The prosperity of painting unified the Northern Song Dynasty and eliminated the division and estrangement caused by feudal separatism. For a period of time, the society maintained a relatively stable situation, the commercial handicraft industry developed rapidly, and the urban layout broke the strict boundary between workshops and cities, resulting in unprecedented prosperity. Although the Southern Song Dynasty was partial to the south of the Yangtze River, a large number of northerners and southerners moved south to develop the south of the Yangtze River, and the economy and culture continued to develop and surpassed the north. Cities such as Bianliang in the Northern Song Dynasty (now Kaifeng City, Henan Province) and Lin 'an in the Southern Song Dynasty (now Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province) enjoyed commercial prosperity. In addition to the gathering of nobles, there are a large number of businessmen, craftsmen and citizens. Urban cultural life is unprecedentedly active, the demand for painting has increased significantly, and the clients of painting have also been expanding, providing material conditions and mass basis for the development and prosperity of painting. Painting in Song Dynasty entered the commercial ranks of handicraft industry and established close ties with more people. A group of skilled professional painters sell their works as commodities in the market, and both Bianjing and Lin 'an have paper painting industries. Bianjing Suoguo Temple holds temple fairs five times a month, and department stores gather, including stalls selling books and paintings. Lin 'an Night Market in the Southern Song Dynasty also sold fine painting fans and plum and bamboo fans. Restaurants in Bianjing and Lin 'an also beautify their shops by hanging calligraphy and painting as a means to attract customers. When people hold festive banquets, they can rent screens, painting accounts, calligraphy and painting furnishings, etc. In order to meet the needs of the New Year Festival, seasonal paintings such as Door God and Zhong Kui were sold at the end of the year, which brought great prosperity to the city. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Liu Zongdao, a painter who was good at painting "Baby in a Pot" in Bianjing, had to draw hundreds of pictures every time he created a new manuscript and sell them in the market once to prevent others from copying them. Zhao Loutai, who is good at painting pavilions; Du Haier, who paints babies, is also famous in Bianjing. Yan Wengui, a soldier surnamed Wu, often sells paintings in Qiao Zhou, Bianjing. Yangwei, Jiangzhou, Dengaku, a well-painted village, every time a Bianjing dealer buys a painting, ask him to sell it at the gate of the painting academy, which can fetch a high price. The social demand for painting and the active creation of folk professional painters are important factors to promote the development of painting in Song Dynasty. Due to the development of handicraft industry in Song Dynasty, the development and popularization of engraving printing were promoted, and engraving centers such as Bianjing, Lin 'an, Pingyang, Chengdu and Jianyang appeared. Many books and Buddhist scriptures are illustrated with prints, the existing Maitreya Buddha statue, the Maharani Sutra, the Manjusri Guide of the Zen master of Buddhism, Zhao Chengzang and so on. Song and Jin carvings show their exquisiteness.
On the basis of the establishment of the Painting Academy in the Southern Tang Dynasty and Western Shu in the Five Dynasties, the Hanlin Painting Academy continued to be established in the Song Dynasty to train the painting talents needed by the imperial court. Painting was once established in Hui Zong in the Northern Song Dynasty. Most emperors in Song Dynasty, such as Renzong, Zongshen, Hui Zong, Gaozong, Guangzong and Ningzong, were interested in painting to varying degrees. They all attached great importance to the construction of the painting academy for the needs of decorating the palace and painting temples. Evonne, especially Hui Zong, has high accomplishment and skills in painting. He paid attention to recruiting painters, expanding and perfecting the palace painting academy, constantly collecting famous paintings and enriching the palace collection, which led to the prosperity of palace painting. Painters in the Academy kept in touch with the society, but were restricted by the emperor. Palace painting has obvious aristocratic artistic characteristics, is precise and meticulous, and has a lazy and charming interest in some works. The Academy concentrated outstanding painters in the society at that time, reflecting the high level at that time, and created Guo's Early Spring Map, Guanshan Map, Zhang Zeduan's Qingming Riverside Map, West Lake Heritage Application Map, Wang Ximeng's Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains Map, Flower Picking and Wind Dispelling Map, Tuge Map and other works.
