Chinese Painters: A Critical Study by Raphael Petrucci - HTML preview

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss. 

[1] Chinese ink is a very different composition from the ink of Western countries. It is a solid made of soot obtained by burning certain plants, which is then combined with glue or oil and moulded into a cake and dried. Other ingredients may be added to produce sheen or a dead finish. It improves with age if properly kept. The cake is moistened and rubbed on a slab, and the ink thus obtained must be used in a special way and with special care to produce the full effect.— TRANSLATOR. 

[2] The Chinese terms are Li Chou for a vertical painting and Hêng P’i for a horizontal painting.—TRANSLATOR. 

[3] These are: the worlds of animals, of man, of gods or dêvas, of giants or  asuras, of prêtas or wandering spirits, and of hell s. Freedom from perpetual transmigration in these six worlds is attained only through the extinction of desire. 

[4] These bas-reliefs have been studied by M. Chavannes in “La sculpture sur pierre en Chine au temps des deux dynasties Han,” Paris, 1893; also in “Mission archéologique en Chine,” Paris, 1910. Rubbings taken from the sculptured slabs are reproduced here in full . 

[5] This painting formed part of the collection of the ex-viceroy Tuan Fang,  killed in 1911, during the revolution. It was published in 1911 by the Japanese archeologist, Mr. Taki. 

[6] These reasons are set forth in a work which Mr. Laurence Binyon is preparing, to accompany a reproduction engraved by Japanese artists for the British Museum. 

[B] The preceding footnote refers to a work published in 1913 by the Trustees of the British Museum, containing a reproduction of the painting in its entirety and giving a full description.— TRANSLATOR. 

[7] A copy of an engraving on stone of the year 1095, representing “Confucius sitting amidst his disciples” and another representing “Confucius walking,  fol owed by one of his disciples,” dated 1118, have been published by M. de Chavannes (“Mission archéologique en Chine,” Nos. 869 and 871). The latter is considered as having been undoubtedly executed after a painting by Ku  59/67  .  K’ai-chih. 

[8] Interpretations of the Six Canons by five authorities are accessible in a very convenient form for comparison in Mr. Laurence Binyon’s “Flight of the Dragon,” p. 12.— TRANSLATOR. 

[9] See Foucher, “L’Art gréco-bouddique du Gandhara.” Paris, Leroux. 

[10] Indian Arhat; Japanese Rakan.—TRANSLATOR. 

[11] These divisions of Northern and Southern Schools do not correspond, as might be imagined, to geographical limitations. Painters of the South worked in the style of the North and painters of the North likewise used the Southern style. Moreover the same master was able to employ one or the other according to the inspiration of the moment. These works were produced for a receptive people capable of understanding both styles. 

[12] “Monochrome is a starved and lifeless term to express the marvellous range and subtlety of tones of which the preparation of black soot known as Chinese ink is capable.” Laurence Binyon in “The Flight of the Dragon.”—TRANSLATOR. 

[13] I have not seen nor do I know of any paintings which can be said with certainty to be from the hand of Wang Wei. But from the records as well as from works directly inspired by him, an idea of his style and technique can be formed. Ancient paintings in luo-ts’ing are found in Japan as well as in China.  The British Museum of London has a scroll painted by Chao Mêng-fu, in the manner of Wang Wei, dated 1309. 

[14] The literati, or lettered class, were the aristocracy in what was the most democratic of absolute monarchies. No matter how humble his origin, anyone of the male sex was eligible to compete in the examinations which were based upon literary knowledge and memory of the classics. Proficiency in handwriting was a natural result. The successful candidate might aspire to any post in the empire, as official positions were bestowed through literary merit. During three days and two nights at the time of examination the candidate was not all owed to leave his tiny box-like cell , lacking even space to lie down. Cases of death during the examinations were not infrequent. The examination halls in Peking are now destroyed and those in Nanking with 20,000 cells are crumbling away.—TRANSLATOR. 

[15] It should be borne in mind that the author uses the term illumination in the sense of color applied within a distinct and limiting outline. This is illustrated in the definitions of single and double contour.—TRANSLATOR.