). Source: Sychev V.L. Classical painting of China. Collection catalog. – Moscow : State Museum of the East, 2014. – p. 164.The Taoist idea of five colors that "dazzle people with their splendor" and are an unattainable ideal has led to the fact that the coloristic component of gardens and parks in China is quite concise and simple.

Against the background of greenery, blue skies and water, pavilions, gazebos, grottoes, etc. usually stand out with bright spots. The same thing happened in the pictorial art. Initially, Chinese artists mainly used the background color. However, then they began to include the green color of the ink as the main one, while others tried to muffle it, naturally, this happened with some adjustments to the nature of the brushstroke, the originality of the artistic language and style of the masters.

Figure 5. Qiu Ying. Two odes about Zixue. An early copy. XVI century . Fragment. The State Museum of the East (Moscow). Source: Sychev V.L. Classical painting of China. Collection catalog. – Moscow : State Museum of the East, 2014. – p. 154.

In the scroll "Two Odes about Zixue", blue-green hills and mountains are depicted on light silk, among which dark green spots of groves and gray-beige pavilions look out here and there (Fig. 5). It would seem that a completely natural landscape with a muted color appears before the viewer, but figures of people and numerous view pavilions and gazebos indicate that this corner is still transformed by man. Moreover, the presence of roads and inspection points located on hills indicate the necessity of unhurried movement through space. At the same time, the artist strives to show all the objects of this path in a dynamic and rather complex interaction. So, high peaks smoothly "flow" into gentle hills, and those into wave crests. In Wen Zhenheng's essay "Notes on superfluous things" (XVI century), it is written: "stone encourages a person to [think about] the ancient, and water encourages a person to [think about] the distant" ^{[16, p. 43]}.

Figure 6. Wen Bi. From the life of Su Dongpo. XVI–XVII centuries. Fragment. The State Museum of the East (Moscow). Source: Sychev V.L. Classical painting of China. Collection catalog. – Moscow : State Museum of the East, 2014. – p. 47.Wen Bi's scroll with four scenes from Su Dongpo's life also shows the garden space.

There is no image of the sky here, as the master raises the horizon line high, hiding it behind the upper section of the canvas. The earth is not covered with paint and is expressed by the light color of the silk base (Fig. 6). Its slightly yellowish hue gives a resemblance to sand. Dark green spots of pine needles and pink spots of plum flowers frame the ground. In places, the artist slightly highlights silk, depicting figures in light clothes and architecture. Pink and blue colors are also harmoniously scattered on the canvas, which creates a pleasant and unhurried rhythm. In the garden, natural forms are complemented by man-made ones. People move slowly, listen to music, drink tea, as in other landscapes. They feel and express the unity of the emotional state with nature, which they need for spiritual improvement.

The attention of Chinese landscape painters was precisely due to the fact that, unlike wild and unpredictable nature, gardens allowed to build and show a more even relationship between man and things. Thus, the artists, together with their heroes, seemed to transfer their inner experiences there ^{[17, p. 89]}. It is noteworthy that landscape painters depict the space of gardens and parks from a fairly close distance and from above. This is how it is customary in China to contemplate gardens and parks, since the viewpoints are located on elevations. Hence the high horizon line and the frequent absence of the sky as such. At the same time, the viewer should see the beauty not far away, and not only one corner, but at least fragments of the rest.

As a generalization of the analysis of the most famous landscapes of medieval Chinese painters with the image of a man-made garden or park, it shows that those landscape compositions that represent fenced environments full of free and empty spaces are most often shown. They are framed by plots with plants, mostly coniferous, rarely flowers, small architectural elements and garden furniture, as well as in some periods stones and grottoes. The sky and the earth are practically not marked (with the exception of clouds and stones), since the authors leave unpainted fragments instead of the elements. Moreover, the horizon line is often raised very high in order to show what is happening inside the garden. The rhythmic organization of the garden space as a connecting thread has a motif of the road along which the staff figures walk. It is important that gardens and parks in landscape painting were transmitted with the obligatory presence of a person and, in fact, served as a symbolic reflection of his inner world and peaceful state on the way to tao. This fully corresponded to the ideas of the Taoists, who perceived garden and park complexes as a means of escaping from the hustle and bustle of the world and admiring its beauty in sacred inaction, and for the painter as an instrument of symbolic exploration of space.