Literati painting appeared in the Tang Dynasty and formed a huge artistic trend from the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty. At that time, the collection, evaluation and painting of Ye Na's painters had become a common practice among the upper-class literati. Many scholars have personally participated in painting practice, and expressed their feelings like poetry. It has its own unique requirements in theme selection, image processing and aesthetic taste. They gradually increased the number of poems inscribed on picture frames, opened up a new world of calligraphy and painting inscriptions, and consciously introduced the expressive forms of calligraphy art into painting, greatly enriching and perfecting the expressive means of painting art. In the Song Dynasty, a number of scholars and doctors appeared, such as Mo Mei, bamboo slips, Su Shi's ancient strange stones, Mi Fei and Mi Youren's Yunshan, and Zhao's narcissus, which became models for later literati and painters to follow and learn. In addition, Yan Su, Chao,,, Zhang Shunmin and others are famous. Scholars have also made great achievements in painting theory, such as Ouyang Xiu's expressing melancholy and indifference, Chen's saying that "a person's mind is full of color, and his predecessor is like a horse in a nine-square grid", and Su Shi's saying that "painting is similar to seeing his neighbors" is very representative. The literati painting in Song Dynasty influenced Liao and Jin areas and became the forerunner of the development of literati painting in Yuan and Ming Dynasties.
On the basis of the high prosperity of painting, a large number of theoretical works on painting have also appeared. Paintings such as painting history, painting theory, painting appreciation, and collection notes are widely circulated, and Painting Spectrum, Painting History, and Lin Gaoquan Zhi have become important literature basis for studying ancient painting today.
There are four stages in the development of painting: ① During the early Song Dynasty 100 years, it generally followed the painting tradition of the Five Dynasties. After the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Bianjing area became the center of painting art, and the Palace Painting Academy successively concentrated painters such as □, Huang Weiliang, Xiahou Yan □, Zhao Yuanchang and Gao, Dong Yu, Cai Run and Xu Chongsi in the Southern Tang Dynasty, Zhongyuan, Zhao Guangfu and Gao Yi. Flower-and-bird painting in the courtyard is based on the rich painting style of the Huang family. The Wu family has the greatest influence among Taoists and Buddhists, and landscape painting is the highest achievement among painters outside the courtyard. In addition, Li Chengshan painted Pingyuan cold forest, Fan Kuan was good at painting mountains and rivers, and Xu Daoning was good at painting Pingyuan, wild water and trees. All three of them have developed and enriched the northern painting schools of Hao Jing and Guan Tong in different aspects. Jiangnan School, represented by Dong Yuan and Ju Ran, had little influence in this period. At that time, Yan Wengui, Zhai, Gao Keming, Li Zongcheng, Qu Ding and so on. Wang□, Gao and Wu Zongyuan are good at religious murals, while Zhao Chang, Yi Yuanji and Wang You are good at flower and bird painting. The creative practice of these painters is brewing new changes in the painting style of the Northern Song Dynasty.
② On the occasion of Xining and Yuanfeng, there appeared pommel horse figure painting represented by Li, landscape painting represented by Guo and flower-and-bird painting represented by Cui Bai. They present a brand-new style in content and art, and they all have exquisite skills and profound cultivation. Li accurately shows the characteristics of people of different classes, nationalities and regions in the form of unpretentious paintings, especially in depicting the life image and interest of literati, and has achieved great success. Both Cui Bai and Guo can paint freely without sketching. Cui Bai describes the modality of birds in the seasonal climate change, and is good at expressing the wild feelings of wild geese who have fallen into the forest. He broke through the norms of Huang Painting Academy system since the early Song Dynasty and made more natural and vivid achievements. Through the description of scenery seasons and climate, Guo showed the beauty and interest of landscape nymphs, and pushed the northern landscape painting school since Li Cheng to a new height. The trend of literati painting represented by Su Shi and Wen Tong was also formed at this time. Wang Shen Zhu Bao Art Gallery, a captain of Ma Xu, collects famous calligraphy and paintings, gathers poets and painters, and makes poems and paintings in Fuxi Garden. Zhao Lingrang, a royal family, was good at making beautiful and poetic landscapes. The calligraphy and painting activities in Mi Fei during this period showed the active artistic activities of this class. Guo's Paintings, Guo's father and son's Lin Zhi and Su Shi's Poems on Paintings are all new achievements of painting theory in this period.
③ The reign of Huizong Zhao Ji and Gaozong Zhao Gou was the most prosperous period of the Palace Painting Academy in Song Dynasty. Hui Zong's painting academy system is quite complete, and the improvement of the artistic level of folk painters in society has delivered many excellent painters to the painting academy. At this time, experts gathered in the Academy, including Ma Ben, who is good at painting hundreds of horses and geese, Li Tang, who opened up a new situation in landscape painting in the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhang Zeduan, who is good at painting customs and realms, Wang Ximeng, a talented young landscape painter, Han Ruozhuo, Meng Yingzhi and Xue Zhi, who are good at painting flowers and birds, Su Hanchen, who is famous for painting baby vendors, Liu Yi and Fu Xie, who painted for Hui Zong, and so on. They are all famous for their exquisite painting skills and extraordinary pen and ink. During the reign of Hui Zong, the collection of calligraphy and painting in the Forbidden City was very rich, and there were also many collectors of officials and scholars. Xuanhe's paintings reflect the grand occasion of the palace collection at that time. After the change of Jingkang, Bianjing was plundered by the Jin army, some painters were taken to the north, and a large number of palace paintings were scattered in the north, which had a considerable impact on the development of painting in the areas ruled by the Jin Dynasty. In addition, a large number of painters fled to Jiangnan, which became the backbone of the Gaozong Painting Academy in the Southern Song Dynasty and promoted the development of Jiangnan painting.
(4) After Xiaozong in the Southern Song Dynasty, especially during Guangzong and Ningzong periods and after Li Tang, the style of landscape painting changed obviously, with Liu Songnian, Ma Yuan, Xia Gui and others as representative painters. They attach importance to the tailoring of composition, skillfully use the large blank of the picture to highlight the distinct image, and the picture effect is subtle and concise, concise and poetic, with beautiful artistic conception, and the concise and vivid axe chop shows the improvement of pen and ink skills. Historical story painting and genre painting developed throughout the Southern Song Dynasty, and Song Li, who appeared at this time, was a particularly noteworthy painter. He has written Thirty-six Portraits of Sung River, Fu Tian Map, Si, Tide Watching Map, etc. Most of his works contain profound meanings. The brushwork of Kai Liang, Muxidi and Wenriguan opened the atmosphere of freehand brushwork in Yuan and Ming Dynasties.
The development of painting discipline in Song Dynasty was more detailed and specialized. During Song Huizong's period, painting was divided into six branches: Buddhism and Taoism, figures, landscapes, birds and animals, flowers and bamboo, and house wood. The description of Tibetan paintings in Xuanhe Huapu can be divided into 10 categories: Taoism and Buddhism, figures, palaces, fan nationalities, arowana, landscapes, animals, flowers and birds, mozhu, fruits and vegetables. When compiling a painter, the Painting Accompanying, which was made by Xiao Zongdao for three years (1 167), is divided into eight categories: immortals, buddhas, ghosts and gods, biographies of people, landscapes, forests and stones, flowers and bamboos, animals, insects and fish, houses and boats, melons and fruits, vegetables and grasses, and small landscape paintings. These phenomena reflect the expansion of the scope of painting performance and the meticulous division of themes. Figure painting has made great progress in reflecting real life. From depicting major historical events and aristocratic life in the Tang Dynasty, it has expanded to depicting all aspects of urban and rural civilian life, such as Biography by Wei Xian, Spinning Map by Wang, Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan, Baby Play in Autumn Court, Merchant Map by Julie, Cattle Drawing by Yan Ciping and so on. Festive paintings depicting urban folk customs in Song Dynasty, such as Sui Dynasty pictures, Wu Rui pictures, Da Nuo pictures and lights-off pictures, also appeared one after another. Paintings depicting the life of noble literati are still very popular, and figure paintings with plots, such as Li's "Elegant Garden" and "Listening to the Piano", also have high artistic achievements. Folk tales are often incorporated into historical story paintings, which show the attitude towards politics at that time in a tortuous way. For example, The Map of Picking the Witches, The Map of Zhu Yun Breaking the Threshold, The Map of Sitting in Yuan Ang, The Map of chain mail in Chen Yuanda, etc., depict the upright and upright people, and the Convenient Bridge Alliance Map, which reflects the correct strategy to solve ethnic problems. It is particularly noteworthy that the paintings depicting the misfortune and sadness brought by the war and the complicated ethnic relations are very popular, such as "Moon Hee Returning to Han" and "Fei Ming Going to Fort", which, like the folk stories at that time, show obvious patriotism and sense of hardship. The rulers of Song Dynasty advocated Taoism and built temples. Although the murals of Taoism and Buddhism lacked the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty, they still maintained a considerable scale. For example, the murals of Jingsuoguo Temple in Rudong, Zhao Ying Palace in Yuqing, Jingling Palace, Wuyue Temple, Baoyu Palace, Yin Ying Temple in Lin 'an in Southern Song Dynasty, West Taiyi Palace, Wusheng Temple, etc. are mostly painted by famous artists in the Academy of Painting. When Zhenzong built the Jade Qing Zhao Ying Palace, it recruited painters from all over the world, with more than 3,000 candidates. When Hui Zong built the Wuyue Temple, he was famous all over the world, and hundreds of applicants showed his talent. Religious paintings in Song Dynasty have a more obvious secularization tendency. Taoist painting attracts the audience with lively scenes and interesting plots, and creates a large number of images of gods, many of which are drawn with realistic characters. Wu Daozi Painting School occupied an absolute position in the murals in the early Song Dynasty, and its artistic style can be seen from the existing mural powder version of The Fairy Map of Yuan Zaju. The quantity and quality of tomb murals in Song Dynasty can no longer be compared with those in Han and Tang Dynasties. The murals of Kaihua Temple in Gaoping, Shanxi, Jingzhi Temple Tower in Zhengding, Taki Palace in Fang Jing, the murals of the Song Dynasty in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, and the murals of tombs in Henan are all important remains for investigating the murals of the Song Dynasty.
Landscape painting and flower-and-bird painting made great progress in the Song Dynasty. Art greatly surpassed the Tang Dynasty. In Song Dynasty, flower-and-bird painters paid great attention to the observation and study of animal and plant images, and raised flowers and birds for this purpose. Zhao Chang plays around the fence in the morning and colors the flowers. Yi Yuanji went deep into Jinghu Mountain to observe the wild situation of apes; Han Ruozhuo paints feathers. Every time he makes a bird, he is famous from the beak to the tail, and he is familiar with the anatomical structure. In Song Dynasty, flower and bird painters painted flowers, fruits and plants with four seasons, yin and yang facing each other, old and tender bamboo shoots and bracts before calyx, in order to be vivid and realistic. Therefore, critics regard the cat's pupil as a vertical line, pointing out that the peony civet cat painted the scene at noon; Farmers pointed out the mistake that the oxtail in the famous painting "Bullfighting Picture" should droop and not be raised. Evonne's statement that a peacock must first lift its left foot needs a true and reasonable image. Flower-and-bird paintings in the Song Dynasty are exquisite and rich, showing the yellow style of rare birds and exotic trees in the court. There are also Cui Bai, Wu, etc. The pen and ink are simple, the color is light, and the stray geese are depicted, which is full of Jianghu interest; There are also literati ink plays, which directly express the literati's interest and specialize in writing ink bamboo and ink plum. "The most Miao Yan scenery in painting", due to social concern, landscape painting has gradually jumped to the main position of painting. Many landscape painters go deep into natural mountains and rivers and observe and experience them day and night, so they accurately describe the characteristics of different regions, seasons and climates and pursue beautiful and moving artistic conception. From panoramic mountains, rivers and turquoise to corner scenes with simple brushwork and highly tailored composition, it shows outstanding creations in different periods. The scenery of mountains and rivers is not only the scenery of pavilions, noble gardens and secluded scholar-officials buildings, but also the natural scenery of mountains and rivers in the north and south, interspersed with ordinary life plots such as rollover, grinding water, ferry, shipping, fishing, firewood collection, mule trips, temples and markets, which has a strong flavor of life and reflects a beautiful imagination through real scenery description.
The achievement of painting in Song Dynasty is the pinnacle of the development of painting art in China. It reflects a wide range of real life content, which is extremely prominent in the history of ancient painting. Many artistic expressions closely related to society have been created by using colorful and beautiful artistic forms. Most of the styles and theories in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties can be found in Song Dynasty paintings, which shows that China's paintings are mature and highly prosperous. There are many important creations in the art of painting in Song Dynasty. Pay attention to the spiritual outlook and touching plot of the characters, and pay attention to shaping the artistic image with distinctive personality. Flower-and-bird painting and landscape painting pursue beautiful and moving artistic conception, pay attention to true and ingenious artistic expression, strive to refine images, and have a high degree of realistic ability. Literati painting can also promote the prosperity and improvement of painting art, and they have made great contributions to the exploration of subjective expression and pen and ink effect. Palace painting has been highly developed on the basis of the prosperity of painting in the whole society, and its artistic achievements can not be ignored.